Plot summary: The wait for news about Olivia's father continues. Olivia has been spellbound by the Olympic Games. They have taken up all her attention, during every waking hour. They have provided a welcome distraction. The previous night Olivia and her mum sat and watched the Closing Ceremony. Now it's the morning after.
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Nothing could have prepared Olivia for the shock and emptiness that would hit her on the morning of Monday the thirteenth of August, the day after the Olympic Games finished. Without thinking she rushed downstairs to switch on the TV, but instead of the excitement, the cheering and the upbeat feeling, it was back to the usual daytime programmes. She immediately switched off, went back to her room and threw herself on the bed. Now it was back to reality. Now it was back to ‘the situation’. Stress, uncertainty, constant sadness.
Outside it was cloudy and a little windy. The branches swayed gently in the wind but far from a comforting feeling, each gust seemed to whisper a message she didn’t want to hear:
“Your dad’s gone missing. You don’t know if he’s alive. He’s gone forever. You’ll never see him.”
She buried her head under the pillow, trying to make the voice go away but it didn’t help, so she went downstairs again to Jessie’s basket and gently stroked her golden fur. That seemed to help. She didn’t know about all the stress, the mayhem and the frustration that was going on around her. She only appreciated love and kindness and returned it by gazing into Olivia’s eyes and licking her hand.
Liz walked through the kitchen door, wearing jeans, Wellington boots and her pink jacket.
“Ah Livvy,” she said, in that high, comforting voice. “Just been out in the garden doing a bit of pruning. Those weeds are really growing out of control, they needed cutting back…”
She looked at Olivia, who continued to stroke Jessie’s back.
“Livvy are you okay, darling?”
She brushed her hair to one side, and glanced up, saying nothing, almost bursting into tears. Liz could sense her pain.
“Oh, Livvy darling, I know it’s difficult, but we’ve just got to keep our spirits up.”
Livvy remained silent, continuing to stroke Jessie.
Liz got up and immediately looked in the cupboard for something for Olivia to eat.
She served up an English breakfast of fried eggs, sausages, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and toast. Olivia sat at the table but as usual, she didn’t eat very much of it. On some days she felt so stressed and worried she would lose her appetite completely.
Liz ate the English breakfast, and looked at Livvy with big, concerned eyes.
“Oh Livvy, you were getting such a lovely figure, now you’re so thin.”
It was true, her arms were almost skin and bone, her clothes hung loosely on her.
“Oh darling, you need to eat more! You need to do something to try and take it all off your mind.”
“Mum,” said Olivia timidly, “can we go out for a drive somewhere.”
“I’m sorry darling, but now the Jag has broken down as well. There’s something wrong with the battery. I could have asked Hippy Dave to look at it but he’s away.”
“What about the jeep?”
“The starter motor has gone completely.”
“But why can’t we take it to the garage to be repaired.”
Liz looked away and took a deep breath.
“Sorry darling, we just haven’t got the money.”
Olivia shook her head, gazing down. The Games had finished. She felt depressed. It seemed laughable but it was true. And now they didn’t have any money.
Leaving most of the food on the plate she got up.
“I’ll be in my room” she muttered, climbed the spiral staircase and closed the door, flung herself on the bed and cried.
Needing a distraction, she picked up her phone, and was reminded of something she had forgotten. The previous week she had received a message from Ben. It was a lovely message and she was going to think about a nice reply, but there had been so much happening, it had slipped her mind and she had forgotten to reply.
She felt bad at the way she had treated Ben. And she really wanted to go out somewhere. She picked up her iPhone and started to write a message:
Ben, sorry I didn’t reply to your message before. It was really sweet. Would you still like to go for a day out?
She received a reply within seconds.
Oh wow! Yeah! I’d love to. Today?
She thought a moment and tapped a reply
On Friday, after I’ve got my exam results.
Cool. How about Liverpool?
That would be lovely.
