Chapter 04: Surprises and Revelations

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that's why it's called present." 

- Master Oogway.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Another day begins in the city of Moordale, at first glance, it seems like any other day, but not for Otis.

For the past few days, he has been waking up very early, around 5 in the morning. He doesn't understand why this is happening; his body simply decides to wake up at that time and can't go back to sleep.

A few days ago, Otis shared some good moments with Ruby, but since then, Ruby has been ignoring him. Well, back to normal.

So, with this free time, some desires arose in Otis' mind.

The blue-eyed boy has always had a feeling of shame and insecurity about his body. He was too tall, too skinny, and almost always very clumsy.

Because of this, and a strange motivation and desire that roared in his mind, Otis was running through the city of Moordale.

"Oof! Phew! Damn it... Breathe, this burns too much. Oof! This is the maximum!" Otis says or tries to say while supporting his hands on his knees in exhaustion.

His lungs feel like they're on fire, and his calves and thighs want to give up at any moment; this is the cost of years of a sedentary lifestyle.

But Otis doesn't feel discouraged because he feels his body improving every second. If he could notice, his body would shine a little with a white light for a brief moment.

His legs come back to life, and Otis feels like he can continue, despite still feeling mentally tired, his body can keep going.

The blue-eyed boy smiles and decides to continue running to his house.

"I need to join a gym. Just taking walks won't be enough." Otis thinks as he arrives home.

Entering his house and noticing that his mother is already awake, he greets her with a smile on his face.

"Good morning, Mom."

"Good morning, son. How have your walks been?" Jean asks, no longer surprised by her son's changes. After all, what mother doesn't want her son to take care of himself?

"They're going well, thank you for asking. But, if it's not bothering you. I wanted to join a gym, and maybe train a little Muay Thai. I heard it's good for the body." Otis decides to ask his mother and be honest with her since he doesn't have money at the moment. Maybe he'll have to change that in the future, but for now, his mother wants him to focus on his studies.

"Muay Thai. Otis, I think I've talked to you about this before. You don't solve your problems with violence, nothing good comes from people like that. The gym I understand, but I don't want you to become a violent person." Jean shares her concerns, although she is quite confident in how she raised her son, she is still afraid of what this might mean.

Even more so with her son changing so rapidly in such a short time.

Otis rolls his eyes with a smile on his face, already anticipating his mother's exaggerated reaction. He says, "Mom, I don't want to learn martial arts to win an argument. I want to learn martial arts so that if someone tries to attack me, or you, or anyone I care about, I can defend myself. Self-defense, in its entirety."

"Sigh Otis, I don't think..."

"Mom. Please, trust me. I... I want to have the means to defend myself. That's all, I won't go around looking for fights. But I don't want to be intimidated anymore for being weak."

Jean widens her eyes a little upon hearing the last part of Otis' statement.

"Intimidated? By whom? Since when Otis?"

Otis sighed, he didn't want to tell his mother but he wanted to convince her quickly.

"Mom, I'm a skinny and weak boy. People impose themselves on me without fearing consequences. I've never been assaulted because I've never resisted. But I'm tired of people imposing their will on me."

Jean stares at Otis with a deep look, trying to discern the truth in his words. After a few moments, Jean relents and says, "All right. I'll pay for you. BUT. With one condition. I don't want to hear about you starting fights. It's self-defense as you said. Am I clear?"

"As crystal!" Otis immediately responds, that his mother knows how to be intense when she wants to.

Jean smiles at her son's response and goes back to cutting the bacon while saying, "Now go. Take your shower, you smell like a wet dog."

Otis raises his arm and smells his armpit.

"I'm not stinking that much. Am I?"

-------•×•--------•×•--------•×•--------•×•------

"Mum asked you to let her know if you need more," Adam says as he looks at his father.

Michael Groff looks at his son with a complicated expression. His life has turned upside down so quickly, he couldn't understand.

He thought he had everything in his hands. But recently, everything has been going downhill. His wife, up to this point, has kicked him out of the house, and he has been under increasing pressure from the team managing the school, specifically from that scary woman.

'All because of that meddling woman! Filling my wife's head this way' he thinks angrily, but soon he takes a deep breath and sighs. Looking at his son again, Michael asks, "Does your mother miss me?"

