Chapter 12: Oblivious Ollie
Living in Spruceworth with my dad meant I wouldn't have to worry too much about my mom trying to control my life. At least, that was what I hoped.
That wasn't the case at all.
It was for a while and I was a bit surprised Mom hadn't found her way to interfere with my life but I didn't complain. I'd rather choose my own path, my own life.
So when my mom sent me a bunch of texts, each one linking to a music academy, I wasn't happy. I told her I didn't want to go to any other music academy. I told her I was happy here. It didn't matter if I really wasn't challenging my musical abilities.
I mean, did I really have to? I felt like if I went to any other music academy I didn't feel up to going, it would only make me like the piano less and less. I wanted to play it because I loved to, not because I felt the responsibility to.
Too bad my mom didn't really understand that and now, she just brought my mood down, especially when she sent one final text saying, Start looking at these to see which one you want to attend next year.
I didn't even bother replying to her. There was no point when she clearly didn't listen to me in the first place.
Unfortunately, I did what I always did whenever I had anger inside of me, except I drank a lot more than I normally did. A lot more.
Huge mistake but I already came up with the conclusion that my life was going to be filled with mistakes.
At least this time, it was on the weekend and not when I had to go to school. Dad was also out right now so I was home alone, free to drink as much as I want without anyone around to worry me.
Even though the house was empty, I stayed in my bedroom the whole time. I didn't feel like going anywhere else; just in my bed, drowning my sorrows with a bottle of alcohol.
When I finished the bottle, I put it back under my bed so Dad wouldn't find it with the recyclables. I may make a lot of mistakes but I wasn't stupid enough to make it easy for Dad to catch me drinking. I had gone months without either of my parents knowing and I wasn't going to start now.
I was just watching TV while lying on my bed when I heard the front door open before my Dad called, "Ollie?! Are you home?!"
I sighed and got off the bed, carefully walking over to my bedroom door. I opened it slowly and peeked my head out. "Yeah. Why?"
That was when Mom walked inside after Dad. Great. I couldn't have chosen a better time to drink.
"Because I want to talk to you about something," Mom said once she saw me. "Come on, we'll go talk in the living room."
I hesitated a bit, trying to find a way out of this because if I spent a lot of time talking to my parents and being around them right now, they would for sure figure out what was going on and I couldn't risk that happening. Mom would only use it as an excuse to try to and get me to live with her again.
My wants wouldn't be a priority anymore. She would only see a sixteen year old drinking without his dad knowing, even though I did start drinking other Mom's care. She wouldn't believe me knowing her, though. There wasn't proof. She would only think I was saying it to stay with Dad.
"Well?" Mom said because I hadn't moved yet. "Are you going to leave your room or not?"
"What about?" I asked.
"What?" Mom asked.
"What do you want to talk about?" I asked.
"Did you read my texts?" Mom asked and I nodded. "I want to discuss all those academies, seeing which one would best fit you."
Before I could even respond, Dad sighed. "Winnie, we're not doing this right now. Ollie told you he's fine here in Spruceworth."
"Yes, for this year," Mom said. "But it will be best to get him into an academy next school year. He needs to enhance his skills."
Of course, an argument broke out between them so I took the opportunity to grab my cell phone out of my pocket and send Grant a text, asking him to come over. At least I think I did. My mind was too hazy to know if I typed out exactly what I wanted to.
Grant never replied with a text. Instead, he called me and since my parents were still arguing, I gingerly closed my bedroom door before answering. "Hello?"
"Are you drunk?"
"What? No hi? Hello? How are you?"
"You texted me the most random message, Ollie. I'm just worried."
"Sorry, I meant to ask if you can come over. I just don't have a clear sense of... I don't know, the word left my mind. A lot of words leave my mind at times. Anyway, my mom is here and she wants me to join a musical adacemy and wants to talk about it and I kind of need an excuse not to so I was hoping a friend could come over. Or acca... aquay... That word you use because you don't like friends."
Grant sighed. "So that's a yes to you being drunk?"
"You have no proof."
"You're slurring your words and you texted me words that aren't even in the English dictionary."
"What about the French dictionary? This is a bilingual country, Grant."
"So you can say bilingual but you can't say academy?"
"Can you come over or not?"
"I want to say no because you're being too rude to me but you're lucky I promised I would be here for you. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Thank you."
"Yeah, whatever."
Right as we hung up, there was a knock on the bedroom door so I opened it again to see Dad standing there and Mom standing a few feet behind him. "Ollie, the choice is up to you. If you really don't want to go to a music academy, just say so and I'll make your mother leave."
Mom scoffed. "You can't be serious, August. This is why he shouldn't be living with you. He needs to challenge and enhance his skills but you're not making him do anything about it."
"Exactly," Dad said. "We shouldn't be making him do something he doesn't want to do. And just because he doesn't go to an academy doesn't mean he isn't challenging himself. He actually has been working on one of the most difficult piano pieces in his spare time because he wanted to, not because I told him to."
"I don't care," Mom said. "We're his parents. We should be making choices about his education."
"No, we shouldn't," Dad said. "If we keep putting all this pressure on him, it's only going to make him snap."
Too bad I already did.
When Grant said he would be here as soon as he could, he wasn't lying. Someone rang the doorbell so Dad went to answer it and as soon as he did, he said, "Hi, Grant."
"Hi," Grant said. "Ollie and I are supposed to study together for our social studies test."
Dad nodded and let Grant into the house before looking at Mom. "Sorry, you're going to have to save this conversation for later. Ollie has a friend over."
"We can't hold this conversation off," Mom said.
