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As I stepped out of the car, I inhaled deeply, thankful to be alive. On one hand, I was extremely glad to have survived Ollie’s enthusiastic driving. On the other hand, the realisation of what I was doing suddenly hit me. Admittedly, the place we were in wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It certainly wasn’t Hackney.
Ollie whistled cheerfully as he locked the car before jogging around it so that he was standing by me. I was going to have to stay close to him, otherwise, who knew what could have happened to me. After what happened in Hackney, I didn’t feel safe anywhere besides my own home.
“Have you texted your folks to let them know you’re out of the house?” Ollie asked me, leaning against the car.
I responded by saying a quiet yes as I observed my surroundings. I’d texted my mother saying that I’d gone over a friend’s house. She didn’t question me; she was just glad that I was actually out of the house.
Ollie annoyingly ruffled my hair before motioning for me to follow him as he set off along the pavement. Glancing at the car one last time, I noticed that he hadn’t made the best effort of parking it neatly. Without saying a word, I scampered behind him like some lost puppy.
The area that surrounded us was strange. Most of the houses were terraced and the streets themselves weren’t the cleanest in the world, but it didn't bother me somehow. I couldn’t help but notice that whenever we passed someone, they seemed to smile at me. Either that, or they nodded, said a brief hello, and some even did all of those things. People seemed to be a lot friendlier here than where I lived.
If you walked past someone in the area I lived in, they would say or do nothing. They’d simply pass you by as though you were nothing but an illusion. It had only taken us twenty minutes to arrive at where we were, so there was hardly much distance between my neighbourhood and this one, yet both places were so different. Although, taking Ollie’s driving into account, it would have normally taken forty minutes to get there.
I followed Ollie as he passed a countless amount of shops, houses, pubs, hair salons, newsagents. It was all so... normal. More normal than I was used to. It became clear that this place wasn’t Hackney, but it wasn’t my neighbourhood either. It was a place wedged in-between. A place that I surprisingly liked an awful lot.
After strolling for fifteen minutes or so, Ollie came to a stop at a row of small, one storey buildings. He jogged lightly down a flight of stairs that led to the buildings as I struggled slightly to keep up with him.
“Crap!” Ollie suddenly spun around to face me, “I left my cash in the car...”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Just use some of mine. I’m hardly short of it, am I?”
I clamped my mouth shut as the words ran out of my mouth. Did Ollie know about my family being more or less bankrupt? It had never occurred to me to ask him. The only staff member who I was aware of that knew about our money issues was Ella.
“Good point,” Ollie grinned. “Hey, you do come in handy sometimes.”
I gave him a sour look, reaching into the pocket of my jeans. Bringing out a twenty pound note and a few tens, I placed it in his hand.
“Frickin’ hell, Tori... How much do you think some chips cost?” Ollie laughed as he opened the door of the fish and chip shop before us.
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t do the gentleman like thing and allow me to go in first. He didn’t even hold the door open for me either and it almost slammed back in my face. Ollie was completely oblivious though.
The strong smell of grease and fried potatoes filled the air around me and wafted into my nostrils. I could hear a gentle frazzling sound coming from the room at the back of the shop. I found it all weirdly pleasant. Darting my eyes around the advertisement filled walls, I sat myself down on a wooden bench that was placed beside the entrance of the shop.
While I made my way to the bench, Ollie wondered over to the glass counter. There were stacks of battered fish, battered sausages, and anything else that you could possibly batter on display.
“Hey Josie,” Ollie smirked, catching the attention of the young, dark haired woman behind the counter. “Lookin’ good today,” he winked at her.
Even though Josie looked at least five years older than him, Ollie still managed to make her giggle like a school girl as he leaned across the counter, his lips shaped into a one sided smile.
“Let me guess?” Josie said, her eyes gently locked on Ollie. “Sausage and chips?”
“You know me too well,” Ollie replied, winking once again. “Can I have a..." Ollie paused briefly, running his hand through his messy hair. "Battered cod and another portion of chips too, please Josie?”
Josie nodded, an overenthusiastic grin on her face. She turned around quickly and called out something into the kitchen behind her before immediately turning back to Ollie.
It didn’t take a psychologist to notice how eager Josie was as she spoke to him. She often giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, obviously worrying that it would make her unattractive. She was literally like putty in his hands.
Taking a white plastic bag from Josie, Ollie smiled and thanked her, gaining him another airheaded giggle. He signalled for me to get up, waving to Josie before opening the glass door.
“Thanks again for the drinks, Jose,” he called.
Ollie handed me more or less all of the money I’d given him once we’d left the shop. He sighed relaxingly as we continued walking along the row of shops.
“Hey, where are we going?” I asked.
“I thought we’d go to the beach or somethin’. Girls like beaches, right?” Ollie replied, struggling a bit with all of the items in his hands. “Well, I don’t know if you count as a girl, but still...”
I swore I was going to hit him. Just ignore it, I breathed in deeply. Pretty chuffed with myself that I hadn’t screamed at him, I followed Ollie as he strolled along the pavement. There was a hint of disappointment in his eyes after realising that I wasn’t responding to his little comment.