"I don't know, Dad," Adam says, being as bad at expressing feelings as his father. "I think Madame misses you."

Groff senior just laughs at his son's words. The young man then, seeing his father in such a pathetic state, tries to start a conversation with him.

"I was thinking... Maybe I should go back to school. I've missed a lot but, I want to find something I'm good at."

Michael looks at his son doubtfully, but seeing the sincere seriousness on his son's face, he says with a smile, "Well, surprises just keep coming, don't they?"

Adam also smiles, finally, for a moment, they seem like normal father and son. It's a pity it only lasted a few moments.

The Headmaster of Moordale looks out the window and sees the woman he least wants to see at this moment; he needs to prepare.

"Adam, get out of here. Now." Headmaster Groff says as he quickly gets up from the floor, then adjusts his suit and runs his hands through his hair as he sits in his chair.

He then looks at his son, who remains standing in his place, and says, "Go, get out of here."

"..." Adam remains silent. He sighs quietly and leaves the room thinking, 'My father hasn't changed at all.'

The younger Groff walks through the school halls he once attended, lost in his thoughts. Until, when he was almost at the school exit door, he saw Eric. Adam hadn't seen him since that party, but he knew he was dating his former boss's son.

As Adam approaches, Eric notices him coming and greets him with a forced smile.

"Hi, Adam. How are you?" Eric says with a somewhat melancholic tone in his voice.

Adam, without thinking much, responds to Eric. "My mom is divorcing my dad, he's sleeping at the school."

"Yeah. Everyone already knows!"

"I got fired from my job!"

"Yeah. Rahim told me! I'm sorry."

Adam stares at Eric, trying to think of something to say that could spark a conversation with the person he likes. Until he sees what Eric is carrying in his hand.

"Still play French Horn?"

"I didn't think you knew what it was. Haha!" Eric says laughing as he looks at Adam, who also smiles as he says, "Trombone sounds funny. Haha!"

They both smile at each other, Eric with a shy smile on his face and Adam with a smirk; there was more meaning to that smile than it appeared.

"Eric, we should start!" One of the boys organizing the event calls for Eric, interrupting their pleasant moment.

Eric looks to the side toward the boy who just spoke before looking back at Adam and saying, "Today... is the final rehearsal for tonight's musical. You should come. I know musicals may not be your style but..."

"Is it like Frozen? Because that was pretty sad!"

"Yeah. It's like Frozen!" Eric turns around and grabs one of the flyers on the wall and shows it to Adam.

"They... are kissing in a forest full of dicks?"

Eric starts laughing as he says, "That's what I said, it's a forest full of dicks. Look at this. Hahaha!"

They laugh for a few moments until Adam makes an uncomfortable expression and looks around a bit.

"I better go." The younger Groff says as he stares at Eric for a few moments, before Adam turns completely, Eric starts speaking.

"Look, Adam. I... I didn't mean those things at the party. About people not liking you."

"It's very easy not to like me." Adam calmly affirms; that he is well aware that he hasn't been the best of people. But he's trying to change that, starting from now.

"Look, Eric. I know... I hurt you and I hurt you. I just wanted you to know that, I don't want to hurt you anymore!"

Adam affirms and turns to leave, leaving a pensive Eric looking at his back.

.

.

.

"Is your uncle there?"

Adam and Rahim stare at each other. For a few moments, the air becomes rarefied and the discomfort is palpable between them.

"Yusef, Adam is here," Rahim says and ends the exchange of deadly looks. He thinks for a few moments and then says.

"I know you like my boyfriend. And you make him laugh. He doesn't laugh like that with me." Rahim notices his uncle's footsteps approaching and quietly leaves the shop.

"You taught her well, she sits easily now," Yusef says as soon as he arrives, his expression somewhat rigid. And no wonder, he had suffered such a great loss.

"If you give me another chance, I can teach more tricks. Please, I know I made a mistake, it won't happen again."

And at that moment, Ola enters the shop, wearing a white suit in character.

"Could you give me my payment, please?"

Ola looks at Adam confused by his presence there, she asks, "Hi Adam, what are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to get my job back."

Ola then remembers the day she arrived and found the shop messed up.

'I've never seen Yusef so irritated as he was that day.'