"We can," I said. "I need to study for my science test."
"Social studies, Ollie," Grant said. "Social studies."
"They both start with an S, just like sue me. I make mistakes."
"Oliver..." Mom said.
"Mom, I don't want to go to a music school," I said. "I like it here in Spruceworths."
Dad looked over at me, his eyebrows furrowed. "Ollie, are you okay? You seem a bit off."
"Tired. I was napping when you came home. You know how loopy I get when I'm tired." I looked at Grant because I really needed to get out of this conversation. "Shall we study?"
Grant walked over and once he was in my bedroom, I closed the door behind him. "You really need to stop drinking at the worst times," he said in a quiet voice so my parents couldn't hear. He dropped his backpack on my bag and pulled out the drunk kit he had for me.
"I don't need that right now," I said as I walked over and flopped down on my bed. "I just need to sleep this off. But thank you for coming so I had an excuse to get out of the conversation. But I think I need another drink."
Grant grabbed my arm before I could move. "No. No more drinks. You too drunk and honestly, I'm surprised your parents haven't noticed."
"They're too busy arguing to notice. That's all they do. Argue and argue and argue and argue and ar--"
"Yeah, I get it," Grant said, handing me a water bottle. "Drink this instead."
"Ugh, water," I said, but I took it from him anyway. "Not as fun as other drinks. It's just like 'Hey, I'm healthy but I taste like nothing. Have fun trying to remember to drink me all the time'. Bloring."
"Just drink it," Grant said. As I was doing so, he sighed before continuing to talk. "I'm about to suggest something but please... Don't get mad at me."
I stopped drinking the water, lowering the bottle slowly as I looked at him curiously. "Is this something going to make me mad?"
"Well, I just told you to not get mad at me so I really hope not," Grant said. "I think... I think you should tell your dad what you're going through. With your addiction."
"You're right, I am mad. Are you crazy? I'm not telling him."
"Ollie, please."
"No. I can't believe you would even suggest that. It's my place to tell, not for you to decide who I should tell."
"I know that but he can help you with this. You need family support and your dad doesn't seem like the type of person who won't get mad or hate you, just try to do whatever it takes to help you out."
"No. I can get through this myself."
"No offense, but you can't. I know you want to but it's still a matter of you trying and it's not like you try. If you did, you could do stuff like, I don't know... Get rid of the alcohol in the house? I'm sure you still have the secret stash somewhere."
"I regret inviting you over. You can leave now."
"Ollie, please, I just want to help."
"Why do you care so much?"
"You just don't get it, do you?"
"Get what?"
Grant hesitated before sighing. "We're not going to have this conversation while you're drunk."
"Yet you're trying to get me to get help while I'm drunk. I can't properly consent to things, you hugger mugger."
"Fine. Then you're going to sleep and when you wake up, I'm going to try again. Because I can't have you say you want to stop when you don't do even the tiniest thing to try to stop. I know how alcoholism works. I know how hard it is to stop but it's even harder when you don't try."
I rubbed my forehead. "I have a headache now."
"Then try to sleep this off," Grant said. "I'll just sit..." He looked around the room, trying to find a place to sit.
"Just sit on the bed," I said. "I'm not taking up all of it. And you can watch TV as well."
Grant didn't immediately get onto the bed. It took him some time, but he did soon enough, sitting close to the edge.
I just got under the blankets since it was a bit chilly in my room. "You'll fall off the bed if you're that close to the edge," I muttered. "Scoot over a bit. It's fine, I don't move in my sleep."
"Why do you have to be so oblivious?" Grant asked.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just sleep this off."
That was what I did.
When I did wake up, my headache was still here but at least I wasn't feeling as hazy.
I looked over to see that Grant had fallen asleep too, though he was still sitting on the bed. His head was just bowed down a bit.
I debated on whether or not I should wake him up but I did anyway. I sat up in the bed and nudged him awake. He opened his eyes and rubbed them before looking at me. "Sorry, I guess I dozed off."
"It's okay," I said.
"Do you remember anything?" Grant asked.
"Oh, yeah, I didn't drink enough to black out," I said. "Just enough to make me..."
"Very drunk?" Grant asked.
"I wouldn't say very if my parents couldn't tell," I pointed out.
"Fair enough," Grant said. "So... You're probably going to turn it down again if I ask you, are you?"
"What? Telling my dad?" I asked. "Of course I am. I can never tell him."
"If you can't tell him, will you at least try something else?" Grant asked.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Like... I know two people who run a support group for these types of things," Grant said. "Alcoholism, drug addiction, anything like that. You can hear other people's experiences and try to find ways that will help you stop, or at least drink less."
"So instead of telling my dad, you want me to tell complete strangers?" I asked. "Nope."
Grant sighed. "I don't know what to do to help you, then. I can't just let you drink and not do anything to stop it."
"I'll do anything to try and stop as long as it doesn't involve telling other people," I said. "I don't want anyone else knowing."
"So if I find another way to try and get you to stop, that doesn't involve telling someone, you'll do it?" Grant asked.
"I'll try to," I said. "I really will. I would just rather keep it between you and me. Oh, and before I fell asleep, you asked me why I had to be so oblivious. What were you talking about?"
"Well, if you knew, you wouldn't be so oblivious," Grant said. "I'll just tell you that."
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oblivious ollie smh
THE CHAPTERS. STILL LONG. the day one of the chapters end up being just 1000 words i'll feel so sad ahahaha.
AND I STILL NEED TO UPDATE OTHER BOOKS BUT I LOVE OLLIE SO MUCH. and i want to get to a certain part ;) ;)