THE PROJECT.

Oliver was really distressed. He didn't know whether to call her mom, or whatever. He sat on the bench in the basketball court. His mind couldn't stay clear of what happened earlier.

Charles sees him sitting lonely, so he sits with him.

'What happened? Why are you sad? your eyes look deem.' Charles asks, but Oliver was mute.

'I know something is definitely wrong.' Charles says with certainty. 'It's about your mom, isn't it?' Charles asks, again.

'Don't call her my mom; I don't really have a mom.' Oliver says sadly, as tears kept streaming down his cheeks.

'Have you found her?' Charles asks.

'It's better I never found her, I would've not known how much she hated me.' Oliver states.

'Forget about her. She never stood by you in any moment your life; she has absolutely no right to call herself mom.' Charles lashes out.

Oliver was still very sad. He left Charles and went home.

The next day was dull for Vanya, Oliver was not in school. She waited in the lobby, all morning, but no sign of him. She decided to let her guards down, and ask Angel.

'Hello,…' She greets.

'Hello, Vanya.' Angel greets back.

'Do you know anything about Oliver's absence?' Vanya asks.

'I really don't know, but I miss him dearly, apparently more than you do.' Angel says, touching her chest. 'I think I'm in love.'

Angel was the youngest in grade 11. It irritated Vanya that she behaved this way.

'okay, thanks.' She goes and sits back down, and the class starts, immediately.

Vanya really wished she knew where Oliver was living, but she had no clue.

Mr. Albert, the technology teacher grouped the class into groups of 4, for a class project. He randomly picked names from the register. Charlotte, Stanley and three other students; Maryam was not grouped with any of her friends, rather she was with three other students. Vanya, Angel, Oliver and one other student, were in one group.

Vanya was happy that she and Oliver were in the same group, she was quite sad that Maryam and Charlotte were in different groups from hers.

The groups were to make a computer gadget or anything technology inclined, basically with materials from the ICT junk store. They had two weeks to be done with their project.

Vanya was really not on good terms with Angel. She regarded Angel as a talkative or as being too childish. Angel was also very bossy, and didn't want to be under Vanya's lead. Both girls wanted neither of them to be the group leader. Vanya says to Angel in a calm tone.

'Since, you don't want me to be the group leader, who else is smart in this group except Oliver and I? So, let Oliver be the group leader, therefore we can't start the project without Oliver.'

'Fine by me. And actually, there are three smart students, which are: Oliver, I, and myself.' Angel states proudly.

This girl was getting on Vanya's nerves, but she had to control her temper.

Stanley was selected the group leader of his group. He was the lady's man, so the three girls chose him to be the group leader. He was seriously not the smart type. He didn't have any gadget in mind.

'Let's make a massive robot!' says Luna, one of the girls in his group.

'How can you be so foolish, type of robot are we making? We need to economize our limited time.' Charlotte speaks rationally.

'Charlotte, we'll know that you're the smartest here. Tell us what to make.' Stanley requests.

Charlotte thinks for a moment, and then her face brightens up. 'Let's make a solar panel.' She says.

'What?' every body exclaims, in surprise.

'it's quite easy to make a solar panel. I learnt how to make one, while I was back in Paris. Most of the materials are actually already made. What we need to do is just to couple everything up and we'll make it in less than two weeks.' Charlotte explains. Stanley was truly impressed by this girl's smartness.

'Wow! I knew that your presence in my group would pilot us to success.' Stanley extols her.

Maryam was chosen as the leader of her group. Maryam is a quiet and a bossy type. She don't speak much, but she is really dangerous to mess with. All her group members were all boys. They just sat on a bench in front of Maryam, admiring her beauty, her body type and her great dimples when she smiled.

'Hello, guys.' She wakes them up from their lust.

'Hello, sister, Maryam.' One of the guys replies, unconsciously.

'Who's your sister? It's not obviously me. God forbid it.' Maryam answers angrily.

Where did they pack this dump ass and put in her group. She didn't even know any of them were in her class. She was already tired of being the group leader. She just collapsed in her seat tired.

Oliver took I'll; his temperature was above normal. His eyes were red from crying. He shook severely.

His father didn't know what was happening to. So he took him to the hospital.

'His having a very high fever. He has cried so much that he got a fever. He's still sobbing as we speak. You're the father of the boy, you should talk to him.' The Doctor narrates.

Mr. Myles wondered what made Oliver cry so much. He walks to Oliver.

'Hey, Oliver.' Mr. Myles sits with him.

'Why are you crying intensely like this?' Mr. Myles asks. 'The Oliver I know is a man that doesn't cry under any circumstances.' Mr. Myles says. Oliver couldn't speak a word. He didn't even want to tell his dad anything. He couldn't control his eyes again as tears kept coming. Mr. Myles notices that Oliver was not in the mood to talk, so he says with care, 'Oliver, I know you don't want to talk now. Remember, I'm always a listening eat; You can tell me when you're in the mood to talk.' Mr. Myles leaves as he finishes speaking.

Charles ran into the hospital as fast as he can, when he heard that Oliver was taken to the hospital. 'Is Oliver okay?!' He asks Mr. Myles in a loud tone.

'He's Okay; he's sitting right there.' He points to Oliver. Charles ran and sat close to him.

