Lilac River 1

Chapter 2

(Oliver's pov)

It was two weeks after I started school in Lilac River. I was walking home one night and a poster caught my eye.

           MEET THE HERO!

From 9am to 8pm on November 1st, Lilac River's hero, Sam Williams will be in town once again! Attend at town square and make sure to check out the fair!

I looked at the photo of a man with straight, shiny blonde hair, blue eyes and a winning smile on his face. He didn't look like he came from Lilac River.

"I'm guessing that's Sam Williams?" I thought. Why was he even dubbed "hero" of Lilac River? It sounds a bit suspicious. But obviously no one would listen to me.

I returned home and my sister, Olive, wasn't home. I looked up at my mother.

"You're sister went off with some girl she met today at school. Why, do you have any friends yet Oliver?" My mother asked. She wasn't my biological mother, she was actually my step-mother. And for some reason she adored Olive. My dad had married her before we moved here and we moved here because of her actually, since this is her home town.

I then rolled my eyes and shook my head. Of course, if she loved Olive so much, she would barely care for me.

"You're lucky you have good grades or else I would've convinced your father to disown you by now." She said firmly. Every time she looked at me, I could see her eyes saying 'God, that child is a disgrace." It's nothing new. She's hated me since we moved to live with her.

I then walked into my room and sat down at my desk, opening my laptop. I wanted to research this 'Sam Williams' guy. After a bit of research, I found out that Sam Williams is the great grandson of Gabriel Willaims, who was the founder of Lilac River. Also, apparently that town was named after the river (what a surprise) that Gabriel also found and named after his wife, Lilac Williams.

I guess that made a bit of sense. I continued my research until my mother called me in her usual high pitched voice.

"Oliver! Someone's at the door and they want to see you!" She said. I sighed and walked out of my room, heading to the door. I answered it and then seen a guy at the door. He was this kid who say next to me in math, God knows what his name even is, but he was at my door. Did he follow me? Or did he see my sister leave here? I was confused, but wave.

"Hey Oliver! Remember me? Sean?" The boy, who was apparently named Sean, asked in an enthusiastic and happy-go-lucky tone of voice. I groaned. Of course. The person who wanted to see me was an attention hogging extrovert.

"Oliver I didn't think you'd be friends with a boy like him!" My mother said. She knew I couldn't object as I didn't have my notebook with me.

"Anyways, Sean, his bedroom is down the hallway. Did you have dinner yet dear?" She asked Sean. Dear. She called Sean 'dear' as if he was her own son. For some reason that annoyed me a bit, but I just ignored it.

Apparently Sean didn't eat yet, so he followed me and my mother into the dining room. She then set two plates of pasta in front of us. I picked up my fork and took a couple bites, as I was actually pretty hungry.

"Mmm! This is actually really good Mrs. Knight!" Sean said, eating the food at a fast pace. My mother giggled and I rolled my eyes, finishing my food and putting the plate and fork in the dishwasher. I then got up and left, walking into my room. I then sat at my desk again, continuing my research.

I was once again interrupted once Sean walked into my room and tapped my shoulder. I looked back at him, making sure my disinterest was clear.

"Whatcha workin' on?" He asked before at my laptop screen. He then raised his eyebrow. "Sam Williams?" He said.

I nodded. I grabbed my notebook and wrote my explanation in the shortest way possible, which ended up being "I'm researching him since he's apparently the 'hero' of this town," and then showed it to Sean. Sean nodded, though, I'm not sure if he understood or was just trying to be polite.

"Y'know, I've always been suspicious of that dude too." Sean said, sitting next to me. My eyes widened. Sean was suspicious too? I thought he would think I was mad.

As if Sean could see the 'really?' in my eyes, he said, "Yeah, and also a couple other kids in our class. Jess, Nathan, Liam, Kai, Blake and even Blake's little sister, Paige."

I got a bit excited. I then picked a poster I hand-made, showing it to Sean. I had made it once I had returned home. It read, "S.W.S.C" with smaller words underneath it reading, "Sam Williams Suspicion Club".

Sean raised his eyebrows. "A club?" He asked. I nodded.

"Do you need more members?" Sean then asked as if he read my mind. I nodded once again with a small smile. Sean's eyes widened like, "Woah, I made him smile," as if it were an achievement.

"Alright, well I know where my friends are hanging right now anyways. Wanna go?" Sean then asked, also smiling brightly. I nodded and then the two of us stood up and walked out of the house. I brought the poster with me. Then we made it to a large, suburban house and Sean knocked.

The tall jock I seen Sean hanging out with answered the door. He looked down at the both of us and then waved to Sean.

"Sup Sean, who's the little guy? Ain't that the new guy?" The jock asked, pointing to me. I frowned when he called me 'little guy', I couldn't be that small, right?

Sean then nodded in response to the jock's question. "Yeah. And also, his name's Oliver just so you know." He added afterwards.

I was a bit surprised, as no one had ever spoken for me and how I felt. It made me feel good. I then walked in after Sean.

I seen the other people Sean had spoken of, a brunette girl with slightly tanned skin, an emo boy with piercings and other accessories, a boy with messy blonde hair, the jock at the door who was named Liam, and a little girl who seemed to be about 9 or 10 who looked similar to the blonde boy. I waved a bit and then sat down.

Sean then took the poster and held it up, showing his friends. "Oliver made this club about Sam Williams. It's called the Sam Williams Suspicion Club, and we were curious if you guys would like to join." Sean explained. It was almost like he was my voice that I didn't have. He was surprisingly compassionate.

After a moment of consideration from the other people, they all nodded. "It sounds interesting. We could actually find out if Sam W.'s actually up to something. And with little guy's smartness it won't be so difficult." The blonde boy said, his sister nodding in agreement.

This was going surprisingly far, and I'm proud to announce that S.W.S.C is now in place.