September-

Sean just started college and Olivia was starting her junior year of high school. Sadly, the summer was over. It was weird for Olivia to drive to school alone with out her brother. The house felt a bit empty and quite without Sean. Everyone felt it. He called everyday to catch up with everything. That was refreshing but it wasn't doing it. Everyone missed him terribly.

One day after school Olivia drove home. Sam was down at White House and Jessica was at work so it was just her. She decided to do her homework and go out to the barn to take care of Mona.

She changed out of her nice clothes and slid on some jeans and a t-shirt with boots.

As she was walking out to the barn she saw one of Sam's workers. He worked in the barn mostly, taking care of the animals and cleaning stalls. His name was Cody. He was Olivia's age. He was one of Sam's close friend's son. Olivia and him were friendly towards each other and knew each other well, but things were a bit awkward when they were alone. They had spent the whole summer together ever since Olivia moved to Sam's. So there relationship was slowly changing. But they both didn't know it yet.

"Hey" He says as he pours fresh water into the horses bowl.

"Hi" She smiles as she goes to pet the horses

"Long day at school?" He asks looking into her sleepy eyes

"Ehh, Yeah. It's weird being back in school. It still feels like summer." She giggles

"I guess the perks of homeschooling is having your own schedule. It's always summer." He shrugs his shoulders.

"I guess so, but what about sports or friends?"

"I mean I have friends. You're my friend. A really good one too." He says

Olivia's face blushes. She didn't know why. She could feel her heart racing. She turned away and cleared her throat.

"Yeah..."

"Are you taking Mona out?" He asks

Olivia nods

"Let me help you saddle her up." He says walking towards the tack box.

Olivia opens the stall and leads her horse out.

Cody comes over and throws the heaving saddle over Mona. They both begin to strap her in. Once they are done he takes her hand to help her up onto the horse.

"Thanks, Cody." She smiles

"Hey, Anytime. Be careful."

Olivia sat there for a moment then stopped Cody from going back to work.

"Cody, want to join?" She asks

"Umm, i don't know. Mr. Shepard, he might get mad."

Olivia shrugs her shoulders "Saddle up Max." She says

//-//

Cody and Olivia went through the trail not to far from Sam's house. They were gone for a few hours. Olivia had a lot of fun. Cody, he was a good kid. In a way she had a crush on him. He had a crush on her too but they didn't know that they had a liking for each other.

Around dinner time Olivia and Cody came back from the trail laughing. While they were gone they were really able to get to know each other more.

Sam was waiting for them in the barn. Olivia got nervous when she saw Sam standing there with his arms crossed.

"Hey Sam!" She says nervously

Cody quickly gets off the horse.

"Cody. I didn't think your job was fooling around." Sam says sternly

"Mr. Shepard, I'm sorry I was just taking max out." He says nervously

Sam chuckles and puts his arm around Cody's neck. "Hey, you're okay! I just wanted to scare you." He chuckles

Olivia let's out a deep breath and gets off her horse.

"Did you guys have fun?" He asks

"Yeah, we took the trail to that creek you showed me. We hung out there for a bit." She smiles

Sam didn't suspect anything, unlike Jessica who would. But, there was nothing to suspect. Sam knew they were friends.

"Fun. Your mother is home, dinner is ready. Why don't you go inside and I'll meet you in there."

"Okay!
Bye Cody, I'll see you later." She smiles

Cody waves and gives her a soft smile. "See ya"

Olivia left and Sam took the horse.

"Wanna help me with these?" He says unstrapping the saddle

"Sure, Mr. Shepard. I'm sorry again. I'll stay extra hours tomorrow."

"No need, Cody. You deserved a break. I'm always working you." Sam chuckles

Cody gives him an awkward smile. "Olivia, she's really nice." He says suddenly

Sam shakes his head. "She's just like her mother."

"Heh, Miss Lange is pretty nice too."

"Yep."

"... you know what, Cody. Give me a day you're free and we'll make an extra seat at the dinner table, Okay?"

"That would be great, thank you." He says

"Anytime. Now get home." Sam chuckles

//-//

Jessica, Sam, and Olivia all sat at the dinner table talking about their day.

"How was your ride today?" Jessica asks Olivia

Olivia nods her head. "Fun. I went on the trails."

Jessica smiles "You know, id rather you not be alone next time. Incase anything happens. I don't trust those horses. But I'm glad it was fun."

Sam clears his throat. "She wasn't alone, Cody was with her."

Olivia widened her eyes. She wasn't trying to keep secrets from Jessica, it's just that her mother always over thinks when it comes to her and boys.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, I knew you wouldn't want me to go alone." She bluffs

"Well, that's good. He's a good kid." She says surprisingly

"He is..." Olivia says to herself

"Liv, he thinks you're nice." Sam says in a funny tone

Olivia rolls her eyes. "Well I'd hope he doesn't think I'm mean." She giggles awkwardly

"Aww, I wonder if he has a crush on you!" Sam says in a girly tone

"How does him thinking I'm nice translate into him having a crush on me?"

"I don't know... he's always hanging around you at the barn. Just be careful, okay Liv?" Jessica says

"We are friends."

"Mhm..." Jessica giggles

"Ugh!" Olivia whines

"If you're friends it won't be a problem if I invited him to dinner?" Sam says

Olivia hid her emotions and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't care."

"Great!" Sam says

"Sam..." Jessica whispers

"What? It's fine, he's a family friend."

//-//

That night Olivia sat alone in her room. It had been late but for some reason she couldn't stop thinking about her day with Cody. They both had so much fun, she missed it. She wanted to do it again. Cody was different from other boys. He was quite, funny, and really did care about getting to know Olivia. But there was something about him, Olivia just couldn't put her finger on it.

As she was changing into her pj's she found a little slip of paper that he had given her. It had his number on it.

She held it in her hand then decided to text him.

Hey, Cody. It's me, Liv.

....

Hey, I didn't think you'd ever text me.

....

I just wanted to say I had lots of fun. Thanks.

....

I did too. We will do it again.

//-//

🔽🔽
Hey everyone, I wanted to focus on Olivia a bit... I'm a little dry when it comes to ideas for this so bare with me.

I'm debating which story to focus on more, comment which one you want me to update next!