Mr. Silent Boyxboy

Chap: 15 Old Friend pt.2

The bold and italicized text is Oliver's writing.
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I wake up in a panic as my eyes open to see an unfamiliar setting. My panic settles as I remember that i'm in the park. The bench makes my aches worse and, as I try to stretch, my body screams in agony. I lean forward on the bench and wipe the sleep from my eyes. My phone tells me that I have 20 minutes to get to the bus stop if I want to be on time for school.

Don't go to school..Mitch will be there...

I need to talk to Mitch. He needs to explain things.

You don't need Mitch, he's hidden things from you. He lied to you.

Would you just shut up! I wipe my eyes and shake my head. I've officially lost it. I'm talking to myself.

I get up from the bench and smooth down my hair. Glancing around the unfamiliar park, I scratch the top of my head. Now where the hell am I?

*****

I didn't reach the bus on time....

It took me 10 minutes to get out of Mitch's neighborhood and by the time I reached the bus stop 30 minutes had gone by. I sit down on the cold sidewalk and bring my knees up to my chest. My head is still scrambling memories throughout my head. I still feel like I'm missing some parts. Why can't I remember these? It seems like Mitch and I use to be best friends. What happened to that? I run my fingers through my tangled hair and rest my head on my knees.

A few minutes later a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders and Ari's perfume fills the air. I lean into her embrace and rest my head in the crook of her neck.

I can hear Alex talking on the phone next to me, "Hello? Yeah, we found him," he removes the phone from his ear to talk to me, "Do you want us to take you home?" I shake my head quickly. I know my dad will be there, he'll be waiting for me. He puts it back against his ear and starts again, "He said no. We're taking him to school," he pauses for a few seconds and nods, "yeah, dude, no need to worry. He looks somewhat okay," I look up at him and squint my eyes angrily. He shrugs and goes back to the phone call, "We'll be there in a little while. Okay, bye," He hangs up and turns to me, "Alright, Ollie, what happened?" past memories and the moments from yesterday were clashing together and my best option was to just shake my head. "Okay...c'mon, Ari, let's get him to school," I scoff. He sounds like my parents. Well....like my mom when she would take me to school in the morning.

I remember my mom talking about a friend she had, Amanda Hills. There was this one time when my mother was bruised up from a beating the night before and she couldn't drive me to school. She could barely come up with enough power to open the door for Amanda. She and Amanda would talk in the living room while Mitch and I would listen in the hallway with our ears pressed against the wall.

We heard my mom sob while Amanda comforted her, she encouraged her to hold on, "I am," she cried, "but I don't know how long I can take this,"

I take my ear away from the wall and slide down the wall with my knees to my chest. Mitch sits down next to me and hugs my shoulders. "Your mom will be fine," he whispers, "Someday you and her will be able to leave here," he kisses my cheek and wipes my tears.

"Alright let's get these kids to school," we quickly separate and I wipe my eyes.

That was a week before she died..

"Ollie are listening?" I hum quietly and Alex continues,"Can you hand me my hoodie? It should be underneath my seat."

I search underneath the drivers seat with no sign of the hoodie. "It's not there?" he asks. I shake my head, "Are you sure?" he takes one hand off the steering wheel and looks on the floor of the backseat. I search on the passenger side while he searches one-handed on the drivers side. "Dangit I can't find--here it is!"