Chapter 1
At Joseph's house, Rachel was busy in the kitchen making dinner. She made macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and sauce, spicy meatballs, vegetable salad and banana tart for dessert.
She got some help from Joseph, who was really excited about having Olivia and her parents over for dinner. He couldn't wait to be friends with Olivia.
'They might end up being best friends.' he thought to himself.
"Baby?" Rachel called, drawing Joseph's attention.
"It seems you really like Olivia?" she asked.
"Yes mom. She's pretty and I'm so happy to have a new friend... She looks quite shy, but I'll try to make her feel more comfortable around me." he replied.
"Mom?" Joseph continued
"Jordan doesn't like Olivia."
"Why do you say so?" Rachel asked her son.
"She waved at him earlier today but he ignored her."
"Oh sweetie, don't come to such conclusions. Maybe, Jordan didn't see her wave or maybe he wasn't in the mood... You know he has his days." Rachel told her son.
Joseph just shrugged at his mom's reply.
After they were done making dinner, Rachel went upstairs to change into something more appropriate.
Joseph went to the living room to join Jordan who was watching TV.
"Jordan, why didn't you wave back at Olivia earlier today?" Joseph questioned his twin, obstructing his view from the TV.
"Get out of my way, Joseph. I'm trying to watch my favorite cartoon."
"Not until you answer my question."
Jordan stood up and was about to walk out of the living room, but was stopped by Joseph's voice.
"Olivia is a nice girl."
"Yeah, right... Can't you see Joseph? she's a fake. She's only going to come between us." Jordan angrily said to his brother.
"How can you even say that when you don't know her?"
"You know what?..Forget it." Jordan replied and went upstairs to his bedroom, leaving Joseph confused.
Jordan slammed his bedroom door, before going to sit on his bed. He couldn't believe his brother, Joseph was blind not to see that this Olivia of a girl was only going to come between them, getting Joseph's complete attention all to herself.
Thirty minutes later, Rachel heard a knock on the door while placing the juice on the dinning table.
"Honey, could you please get the door?" she kindly said to her husband.
Rachel's husband went to get the door and welcomed Olivia and her parents.
"Hi, I'm George, Rachel's husband. You must be our new neighbors, it's nice to meet you." George said, showing them to the living room.
"Make yourselves comfortable."
Olivia's parents sat on the couch in the living room and talked with George for a while.
Rachel then came out of the kitchen to greet them.
"Well, hello there. You came right on time." she teased
"Hello Rachel. This is my husband, Henry."
"It's nice to meet you, Henry. I'm Rachel and this is my family's humble home. You're welcome here anytime."
"Thanks Rachel. It's also a pleasure to meet my wife's newest friend."
"I'm flattered. Well, hello beautiful. How are you?" Rachel turned to Olivia and said.
Olivia shyly smiled and replied,
"I'm fine."
"She's really beautiful. I always wanted to have a girl but after having these two, I don't think I can handle another cos they're a handful." Rachel said pointing to Joseph and they all laughed.
"Where is Jordan, honey?" she asked Joseph.
"He's in his room."
"Can you be a sweet heart and go call him down. Let him know that our guests are here."
Joseph nodded and went upstairs to get his brother.
"Okay! I think we can now all go to the dinning table, so the food doesn't get cold." Rachel suggested and they all went to the dinning room to eat.
After dinner, Jennifer went to the kitchen with Rachel to help her with the dishes. Henry and George were still at the dinning table, talking about politics and sports, While the kids, Jordan, Joseph and Olivia were in the living room, sitting on the couch.
"So Olivia, what city were you and your parents living before coming here?" Joseph asked.
"We used to live in Boston." she quietly replied.
"Why did your parents decide to move here?" Joseph continued.
"My dad got transferred to a new hospital here."
"Oh... Did you have any friends back in Boston?"
"Yes, three of them."
"I guess you're missing them right now?"
Olivia nodded to Joseph's question because she was already shy from answering all his questions.
Olivia wasn't at all comfortable with
the way Jordan was staring angrily at her.
"Don't worry, from now on, Jordan and I will be your new friends." Joseph convincingly said, hoping that what he said would make Olivia feel better and more relaxed around him because he honestly wanted to be close friends with her.
"Count me out, Joseph." Jordan said, still angrily staring at Olivia who had her head bent low in order to avoid his gaze.
"I can never be friends with her."
As soon as does words came out of his mouth, a tear rolled down Olivia's eyes. She wondered what she must've done to Jordan to make him dislike her.