'What happened to you?' Charles asks him compassionately, but Oliver kept quiet.

'I now know, what is wrong.' Charles tells him. 'It's about yesterday, isn't it? I told you to forget about her. She's dead to you. She should be the one suffering now…'

Oliver interrupts Charles: 'No! I don't want her to suffer. I know she made a wrong decision, but that doesn't make her less than a mother to me. I found her with great difficulty, I won't just lose her again,' Oliver says sadly.

'I can't bare to see you suffer this much.' He deeps his hand into his pocket and brings out a white nylon bag. 'This will cure you from all depression, momentary. Everything will just go away.' Charles advices. 'Just take it. Don't pay me.'

Oliver didn't care if it was drugs or anything else. He just took it. He just took it, and went to the restroom. If this would make him feel better, he had to take it. He takes some of it. It worked! When he came out, the tears were gone. Oliver was above the world. He was in planet 9; he felt so energetic. He went to the window and wanted to jump down the hospital building, but Charles holds tight.

'Get a hold of yourself. I understand that it's your first time, but dude, you're going to kill yourself.' Charles makes Oliver to sit.

Mr. Myles saw his son laughing, he was surprised. Little did he know that his son was in another world. He was quite happy Charles brought his son back to his old self.

After some few minutes, the hyper energy wore off. Little by little, Oliver was able to go home with his father and Charles.

At the school, the project was still on. Stanley didn't see Oliver in school and he was quite inquisitive; he wanted to know more about Oliver. Since the incident that happened, Stanley always noticed Oliver's presence, and now his absence. He saw that Oliver's group were actually not doing anything. Vanya looked sad, so did Angel.

Stanley walks to Vanya.

'Hello, Vanya. You don't look happy.' Stanley says.

'It's nothing.' She replies.

'I know there's something behind that look. I'm certain that the absence of Oliver has some connections with it.'

'I don't really want to talk.' Vanya states firmly.

'You really like him, don't you?' Stanley asks, but there was no reply. 'The guy is cool, I like him, too.' Stanley says.

'My mom told me what happened with Oliver. She said it was a misunderstanding, and Oliver thought she was his mom.' Stanley explains.

Vanya just imagined the trauma Oliver was going through. If Mrs. Dion really said this to his son, that means she didn't accept Oliver, and Oliver would have given up by now. Vanya thought.

It was the screams outside that alerted everybody in the class.

'What's wrong?' Vanya asks whom it may concern. Everyone looks outside; a girl jumped from the balcony down, in an effort to commit suicide She lay there motionless. For minutes, everyone gasped, exclaimed, or videotaped the incident; no one really cared if she was dead or alive. After some time, the ambulance arrived. It was later discovered that she was dead. Everyone was surprised how Stella ended her life. Investigations were made. A letter was found by one of her friends.

'I only wanted one thing in this world, that, I did not have. I wished for it day and night, but my wishes never came true. I only had it in my mind. I always suffered a lot because of this. If only I could live a normal life without causing my parents pain and agony. It's not my fault, I always wanted a normal life. I couldn't do anything about my health. I was born with partially functioning lungs; it was smaller than normal. I can't breathe freely; I usually have seizures when I take in polluted air. I have suffered a lot, and caused pain and tears in the eyes of my parent. I need to liberate myself from this pain and agony; I want to end it all.' She wrote.

'She could've waited a little longer…' Some said.

'How much more pain has she caused her parents, who tried so hard to safe her life? Has their effort been wasted?'

Enough of the blame game! Oliver had no excuse compared to this girl, no one does to end his/ her life. In life, problems will always come like the waves that troubles the mighty ship. Stand your ground, and withstand all the blows you receive like the mighty ship.

Oliver was in school, so he witnesses the girl jumping from the balcony. He was standing at the entrance of the High school. This girls story made him realize that was how life is like. Full of the ups and downs. He was obviously facing his downs.

He saw how they carried the girl's corpse. Her bones were chattered beyond repair. Her body was covered because of the brutal injuries. Many people felt nausea as the saw the girls lifeless body.

'What problem has she solved now?' Oliver asks himself.

Vanya saw Oliver through the window. She thought she was imagining things. She pinched herself, she was not imagining things; he was actually there. After the dismissal of school, Vanya meets Oliver. She felt different whenever she was with Oliver. She felt happy and free with Oliver. She hugs him tight.

'You gave me a scare, I thought you had done something foolish. How are you?' Vanya asks.

'I'm fine; I just feel a little sick.' Oliver replies.

'What happened with your mom's issue?' Vanya asks.

'I found my mom — Asantel Dion. She told me why she left when I was an infant. But… She don't want to go back to her past.' Oliver narrates.

'So you're truly… Stanley's brother!' She exclaims.

Stanley overhead the conversation.

'What?!' He asks, surprised. 'What did you say?'

'There was no misunderstanding about Oliver being Asantel's child. It's true!' Vanya says.

Stanley could not behave it. His eyes were wide with surprise. He couldn't believe it.

'Vanya, what are you saying?' Stanley asks.

'It's true. Asantel Dion is Oliver's lost mom. She left when he was an infant.' Vanya explains.

Stanley went home early. He just wanted to clarify this issue.