Atria (Chapter 9)

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Natasha looked at the girl next to her and Olivia thought she saw the girl nod slightly, but she couldn’t be sure. Natasha turned back to look at Olivia. “ Um…” she started, “Katie, this is Olivia, my room-mate and um… Olivia, this is Katie, my um… Girlfriend. Natasha smiled weakly. Olivia smiled in Katie’s general direction and then turned to Natasha and stared at her with an expression that clearly said, “Your GIRLFRIEND! What the hell are you talking about? “Um…” Olivia started “Cool, well I am going to go to bed now so yea ok, goodnight Tash, goodnight Katie.” She said this with such speed that her words tumbled over each other and made it sound as if Olivia had drunk a little too much. Olivia turned, and without another word, disappeared into her room.
When Olivia awoke the next morning she was convinced that it was all a dream, that she had not broken up with Chris and discovered that her best friend was a lesbian all in one night. But as the day grew lighter she realized that her clothes from showering in a hurry to get to the airport the night before, were sprawled all over the floor and she was forced to accept that here life hade prematurely become a soap opera. She stumbled out in to the lounge room, her hair a mess and her makeup still smudged all over her face from crying the night before and headed straight for the fridge, where she withdrew a large carton of orange juice. She sat down at the kitchen table that she had got second hand from a lifestyle shop for $40 bucks and opened the carton. After downing a litre or so she shut the carton, sighed loudly and waited. She could hear noises coming from Natasha’s room and she did her best to ignore them. After a few minutes, Natasha appeared wearing a silk nightgown. “Oh crap” she said loudly “sorry Liv, I didn’t realize you were up already” “It’s alright” Olivia replied, “I broke up with Chris last night” she buried her head in her hands, willing herself not to cry. “You are shittin’ me” Natasha gasped, her eyes looked like saucers and Olivia was temped to believe that she was just a little hung over. Natasha walked up to Olivia and wrapped her arms around her. Olivia hastily pushed her away. “ I hope you don’t think I have forgotten what you told me last night, I am not stupid you know, and I don’t really want you touching me right now if that is ok.” She snapped Natasha recoiled, “What are you getting at, we are friends, it shouldn’t matter to you who I date, what difference does it make anyway.” Natasha snapped back. Olivia turned and walked out of the room. Natasha called after her “What is your problem bitch, I try to be honest with you and what do I cop, prejudice, insults and best of all BULLSHIT.2

Natasha yanked the door of the fridge open and pulled out the carton of orange juice that Olivia had just drained, she sculled the rest and threw it on the floor, stamping on it. Katie came out of the bedroom, What’s up baby girl, she purred, putting her arm around Natasha’s shoulder, “it’s just Olivia,” Natasha replied “It looks like telling her wasn’t such a good idea because she hasn’t taken it too we…” Olivia walked back into the kitchen, took one look at Natasha and Katie, snorted “You two are disgusting” and walked back to her room, slamming the door behind her. Katie turned to Natasha. “Well, um… that went well” she said softly. Natasha scowled “Shut up” she said loudly. Katie looked stunned, “What?” she said angrily “You can shut up and get out aswell, it is your fault that this happened, she is my best friend and I am not going to let you get between us. With out another word, Katie turned and walked straight out of the front door, leaving Natasha in tears. Olivia heard this fight unfolding from her bedroom and she thought to her self, two broken relationships in one night, my life is a soap opera is an understatement. Olivia’s conscience was eating away at her, she knew that it was her fault that Natasha and Katie had broken up, but it just didn’t seem normal to her. She was raised in a strict catholic household, and sure, she liked to rebel, but this was a bit much, but then again, Natasha was her best friend and Olivia was forced to choose between her beliefs, and her best friend.
Olivia and Natasha didn’t speak for three whole days. The last time that they went that long without speaking was when Olivia went skiing with her parents in tenth grade and she couldn’t get reception at the lodge to call Natasha. As much as Olivia believed she was right, she couldn’t help but cry at night, wishing that things would just sort themselves out.
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