LXXVII.                                 Heartbreak Weather

      Though her life had been going down the right track again, Odessa still attended therapy. It made her feel better. It cleared her mind of everything going on and she liked being able to tell her therapist about things going on in her life, something she never liked to do before. She sat on the brown couch with her legs crossed and she was smiling.

"Odessa, you're almost glowing." Addison observed with a proud smile and her notebook propped on her lap. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how are you feeling? One being worse and ten being best."

"I'd say an 8 or a 9," Odessa answered while still smiling. "Yeah, I've been feeling great. Everything's been really great."

"That's wonderful, Odessa." The therapist wrote down in her notebook. "And, uh, how are things going with your father?"

"It's being getting better," she answered with a small nod. Odessa leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, and she played with a piece of her curled blonde hair. "Yeah, it's not as awkward as it was before. I actually really like having him around." She said and smiled slightly.

Dr. Carmichael continued to look proud as she wrote down her notes. "And your eating, how's that been going for you? Are you still sticking to your meal plan?"

Odessa nodded again. "Yeah, of course. That's been going well, too. I almost forgot I had a problem with eating sometimes." She slipped out a chuckle but then immediately felt bad. "N-Not trying to dismiss it, or anything. It was a really awful time in my life. But I can definitely say it's been getting better."

Addison smiled. "As long as you're keeping yourself healthy. But it seems like everything's going well for you. Is there anything you'd like to share that I should know about?"

She debated on brining up what happened at the party. Her friends had been great about not brining it up which she was grateful. Odessa hadn't even better able to tell her parents, especially her father. She'd rather just forget about it. But this is what therapy's for, Odessa told herself, to unload what was happening to her. She learned that keeping it all bottled up wasn't healthy. "My friends and I went on a college tour last weekend. There was a party going on at one of them that we all went to."

"Oh yeah? How was that?"

Odessa chewed on her bottom lip. She paused messing with her hair. "Um. . ." She took a hesitant pause. "It was pretty fun for the most part, but. . .I, uh, got grabbed." She managed to get out and clenched her teeth.

She watched the therapist frown. "Grabbed?"

She nodded lightly. "Yeah, grabbed. Like, uh. . ." Odessa placed her hands on her clothed breasts and squeezed to demonstrate. She smiled with embarrassment. "It was scary, I'll admit."

"Of course it was. I'm so sorry that happened to you, Odessa."

She shrugged. "Believe me, I've gotten used to it. I grew boobs in, like, fifth grade. It kinda just happens now, y'know?"

Addison frowned again. "Sweetheart, that's not something you should normalize. Your body belongs to you, not anybody else."

Odessa stilled at that. Her lips turned downward and she went back to twirling her hair, trying to distract herself but it didn't work. Of course she understood the logic behind Dr. Carmichael's words. But she was a woman. Women were bound to always know the feeling of eggshells beneath their feet. Odessa remembered a time when she became mean. How she slowly, with time, turned into a wolf, into a snake, something cruel and inhuman. But that's not who she was. Odessa wasn't mean. She wasn't cruel. She was gentle, something looked down upon by others but really, it was the best thing about her. Her bloodied and cut knuckles were healed. She violently did she know the world but Odessa had survived it plenty of times.

Odessa couldn't remember the last went to a sleepover that wasn't at Hailey's house. Her and Sam used to have sleepovers all the time, mainly at the Larusso home. All of the girls would get together, which would go badly sometimes considering Hailey never liked Yasmine. But then when everything went downhill, Odessa stopped going to any of their houses. She either spent all of her time at her own home or Hailey and boy's houses.

So when Johnny called her and invited her to a sleepover at Devon's house (which she thought was creepy but she decided not to ask questions) Odessa was excited. So excited that she dragged Hailey with her. "I don't want to have a sleepover at a freshman's house."

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun." Odessa pleaded with her. They walked up to Devon's front door with their overnight bags slung over their shoulders. "Plus, think about the boys. They can all have a guys night."

Hailey rolled her eyes. "I was planning to have a night with Grayson doing face masks but noooo." She dramatized.

She chuckled. "You guys do that nearly every weekend. Your skin is perfect. You'll be fine."

The brunette grew a smirk and brushed her right cheek. "Thanks, I know."

Reaching the front door, Odessa knocked and after a couple minutes, the door swung open and Devon appeared with a wide smile on her face. "Oh my gosh, you actually came!" She squealed.

