After Olive and Victor arrived at their class, Sarah didn't waste any time and just bid them farewell and then headed to her class.
Olive and Victor had no time to waste their time also and went inside their classroom and sat next to each other. Despite Olive being a year younger than Victor, he managed to skip a grade and attend classes with the same grade as Victor thanks to Olive's keen intellect.
Noticing the teacher entering the classroom, he quickly took out the textbook and pencil. The teacher greeted the students as usual and, without wasting time, quickly took all of the students' attendance. One by one, the students' name was called, and not long after that, it was Olive's turn. But instead of Oliver Lockson, it was.
"Oliver Pennyson!"
Olive didn't say anything for a few seconds. He just closed his eyes, grumbling. Eventually, he raised his hand and answered. "Present."
The teacher, hearing that, nodded and continued checking the student's attendance.
Goodness, I wish it was a different name.
The name Lockson was very well-known among the people both outside and inside the Loria Republic. After all, Locksons was the reason why technologies were able to advance the way it was today. It was a name that carried power and influence. So, in other words, since Olive carried the name Lockson as his last name, and he attended public school, he was obliged to hide his identity away with a fake last name, to avoid problems like people taking advantage of his friendship.
That was why instead of Oliver Lockson, people know him as Oliver Pennyson.
Of course, just because he hid his last name doesn't necessarily mean that the public didn't know that Jeffrey Lockson had a second son other than Eddie. The fact that he had two sons and one daughter was never a secret to begin with — they were also aware of Jeffrey's children's names. What they didn't know, however, was that his youngest son was secretly hiding his last name in the name of normal life.
Unlike Esther — Olive's twin sister — she doesn't have to fake her last name. Because currently, she was studying abroad the country in a prestigious school, and a private school too. So, she didn't have to worry about others swindling her for money, given how the students attending there were already rich enough.
At first glance, the idea of using a fake last name might sound illegal in some aspect, but Olive's situation was different — because his name was kept a secret by the government. All of it was thanks to his father's plea to the government.
After what happened to Olive in middle school, his father decided to fake Olive's last name so that the same situation could be avoided again, and his father then made a request to the government so that Olive could use a fake last name. The government agreed to his father's request — much to Olive's shock.
Maybe it's because Lockson Tech used to be involved in the process of recovering the country's economy.
Not long after arrangements were made, Olive was finally able to use the fake last name after he moved to another middle school. Since then, people who knew or learned of Olive's real name were forbidden to reveal it to the public. There were a whole lot of documents reminding them the penalties that would be given if they ignore the order, along with documents that proved the legalness of using the fake name — if not for the documents, then Olive would definitely question his father's action in all seriousness. Olive still remembered how he used to read all the documents for hours just to make sure that the things that he was doing were actually legal. He was twelve back then!
No twelve-years-old shoud experience that!
His real name was still being used in the school records and other thing that required his real name, of course. But, foulders containing his real name was stored in the classified section under the watch of the records clerk. Only certain people were able to learned of his real name. Other than the records clerk, the principal, counselor, and the school's nurse, were also among the people who know about his last name.
Though, excluding them, no one knew of Olive's real identity in the school; the teacher, the students, and the janitor — except for Victor and Sarah, only because they have known him since childhood.
Thankfully, it was not just Olive who read dozens of long written documents just to make sure that him using a fake name was legal. Sarah and Victor also spent hours reading those documents.
Six years has passed since the first time he used Pennyson as a fake name. And people — especialy bullies — often made fun of his name. Maybe it was not his father's choice, but was instead a name that the government picked, or maybe it was the other way around. Or maybe, just maybe, it was Eddie's doing.
That theory was ridiculous, seemingly because Olive could not see how Eddie was able to do that. But knowing Eddie, it sounded like a shenanigan that he would try to pull off and somehow make it work.
Not long after, the teacher finally finished taking attendance and started teaching. Noticing that, Olive took out his notebook and started paying attention.
Somewhere else — at a parking lot inside of Lockson's Tower — Eddie let out a graceful sneeze, which is weird since there was no dust or pollen around him, and he didn't seem to catch a cold.
Is someone talking bad about me? He wondered.
***
Hours passed, and just like that, the school has ended. Olive felt exhausted more than usual. Because today the school kept giving him a ton of assignments without a single break. Well... except for lunch. But still!
Olive had always been phenomenal when it comes to doing schoolwork. But this seems a little too much! Couldn't the school at least give him a little break? Was there a need to hit him with a stack of homework?
After class, Olive gave Victor a gesture to exit the school first — because he needed to take his stuff from the locker. Victor didn't ask questions and just walked down the hallways towards the entrance.
It took a few minutes for Olive to retrieve his stuff from the locker.
