Should I do a Q&A for this book? I think it'd be pretty cool. You could ask me questions that you have on the characters or the story line and I can answer(unless it spoils future events). I'm just not sure I should since I don't know how many questions I'll get, I might get like one or two? Anyway, lets continue.
Ch. 14 We Both Have Daddy Issues
As I pass people in the hall, they're all whispering amongst themselves. The questions was, why?
Up ahead I see Kayla, Adam, Ross, and Lucas whispering to each other as well. I walk up to them and they still continue to talk.
"Alright, what's going on?" I ask, getting their attention. They look over at me. "You seriously don't know?" Ross asks, a bewildered expression on his face. I shake my head. "It's like you live under a rock..." Ross mutters, shaking his head in a disappointed manner.
Adam sighs, "It's about Oliver," Of course it is. "You know how he street fights, right?" Adam asks. My eyes widen and my jaw drops. "It's confirmed. She lives under a rock." Ross mumbles. He does WHAT?!
"Anyway, now that you know, he's having a fight with one of the best street fighters here. They call the guy 'The Reaper' which I personally think is kinda cliche but either way, he's badass." Adam continues.
No wonder Oliver has been acting strange lately. He's been stressed, going to the gym more, locking himself in his room, and ignoring his whole family, even me.
"He's never lost a fight before and people say that everyone he fights barely makes it out alive..." Lucas adds, sounding serious. "Iris, are you alright? Your face is pale." Kayla asks, worried. "I'm just peachy..." I mutter sarcastically.
"Yeah, it sounds bad but-" "He could die, that's worse than bad!" I shout, cutting off Lucas and getting the attention of everyone in the hallway. I just had to yell that out..
Suddenly, I'm being pulled by my hand by Ross to the janitors closet. Why do we always go here? We can't even all fit in there. "Smart move, Mitchell." Ross whispers sarcastically.
We squeeze our way into the closet and I'm pressed between Lucas and Ross who are trying to give me space. Thankfully, the janitor isn't in here this time. It's silent for a minute. "Am I the only one turned on by how close we all are?....." Lucas whispers. We all take a step away from him.
"Anyway....aren't you supposed to live with Oliver? How did you not know?" Ross asks. Lately, it doesn't feel like it. One night, we were actually bonding and getting to know each other better, then it's like I don't exist..
"Iris!" Kayla calls out to me, getting my attention. "Hm?" I hum, still not focused much. "Did you hear what Adam said?" She asks, a worried look still on her face. I shake my head to get rid of the rest of my thoughts. "No, sorry, I was just thinking." I tell them, sighing softly.
"Clearly," Adam chuckles, "Well I said, Oliver may seem like he's in a bad position but he's been training so long and hard. He's even waited for this fight to happen." Adam repeats, his arm around Kayla.
"Does he have a death wish or something?" I shake my head. "Oliver doesn't-" Lucas pauses, rewording his sentence, "Oliver isn't the kind of person to back down, so even trying to talk to him would be a waste of time." Lucas says, sighing. I need to try. "Where's Oliver right now?" I ask, determined. "Try the football field, if he's not there, try the principles office." Ross answers, shrugging. The football field? I nod, readjusting my book bag on my shoulder and opening the janitor door.
As I step out, I hear Kayla tell the group, "She likes him." "I do not!" I shout back and hurry away, hiding my flustered face from their view.
I make my way to the football field. I look around but I don't see Oliver. Of course he's in the principles office, what else would he be doing?
"Heads up!"
As soon as I look over, I get hit in the head with a football which sends me falling back. My vision is a bit blurry and my head is pounding but I can still hear someone shout, "Oh shit!" Then someone is running in my direction.
"Are you alright?" They ask as soon as they get closer. "I just got hit in the head with a football, what do you think?" My vision clears up and I see who the person is. Terrence Mccoy. I quickly sit up. "Y-yeah I'm fine, sorry about that time before, I just-"
"Iris, holy shit! Are you okay?! Why are you even out here?!" We hear Oliver's voice shout as he runs over. "Well, I was looking for you." I tell him as he gets closer.
Terrence and Oliver both offer me a hand, they glance at each other and Oliver lets his hand fall back to his side. "Awkward...." I mutter. I give my hand to Terrence and he helps me up. "I'm so sorry about that. I didn't see you there and just threw the ball-" I stop him before he can continue, "It's fine, don't worry about it." I tell him, smiling a bit. We both smile, looking into each other's eyes.
Oliver clears his throat, causing us to break eye contact and look at him. "You were going to tell me something?" Oliver reminds me, raising an eyebrow. "Oh right! Uh, see you around Terrence." I say quickly, grabbing Oliver by the arm and pulling him away.