10am at yours. I’ll be in the mini.
See you x
See you x
She put the iPhone down on the bed and thought for a moment. If her exams results were as bad as she was expecting, then she would be in a miserable mood. She hoped Ben wouldn’t be too bored.
The only subject she knew she would do well in was Art. Maybe Miss Lee was right, that’s what she should concentrate on. Take a year off and start at art college the following year. But on the other hand, that seemed too easy, and she still felt drawn to studying Science, especially Astronomy. Her mind went into a spin, nothing seemed to be clear any more.
She went downstairs to the kitchen and shared her thoughts with her mum.
“Oh, you’ll be fine, darling!!!” said Liz, gazing at her with eyes so big they were almost popping out. “I’m sure you’ve done fantastically well!!!
Huh! In six months hadn’t she learned anything? Always over-optimistic, always over-estimating, always putting a gloss on things, but never looking at the details. But what would she say on Thursday when she would learn of Olivia’s terrible exam grades?
“Oh, I forgot to mention,” said Liz, “the people from the local news programme are going to be at the school on Thursday for the results, they just phoned me. They’d like to interview you.”
Olivia gave a deep sigh. She looked at her mum as if to say ‘Why on earth would they want to interview me?’
She felt numb, uncreative. She hadn’t done any drawings for quite a few days and didn’t feel like doing any. The situation seemed to be having an effect on her. It was killing her creativity.
Things seemed to be going from bad to worse. She had noticed that over the previous days, brown envelopes had been coming through the letter box. Liz had picked them up, opened some of them, stuck the contents back inside again and placed them behind the bread bin in the kitchen. There were quite a few of those envelopes now. Liz said nothing about them and Olivia didn’t want to ask. There was no point hearing even more bad news.
On Wednesday night she had difficulty sleeping. Again and again she dreamed that she was opening her results but there were no results, the envelope contained only a sheet of blank paper. Then she opened them again and again she pulled out only a blank sheet.
And then not long after dawn, she woke up and gazed at the ceiling. For a few moments the day seemed like an empty page, and then reality dawned. Her father was missing and there was another thing, what was it? Oh yes, of course, today was the day she and thousands of other A level students had been waiting for, the day of the exam results.
Liz cooked breakfast as usual but she didn’t touch it. She had no appetite. Her whole body was tense. They decided to go together. Dorothy’s husband came to pick them up in his small van. While Olivia was in school, Liz would walk into the village to get a few things in the supermarket and then walk back.
They travelled the short distance along the lane, past Dorothy’s shop and into the village, parking in the school car park. Liz hugged her and wished her luck.
Inside she saw a few of her classmates approaching the main entrance, she nodded to them. And then it was the long walk along the corridor to the hall, where the results would be distributed. More than ever, she felt taken over by a sense of emptiness and an expectation of disappointment. She had been arrogant, she had thought herself to be of superior intelligence and importance, to believe she could achieve the top grades. Now it was time to learn the truth.
She entered the school hall. The results were in large brown envelopes on the table. Students confirmed their name and an assistant handed them their envelope. As students opened them and found out their results, a few cheered, punching the air, but most reacted quietly. There were a few tears too. Olivia was surrounded by tension and emotion. It filled the room.
She walked to the table. One of the assistants searched for the envelope. Her surname began with a Y, so it was near the bottom. The assistant handed her the big brown envelope. She held it in both hands, reached for the top and opened it carefully. Inside she could see a piece of white paper with the name of the examinations board on the top.
Her hands shaking, her heart beating quickly, she pulled out the white paper and looked at it.
What she saw next, she couldn’t quite believe. Had there been a mistake?
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The Monday after the end of the Olympics was one of the most depressing days ever, not just for me but seemingly for everyone in the UK. I will never forget the feeling of depression! Finally Ben has managed to secure a date with Olivia, but we have to question her motives! She is about to find out her exam results. And what follows is inspired by my own experience!