Jason

I have been looking for Oliver. I think he already left. I sit down at one of the couches in the living room and bring out my phone.

Then I hear the conversation some girls are having sitting on the other end of the couch.

“I have never seen him talk to anyone, like ever, ” One of them says, “At one point, I thought maybe he is mute. ”

“Nah, really, same girl. How can he be Owen’s brother?! ” says another.

“He looks nowhere near as good looking as Owen either,” Comments the other one. “How can they be brothers? It doesn't make sense.”

I lean in a little trying to listen better since they are talking about my best friend.

“I believe he has a name, ” says a girl, her voice giving out the fact that she is not enjoying this conversation.

“I am pretty sure nobody knows it. I only know that he is Owen’s brother. I wouldn’t have known he exists if not for Owen, ” Says one.

“Yeah, I know him as Owen’s brother. I’ve never heard his name. ”

“How can you not?” That girl asks in surprise.

I look at her. People rarely know my best friend’s name.

So I look at her closely.

She is wearing a blue dress. Her black hair is in easy curls. She is sitting on the far end of the couch, surrounded by other girls. She is frowning.

“He has been with us since kindergarten. We went to the same elementary school,” The girl in blue dress replies.

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” replies the girl sitting on her left. I think her name is Claire.

“I don't know,” replies another with blonde hair. I don’t remember blondies name.

“But there you go judging him anyways,” the girl in the blue dress rolls her eyes, “His name is Oliver Carlson.”

Ah. Not bad.

“He almost won the science Olympiad last year but I didn’t let him,” she says, with her eyes shining, “Man, he was so pissed. I remember that.”

Yeah, he was. If there’s one thing Oliver does passionately, that’s science. He did try hard to win.

“So, he is just a big geek, totally opposite of his brother,” Claire replies, “Of course, you know him, you nerd.”

Blue dress doesn’t take that as a compliment. I see the hurt in her eyes right away.

Her name is probably Gwen Bradbury if I’m not wrong.

“Yeah, I do,” Gwen replies and looks away.

They start talking about something else but Gwen doesn’t take part in it.

Can’t believe she got hurt talking about Oliver.

Well, kind of her fault, for having shitty friends.

As if on cue, my phone rings, and the caller ID says it’s Oliver.

At least, I don’t have shitty friends.

“Where the hell are you?” I ask him as I stand up from the couch.

I make my way through the living room. I brought him here to have fun but he left.

Fun is not a word in Oliver’s dictionary.

“At home,” Oliver replies, “Sorry for leaving.”

I get surprised by his tone.

He really did try. He really did try to have fun, open up, and trust someone.

Fuck Scarlett.

“I don’t think anything would work,” Oliver says sighing.

I wish I knew what would work.

“Yeah,” I walk out of the living room. I get out through the screen door finally reach the main gate. I am going to leave as well. “Try to at least sleep, dude. Maybe I sound corny or whatever but you really need to sleep.”

He doesn’t sleep at all; probably two three hours a day.

“Whatever,” He replies.

He is punishing himself. That’s something I know. He blames himself for stupid reasons. I don’t know why he thinks he is the reason their parents got divorced. He definitely wasn’t the reason.

But I think he blames himself.

At the same time what Scarlett did only made things worse.

The amount of time I have regretted introducing her to Oliver.

I thought it would be alright since she didn’t know Owen. She saw Oliver, she saw him and had a crush on him right away.

She is the one who begged me to introduce her to him.

I did.

My fault.

Then she dated him and really did love him for a while.

That’s until she met Owen.

She made Oliver’s worst fear come true.

God I hate that girl.

“You know, I saw someone,” Oliver says from the other end.

“Who?” I ask right away.

I am leaning against the wall right beside the gate.

“A girl,” Oliver says slowly, “Someone.”

I blink. Oliver doesn’t bother looking at anyone.

“Who was it?” I ask being curious, “Any chance you know her name?”

“I think I do,” Oliver replies, “But right now, I don’t really remember. It’s like I knew her all this time but now that I am trying to remember I can’t.”

Hmm, interesting.

“I remember what she was wearing though,” Oliver says, “Maybe you’d know her.”

Did Oliver Carlson experience love at first sight?

This is fun.

“Sure. Tell me what she was wearing.”

Someone walks out of the gate.