After Olive exited the school's building, he looked around searching for someone. Usually, Eddie would have been in front of the school right next to the sidewalk, waiting for Olive in the car. But today, Olive was not searching for Eddie, because he was planning to go to a café with Victor and Sarah today. So, he messaged Eddie during lunch earlier, telling him that he doesn't need to pick him up from school today.
Oliver looked around for a few seconds, turning his head left and right until he finally spotted Victor and Sarah, chatting under a tree.
He descended a few steps in front of the school entrance and headed toward them.
Victor and Sarah were so engrossed with their conversation that they didn't seem to notice Olive approaching.
...It was only after Olive arrived a couple of steps from them that they finally noticed him. Noticing Olive, Sarah put on a smile on her beautiful and aloof face."There you are. What took you so long?"
Olive was about to answer her question when Victor suddenly interrupted, "Whatever, I doubt that it was anything important anyway. Let's go."
Olive scowled, hearing that. But in the end, he remained silent and just followed his two friends to the café.
***
The café they were heading for was not far away and would only take a six or eight-minute walk.
With nothing to do, Olive decided to study the shopfront to chase away his boredom. He saw passing car, he also saw a man selling hot dogs on the street. When Olive looked at this part of the city, it was brimming with activities.
While they were heading towards the café, they would pass a few shops with a display glass in front of them.
Olive studied the shopfront for a second. Looking at its product and design. But when his eyes landed on the prize, his eyes widened slightly. 100 LD for a single item of clothing?! Preposterous! People liked to buy expensive clothes. But, the idea of buying clothes so expensive was ridiculous! Even for me!
LD stands for Loria Dollar, the name which the Loria Republic used for its currency was not the most unique and would be considered bland compare to other countries. Take Kingdom of Lacclair for example; the name they used for their currency were called Sol for notes and Luna for coins.
Olive was still studying the shopfront with wide eyes, disbelieved about its expensive price when Sarah suddenly called him out, "Olive..."
Olive turned his face away from the shopfront, chasing away the thought about the expensive clothes, and answered, "...Yeah?"
Sarah arranged her for a second before asking Olive again, "How are you going to get home? Since Eddie won't come and pick you up later there there is no one to pick you up later. Will you be okay going back home later? If not, I could accompany you."
Olive looked at Sarah for a few seconds. He turned his head away from Sarah and thought after a few seconds,then, he finally answered, "Don't worry about it. I'll just take the cab later and stop a couple of blocks away from Lockson's Enterprise."
"After that, I'll just head toward the parking lot and take the lift. Since the security guard and the higher up know who I am. There won't be any problem. I think."
Hearing that, Sarah nodded. "Alright then." But she felt a bit uncomfortable about the last part though. "Then what? Will you just stay at home doing your assignment?" Sarah asked again
Olive sighed. Remembering the storage that he needed to assist Eddie cleaning, he couldn't help but let out a crooked smile. Now that I think about it, doing an assignment doesn't sound too bad compared to cleaning the stores. He chuckled bitterly on the inside.
"Sadly, no... I promised my dad to help Eddie clean the storage when I get home."
Victor, who had been listening, raised his eyebrows, and asked with a shock look, "Clean the storage? You? Doesn't your house have maids? Why would your father want you to clean the storage?"
Olive sighed. "I'm not going to lie, I was expecting that question... Well, the maids are on their day off, for your information. And since my father doesn't want to waste his money on cleaners, he wants me and Eddie to clean it. Maybe it's for the best, since the maids could use a break –—considering how big the penthouse is –— and spending too much money on things other than company investment is considered unnecessary. To him at least, still, I could use a bit of exercise."
Olive's father had always taught him about responsibility. He had also taught him that as the person who established a company, it was also his responsibility to spend the money strategically and not spend it on unnecessary things. Olive learnt plenty from his father, and also learnt that it was also his father's responsibility to take care of the maid's well-being, since they were his father's workers.
They had cleaned the penthouse for as long as Olive could remember. So the least he could do is to help clean the storage... At least father didn't ask me to help Eddie clean the entire penthouse. That would be one hell of a task!
Victor looked at Olive for a few seconds. A poorly hidden look of pity was written on his face. Eventually, he turned his head and whispered, "Poor thing."
I know... Victor had been in the storage after all, so he knew how large it was. And he also knew how terrified I am of that storage room.
A few minutes goes by after their short conversation when they finally arrived at the café.
The café was located on a block connecting it to the other shops. There was a canopy connected to the café's wall to provide shade for the tables and the customers underneath it. The window took out most of the walls, making the inside visible to the outside world, and next to the window, a glass door stood with a bell hanging on it from the inside to announce the upcoming customers.
The café was by no means popular, and neither did it have any outstanding food. But it was where they mostly hung out since they got into high school and the café had grown on them ever since.
After they finally arrived at the café, the three of them went inside.