The Wallflower and The Star Athlete (closed for Poprockz)

[Poprockz]

"Mm..." His kisses were like potato chips, once she had one, she had a craving to have them all. They would be doomed to lay in bed, kissing for eternity if one of them didn't have a bit of self-control.

She thought it was a bit too soon for him to claim something like that, especially when the future was uncertain. Sometimes things didn't work out, even if two people loved each other very much at one point. Not that she planned on them separating but she didn't want to be caught off-guard if it ever happened.

"Who says you've experienced all I have to offer?" she asked playfully, kissing him on the tip of his nose. "I have yet to show you how much of a demon I can be at scrabble."

 

[Mr_Positive]

Adrian smiled at the nose kiss, then chuckled.
“A competitive scrabble streak, you’re on! But I think we should probably get some sleep. I have an early start, and we have the small matter of my dad doing what he does to free you”, giving her another smile.

 

[Poprockz]

She got a nervous smile on her face, but nodded. “Yeah… let’s turn in for the night then.” Olivia was still unsure about what the next day and the meeting with his father would bring, but hopefully it would be okay one way or another. Even if the meeting was disappointing, she would have someone warm to console her when they came back to the apartment.

With that, she cuddled up to him and closed her eyes. “Goodnight then. Sweet dreams.”

 

[Mr_Positive]

“Goodnight Liv”.

The following morning, he was again up before Olivia. He moved around quietly so he didn’t wake her. He left her a small note.

Meet me at the student union building at noon. We will then go to meet my dad from there.

He left it by her laptop as he knew she would see it there. He then grabbed his stuff and left for his very busy morning.

 

[Poprockz]

She woke up around 8 and got some coffee before going to her computer. Her drowsy eyes read his note before setting it down and wondering whether she should buy an outfit. No… no need for that, she supposed. Her normal outfit would likely be fine.

It wasn’t as though she disliked normal clothing, but she had gotten so used to wearing baggy clothes and sweatpants that to wear other things felt somewhat unnatural. The clothes she wore were comfortable, and they kept her out of notice most of the time, which was how she liked it usually.

Olivia donned a pair of black sweatpants, along with a nondescript black sweatshirt and her signature beanie and mask. Once she was ready, she headed on over to the student union building and texted him, ‘I’m over by the Smoothie bar on the second floor.’

 

[Mr_Positive]

Adrian received her text as he neared the student union building. He nodded to himself and found her outside the smoothie bar. The first thing he noticed was the beanie and mask. He knew she was nervous, and this was her way of coping. But he wanted her to have more faith, that this was the beginning of the end of her hurt, her pain.

"Hey", he greeted her with a smile.
"I know you are nervous about this, so I got Dad to agree to meet us in his car. That way, nobody will see us or overhear us. Just do one thing for me, take off the beanie and mask. I want him to see you properly, see what a lovely person who are".

 

[Poprockz]

There was a moment of hesitation before she reached up and removed her mask and beanie as requested. Olivia ran her fingers through her hair, partly to make it a bit less unkempt after her hat, partly as a nervous gesture. Part of her wanted to skitter off and avoid the meeting altogether, but Adrian kept her tethered to the plan. Leaving him in the lurch wasn’t something she wanted to do, so she started walking with him toward the parking lot.

“I appreciate you making it more private,” she commented, glancing at passersby. It felt like some were watching them which was an uncomfortable feeling for her. She comforted herself with the fact that they were probably looking at him rather than herself.

 

[Mr_Positive]

He squeezed her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. “Anything for you”. He hoped she understood the magnitude of those words, simply because he would do anything.

They reached his dad’s car, an understated saloon. Adrian’s family was well off due to his father’s successful law career, but they never flaunted it. They both got into the back seat.

“Hey dad, thanks for meeting us. This is Olivia”.

His dad, Jonathan, was a simply an older version of Adrian. “Lovely to meet you Olivia. I sincerely hope you will allow me to help you with your family situation. It sounds horrendous”.

