Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 75

Chapter 75

OLLIE

I was sitting on my bedroom floor, and I was surrounded by my toy trucks and building blocks, but I wasn’t really playing with them.

Instead, I kept thinking about Riley and how quiet he’d gotten when his mama came to pick him up. The way he acted was strange. He had reverted to

almost how he behaved when he was with his mum. The way he’d walked behind her with his head down, like he was trying to make himself invisible, or

hide himself from something reminded me of something important but I couldn’t figure out what.

My blocks were supposed to be a castle, but they just looked like a messy pile at the moment. It had no shape and I was not having any inspiration to

even work on them.

I’d been trying to build something cool to show Riley the next time he came over, but every time I started, I kept wondering if there would be a next

time. Or if this was a one in a lifetime thing.

His mama had that look in her eyes when Mama suggested another sleepover, like she didn’t want Riley to come back here at all.

I picked up one of my toy trucks and rolled it back and forth across the carpet, making quiet engine noises under my breath. Usually, playing with my trucks made me feel better, but today it just made me miss Riley more.

He’d been so excited about the big red fire truck, and he’d been so careful with all my toys, like he was afraid he might break them.

“Ollie?” Mama’s voice came from my doorway, and I looked up to see her leaning against the frame with a concerned expression on her face. She seemed

to search my face for something but I don’t know what.

“You’ve been pretty quiet since Riley left. Everything okay, sweetheart?”

I forced a smile on my face as I didn’t want to worry her with unnecessary things and nodded my head. “Yeah, Mama. Everything’s fine.”

But Mama had that special look she got when she knew I wasn’t telling her the whole truth about something. Taking a deep breath, she came into my room and sat down on the floor next to me, crossing her legs like she was sitting in for a real conversation.

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” she said gently, reaching over to smooth down my hair, from my face as she continued speaking.

‘If something’s bothering you, I want to help.

I stared down at the truck in my hands, rolling it back and forth between my palms. Part of me wanted to tell her everything I was feeling, but I wasn’t

sure how to put it into words that would make sense. It felt stupid telling Mama that I wanted Riley to come back and stay with us forever. But he didn’t

look happy with his mama. Or maybe I was just self projecting. He really was quiet all through even without his mama around.

“It’s nothing, Mama,” I said quietly.

“Ollie.” Her voice was soft but firm as she touched me gently. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

I sighed and looked up at her. Mama’s eyes were fixed on mine as she looked warm and patient, the way they always were when she was waiting for me

to work through something difficult.

“I didn’t like it when Sophia took Riley away,” I said finally, the words coming out in a rush, like was afraid I would lose my nerve and stop talking.

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“She came in and he got all scared and quiet, and then she made him leave, and I wanted him to stay longer. I want him to come back.”

Mama nodded thoughtfully. “It’s okay to feel sad when a friend leaves after a sleepover, honey. That just means you really enjoyed spending time with him and that you care about him. And you’ll see him again at school tomorrow.”

“But that’s different,” I said, frustrated that she didn’t understand what I was feeling at the moment. “At school there will be other kids and teachers and

we’ll have to do school stuff. Here, we could just play and talk and be friends without anyone else around us.”

“You two did seem to have a really good time together,” Mama agreed. “And I’m sure Riley enjoyed it too.”

I shook my head, thinking about the look on Riley’s face when his mama called for him. “I don’t think Riley was happy about going home.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them, and I saw Mama’s expression change to that of confusion as she looked at me. Her eyebrows drew

together, and she leaned forward slightly.

‘What do you mean by that, Ollie?”

Suddenly, I felt like I’d said something wrong, even though I wasn’t sure what. Riley had asked me not to tell anyone about some things, and I’d promised I wouldn’t. But I hadn’t told anyone anything specific, had I?

“I just mean…” I started, then stopped, trying to think of how to explain without breaking my promise to Riley. “I just mean he seemed sad to leave. Like he wanted to stay longer too.”

Mama studied my face for a moment, and I could tell she wanted to ask more questions.

But before she could, I heard Daddy’s voice in the hallway.

Lumina? Ollie?” he called out. “I’ve got Grandma Silvia on the phone. She wants to talk to Ollie.”

My face lit up immediately. I loved talking to Grandma and Grandpa Samuel. They always made me feel special and important, and they asked me about everything I was doing like they really cared about the answers. Although I didn’t like seeing them often cause they don’t really like my mama and I was torn between if I should like them or ignore them but Mama told me that adults business were different from children business and it was okay to feel

happy whenever Grandmama and Grandpa wanted to talk to me.

Daddy appeared in my doorway, holding his phone out to me. “Here you go, buddy. They want to hear all about your sleepover.”

I scrambled to my feet and took the phone, pressing it to my ear. “Hi, Grandma!”

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