“A blue dress.” Oliver says, “She was wearing a blue dress.”

I roll my eyes, “I have seen so many girls wearing blue dresses.”

I see the girl who just walked out and she is also wearing a blue dress.

“No, I think you know her,” Oliver insists, “You have to.”

The girl in blue dress turns to me so I see her face.

Gwen Bradbury.

Wearing a blue dress.

No way.

“Was her name...Gwen?” I say almost unsure of myself making sure Gwen doesn’t hear me.

She looks at me and nods. I nod back.

Then she looks up the sky and sighs.

“Gwen,” Olive says, “Gwen.”

Damn.

“It was Gwen,” Oliver confirms.

Gwen looks down at her feet looking a bit defeated then starts walking away.

“And she has a boyfriend, doesn’t she?” Oliver asks.

I think she does.

“I saw him too,” He says.

If Gwen has a boyfriend, why is she walking home alone at this hour?

She must have a shitty boyfriend as well.

“His name’s probably Dean.”

Wow.

The world is really cruel. It is.

That girl, Gwen or whatever, she is going to get her heart broken, real soon.

The shit I have heard coming out Dean’s mouth in boy’s locker room.

Why do people like Gwen and Oliver always find the worst people to fall for?

Why are they so stupid?

“No wonder she has a boyfriend though. She totally should,” says Oliver, sounding a bit bummed out.

I chuckle, “Why? You sad about that?”

“Why would I be?” Oliver counters. “Anyways, I will see you later.”

He hangs up right away.

Oliver really thinks he can hide his feelings. Not from me. Ever.

If only I could fix this.

*****

Gwen

I am not enjoying the party. Not at all. At first, I was. Dean picked me up from my house. I met Claire as soon as we got here. Then we had fun for a while, hanging out in groups. Doughty made this stupid joke and I laughed so hard I had to hold Dean for support. I am pretty sure everyone in the party heard me laughing.

Then it all went downhill.

Our little group broke apart in smaller groups. Some were getting drinks, some were playing games. Claire held me by my arm and I was caught up in a group of gossipers. I did not like it.

They were talking about Oliver Carlson. As if they knew shit about him. I don’t know anything about him either. That means I shouldn’t judge him either. I had seen him around Olympiads, concentrating and trying to solve problems. When he did that, he would always clench his jaw.  I felt a little protective over him when they started saying whatever. He wasn’t there to defend himself so I felt like I had to.

This is why sometimes I hate the people Claire is with. She is my best friend alright but I don't like the people she talks to sometimes.

I was sitting there, zoning out and wondering what the hell I am doing here. When they talk about feeling lonely in a room full of people, this is probably what they mean.

I felt empty and lonely.

So I said to Claire, I want to leave. She took a look at her phone and said, “Really? Already? I am not going home this early. ”

Then she turned away and started chatting with Emily all over again.

I wonder where my boyfriend is. I have no idea. Last time I saw him, he was playing a drinking game with Doughty and a few other guys from soccer team.

I feel cramped here, like I have no room to breathe.

So I send a text to my boyfriend, telling him I am going home. But he doesn't reply. He doesn't reply for ten minutes that I wait in the lawn.

I am going home alone it seems.

I walk out of the gate and find Jason Swindlers, leaning on the wall. He is talking on the phone. He looks at me and nods.

I look up at the sky again and sigh.

Then I start for home. As I wander in the street, I have this ache in me for something I can’t quite name, something I don’t have but I want. What could I possibly want? I have everything. I have a beautiful family, I have a best friend. I have a boyfriend. But still, this ache for some unknown reasons never goes away. It’s so subtle and out of my grasp, I never quite fathom it. I can never figure it out.

It hurts the same either way.

I wonder when it will stop hurting.

*****

A/N: my babies. struggling alone and yet to find each other.

IMPORTANT: would any of you like to edit the rest of the bonus book for FREE? I repeat- for FREE. your job would be grammar, spelling mistake and punctuation and also look for continuity mistakes, nothing else. I would not need you to write or rewrite anything. Again you will be doing this for free. If you're interested, dm me.

I can only read-reread my writing so many times. When I write, I write from my heart and my heart doesn't give shit about grammar and repeating words. Lol.

Anyways, I know I went a little MIA. falling into a book coma, feelings anxious, having fever does that to you. I'm alright now and so we resume.

See ya soon.