Pinky Swear

Liam looked at the motorbike which was coming from the main gate of the estate. It was exactly the same motorbike he saw earlier, with exactly the same people. He didn't need to be told first to know it was Oliver and Amanda.

What are they doing here? His brain asked. The only reasonable guess was that either or the two of them lived in this estate. He hadn't doubted they were from rich homes when he first saw them, so he was not surprised.

The bike came to a abrupt stop in front of him and the first person to take off the helmet was Amanda.

"Liam right? What are you doing here?" Amanda asked, obviously surprised to see him.

Oliver didn't tell her Liam was her next door neighbor, so guessing from the bag and things around, she guessed he was either moving in or helping someone move in.

Oliver took off his helmet and looked at Liam curiously while waiting for him to answer Amanda's question.

"My aunt lives here. I'll be staying here for the time being." He answered. "What are you doing here?" He threw the question at the two of them.

"Oliver lives in the next house." She pointed at the next house.

The next house? Liam looked at the place. That was were Simon and his family lived. Simon was the only person he knew and played with whenever he visited the estate. But the boy had moved when he started college and it's been a long time since they last saw or heard from each other. It wasn't like they were best buddies or anything, they just played games and went to the gym together. Maybe that was why he didn't know Simon had a younger brother, since they both hadn't bothered to talk about their families. Honestly, the two didn't look alike at all.

Another question he asked himself was, 'If Oliver was Simon's brother, how come he never saw him before? Where has be been?'

Or maybe he was just overthinking and the two weren't brothers? It was possible Simon's family had moved from the house since his father was the current Mayor of the town.

"You sure do think a lot."

He returned to his senses when Amanda spoke. That was when he realised he had been spending time thinking about unnecessary things when he could simply ask.

"You know Simon?" He asked Oliver directly.

Oliver looked at Amanda before answering hesitantly. "My... cousin."

Oliver didn't bother to ask how Liam knew him and Liam hadn't expected him to ask since he was practically a guy of few words unless he was chatting with his girlfriend. Obviously.

"It's nice to know you will be Oliver's neighbor for the time being. You can help him out with stuffs, show him around and also help him with your notes to keep him up to date with school work. I'm sure he'll never ask for help, so I'm doing it on his behalf. Please?" She pressed her palms together and fluttered her lashes, at the same time, she was pulling Oliver's sleeve, urging him to climb down from the bike.

Oliver shot her a warning glare to stop her from talking but either she didn't take notice of it, or she did but chose to ignore it.

Liam shrugged in response. Although he didn't like the Oliver guy much, he could offer his notes.

Amanda grinned. "Let me have your number. Sometimes, he can go AWOL. I hope I can call you sometimes since you are his neighbour? Just to hear from him of course."

She didn't wait for Liam to accept or reject before she took a flower pot from his hand and handed her phone to him.

He didn't have any choice but to do just as she asked of him before handing her phone back to her. She had the gift of making people do what she wanted of them.

"I'll get going now before it gets later than this. Oliver here will help you move your remaining things. Nice to meet you, and I look forward to seeing more of you."

She climbed her bike and revved the engine. When she reversed, she faced Oliver who looked like he was ready to kill her,

"See you soon, my love." She winked at him before she zoomed off, leaving the two boys standing there awkwardly.

After a few seconds of silence, Oliver spoke.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this." Oliver said quietly.

"What?"

"That I live here and the person I am related to."

"Simon or the Mayor?"

"Both."

Liam pulled his ear. For a split second, he had thought about how to break the news to Sophie since she was eager to know about him. But for someone like him who liked privacy, he couldn't do that to Oliver especially after the boy had asked him.

"You promise?" Oliver asked when Liam remained quiet.

Liam looked at his face. His brows furrowed slightly when he noticed Oliver was a little tense. What was it about? Why didn't he want anyone to know? Since he was related to the Mayor, wasn't he supposed to be showing it off like other kids from bigshot families do? Why did he transfer to their school?

"I won't tell." He sighed.

After two seconds passed, Oliver held out his gloved hand, "Pinky swear."

Surprised, Liam asked, "What?"

"Pinky swear." Oliver repeated.

It seemed really weird and awkward to Liam but he locked his pinky finger with Oliver's smaller one. "I won't tell a soul about it."

Oliver finally looked relieved and withdrew his hand immediately. "Thanks."

When Liam noticed Oliver was looking at the remainder of his things left for him to carry inside, he quickly said, "You don't have to help me with t—"

"I wasn't going to." Oliver cut in before he began to head towards his block.

Liam's mouth was left hanging in disbelief as he watched his retreating figure. When he finally returned to his senses, he scoffed, "What a douche bag!"