Chapter Text
Ollie was never one for school. He wasn’t great at paying attention, he couldn’t sit still for long, and he was half sure all the other kids hated him. How had he managed to make it this far into the year? He wasn’t sure.
It was his first year back at school since secondary school, his first year back in the countryside since he was a little boy. Ollie tried to focus on school, to not get sentimental, but every quiet breeze seemed to bring him back to his grandmother's. The mid autumn air was crisp, reminding him of those mornings at her house, reminding him of the stories his grandmother would tell to him. He held those memories so dearly.
He had never told anybody why he had picked this school, but subconsciously, he knew why. It was a somber combination of the old books, stories, and English countryside that reminded him so strongly of her.
His grandmother was behind every important decision he made, and even though he had moved away so early in his life, he had held her opinion so dearly to his heart for so long, it was difficult to let go. He had never really been that drawn to the literary arts, but when he looked through the brochure, eyes skimming across university names, he couldn’t help but get stuck on this one. And so, fresh out of secondary school, Ollie found himself studying theories on classical literature.
Yeah, nice one, Ollie.
Ollie hated classic literature. Sure, it was interesting, and when you knew what you were talking about it made you sound like a genius, but that's the thing. He didn’t know. God, he had no fucking clue what he was talking about. He had managed to poser his way through the first month of school by hauling around the thickest Shakespeare textbook he could buy, a pair of wired headphones, and an old ipod he found in his attic, all in a tote bag from a tesco. It was absolutely ridiculous, but he melted into the crowd of his classmates seamlessly.
Ollie thought about the upcoming week, about the next four days and the essay due by the weekend. Ollie thought about running away into the woods to be eaten by wolves. It would not suffice. It shouldn’t -theoretically- be too difficult, it was only a couple thousand words or so on a topic he already knew about, but his mind just wasn’t there. To be honest, his mind hadn’t really been with him since he started staying here. He had been surrounded by the countryside, by cold stone walls and smells that resembled his past, and he hadn’t been able to give it any focus at all. It was driving him insane. So far, he had been putting the hours in, taking long, exhausting walks around campus to try and clear his mind, but even that wasn’t working.
Right now he should be making notes for his essay, his nose buried in some big ass ancient book from the back of the library. Right now, he was in the corner of the library, sat on the carpeted floor, staring up and out of one of the large glass windows. There was a large tree outside of this window, and the sky was just cloudy enough to be white, making the light shine green through the leaves. The image was stunning, and Ollie allowed it to pull him away from the present for a little bit.
He could remember the tree in his grandmother's old yard. He wondered if her house was very far from where he was now.
Subconsciously, his hand reached up to touch the locket around his neck. The outline of the jewelry was subtle under his jacket, but it brought him comfort.
He was suddenly pulled from his lovely daydream as a thick hardbound book came atop his head. There was a dull “thunk” noise, and Ollie winced in pain.
“Ow! God damn it– Isack!” He whisper-hissed, whipping his head to look at the boy.
Isack stood over Ollie, holding the book he had whacked him with in one hand, the other hand resting on his hip. He had a slight grin on his face, like he was proud of his actions, but he hadn’t meant for it to hurt that much.
“You’ve seriously gotta stop doing that. You’re gonna give me a concussion one of these days. Or better yet- brain damage.”
“You are not going to get brain damage.” Isack sighed, sitting down beside Ollie. “You are gonna get a failing grade, however, if you don't at least try to focus on your classes.”
“Whatever.” Ollie mumbled, rolling his eyes.
“No I’m serious, I heard that the professor for CLS is proper evil. Like, failed a girl for missing class because she was sick.”
Ollie only shot him an unsure glance. He didn’t believe Isack, not even a little bit, but he did think he was a bit over his head. Maybe he had picked too many classes for his first year… Shit, how embarrassing would it be to fail his first year at Uni?
“Isack, I don’t have time for rumors. Or eccentric friends who hit people with books for fun. Why are you here?
Isack scowled in mock disappointment, but it quickly turned into a smile, like he couldn’t quite stop himself. “I’m here” he started, then sort of trailed off, like he wasn’t quite sure. “Well, I don’t know. I’m here because we’re both losers without friends. And I’m a bit bored.”
It was Ollie's turn to scowl. “Hey, you’re a loser without friends. I’m just without friends.”
“Nooo,” Isack corrected Ollie's correction, “neither of us are without friends, because we have eachotherrrr” He sighed dreamily, lightly grasping Ollie's arm and shaking it as he drew out the word.
“Eww” Ollie laughed, pushing Isack off him, but he was unable to stop his smile.
Yeah, Isack was a bit much, and he hit Ollie with books instead of saying hi, but he was pretty okay.
“Have you seen Gabi anywhere?” Isack asked suddenly, looking around like the man might have suddenly appeared at the mention of his name.
“Mmmm… no?” Ollie thought. “I think he might be doing some last minute poetry for an assignment. You know how he likes to go ‘all out’”
Isack let out a muffled laugh in agreement. “Yeah. I gotta find him though. I’ve got his card.” He suddenly pulled a debit card from his back pocket, showing it to Ollie.
Ollie’s brows furrowed and he opened his mouth to ask, but he was cut off.
“Don’t bother, it's a long story.”
Ollie shrugged and watched as Isack stood, seemingly going to go find Gabriel. “Hey, I might follow you for a bit. I think I’m gonna take a walk outside,” He said, standing up beside Isack.
Isack nodded. “Outside?”
“Yeah, maybe. Just gonna see where my feet take me.” He said, grabbing his argutably performative tote bag from the ground.
Nodding again, Isack and Ollie began to walk. “Just don’t go into the woods at the edge of the campus, yeah? I heard students go missing.”
Ollie just rolled his eyes again. “Isack, you hear everything.”
“No no, I’m serious. Like four or five people have gone missing in the last six years. The professors in a few of my classes did a whole spiel about it at the beginning of the year.” He insisted.
“You do realize that the ‘missing student’ to ‘years of students going missing’ ratio is pretty normal, right?” Ollie glanced sidelong at Isack. “I think more students die from alcohol poisoning in a year than people go missing in those woods.”
Isack sighed, giving up. “Whatever. Don’t blame me if you die at your first ever year at uni.” He then stuck his tongue out childishly, and Ollie shot him an ‘are you serious?’ glance.