 

[Poprockz]

“Good to meet you too,” she swallowed and shifted in her seat. It was fascinating how similar he and his father looked. If it was any indication of what Adrian would look like later, she was certain that he would turn out to be quite the dilf.

“So um, about that. I really appreciate you meeting with me and all, but the police already told me that I have no case. I’ve filed like three police reports, but they always just kind of… brush me off, so I don’t really want to waste your time.” Olivia avoided his eyes, feeling a bit awkward about meeting him like this. At least Adrian was right next to her. She wanted to hold his hand, but then his dad might get the wrong idea. Or the right one, she supposed.

 

[Mr_Positive]

Adrian wanted to reached out to Olivia, just to even hold her hand. He could feel that she truly thought she had no hope. But he now had to trust his dad to convince her otherwise.

Jonathan listened intently to the young woman. He didn't know her, other than Adrian wanted him to help her. Adrian had never asked that before, so this woman must mean something to him. Jonathan hadn't asked the nature of their relationship - right now, he didn't need to know. He trusted his son to make good decisions - that's why he had agreed to help.

"Olivia, I understand you feel hopeless. But I need you to know that what you have been told is not true. There is a case here, a pretty solid one. Harrassment, fraud, are just two charges we could use to file a restraining order against your parents. As the parent to his fine man, it sickens me that this is happening to you. Nobody deserves this treatment."
Looking to Adrian briefly, he continued, "We can do this where you are not involved, other than providing me evidence. I can act as your attorney in court, so you don't have to face them".

 

[Poprockz]

To hear that she might actually have a case, a chance at peace… it put a lump in her throat. She didn’t think his dad was bullshitting her based on the earnestness of his expression and demeanor. Still, she knew it would only hurt worse if she let herself get excited about the possibility of breaking free from the chains that kept her down. She needed to be reasonable, to take things step by step to see where things went.

Olivia swallowed and shrugged, trying to keep her composure. “I don’t mind going to court if it makes a stronger case.” She hugged herself as a self-soothing gesture,

 

[Mr_Positive]

It was hurting Adrian not to comfort Olivia in that moment, but he couldn’t interrupt their important conversation.

Jonathan smiled at the young woman when she made her comment, “Yes, being present yourself would almost make this a certainty. If the judge could hear from you personally on the impact this has had on you, combined with the evidence we will present, I see no reason for the restraining order not to be given”.

 

[Poprockz]

"Do you..." she hesitated before asking, "do you know anything about changing social security numbers? I keep having to freeze my number because they keep trying to take out loans in my name."

 

[Mr_Positive]

Jonathan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had dealt with cases like this before, but there was a level of deception here that made him angry. But he kept his cool.

“A restraining order would mean they couldn’t do that anymore. It removes all their power to use your name or information, as well as being able to contact you”.

 

[Poprockz]

“They can’t claim me on their taxes too, right?” Now she was starting to feel that tickle of hope once more, but it scared her. She could feel her eyes starting to water from the mix of emotions, but she didn’t want to cry her first time meeting his dad.

 

[Mr_Positive]

“Anything official related to you, they can no longer touch”.

Jonathan could see this young woman had been through the ringer on this. It just made doubly motivated to help her, and win. He suspected that there might be more than friendship between her and Adrian, but right now that did not matter.

 

[Poprockz]

The conversation continued, and she revealed that among the list of things her parents had done, they had once stolen her financial aid. Back when she was still trying to get support for herself, she had applied for financial aid which had been granted. Somehow the info had gotten back to her parents who were able to divert the funds back to themselves. After that, she had always quickly declined any financial aid for fear that the same thing might happen again. It had been an about five thousand in total.

She took out her phone and shared many of the texts between herself and her family that mentioned these things, her parents even confirming some of the things she accused them of doing. Olivia had also kept copies of the police reports, as well as a record of all her wrongful evictions. All her evidence was a parade of proof regarding how very hard she had struggled, like a fish desperately trying to swim upriver.

