“I still don’t know how’s that happening.” Andrea frowned as she placed her feet up on the coffee table, while Michael shook his head at her manners, before pushing them off of it.
Lisa frowned as well since she had no idea what was happening either.
They had just discovered one more part of the snowflake tattoo gone. They didn’t even know when it happened but it did.
“It’s probably that witch, playing with us.” Andrea groaned as she remembered innocent old Merida. Michael shook his head before frowning. “I don’t think so. It couldn’t be her; she’s helping us.”
“Yeah, after she has all her fun.” Lisa giggled as she saw her father fold his arms with a frown. She still wasn’t used to seeing her sister and father act so differently.
Lisa looked at the two conversing with each other as an idea popped up in her head. “Can we all go to the park?”
Andrea and Michael looked at the girl before they glanced at each other.
Well, it had been years since Michael had last been to a park, plus Andrea hadn’t gone there since she got switched with her father’s body.
“Sure.”
And that was how they had found themselves packing up some sandwiches and a blanket to sit on before leaving to drive to the park nearby.
Well, it wasn’t that nearby but it was close to their house.
The park was situated on a small hill that could sometimes give the best views of the sun going down. It was probably one of the reasons why they visited the park regularly on weekends when Mrs. Hanning was still alive.
It wasn’t a long drive and it didn’t feel more than a few minutes as the three talked about trivial things along the way.
It was a sweet moment of family time as Michael drove the car, and Andrea groaned as she was reminded again that she can’t drive, while Lisa just giggled from the backseat.
“Okay, you all know the rules, right, no straying away from me and no going to the merry-go-round.”
Andrea rolled her eyes as she saw herself passing orders. It was weird but it was still bearable since she would still go do whatever the hell she wanted.
Lisa nodded her head at the commands before she was running over to the swing-set, where a familiar person sat as well, but neither Andrea nor Michael noticed that.
Going to the trunk of the car, they took out the container of sandwiches and the blanket before they went straight to the little hill with the tree.
It was a cool evening and the wind felt nice on their skins as Michael unfolded the blanket with a smile.
“Oh my god.” Andrea muttered as she turned to look at where Lisa was, and after she had found her sister, she had wished she hadn’t.
Michael, who was busy laying out the blanket, raised an eyebrow before asking, “What is it now?”
“Hide me!” Andrea exclaimed before she went to hide behind her own smaller frame.
Michael rolled his eyes before his eyes went towards the girl on the swing-set with Lisa. “Shouldn’t I be the one hiding? I’m you.” Andrea suddenly remembered as she pushed away herself behind the tree and frowned when Michael groaned.
“Sorry, I forget how powerful you are and how fragile I am, sometimes.”
Michael rolled his eyes as Andrea continued, “I’m going to get Lisa, you stay here till then.”
“And do what?”
Andrea frowned, “I don’t know, exercise?”
Michael rolled his eyes as he watched himself walk with quick steps over to the swing-set.
“Lisa, honey.” Lisa turned her head to look at her father weirdly since she had never heard her sister call her ‘honey’ before.
“Oh, Ms. Richards is here too?” Lisa turned to look at Olivia before it all clicked and she realized why Andrea had been like that.
“Mr. Hanning.” Olivia spoke as she got up from the swing-set. She hadn’t expected the man to be there, she only thought Lisa was there.
Since, Lisa knew Olivia from when Andrea and Olivia were dating, she could easily talk to the girl, even when she had been a jerk to Andrea later.
“What a pleasant surprise, right?” Olivia frowned as she saw the intensity in the man’s eyes. She felt a little uncomfortable as she nodded her head. There was something that felt very familiar whenever she looked at him.
“I just came here to unwind.” Andrea nodded her head since she also came to the park to just unwind. “What are you both here for?”
Andrea would’ve answered if Lisa wasn’t too quick to reply, “Oh, we just came for a small family picnic.”
Olivia smiled at the girl before she asked, “Is Andrea here too?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Lisa and Andrea stared at each other before Lisa squinted her eyes, getting the drift, while Andrea turned to the girl again.
“That’s a yes and a no. A yes, because she was here a few minutes ago, and no, because she didn’t feel well so she had to leave.”
Olivia nodded her head in disappointment as Lisa stepped on her father’s foot for lying, but that did nothing at all since Michael’s body was almost invincible to such feeble attacks.
“Why don’t you join us?” Lisa asked up which took both Olivia and Andrea by surprise as they glanced at each other before shaking their heads at the same time.
Lisa rolled her eyes at how similar the two actually were.
“I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Yeah, and I think it’s time for you to go back home. Your parents must be worried.”
Olivia let out a bitter chuckle as she shook her head.
“My parents never worry about me.” Lisa and Andrea glanced at each other before Lisa went to hold the girl’s hand. “It’s okay, Andrea felt the same way before but now she knows that daddy cares for her too.”
Andrea raised an eyebrow as she looked down at Lisa, who just ignored the man altogether. “You can come sit with us for a while and then daddy will drive you home.”
Andrea slapped her forehead as Olivia agreed and Lisa guided her over to the blanket they had laid down on the hill.