Ola looks at Adam and then looks at Yusef, receiving the payment, and says, "Yusef, you can't fire Adam. It wasn't his fault what happened in the store. The spare key wasn't working right for a while, and I forgot to mention it."

Yusef approaches the two of them, looks between Adam and Ola before fixing his gaze on Ola, and says, "Is this true?"

Ola smiles, as if she had won something, and says, "Of course, so if you have to fire Adam. You'll have to fire me too since it was my fault too."

Looking at Ola smiling, Yusef also smiles, reassuring Ola and Adam's hearts before becoming serious and saying, "You're both fired. Go, out of my shop!"

Disheartened, Adam and Ola leave the shop. The two walk down the street, now unemployed.

Adam wondered why she did that. He then decides to ask her, "Why did you do that?"

"Well, because I love you, man."

Adam shakes his head and says, "Despite being bisexual, I don't feel that way about you. And you weren't lesbian or anything?"

"No, silly. I don't feel that way about you either. I love you, as a friend." Ola smiles as she puts her hand on Adam's shoulder.

The younger Groff freezes, that word, no one had ever called him that before.

Adam then pulls Ola into a hug and lifts her off the ground due to his height. Ola, confused, asks why Adam is doing that.

"Because... No one has ever called me a friend before."

Ola smiles sadly but then smiles and jokes with Adam, "You can put me down now!"

-------•×•--------•×•--------•×•--------•×•------

(Otis)

As I entered the school through the main door, I saw two familiar faces: his ex-girlfriend Ola and her stepdad Jakob.

Damn, didn't think I'd see them so soon. But studying at the same school, what could I expect, right?

I... was a jerk to Jakob, unnecessarily. With Ola, I was intentionally mean to her so I don't regret it, but I think I caused enough hurt.

And I think she's moved on since she's dating someone else now. Oh, right. She said she was into someone else, didn't she? I think so. Well, not my problem anymore.

I'll just sort things out with Jakob and apologize to both, Ola's a bonus. Since she's there, it can't hurt.

"That suit looks nice on you, Ola."

Jakob and Ola look at me, Ola makes a slightly uncomfortable expression that she quickly masks.

"Yeah. She's all excited and dolled up for your girlfriend. Isn't that right, Ola?" Jakob begins saying.

"Shut up, Dad."

"What's up? I thought you two had broken up and moved on, right?" Jakob tells me with a tone, condescending. It's a bit hard to gauge such a calm guy, bordering on indifference, if it weren't for the ever-present gentle smile on his face.

I guess Jakob isn't that gentle after all, kinda petty of him to try to attack me by rubbing in the fact that his daughter is dating and has moved on. Don't you think so, Jakob?

"Sorry, Otis. I'm with Lily now, hope that's not weird."

Does my opinion matter? No, so screw what I think. But I can't say that. Not when I want to apologize to someone.

"Don't worry, Ola. It's not weird at all, as you once told me. We have to follow our hearts, right?"

Ola smiles looking at me and she visibly relaxes, and says, "Thank you, Otis. That's nice."

Jakob looks at the two of us and mutters something quietly about strange youths. Haha, Jakob has quite the personality. I don't know why I didn't like him.

Well, there's the fact that he's sleeping with my mom. But I don't understand why I disliked him so much. Maybe the fact that he might replace my dad at some point, I don't know, don't remember and I'm angry at whoever does.

Before Jakob goes too far, I grab him by the shoulder and say, "Jakob, can I talk to you for a moment?" I see him nod as he stops and looks at me.

Well, here goes.

"I... I wanted to apologize properly to you. For being a jerk to you and making things difficult for you and my mom, things weren't right in my mind at the time and you had nothing to do with it. So, I apologize to you."

I see Jakob smile a bit and say, "Yeah. You were a jerk indeed." Before I can make a joke about it, he puts his hand on my shoulder and continues speaking. "But you're a good man. Your mother raised you well."

Man... This guy acts and talks like a real dad. Nothing like Remi. If I hadn't been a total jerk to him, maybe having him as a stepdad wouldn't be so bad.

"Thank you, Jakob. You're a good man too. So, let's watch the play?"

Jakob smiles at me and says, "You took the words right out of my mouth, Otis. Let's."

.

.

.

.

Well, the play turned out to be a surprise for everyone. Hahaha. Another shock for everyone, even my classmates who had a slight idea of what the play was about were amazed by the content.