“… and honestly I’m a bit scared that they might find me and strong-arm me into something. They keep mentioning that they have someone they want me to meet and that we’d really hit it off. They say just coming back and going along would be better than being homeless.” Olivia glanced up quickly at Jonathan, “not that I’m homeless. Right now, I mean. They got me evicted from my apartment recently, but I have a place to stay.”

 

[Mr_Positive]

Adrian looked surprised at Olivia’s admission that her parents wanted her to meet someone. He wasn’t sure why she had kept that a secret. But he let it go as soon as he heard it. She had expressed how happy she was with him, and he believed her.

Back with Jonathan, his eyes went a little wide at the array of evidence that Olivia was producing.
“This is great Olivia. The fact you have held onto all of this only strengthens our case further. If you don’t mind, I’d like to take these with me and go over them fully before building our case. But this is one the strongest cases I have seen, so our chances of winning are very good”.

 

[Poprockz]

“Yeah, you can take them,” she agreed, trying once again to hold herself together. When he basically said that the case was almost guaranteed to win, she couldn’t continue to keep herself in check. It started with one tear, then two, then she was crying in the back of his car. They were tears of relief, tears of hope for a future she might have, tears of mourning for a past she couldn’t change, and tears of relief that someone was finally listening to her and taking her issues seriously.

“I’m sorry,” she hiccuped, leaning forward and resting her forehead on her hands with her elbows on her knees to obscure her face. “Just-just give me a minute and I’ll be fine.”

 

[Mr_Positive]

Adrian instinctively reached out and put his hand on Olivia’s shoulder.

“Thank you dad for taking this seriously. Olivia has been wanting, needing someone to advocate for her for too long. How quickly can we get a court case?”

Jonathan smiled at his son,”Anything for you, son. I think we could get one by early next week. I’ll go home now and start building the case, then submit it to the courts. I’ll be in touch, Olivia”.

 

[Poprockz]

Olivia sniffled before managing to look up with gratitude in her wet, blue eyes, “Yes, thank you! Honestly, you don’t know how much this means to me. Like seriously, I could make you a million cookies and it wouldn’t come close to repaying you, but I’m definitely going to try.” Her hand went up and was placed gently on Adrian’s before she looked at him affectionately, silently thanking him for his support as well.

 

[Mr_Positive]

Adrian heard her silent thank you, giving her a warm smile as her hand covered his.
"Alright, I think we should go then. Thank you again Dad, tell Mom I love her. When are you both next in town?"

Jonathan smiled at his son's affectionate towards his mother, "We can come up once this case is over, and celebrate", giving Olivia a knowning smile, trying to get her to believe the confidence he had.

Adrian smiled back,"Alright, love you dad, see you soon".
He and Olivia left the car and the car park quietly, before walking back to their dorm room.

 

[Poprockz]

“I’m kinda jealous, I have to admit,” Olivia said, setting her keys down on the kitchen counter before leaning back against it. She looked down at the floor before looking back up to him. “You seem like you have a really good relationship with your parents….”

Truly, she wished she had the closeness he had with his own parents. Sometimes it made her heart ache to think of the familial relationship that she had been robbed of. She would never have parents who loved her, nor would she have anyone to walk her down the aisle if she ever got married.

 

[Mr_Positive]

Adrian could see the jealousy in her hand, but not an angry one rather a sad one. He hadn’t foreseen this, but then again it was important for her to see a loving parent-child relationship. It might be the catalyst for major psychological change for her, to understand what it looks and feels like to be truly loved.

He went to her, taking her hand he is. “I’m sorry you didn’t get that. But despite all that, you did grow up to be a decent human being. It would have been very easy to allow your circumstances lead you down a different path. For that, you should be very proud”.

 

[Poprockz]

She smiled at his words and chuckled, cocking her head slightly to the side, "how do you always know what to say?"

His words didn't make her feel like she was being pitied, not did she feel like she was being brushed off. It felt more like he simply accepted what she had gone through and wanted to help her toward a brighter future.