As we turned a corner, I noticed the smell the warm food in the bag Ollie was holding, making my stomach grumble loudly. I never knew something so cheap could be so tempting.
I was surprised to see that when we turned the corner, we'd reached border of the town. As we neared the beach, the concrete floor was replaced by a sea of pale pebbles. The wind softly blew my hair onto my face as the pebbles turned into a million grains of sand. The sun wasn’t blaring, in fact, it was far from it, but it didn’t seem to bother me.
I awkwardly took my shoes off as Ollie and I ambled down towards the deserted beach. The sand was cool underneath my feet and the air around me had a nippy chill in it. We finally stopped walking when Ollie sat down beside a rock that was raised out of the ground. Making sure there was no kind of dog faeces underneath me, I also sat down.
He began unpacking the bag, taking out a polystyrene box and some rolled up paper that I assumed was holding chips.
“How come you’ve only spent three pounds?” I asked him, crossing my legs.
“I got a discount,” he shrugged. “It’s simple. Flirt with the chick behind the counter and it’s guaranteed to knock a few pounds off of your bill.” Ollie reached into the bag again and pulled out three large cans of cider. “If you’re really good, you can get some free booze too.”
He flicked open the one can and pressed it to his lips. I was surprised there was anything left in the can when he brought it back down because he was gulping it vigorously for a good minute.
Putting the cider down beside him, Ollie grabbed one of the other cans and placed it in front of me.
“Um... no thanks,” I looked at him stupidly. “I’m legally not allowed and it’s probably disgusting...”
I was seventeen, clearly not old enough to allow any kind of alcohol to run down my throat. I hadn’t tried any before, and I wasn’t planning on doing so anytime soon.
“You’ve never had booze before...?” Ollie’s eyes widened.
I nodded as I pushed his hand away from me, giving him no option but to put the can back down.
“That’s just plain weird. I started drinkin' when I was, like, eleven,” he started laughing as he handed me the plastic bag with the remaining food. “Ah well, more for me ‘en!”
Ollie let out a long sigh as he leaned back against the rock, picking up a can of cider. He slowly shut his eyes. This time, when he brought the can back down from his mouth, it was empty.
“I swear to God, if you get drunk, I am going to kill you.” I muttered, bringing my food out of my bag and opening it up. “Do you have a fork or something?”
Ollie opened his eyes, chuckling to himself. “Be a rebel, Tori. Use your manicured fingers for once.”
“For your information,” I said, picking up a chip, “it’s my nails that are manicured.”
I gave him a sarcastic grin as I shoved the chip into my mouth. Ollie started laughing as I threw another one in. They didn't make me want to heave at all. I wanted to eat more.
As he opened another can of cider, Ollie once again lowered his eyelids. I’d never seen him so relaxed. When I’d visited his flat - an experience I wished I would forget – he was far from chilled out. Whenever he was over my house, he was constantly talking or jumping about like a child during Christmas time.
Thinking about it though, he hadn’t been so excitable recently, certainly not like the day I met him. Suddenly, a thought struck into my mind.
“Hey, Ollie?” I turned to him as he drunk his cider. “You know the day Richard first came to the house?” Ollie muttered something under his breath as I spoke Richard’s name.
“Yeah, what about it? Did I know he was a dick then? You bet,” he laughed, opening his eyes and concentrating on me.
Shrugging off his obnoxious comment, I continued speaking. “Why did you pass out?”
I watched him anxiously as I waited for the answer. This was something that had been on my mind for a very, very long time. I crossed my fingers, hoping he'd actually tell me.
“Side effect,” he replied simply.
Right... was that supposed to make sense or something? Ollie must have seen a confused expression on my face because he began laughing quietly as he looked at me.
“I’d just been put on some new pills for my ADHD, and I obviously didn’t react too well to them. I must be as sensitive as a woman on her period. Hey... that's good! I should become a writer or somethin'.”
I knew it! I damn well knew it! There was no way that boy didn’t have some kind of attention disorder. Why hadn’t he told me that before? Why wasn’t he willing to tell me before?
There must have been an extremely bizarre expression on my face because Ollie reacted by tilting his head to the side, trying not to laugh.
“Why were you so touchy about telling me about it earlier? Not even Ella would tell me. I thought you were dying of some kind of disease or something...”
It didn’t shock me when Ollie burst out laughing. Again. He sat up straight, explaining something about my parents not finding out. He was worried that he’d get sacked if they knew he had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
“It ain’t exactly hard to figure out, Tori... I act like a deranged six year old half of the time.”
He had a point there.
Ollie and I got chatting then, something that I’d surprisingly never really done with him. I’d discussed how I wanted my toast cooked before, how strong I wanted my tea, I often swooned over things Richard had done for me, and I discussed how the ends of my hair was spliy. I’d never talked about... well, him before.
I knew he’d hate me if he were to ever find out, but almost everything he said made me feel sorry for him. I found it strange how everything negative about his mother he said, he somehow tried to justify it with something else as though she was some kind of God. By the sound of it, she was a drunk who hardly ever looked after her own children. Hardly God worthy.