Oh my God. That woman next to Director Groff, she looks like she's eaten horse shit. Hahahahah.

Ahh, that's fun. Oops, but it seems our dear lying director can't take it anymore.

I see the lying Director Groff heading backstage with a furious expression, leaving the bald woman alone.

Man, with the facial expressions she can make, she should pursue an acting career, she has a future.

(A/N: Every time I watch this part, I hear this song in my head. Shrek got to me, Music - I need a hero.)

"ERIC EFFIONG!!! ERIC EFFIONG!"

"Adam? Adam, I'm here!"

Heh, this is getting more interesting by the minute.

"I need to tell you something, Eric Effiong!"

The whole audience was tense with what would come next, the play was already a big shock. Now seeing former student Adam Groff crashing the party? It seemed like a soap opera scene.

"Ahh, my God. Just say it already!" A voice cries out eagerly, as I look in the direction of the voice, I see Anwar.

I see Adam and Eric, in the middle of the stage. Staring intensely at each other, they looked like two lovers reuniting after a long time.

"Eric, I... I want to hold your hand!" Adam says, after much hesitation, it seemed like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He smiles at Eric who seems bewildered, apparently what he said has a story behind it.

I see Rahim on stage, looking like he'd seen a ghost. He shakes his head and seems like he's about to cry any moment, I turn my gaze back to Eric and hear him finally say something after a long silence.

"Say it again." Adam extends his hand to Eric as he smiles and says, "You want to hold my hand?"

Eric looks to the side before turning his gaze back to Adam, and his posture changes. He seemed determined.

"I do, Adam," Eric says and I see Adam smiling as they look at each other. At this moment, Lily, who was on the control panel of the play, plays electronic music while Rahim runs from the venue to the sound of the background.

The dancers start running back to the backstage and one of the musicians calls Eric back. Eric leads Adam to the exit as he returns to his place in the band. 

His expression never changed from intense joy.

The dancers with a... screw it. Lily is very brave. But soon the play is interrupted again, coincidentally it was another Groff doing it.

"This is over. This horror show is over. Done!"

The crowd starts booing the older Groff, before a woman from the audience says, "We're enjoying it!"

This seemed to trigger even more anger in Director Groff, as he continued to say.

"You like... this dirty thing?" Director Groff begins saying and Jackson, Romeo, replies: "It was supposed to be funny, Sir."

"You. All of you are out, corrupted. All of you had your minds corrupted by that woman!" Director Groff says as he points to my mom... What did he say?!

"She's giving sexual advice to your kids. And filling their minds with nonsense!"

I... can't even describe the anger I'm feeling towards this man in front of me. Besides spreading my mom's book pages all over the school, he now wants to incriminate my mom for teenagers being teenagers. 

Before I can say something that I bitterly regret, my mom starts speaking.

"That's not true. I..." My mom is interrupted by Director Groff. "They're just kids for God's sake! I didn't know she'd be so unprofessional!"

Enough already, I'm not going to allow him to insult my mom's ethics. I stand up and start speaking loudly.

"Mr. Groff, my mom has been extremely well-received by the students. Not only for her professionalism and ethics. But also for genuinely listening to the students' problems." I finish saying and see some students agreeing and others even sharing their own experiences. My mom is quite the therapist.

I see the older Groff almost imploding with anger, his face red. Well, let's burst this balloon right now.

"And I say more. Let's talk about how my mom's notes, which were inside her locked room, ended up on all the school walls before any student even arrived at school. Interesting, don't you think?"

I see Director Groff widen his eyes for a moment before an expression of anger takes over his face.

"Mr. Milburn, who do you think you're accusing? I have no reason to do this and you can't go around accusing people without evidence! A criminal, that's what he is. This shows more of the 'Good' upbringing you had with your mom."

HAHAHAHHA. Fell into my trap!

"Director Groff. I, at no point, accused you of doing anything. Accused, Mr. Groff?" At the end of my sentence, I see Director Groff paling, but I'm not done. 

"I investigated. I went after who could have done this to my mom. It was easy to find out. Because there's only one person who has access to all the keys in the school and was here all night." I stay silent for a few seconds and see the whole audience with a pensive expression and some already guessed who it was.

