"And those bright blue eyes can only meet mine across a room filled with people that are less important than you." Of Monsters and Men - Love Love Love

~~~

Standing stiffly in my custom tailored suit I wait for my mum and Mark to call on me. Staring out the window I could see Grian and his parents pulling in through the entrance gates.

*knock knock

A knock at the door was followed by mum's husband Mark pocking his head into the room, "The guests have arrived" he informs me.

"Yes, I can see that" Sticking my hands in my pockets I nod a thank you as he opens the door further for me to exit along with him. 

The long corridor seems to stretch for miles in the awkward silence that tends to follow me. The cool polished marble floors felt compromising it such attire, I was bound to loose my balance. At least that's what I though every time I found myself in the halls of this massive house. I tied to let myself be content with the sound of echoing foot steps and I completely missed when Mark asked me a question.

"Oliver, did you hear what I said?" Mark stood a couple feet behind and I turned my body to face him.

"Sorry, I'm listening now."

We continued walking along side each other as Mark spoke quickly. I didn't pay much attention to what Mark had been saying and I don't think he was either. Once we arrived at the doors to the back garden I was given instruction from the maids to collect Grian from the restrooms and meet both our parents at the outdoor dinning area.

~~~~

Grian and I walked silently through the maze of hedges that led to the dining area and he seemed to be easily distracted by the decorations the maids had put up. In the center of the garden we found it completely decked out with autumn colors, gords, and decorative pumpkin of all sorts.

"Damn, these people move quickly." I mumbled to no one in particular. Of course Halloween was over by now, but I hadn't expected an entire new design to be ready before daybreak.

"Have you always lived here?" I asked Grian, breaking his daze.

Grian blinked at me passively but turned away when answering. "Yeah nothing new happens here, expect... you know..."

He was looking at me again but in a different light. As the scenic hedges grew, they shielded the sun causing the light to take on a green tint and it brought out the green in his eyes.

"Except what?" a hand instinctively flew to tangle in my hair as I thought over Grians reply. What had changed that didn't seem typical in a rich neighborhood of snobby teens and their much snobbier parents?

But before he could answer we where ushered towards the large table, it was located in the center of the maze that the hedges created. In the opening sat mine and Grian's parents.

"Wont you join us boys?" Mum calls from the head of the table causing the others to stop their conversation to stare at the two of us.

"But of course ma'dam." Grian says slyly. I could have sworn I saw him wink at her before turning to smirk at me, once we reached close enough to the table he held a hand in front of him gesturing for me to take a seat.

I looked at him awkwardly before sitting down and he pushed my chair in for me before sitting in the chair next to mine.

~~~

Meal after meal came out of the kitchen and I wondered if we would ever actually begin eating. When my mum and Mark brought up the topic of hiring I knew this would be a long night.

"Oh, everyone knows the best way to make money is to be an employer." Mum giggles and Mark nods along. Grian's parents couldn't help but lose it as well, I was beginning to think that rich people humor just wasn't for me.

Grian pitched in by saying that the workers have nothing better to do which earns another round of laughter from our parents and Grian looks to each for approval. His eye finally make their way back to me and I wondered what he hoped to gain.

Around the table our parents begin to discuss how servants/butlers have been disappearing and continue to insult our very own human kind from the comfort of their purple tufted, Vennie Armchairs By Everly Quinn. 

All I managed was a scoff and I intentionally avoided Grian's gaze. Even if you've been socialized a certain way your whole life, you can still tell that when something can hurt someone its probably a bad thing to say.

Grian spoke with the adults during dinner while I tried to stay silent and he continued to make things more awkward as he laughed with my parents. He got them to confess things about me that I've never heard myself.

"Oh and this other time in the bathtub he ate a piece of s-" but before my mother could finish the embarrassing story she was interupted by a sound.

*riiing riiing

"Oh uh, excuse me will ya." Grian's father got up from the table and moved away, I assume it was because he didn't want to interrupt the ongoing conversation. I was proven wrong when a couple seconds later he waved Mark over to join the call and before I knew it both mine and Grian's mum where shrugging on autumn wool coats and had excused themselves.

Yup, our parents just ditched us for a work call and now I'm left alone with Grian's annoying face and all the butlers he insulted that starred daggers at him.

"C'mon, lets go inside. This dinner was a mess." I got up from my seat and began back through the maze, of course there was an easier way to get back to the house but Mark said I could only use it for emergencies. I thought it was a pretty dumb rule until he explained that the maze would otherwise have no purpose. 

This made sense for a few more seconds until I realized that a wealthy business man probably shouldn't be spending money on unnecessary things like hedge mazes in the first place.

I was pulled out of my spiraling thoughts as Grian's foot steps sounded against the concrete, they where slow and angry. It almost made me scared to look back.

"You alright mate?" I called over my shoulder.

"It's honestly whatever. This is typical of them anyway." Grian huffed as he got nearer to me. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, you probably have garden picnics with your parents all the time anyway."

I wasn't one to hold my opinions in but, if they where as inaccurate as Grian's I would try a lot harder. "You have no idea what my life is like." I glare at the now smoldering boy.

I didn't know how candid I was allowed to be but I needed him to know that I'm not the type of person that would just be okay with what he has said.

"I wasn't born into this like you were. Once my mother re-married, my whole life changed and it continues to affected my social relationships especially with people like you." I explain without emotion.

Grian looked utterly confused at my hinted offence to his assumptions and I was beginning to think there was no other way to make it easier for him to understand.

We where approaching the pillars to the beginning of the pergola and my anger flared as I realized nothing would change.

Grian's pov

When Mumbo gets mad he smashed his hand into some hard surface and he cried in pain, My body reacted before my brain did and I grabbed his hand and cradled it.

"okay I get it!" 

"a-and im... im sorry for how I acted." Mumbo looked up at me from a crouching position with embarrassment in his eyes. 

I know what I did was wrong and Mumbo was right to not give me the time of day. I treated him like he was another class mate that I've grown used to being around. Now I know that Mumbo or Oliver isn't that way, and I didn't have to be either.

"You're a pretty great guy Mumbo, I mean Oliver, and I hope we can put this behind us and maybe be friends?" Mumbo nodded and his eyes were squinting with tears.

"Yeah I'd like that, but my hand hurts like heck and i'd like to stick it in the freezer now." He chuckles after this statement but the effort tells me not to second guess the situation and I immediately follow his request.

Mumbo will be good company to keep and all I can say is I hope he will feel the same way about me. Maybe that would be more likely to happen if I called him by his actual name.

(1504)

Thanks for reading...