Hailey faked a smile while Odessa gave the younger girl a genuine one. "Thanks for having us, Devon. We're really excited."

"Come inside. Come inside! Everyone's already here!" Devon urged and motioned for them to come inside.

Hailey's eyes narrowed as she stepped inside the home. "Uhh, everyone?"

She led them to the basement and Odessa's eyebrows shot up when she saw Sam and Tory standing at the end of the staircase. "Tory, Sam, you're spending the night, too?"

Seeing the blonde man in the corner of the room, Hailey looked bewildered. "Johnny?"

Johnny broke out in a smile. "Hey hey, there you two are!"

"Dess, Hailey, I didn't know you were coming." Sam said when she looked over her shoulder.

"Odessa made me."

Odessa quickly hit her arm. She was more than shocked to see Tory there, seeing as how sleepovers weren't her thing. She looked around the decorated and very pink basement. "Wow, this looks like it'll be fun."

"Yes, it will be!" Devon said cheerfully and she came bouncing back with a box full of nail polishes in her arms. "I didn't know what color nail polish you guys like, so, I just got all of them."

Hailey began to look pleased. "Well, I already have my nails done but I could use a good pedicure."

"Wait, is this a slumber party?" Sam questioned, obviously had been lied to.

"I figured since all of you are friends now, we can have a girl's night."

Tory raised her eyebrows. "With you?"

Johnny casually shrugged. "Yeah, why not? It'll be fun. I bright cookies and tampons."

Hailey pulled a face. "I can think of a million different things that I'd rather be doing than this."

"We get it, Cooper. You'd rather be with your boyfriend."

She mocked him and Odessa rolled her eyes. "Come on guys, it'll be fun." She tried convincing them.

"Yeah, listen to blondie!" Johnny encouraged. He pointed behind him. "Go on, grab a sleeping bag. The Mr. T one's mine."

Sam and Tory reluctantly walked over to the rack. Odessa grabbed Hailey's arm and pulled her with her. "Cheer up, Cooper. Nobody's cute when they're pouting."

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Please, I'm cute no matter what." She said with a scoff and went to put her bag down.

Odessa playfully rolled her eyes. She went to Johnny's side. "You're telling me this was your idea?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

He scoffed. "No, of course not. It's was your mom's."

She hummed. "Yeah, that makes more sense."

Oliver was with Hawk in his basement, along with Grayson and Demetri. Grayson was upstairs getting snacks. "Hey, have any of you called Miguel and Robby? See if they wanna come over?" He asked and grunted after killing one of Hawk's zombies. "Ha!"

"Dammit!" Hawk nearly yelled.

"Uhh, I tried Miguel but he's not answering." Demetri answered, keeping his eyes trained on the tv.

Grayson's heavy footsteps trailed down the staircase. He had a large bowl of popcorn and several candy bars in his arms.

"Gray, call Robby and Miguel. Ask if they wanna come over." Oliver ordered. "Y'know, since all the ladies are occupied."

"Got it." Grayson sat all the snacks down and took out of his phone.

"I can't believe Dess got Hailey to agree to go to a sleepover at Devon's," Hawk said with a laugh. "Let's hope she doesn't try to kill any of them."

"Let's hope it doesn't turn into a Slumber Party Massacre," said Grayson. He pulled his phone away from his ear. "Rob's not answering."

"Where the hell are those guys?" Demetri thought out loud. He threw his controller on the ground. "Dammit, Oliver, we're on the same team!"

"Sorry, baby!" The red head exclaimed and killed the last of the zombies, which happened to be Hawk's. "Whoo!"

"I hate you so much." Hawk groaned and rolled his eyes.

Oliver stood up and started doing his victory dance. "Ha, ha, you can't compete with me!" He boasted and circle around Hawk. He wrapped his arm around Demetri's neck and pulled him in a chokehold as he fell on the couch.

"Ow, Ol! Let me go!" Demetri shouted, his voice muffled from his face being smushed in Oliver's chest.

Grayson tossed his phone on the couch. "Miguel's not answering either." He shoveled a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "Wonder where they are."

Hawk pulled a face. "Ew, don't spray your spit all over the couch." He said as he reached his hand in the popcorn bowl. He kicked his legs up. "Too bad Dess couldn't make it to training today."

Oliver finally released Demetri, his pale face now bright red, but the brunette kept his head on his chest. "Yeah, but she's been doing real good in therapy."

"Well." His boyfriend mumbled.