There was just one big flaw in the plan. Andrea didn’t know how to drive, and Lisa even knew that.
Trudging over to where Lisa and Olivia were, Andrea shook her head when Michael peeked from behind the tree. Michael had to just glance at the back of Olivia’s head to know that he was going to hide for the whole evening now.
“Here, have a sandwich.” Lisa offered the girl a sandwich, who took it gratefully with a small smile.
Andrea took a sandwich as well as she stared at the girl sitting a few feet away from her, while Olivia tried to ignore the intense stare of Mr. Hanning.
There was a silence that spread around them as all of them chewed on their sandwiches before Olivia spoke up. “Can I ask you a question, Mr. Hanning?”
Andrea, who was taken by surprise, nodded her head after a while.
“How did you get into that accident?” Lisa raised an eyebrow in question as Andrea began to sweat buckets. Michael shook his head from behind the tree, since he knew something idiotic was going to come from Andrea’s mouth anyway.
“Uh, well, I was driving and there was a cat on the road. So yeah. I swerved the car and hit a light post.”
Olivia frowned as she questioned, “Where were you even driving?”
“It was a road.” Lisa and Michael slapped their foreheads at the same time as Olivia’s frown deepened. “Yeah, I got that, but which road was it?”
Andrea didn’t know any road names, neither did she want to answer that question as she looked around for something to aid her in her misery before she blurted out something even more idiotic.
“Oh boy, look at the time, it’s so late.”
“You’re not wearing a watch, and the sun’s still out.” Lisa shook her head as she tied to muffle her laughter. It was just so funny to see Andrea come up with these stupid answers.
Olivia also wanted to laugh but she still wasn’t done questioning about the accident Mr. Hanning and Andrea were in. There was, however, one thing she had noticed that she had wished was just a hallucination.
She noticed how Mr. Hanning kept touching the hem of his shirt.
She had seen him do that the other day as well in P.E class.
“Do you usually do that?” Olivia asked as she looked at Mr. Hanning intensely. Andrea looked surprised as she looked at Olivia with confusion.
“Do what?”
“Touch your shirt when you’re nervous.” Andrea’s eyes widened as she immediately put her hands away from her shirt, before letting out a nervous chuckle. “I don’t—”
“Andrea also does that whenever she’s nervous.”
Lisa watched with worry as Olivia looked deep into the man’s eyes. There was something very familiar in them, something she had known closely and dearly.
“W-Well yeah… she’s my daughter, of course she’s gonna have my habits.”
Olivia frowned since that made sense but she didn’t want to let go of the little doubt she had as she questioned again. “What road were you driving on?”
“This again.”
“Just answer the question.” Michael shivered in his place as Andrea also managed to gulp in fear. Lisa mouthed something which Andrea picked up after a while as she spoke up. “Uh… Holden road?”
Olivia squinted her eyes before she nodded.
“That’s a real road, right?” Michael shook his head at his daughter’s stupidity as Olivia frowned at Mr. Hanning. “Well, if that’s where you had your accident, then yes, it’s a real road.”
Lisa just shook her head at Andrea, who sighed in relief when Olivia stopped her assault of questions.
“I think I have to go home now.” Olivia stood up from the blanket as she watched Lisa and Mr. Hanning get up as well.
“I can walk you home.” Andrea offered since she couldn’t drive the girl home even if she wanted to. Olivia frowned before she looked back at the parking lot where Mr. Hanning’s car was.
“Your car’s literally right there.”
Lisa muffled her laughter as Andrea stumbled over her words. “It’s—it’s just that I don’t want to drive, and the weather’s so nice. Plus, your house is near here so we can just walk.”
And once again, Andrea had dug herself a grave.
“How do you know my house is near?”
Michael slapped his forehead again, and was pretty sure his fragile daughter’s forehead must’ve been red by now.
“Uh… if you walked here, it must be near, right?”
Olivia frowned at the man as she nodded her head reluctantly.
“You don’t have to walk me there though; I can go back myself. Thank you for the sandwich.”
Andrea nodded as she watched Olivia turn to leave. But before Olivia could walk a few steps away from Lisa and Andrea, she called out to her.
“Ms. Richards.”
It was as if Andrea had seen Olivia for the first time as she turned around to look back at the man.
Her hair moving with the movement of her head, as the slightly setting sun illuminated her skin. Andrea remembered something as she stared at Olivia in that moment.
“Olivia.”
“Yeah?” Olivia smiled as she turned back to look at Andrea who had called after her; she really didn’t like to watch the girl leave her.
Andrea had a lot to say, a lot that she wanted to tell the girl in front of her, but she just decided to smile and keep the important words to herself.
“Nothing, just take care of yourself while going home. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened to you.”
Andrea’s eyes widened as she looked at Olivia blush with wide eyes as well.
Andrea would’ve explained herself but couldn’t as Olivia ran away from them quickly.
“What just happened?” Lisa questioned as she looked at where Olivia had run off to with confusion.
Michael had come out of hiding and had watched the whole interaction. What he didn’t know was that Andrea had screwed everything up, and that Olivia was sure Mr. Hanning wasn’t Mr. Hanning at all.
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