PRESENT-DAY

Demario's POV

The next day, I was still at home with Noreen keeping me busy as I was looking over some of my old music composition notes that the Tuckers gave me yesterday. "It's been a long while since I had these," I murmured to myself, sitting up in the living room chair as I glanced over some of my original pieces. "And they're still in good condition, too."

Noreen came over from the kitchen with a glass of juice in hand. "What you've got there, Demario?" she asked me, handing me the juice.

"My old musical pieces that the Tuckers brought over," I replied. "When I had to fend for myself and Mom would lock me out of the apartment while she and everyone else went out do whatever, I would spend time with them and enjoy their company. At times, I would be taught how to play the piano by Mrs. Tucker and I caught on quick. I even start writing my own classical and jazz pieces, but left them all there since Mom wouldn't allow it and would likely tear them apart."

"Smart," Noreen hummed, nodding her head. "A good student, athlete, and a musician. Your mother doesn't know how good she had it."

"Tell me something I don't know. Anyway, I haven't had these since that fateful day and it's surreal holding these musical pieces in my hand." I inhaled deeply. "Some of these aren't even finished yet since I either lose interest or they weren't right. And some of these took days if not weeks to finish because I needed them to be full of life and I needed to get everything arranged perfectly. But there's one that..."

"What is it?" Noreen asked me.

I closed my eyes, a wave of emotions crossing through my mind. "One of them is still unfinished because the day that I planned to do so was when my life took a drastic change with my parents, brothers, and sisters dying that day," I explained. "They were on their way to Houston while I was taking finals at my old school and my plan was to finish the music before looking forward to a summer vacation of playing house-maid and whipping boy."

"But then they got into that car wreck and things went topsy-turvy," Noreen finished.

I nodded, steeling away a few tears that threatened to fall. "And now, here I am after everything and I'm still debating if I want to even finish that one piece of music," I replied. "If anything, the cynical voice of my mother in my head wants me to burn this stuff and move on with-"

There was a knock at the door, interrupting my speech. "Come in," Noreen hollered.

In stepped Oliver with what looked to be more homework in hand alongside a fresh bag of pastries from the coffee shop. "Guess who's here with homework and some food," he announced. "Everyone's been asking about you, Demario."

"Well, I'm planning to come back tomorrow and get back into the groove of life," I replied tiredly, placing my musical pieces to the side before accepting my homework assignments and the pastries. "And how are things back at PGHS?"

Oliver smirked as he sat in the loveseat across from me. "Like I  said, everyone's been asking about you," he replied. "Coach said that the first meet for the season is in three days, so you're going to use your PE classes for gym workouts and diving practices. And tomorrow, you got three tests to take during break, so no piano practice until afterwards."

I nodded. "Thanks," I hummed as I took out a strawberry Danish and took a small bite.

"But I want to talk about what Ryan did yesterday," Oliver commented, his face now serious. "He had no right to kiss you like that while you were off-guard. And you knew firsthand that Kendricks would be out for revenge against anyone she deems is a threat."

I nodded, Noreen getting up to head back into the kitchen. "Epiphany and Serenity told me that I needed to stay away from both Ryan and Jillian for my sanity and beneift," I replied. "I was playing keep-away for as long as I can until that day when Ryan came over."

"And you weren't ready to see him," Oliver deduced. "You didn't want to cause any drama and you didn't want to take any chances."

"Exactly," I replied. "Him kissing me on the mouth when I told him that I had to go was when I found myself fearing for what could be against me. I just wanted to live in peace and focus on school, not deal with any unwanted drama."

Oliver nodded, sitting up in his chair. "And no one can blame you since we all thought that you'd do something reckless," he replied.

"Not if anyone can help it, especially the Lomax clan as well as the McGillivray-Sullivan clan and even Jose and Gianna. They're too invested in me to let me go and watch me fall back into depression. So I gotta do my part and fight on like there's no tomorrow- learn to speak life, be positive, and be open to healing."

"And you know that you're not alone in this, Demario," Oliver added. "Everyone's willing to help you, but you're starting to help yourself along the way. Never forget to seek guidance and lean on people you can trust."

"Even you?" I couldn't help but ask.

He smiled widely. "Only if you want me to," he commented. "And speaking of us, I was hoping that you and I could be a bit more than friends. I know that you're still focused on your mental health and education, but I want to actually be willing to help you along the way and even fall in love. We can take things slow and learn more about each other."

I didn't know what to say.

I would, Mom's voice spat in my head. Say 'Hell no,' and show him the door right now. No one in their right mind would fall in love with your pathetic ass and-

Mom, this isn't about you. It's about me.

"Demario?" Oliver said, his voice slightly laced with worry. "Are you-"

"I'm fine," I said, snapping out of my thoughts. "It's my mom haunting me again, wanting me to say no to being yours, but you know what?"

"What?"

I took a deep breath, knowing what I had to do. "I'm going to say yes, but I'm still new to being in a relationship and all," I replied. "For all I know, this could either go up in flames without warning or things might start blooming into something beautiful. Either way, I won't know for sure unless I learn to give this a try."

"That's all I ask," Oliver breathed as he came to me and helped me to stand. "Demario?"

"Yes?"

He looked at me with a hesitant yet lustful look into his eyes. "Can I kiss you now?"

Demario, what are you doing? Mom hissed in my head. Say no right now! You don't deserve to be with some freak or anyone at all!

I took a deep break, shoving HER voice in the back of my mind before I branded my lips onto his.

And just like that, I was now falling in love with Oliver Slade.

Wow.

                                                               END OF ACT ONE

Ladies and germs, can I cook or what?

Things are official with Demario and Oliver and I think that there's going to be something more in store for these two. I can't say how, but you'll see what I mean in the chapters to come.

Of course, this is the end of act one of this saga, but act two is not far away as there's going to be more drama regarding Ryan and Jillian with both of them crossing Demario's path (even though the latter's not supposed to) while Demario himself will have to face more new faces (including another hater) while undergoing therapy and meeting more people who hated his late mother. And yes, folks, there's still the Artem/Ryan/Jillian flashbacks as well as those regarding Demario's past. And by the end of act two, let's just say that there's going to be a jaw-dropping, game-changing cliffhanger that will leave EVERYONE ready to trade blows as Demario...well, you'll have to wait and see for yourselves for what happens next!

On a personal note, I never expected to get this far with this story since there's so much spontaneous content that went off the planned storyline. But there's going to be some of the planned content in the chapters to come, you guys, but I plan to make room for improvisation as promised. All the same, you're going to love how this story goes along with all the drama, scandals, passion, excitement, fluff, and surprises that I plan to fill it with! I guarantee it!

Song: "If You Asked Me To" by Patti LaBelle. Dedication: LucainArmand.

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