I Know How You Feel

“Romeo?” a female voice called as we walked in, “Is that you?”

“Yes, Missus Johnston,” he called back.

We walked down a hallway and it opened up to a kitchen. There Mrs. Johnston was feeding Kara in a highchair. She looked over at me and recognized me right away.

“Olivia! How are you?”

“I’m doing fine, Miss Johnston,” I answered cheerfully, “How are you?”

“Oh I’m-,” she began.

“Momma,” Kara whined. Mrs. Johnston fed her more food and lost her train of thought.

“Where is Steve? He was supposed to be back an hour ago… I swear I’m gonna fucking kill him if he’s at that bar again. God dammit! I bet that’s where he is. We can’t afford his daily outings. I’m going to have to call him.”

Ms. Johnston pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and began dialing.

“You guys hungry? I can make PB&J,” she asked while the phone rang.

Romeo looked at me. I shook my head.

“No, we are fine, Missus Johnston,” Romeo answered. He turned and ran up stairs motioning me to follow. I hesitated but followed him. On their second floor was a T.V. room with beanbag chairs and a big television, a really big television.

“Wow,” I gasped, “That’s huge.”

“Yes, Mister Johnston loves to play video games,” Romeo said. He pressed a button on a remote and the screen came on. “Have you ever played a Wii?”

“Once at Sam’s house. I’m horrible at it though. My parents both agree that gaming electronics are a waste of time and space so I don’t have one at home.”

“Well, Mister Johnston lets me play whenever he’s gone. I have gotten pretty good,” Romeo mumbled.

He handed me a controller and sat down on one of the bean bag chairs. A racing game came up and he turned the controller sideways. I mimicked him and we began playing. After a few races I started winning instead of falling off the tracks.

“Wow, you are good,” he exclaimed after my character did a victory dance.

“Thanks,” I said. “That was actually pretty fun. Maybe I should try and convince my mom to get one.”

“Or you could come over whenever you want to play,” he suggested.

“Or that,” I said looking over at him.

He smiled and I found my cheeks getting hot. Our faces were close and his color turned a deep pink.

“I suoi occhi sono verdi. Che bella.”

I blushed deeper and I was sure my face matched the color of his feelings. His words seem deep and passionate. Like love. If only I knew what they meant.

I turned my head and got up. My legs wobbled a little and I stepped back to get my balance.

“What should we do next?”

Then my brain clicked. Wait, if pink meant love then Richard was in love! I decided to find out who the next time I saw him, which considering our moms were best friends, would be tonight.

“What do you do when you are at home?” he asked curiously.

“Mostly I play my guitar and sleep,” I said.

“Oh, I play piano,” he said mimicking playing the keys with his hands.

“I play that too but my dad shoved ours in the basement,” I grumbled. Romeo got up and I looked at him with a confused expression.

“Follow me,” he said. I got up and walked to the very end of the hall and Romeo opened a door. Inside were three fenders, two deans, a Les Paul and a baby grand piano. “This is Mister Johnston’s music room.”

“Wha-- What?” I gasped.

The guitars were gorgeous. I wanted to pick one up and play it but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I’ve wanted a Les Paul since I saw one on T.V. in the hands of a famous rocker.

“Mr. Johnston is an accountant.”

“He’s a single artist as well,” Romeo said pulling out the seat of the piano.

“You mean solo artist? I didn’t even know he could play,” I said, still staring at the Les Paul in awe.

“Oh, yes, and he is very good. His band fell apart and now he does accountant work and sings as a hobby,” Romeo explained.

He sat down at the piano and plucked at the keys. He began playing a soft melody and added a harmony with his left hand. I listened while trying to get up the courage to touch one of the guitars. The silver fender had my name written on it. I walked up to it and slid my hand across the strings. It made a muted, but beautiful, sound. I realized it was a Fender Jaguar. I saw one at a guitar store once. It was over a thousand dollars.

“These must have cost a fortune,” I said.

When Romeo didn’t reply, I listened to the music play. It was a very light and happy tune. I wondered if he had made it up. I heard him singing in his thoughts and I began to hum along unknowingly.

“Io sto all’entrata,

Aspettando che lei capisca(realizzi)

Che con i suoi profondi occhi verdi,”

The words were in Italian and I couldn’t understand a word of it but I knew it was a love song. I wondered why he wasn’t singing the words. The song ended on a sour note.

“I still haven’t figured out the right chord for that,” he mumbled. I clapped and he turned around.

“That was wonderful, amazing, really,” I cheered.

“Grazie,” he smiled shyly.

I decided to head back and when I got home my mom was there making food. I looked at the clock and realized it was already five. I sat at the counter wondering where the time went.

The next day, I went bike riding since the weather was warmer. Romeo was sitting outside on his front porch. I smiled and waved. Being a bit uncoordinated on a bike, the movement wasn’t exactly a smart idea. I lost my balance and fell into the grass on my front lawn. I jumped up quickly and smiled sheepishly. “I’m okay!”

“Ciao, Olivia!” he called his voice full of humor.

“Ciao,” I said weakly, cheeks going hot with embarrassment.

“Do you want to come over for dinner?” he asked.