We walk towards the bleachers where no one was. "Alright, what's up?" Oliver asks. I take a deep breath, "What the heck is your problem?!" He raises an eyebrow, "Street fighting?! 'The Reaper'?! How did I not know about this? Why didn't anybody, or at least you, tell me?!" I let it all out, my eyebrows furrowing.
Oliver sighs, "I only started street fighting for the money, then it became a habit. 'The Reaper' is just a name, no big deal. And I thought you knew about it, everyone does." Oliver calmly answers all of my questions.
"Well obviously not!" Oliver watches as I pace back and forth, "Wait, wait, wait- why'd you start street fighting again?" I ask, turning to look at him. "For the money..." He repeats. "Why'd you need the money?" I interrogate, walking closer to him. He sighs, "Can we not talk about this now?" He pleads, sounding desperate. "I- alright, fine. I deserve an explanation in the car though." I demand.
"Shit..." Oliver mumbles. I frown, "Oliver, I thought we promised we'd be better friends. We made-" "A pinkie promise because they're sacred, I know." He finishes my sentence, running a hand through his hair.
Before I could say anything else, Terrence walks over. "Uh, Oliver?" He stops when he sees that I'm still here, "Oh sorry, I thought you were done but I can come back-" "No, it's alright, I'll be over there soon." Oliver tells him. Terrence looks between me and Oliver then nods before walking away.
I look back at Oliver who is already staring at me. He quickly shakes his head and looks down. "It's all very complicated but I'll explain it all to you later." He says, sighing softly. He ruffles my hair and walks back over to Terrence. He's so secretive....does he not trust me?
*************
As soon as Oliver sat down in the drivers seat, I stared at him expectantly. He glances at me as he slowly puts on his seatbelt. "I was hoping you forgot.." He mumbles, sighing. "Hah, puh-lease, it was all I could think about all day." I tell him.
He shakes his head and turns on the engine as I wait for him to say something. He looks over at me and stares, waiting for me to do something. "Ahem..." he points to his seatbelt, "Buckle your safety." He reminds me. I realize he's stalling but I put on my seatbelt anyway. "Thank you." He mutters, then backs out of the parking space and drives away from the school.
Oliver is silent again and I stare at him, not letting this go easily. Oliver doesn't have to glance at me to know I'm staring, his brows crease as he tries to concentrate on driving. We stop at a red light when he finally gets annoyed with me and groans, looking over at me. "If I tell you, you'll stop staring at me like that, right?" He asks. I smile and firmly nod my head.
We hold eye contact for a while until a car honks behind us since we didn't realize the light turned green. Oliver rolled down his window just a bit when I realized what he was about to do.
"Oliver, no."
"Oliver, yes."
He flips off the car behind us as he quickly drives away. "You idiot." I say, shaking my head. "Thank you." He responds sarcastically, rolling up his window.
"Sooo?..." I say as if to remind him.
"Right, right.." Oliver waits a moment before continuing, "I needed the money to help my mom. I used to take MMA and sometimes my uncle would teach me a few things about kickboxing and all that other stuff. The only reason I chose street fighting is because of the money people would bet. I was planning on just earning enough money for a month or two and eventually stop, but that's not what happened. I became a champ on the streets, other street fighters challenged me to claim my 'title' and failed." He explains.
"Why didn't you fail purposely?" I ask. He sighs, "I would've but I guess I liked being the 'champ' and that everyone feared me.." Oliver trails off, his hands gripping a bit tighter on the steering wheel. "Being feared by everyone? Didn't you feel like an outcast?" I ask, staring at him intently. "Yeah, you could say that..but it never bothered me." He chuckles softly after a moment of silence, "My mom was pissed when she found out."
"And your dad?.." I realize how stupid I am now that I even mentioned his father, it was obvious. He tenses up, "Iris, why do you think I helped my mom earn money?" He pauses, "My dad left us and my mom had a part time job. It was hard for her to pay bills, feed two kids and herself, and have to look for a full time job." He explains. The car comes to a stop and I realize we're home. "Oliver..I'm sorry I didn't realize, I should've known-"
"You have no reason to be sorry, it wasn't your fault." He grabs his book bag from the back seat and silently leaves the car.
"Looks like we both have daddy issues..." I murmur, lying back in the seat. From inside the car, I can hear the slamming of Oliver's bedroom door.
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Heyooo! How was your day? cAUSE MINE SUCKED ASS! I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND WHY MY FRIEND WAS IN A PISSY MOOD AND IGNORING ME AND MY OTHER FRIENDS! But anyway, I hope you all had a good day. And of course, if you enjoyed this chapter please like, comment, and leave feedback! Thanks! Bye bye!
~FT💖