The red head waved his hand. "Whatever."

Hawk smiled softly. "That's good. I'm glad she is."

Grayson raised himself up. "Speaking of training. Where do we think the tournament's gonna be?" He asked and opened a Twix bar.

"Hopefully somewhere tropical so we can go to the beach after."

Demetri sat up and fixed his hair. "Orrr we'll be going somewhere more homogeneous the sport. Ooh, imagine Japan!"

The boys just stared at him. "I don't like you using words that involve the word homo, so no." Oliver declared, shaking his head.

"That's not–never mind." He gave up.

Grayson chuckled. "Gotta be somewhere cold, don't ya think? Or am I making that up?"

Hawk laughed. "You're definitely just making that up. I'm saying Europe." He decided.

Oliver shook his head. "I'm saying Hawaii."

"Clearly there's a divide here," Demetri pointed out, literally pointing his finger upwards. "So, should we place bets?"

His boyfriend's eyebrows lifted. "You want to place bets?"

"No need to say it so incredulity."

Grayson pulled a face. "What?"

Demetri just waved his hand. "Whatever. So, what do you say?" He asked and looked at all of them.

The group of boys shared the same look. "Yeah, I'm down." Hawk agreed.

Oliver sat up straight. "Alright, Gray, where do you say?"

The brunette pursed his lips. "Uhhh. . .I guess I'll side with Hawk. I say Europe. Monaco, to be exact." Grayson settled.

"And I'll side with Oliver even though I still thinking Japan," said Demetri.

"Okay then. What happens if we lose?" Asked Hawk.

"Gotta be something good," said Oliver. After a minute of thinking, he smirked. "Alright, I got mine."

They all looked his way.

"If D and I win, Hawk, then you and Gray have to dye your hair the American flag."

"What?" Grayson exclaimed while Hawk just laughed, "that's so stupid." The brunette shook his head. "Do you see my hair? You know how long it took me to get my curls just right? I'm not wrecking that!"

"You can always back down." Demetri suggested and Oliver smirked, knowing Grayson never backed down from a challenge.

Grayson narrowed his eyes. He quickly looked at Hawk, him just shrugging, and then he groaned. "Fine." He grumbled.

"What's our poison?" The red head asked.

Oliver watched Grayson lean close to Hawk and cover his mouth. The boyfriend's side eyed each other. Hawk smirked. "Alright," he said when Grayson pulled away from his ear. "If Gray and I win, you and Demetri have to get tattoos."

"Nope, I'm out." Demetri immediately said and stood from the couch.

Oliver grabbed his hand and yanked him back down. "Just think about it, Metri—"

"I am not getting a tattoo!" He argued.

"I'm not dyeing my hair." Grayson matched his tone.

"You can use temporary dye. Tattoos are forever!"

"We can get matching tattoos." Oliver suggested.

Demetri looked at him like he was insane. "No! It's not happening!" His voice went up.

Odessa sat beside Sam on the couch, careful not to mess up her pink nail polish and toes. Sam's were painted blue. "Are you having fun?" She asked with a small smile.

"Uh, yeah. It's just kinda weird with Johnny being here." Sam answered, smiling back.

"Yeah, true. At least he's trying though." She thought positively. Odessa smiled again. "Remember our last sleepover together?"

She watched Sam chuckle. "Yes, oh my gosh. We made Anthony believe there was a ghost in the house." They bursted out laughing. "But it was just us leaving phone cups under his bed."

Odessa was laughing so hard her face turned red. "He had to sleep with your mom and dad for almost a month."

Sam giggled again. "That was great. I miss those times."

The blonde smiled softly. "Yeah, so do I."

There was a small silence between them. Sam looked down at her painted nails, seemingly in thought. "I'm really, really happy that you forgave me for everything that went down." She looked at her again. "I felt so terrible."

Odessa titled her head. "We both fell for Yasmine's shit."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but what she did to you was terrible and I stayed friends with her. I didn't deserve your forgiveness."

"Everybody deserves forgiveness, Samantha. I'd never be happy again if I didn't learn how to forgive," she spoke gently. Odessa turned her head and saw Tory on her phone, most likely texting Robby. "Just like Tory, y'know? Forgiveness isn't just about making yourself feel better. It's also about helping the other person be able to forgive themselves."

There was another few seconds of silence and then Sam slowly smiled. "Wise words, Beaumont. Wise words." She stated and they laughed again.