"After all, who lost his wife 'because' of my mom? Who was forced to accept her here and saw that the results were positive? Also, Mr. Groff. The printer you used, yours in the office, has the history of all the 300 copies you made at 1:00 in the morning." 

I see everyone's faces with expressions of realization, my mom by my side also surprised but not so much. It seems she had her suspicions too.

"So, Mr. Groff. Don't you dare speak ill of my mother's character and morals. When you committed a crime as retaliation against my mother!"

The Director opens his mouth to try to say something but nothing comes out, he just stands there, frozen. Not knowing what to do.

"Mr. Groff, I need to speak with you outside. Now." A calm voice snaps everyone out of the stupor I left them in. 

That woman had a lot of authority, judging by the older Groff's fearful expression as he followed the woman out of the theater.

.

.

.

"I'm proud of you, Otis. You did well, solving your problems with words. Like the man I raised you to be!"

"Thank you, Mum. And, as soon as I arrived, I talked to Jakob and remembered something important. I apologized to him and want to tell you that I won't interfere in your relationship anymore, in case you want to get back together." I smile as I hold my mother's hands and looking into her eyes, I say: "I won't freak out anymore for fear of no longer being the center of your life, after all, I'll never stop being your son. Your only son."

I hug my mother and notice her a little tense, but she soon relaxes, I didn't think much about it. If there was something she wanted to tell me, one day she would.

-------•×•--------•×•--------•×•--------•×•------

Wake up: run: eat: shower; fight; rest; train; eat; sleep. 

This was Otis's routine for most of these three summer vacation months. At some point, Jean gifted him with some supplement materials for his diet, which helped him a lot.

Within these three months, between the third and the fifth week, Otis was super stressed with this routine, and as if it were his cue, his friend Eric found out about a party at Olivia's house he couldn't attend.

Otis saw this party as an opportunity to de-stress, so to speak. And even though he didn't enjoy this party thing, he decided to go, even alone. His costume consisted of a cartoon character called "Adventure Time." 

He chose the protagonist, Finn, as his costume was quite simple. The sword, however, was the hardest part to make.

Eric, if he went, said he would go as Princess Gumball, 'which seemed like a choice for him.' Otis thought.

At some point at the party, he decided to go to the bathroom. Getting lost somewhere in the house, he quickly turned around to head back to the party when a pair of hands hugged him from behind and pulled him into the closet.

"Milburn." A sweet and anxious voice says Otis's last name.

'What... ahh, it's Ruby!' Otis quickly recognized Ruby, whether it be her always impeccable nails or her deliciously aromatic and gently sweet perfume.

"Ruby, good evening. How can I help you tonight?" Otis says, that as much as this situation leaves little room for interpretation, it was better to ask. 

And he loved to disturb Ruby Matthews, her expressions were adorable.

Ruby looks at Otis's face and kind of... growls a little before asking, "What are you dressed as?"

'Doesn't know who Finn, The Human is? Sigh, Woman with no culture.'

"I'm Finn, the human. A hero from another world who..."

Ruby interrupts him by holding his head, she says, "Shut up, Milburn. And fuck me." And Kiss him.

'With pleasure, Mrs.' Otis smiles at the thought and starts undressing Ruby.

And so it went, three months. In cars, bathrooms, and parties. Ruby always texted almost ordering him to go to these parties, just to pull him into some hidden room and moan his name. Then pretend he doesn't exist until the next party or opportunity.

Amidst all this, Otis never stopped training. His Muay Thai master was impressed with such dedication, Otis quickly climbed the color rankings and settled in the intermediate, in the light blue with white color.

His body changed, and he seemed to have become even taller, that's just the impression he gives since his posture has now changed. He gained on average 3 kg more, currently weighing 78 kg.

He took advantage of the summer to also change his haircut, following his master's advice he opted for a specific cut. (Photo)

Otis had changed a lot. Even his mom who saw him every day, was shocked by such a change in Otis's appearance. Get ready Moordale, a new Otis Milburn has arrived.

-------•×•--------•×•--------•×•--------•×•------

Hey, guys, how's it going? Today I have a question for you, a few.

First: Xbox Series S 512 GB or Xbox Series S Carbon Black (1 TB)?

Second: What do you guys think of the book "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"?

See you next week.

Well, I await your answers. A kiss...

From your favorite author,

- Abel Wizard