The longer we chatted, the smoother my words were and the easier it was to say them. I almost told him about Richard in the hotel room, about my slowly growing hatred of my father, and about my family’s money struggles. Almost.
“It’s goin’ to get dark soon,” Ollie said, peering up into the violet sky. “We should probably set off.”
Nodding lightly, I stood up as Ollie began trekking over the sand and back towards the town. Thankfully, he’d been somewhat sensible and not drunk the other two cans of cider quite as quickly as the first. In fact, there was still half a can left.
The Autumn air wrapped itself tightly around my body as we entered the town. By the time we’d reached the fish and chip shop, the sky was rapidly darkening. I had Ollie’s jacket draped over my shoulders because I’d foolishly left mine in my house.
It didn’t take long for us to reach Ollie’s little car that seriously did need to be parked better. I was relieved as I entered it as it was a tad bit warmer than the cool breeze outside. Ollie started the car and it jerked forward yard or two, making my heart skip a beat in panic. I soon remembered why being in Ollie’s car wasn’t the best experience of my life.
The car had been driving rather violently along the road for a good ten minutes when Ollie turned to me. I bit my lip as I told him to keep his eye on the road; he was hardly the safest driver I knew.
“Tori? Uh, is it all right if I pop back to my place before I drop you off?” he asked warily.
Was he serious? After all that had happened there, did he honestly expect me to be wiling to just happily nip back for a while?
I did nothing but gawk at him as though he was a complete idiot.
“I know it’s hardly tempting for you... but I really gotta check on the kids. Jeff said he could only look after them until eight and it’s five past now. I didn’t realise how late it was...”
“Have you completely lost your mind?” I raised my voice at him. “Have you forgotten what happened there three weeks ago?”
“Of course I haven’t, but you should count yourself lucky!” I could hear him spitting his words now. “I have to live there, remember?”
Ollie’s words struck me hard in my chest like a blunt nail. He did live there. While I lived in a three storey house full of perfectly furnished rooms and polished floors, he lived there.
I couldn’t believe it myself, but I agreed to it and a short while later, we were parked beside the block of flats that I dearly hated.
“I won’t be long, I just need to find someone to keep an eye on the kids,” Ollie had a soft tone in his voice which I’d never heard before. “I’ll lock the doors and everythin’, don’t worry.”
“No! I don’t want to stay on my own!” I stammered uncontrollably. “Can I... can I just come with you?
Ollie looked at me carefully, rubbing his neck. As much as I hated the thought of being on that balcony again, the fear of being on my own was much greater.
He reluctantly agreed and we both stepped out of the car, Ollie making sure it was locked before we headed towards the tall building. I didn’t care how weird it might have looked, but the second my foot touched the floor of the building, I grabbed Ollie’s hand, probably cutting off its circulation due to such a tight grasp. I pressed my lips together as we trudged up the echoing stairway.
What the hell are you doing? I screamed inside of my head. This is stupid! This is really stupid! The second we entered the balcony area, I snapped my eyes shut, forcing any memories out of my mind. I practically attached myself to Ollie as he led me forward. I must have looked like a complete nutter, but I didn’t care one bit. I was willing to try anything just to feel safe.
“You all right?” I heard Ollie’s voice whisper in my ear.
I nodded my head, still with my eyes tightly shut. He gently rubbed my hand as I heard him push his set of keys into a lock. Thank God. We were here.
My entire body let out a wave of relief as I carefully opened my eyes. I’d made it. I’d passed the main entrance, the stairs, and the balcony. I may have been terrified, but I’d done it. All of the sleepless nights of worrying in my bed, continuously running over what had happened in my mind and now I’d finally made it back here, where it all began. And I was fine.
Ollie pushed the flat door open, removing his keys from the lock. He allowed me in first, asking me again if I was okay. I waited in the tiny hallway as he opened the door that led to what I assumed was the living room.
What happened then made me freeze in the spot. The both of us entered the living room to reveal a small coffee table, a chunk of a television, some rather bland ornaments and one long sofa. Lying on that sofa was a woman who appeared to be so fragile, merely touching her would break every bone in her body.
There were two little messy haired boys, no older than three, sharing the one end of the sofa where the woman hadn’t outstretched her legs, their eyes glued to the television set.
“Crap...” Ollie muttered, quickly turning to me. “Uh, wait here a second.”
He scratched his head and suddenly began pacing back and forth. My eyes followed his hand as he shot it into his pocket, taking out his phone. He hastily began pressing the digits, cursing every time he made a mistake.
It was as though Ollie’d completely forgotten I was there. His mind had switched off of me entirely. All that he could concentrate on was the piece of technology in his hands. Not moving an inch, I locked my eyes onto the sleeping woman.
“Ollie! Mummy’s back from holidays! Look! Look!” one of the little boys announced, bouncing up and down. He grinned and pointed his finger at the young woman on the sofa, but Ollie wasn't even listening. “Look!”
It's basically so that the "change" of Tori's character is a tad more believable and make her realise that there's more to Ollie than ADHDness and unintllegentness <--- My cool made up words. Plus, it ends in a way that flows into the next chapter, if you get what I mean.
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