OLIVER
"Oh please, you only learnt the piano so you could recreate the pieces and music from twilight!"
Oliver watched as Matt half-scolded Cassie, who had been gloating about how better she was becoming at playing. And he wasn't wrong, the girl was indeed obsessed with the franchise, which drove her to learn the instrument. Honestly, she was good at it, but had never played anything outside of the movie.
The brunette said nothing , only squinting her eyes narrowly at him, as he made a beeline for the kitchen fridge, he stuck his tongue at her before sticking his head into the machine.
Oliver was used to their bickering so he said nothing. Matt and Cassie were his two best friends, who was he kidding?, -his only friends, and he had his mother to thank for that. When they first moved into the neighborhood, she’d baked apple pies and practically bribed their parents to make the two play with the scrawny boy.
He’d have been perfectly capable socializing without the effort, Sometimes, he wondered if they'd have been friends without their parents interference.
"Ollie! Tell him I'm good" the girl had stopped staring daggers at Matt and had directed her attention to the timid observer , who in absolute honesty had preferred to have a peaceful evening reading his books, imagining their voices as white noise , guess there's no tuning out a direct question.
"Uhh...." He trailed off before grabbing the little pencil he always placed on his ears, rubbing it slowly on his honey brown curls , as though he was giving the question a serious thought, Oliver knew the answer, he knew she was good, but he intended to rile her up, which seemed to be working as her blue eyes watched his green ones without so much as a blink. Searching and waiting for a response, agitation slowly creeping into her features, He then placed the object idly on his lip before answering "...you play well".
The girl had a victorious look on her face before turning to the other boy, who was now making a sandwich. He already had a piece of bread in his mouth as he concentrated on his evening snack, eyes furrowed and filled with focus.
"Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" the girl dragged, as she all but jumped out of the couch, heading straight to the kitchen to pummel Matt, who was way taller than her and obviously twice her size, she launched herself on his back yelling profanities, and different war cries.
Leaving Oliver grinning at their foolishness.
Cassie, had come up with a very interesting idea to grab Matt's hair with both hands, like in the movie ratatouille, in an attempt to "control" the blonde boy as he was making his sandwich, the girl only laughing as he kept yelling "not that way" and "that hurts" .
They weren't fighting anymore, that's how quickly their bickering dissolved. Oliver continued reading his book, but peeked up from time to time to see if the pair had killed themselves, they had not. He's still stuck with them. Sadly.
Oliver had got up to clean the mess in the kitchen, leaving both his friends to stack themselves like sacks on the couch, Cassie laid on her stomach and had her foot literally on Matt's face as she scrolled away on her phone , Matt sat up straight head tilted on the back of the couch, with a tennis ball throwing it up and catching it ever so smoothly without loosing the object .
It was silent.
At exactly 9pm his mum pulled up on the driveway. Before he could turn his head to the direction of the sound, his friends were already at the door, in an unnecessary competition for who would meet his mum first.
"Out of the way" Cassie cried, pulling and dragging the taller boy with every strength in her body, the veins on her forehead now visible due to the struggle and because she had pulled her hair into a bun.
"Guys!!!, it's just my mum" Oliver yelled, in an attempt to calm the both of them.
"So? I don't want to lose to Cassie" Matt breathed.
"Yes, but she's bringing pizza!" Cassie answered, looking over at the now confused Matt, who had stopped reaching for the door, the girl didn't need any of them to ask before answering.
"She didn't come early to make dinner, so she's definitely bringing pizza and plus.. I might have texted her" she said in a 'duh' tone before using that chance to sprint for the door , dashing out to find a beaming Mrs Hoffman, who had the car door open.
Ava's head was in the back seat, reaching for her bag and the boxes of pizza she had bought on the way home, she had on her ever straightened grey pants and a white blouse , her brown curly hair settled on her shoulders gracefully , they always grew quickly but she wasted no time in cutting them to the same length as always.
Cassie was right, she did bring pizza. Oliver knew she would be back with it but the fact the girl had realized just proved how much time there were spending at his, a questionable amount to be honest.
"Seeeeeeeeeeeee!!" Cassie exclaimed, turning to the boys before attacking Mrs Hoffman and then the pizza.
"You're not allowed to say that word again" Matt shot back, remembering the mock intended in the word, how it was a signature wording for "I told you so!" Plus she had already used it a number of times today, he was fed up. Cassie only giggled at the boy.
"Hey kids" . Ava greeted, as Cassie and Matt said their ‘heys,’ before dashing into the house, probably to violate the pizza.