“Uh, sure! What are we having?”

“I’m helping Missus Johnston make meatballs and marinara,” he called.

“Delizioso,” I yelled.

I could see a smile on his face. I ran to go ask my mom and after her cautiously answering yes, I ran over there. We ate dinner and I drowned out the Johnston’s family troubles by singing Romeo’s song in my head. I was surprised I memorized it so fast even though I shouldn’t have been.

We went up to the music room again and I finally got the nerve up to play a guitar after Mr. Johnston told me it was okay. I ran my hand down the neck of the guitar while Romeo played his song again.

“Are there any words for it?” I asked casually.

“Hm?” he asked stopping the song.

“Lyrics for the song?”

“Ah, no,” he lied.

“Oh,” I mumbled.

I began to play a few chords and Romeo went back to plucking keys on the piano. It kind of irritated me that he lied but I let it go. He’s not the first person that’s lied to me. He’s just the first person to lie to me when I turned telepathic. I didn’t know, before my curse, until the person admitted it to me. Now I was going to have to pretend I didn’t know, and I suck at acting.

I went home early and sat up in my room. My mom came up to say goodnight and I decided to ask her about what Romeo thought.

“Mom?” I called as she walked out the door.

“What does ‘I suoi occhi sono verdi. Che bella,’ mean in English?”

“Her eyes are green. How beautiful,” she smirked, “Have you been looking at your old baby scrapbook?”

“Yeah,” I blushed, “I love you.”

“I love you too, la mia bambina.” She kissed my forehead and left the room.

I stared up at the ceiling. Romeo thought my eyes were beautiful. I smiled but then a lump rose in my throat. What about Sam? Weren’t they going to the dance together? He should think her eyes are beautiful and ask her to come over for dinner. He should like her not me. All these thoughts ran through my head as I fell asleep.

“Romeo? Where are we going?” I asked as he pulled me around the backstage of the auditorium.

My bare feet padded against the cold black floor. Music was playing loudly from the band. We stopped at a dark part of the room and I couldn’t see anything. I felt a warm hand stroke my cheek and my heart skipped a beat. The lighting changed on the stage and his face was dimly lit.

“What-t are you doing?” I stuttered. His hand on my cheek felt like a thousand prickles but not painful.

He opened his mouth to speak—

“Olivia!” my dad yelled from downstairs, “Are you up?”

“I am now,” I thought with an annoyed expression.

“Yeah!” I yelled back.

I jumped out of bed and got dressed. While I was putting on my shoes I thought about my dream. I had never had a dream like that before. I thought about it awhile and realized I hadn’t had a dream since… the hospital.

That man. And then it came true.

It couldn’t be possible that this could come true. When was this anyway? Music was playing and the lights were on. The music sounded live.

The dance.

No, he wouldn’t. It was just a stupid dream. I only happened because I was thinking about it before I went to bed.

I nodded to myself and put on my other shoe. It wasn’t until I got in the car and we were half way there that I realized, Sam wasn’t going to talk to me. I probably scared her. And what would I do when I saw Misty?

I didn’t want to go to school. I debated telling my mom I was sick but she was a nurse. I wasn’t going to get away with it. I decided that I couldn’t avoid it. I kissed my mom goodbye and took a deep breath before entering the school. I let all the thoughts about Misty hit me.

Serves her right the bitch. Oh, I hope Misty gets better. Knew karma was gonna bite her in the ass one of these days.

She wasn’t back. I suddenly was being grabbed and pulled towards the Arts Building.

“Olivia! Come on! I finished the dresses. You have to see them,” Sam squeaked. She was busy thinking about getting me away from the people talking and thinking about Misty.

“Sam…” I started but she kept walking and I gladly followed. At least she was talking to me.

“For now,” said the pessimist in the back of my mind.

We walked to the Fashion and Interior Design room and she pulled a sheet off two dresses on mannequins.

They were gorgeous. The one I guessed to be mine was off the shoulders like a peasant blouse. The sleeves were made from a sheer material and were cinched off at the doll’s elbows with little black ribbons. There was an elastic band right below the bust and it clung tight to the body of the mannequin from there down to the knee. At the bottom was black flower embroidery. The whole thing was the aqua silky fabric I saw before and it was a masterpiece.

Sam’s dress had long flowy sleeves that had a slit cut all the way from the shoulder to the cuff. The pattern was a very big, bold yellow, and white flower print. The dress was cinched under the bust as well but with a simple black belt. The rest flowed down to the doll’s knees. I could imagine Sam wearing it and looking like a blonde goddess. Romeo would love it.

“Oh, my god,” I said, slowly emphasizing each word.

Sam smiled and glowed yellow. “You like it?”

“Like it? I love it!” I squeaked, “You are amazing!”

“Aw, thanks, Olivia,” Sam said blushing some. I gave her a light hug and sat down on a desk.

“Look Sam,” I started, “I’m sorry I went crazy like that. I mean, I was scared. I really don’t know what came over me I-,”

“Olivia,” she interrupted me, “like you said before. We’re like sisters. I’m here for you through thick and thin.”

I smiled and nodded my head. I hugged her again and mumbled, “Love ya, Sam,”

“Love you too.”