Oliver was still standing at the door when the two passed by, he watched his mum as she locked the doors and made her way to him.
She had just greeted them with her calm, soothing tone, the boy wondered if that's how she spoke to her clients , or just them, he knew his mum all his life as a therapist, he had been to her office, but he had never seen her actually working. He was sure that most of her mannerisms were the same when she was with a client and when she was home.
"Hey mom" Oliver greeted, She stopped in front of him , before giving him a warm smile and then a kiss, which he returned awkwardly, it was something he hardly did, but he reciprocated it before rolling his eyes and turning to the door, following behind her.
Ava eyed the kitchen from the hallway, to find two of her four children with mouths filled with pizza, as the third trudged forward to probably yell or smack them. She let out a short laugh before going up the stairs to find the fourth, Owen. Who was always in his room, either building stuffs or playing video games, all through the evening Oliver was downstairs with his friends, his little brother Owen who was only 14 was in his own little world. 'World' was basically his room.
Owen was what you'd call a Three-faced b***h. When he was with his parents he'd be all sunshine and rainbows, and alone, he'd be a productive yet lazy teen , spending time perfecting his craft or he'd basically munch on snacks all day while on the game, screaming profanities at other players, words even Oliver hadn't even heard, used or learnt the meaning of, speaking of Oliver, when the little boy was with him , that's when his third face showed , or who knows if that's his true side, Making snide remarks at him, calling him names, mocking everything he did, the way he walked, ate, the books he read, the way his room was designed, and every word that came out of Oliver's mouth, Owen was ready to clock his s**t.
Oliver groaned as he heard quick footsteps approaching, he was still in the kitchen, his friends had left already after grabbing several slices of pizzas , because they too had missed dinner at theirs, mom had mentioned something along the lines of already having something to eat before she got home, so she had retired to her room , leaving only him downstairs.
Owen paused at the foot of the stairs, peeping into the living room, searching with his wild green eyes, the older boy couldn't fathom why a devil like him had same kind eyes as his mum, he should have taken after dads honey brown ones , well, he did take dads straight hair, but at the end of the day it was still the familiar honey brown, giving the boy a striking resemblance to their mum.
"Cassie left, if it's who you're watching out for" Oliver spoke from the kitchen, it was the only reason he'd be checking the living room like a spy, because of his obvious crush on the girl. Owen's tensed shoulder and worried demeanor instantly relaxed at those words, but he quickly shifted his body movement into a more bold stance, curving his lips into a wide grin as he approached his older brother.
"Oh boy" Oliver muttered , he recognized the all too familiar determination in the boys eyes, he's done it now.
"Out of my way d**k wart…. " Owen cursed before shoving Oliver and grabbing a slice of pizza, munching at it loudly while staring at him intently, eyes wide and never blinking , obviously because he had more to say, he swallowed before he continued "…..hope you didn't get your nerd juice on this, can't have me acting like a twink". He took another bite , before going to the fridge.
Nerd? They were both nerds, different interests but same thing.
Oliver only sighed, if he went back and forth with him, it was going to be a long night. He watched as the little boy took a can of soda, drinking it in front of the fridge, the doors open and his legs spread apart. He felt a mischievous smirk creeping on his lips as he moved towards the boy, immediately striking the back of his neck, causing the boy to choke slightly and then into a full coughing fit, struggling to register the situation around him.
He had already made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs before the younger boy could even think of words to say to his brother.
Oliver wanted to just go straight to his books as he got in his room, but he was exhausted, and decided to just go to bed instead, he spent a minute or two staring at nothing, well not exactly nothing, he scanned the posters of the band TV girl, his drawings academic awards and medals in his room wall.
His eyes traveled to his laptop that sat opened on his desk, the wallpaper a photo of him and his two best friends, one the girl had taken at a school game which came out pretty well, him looking a bit confused and ordinary, Matt with his tongue out in a way that his pearly white canines showed, looking handsome as ever no matter what circumstances the photo was taken, and Cassie, exceptionally beautiful Cassie, her hair silky and long, blue eyes shining brightly as her full lips was pressed to a pout, her straight nose scrunched in the process.
As if on cue he got a notification on his phone, probably one of his best friends texting , or a request on his i********:. He pulled out his phone, tapping on the screen , and scrolling through till he found the newest notification, it was a group chat Matt created, with the bold name "The B's" written on it. Oliver didn't want to even ask, he'll do that when he sees them tomorrow. Now. He needed some sleep.
