Bonds of Bravery

‘Go on, C! You can do it,’ said Olympia. Corey nodded, his courage shining through. He went to the stage of the eleventh grade talent show and began singing, his voice sounding like the angels. The first time anyone had seen his courage to its full extent, heard him sing, been astounded by his voice.

One Year Earlier

‘You should go up, C!’ Olympia said, thinking she was going to be quieter than she actually was.

‘No, I can’t.’ Corey replied.

‘You’re a great singer!’

‘Don’t say that too loud. I’m not that great at it, not good enough for a show like this.’

‘It’s a tenth grade talent show, how hard could it be?’ She smiled at him but he looked down and shook his head. ‘Corey will go!’ Corey looked up at Olympia as she pushed him up onto the stage.

‘Corey Travis? What can he do other than hide behind Olympia, or at least try to? Let’s get her up here and he can show us his talent,’ one of the girls in the crowd yelled. Corey stood on the stage looking out at everyone’s mean eyes staring back at him. His eyes filled with fear and every part of him froze, other than his right hand, which started shaking. After a few seconds of looking out in his frozen state, he ran down the stairs and out of the hall. Olympia stood up and ran out behind him. 

‘Why do you make me do things like this?’ Corey said.

‘You need to get out of your bubble more.’

‘Maybe I’m okay being the shy kid.’

‘C, I’ve known you since you were two, we both know you want to be braver.’ They stood there in silence for a few seconds until Olympia spoke again. ‘I’m going to take you to my drama class after school. It’ll be good for you.’ Corey nodded and smiled. They walked away, arms on each other's shoulders, Olympia having to reach up just to reach Corey.

‘Miss Abbott, I see you’ve brought someone along with you. Who is this?’ The drama teacher asked.

‘Corey,’ she said, defensively. 

‘Well, Corey, nice to meet you.’ The teacher put out her hand for Corey to shake. He took it, not saying a word, only lightly grasping her hand. Corey and Olympia found a space in the class to sit together. The teacher took Corey aside, Olympia staring at them the whole time, making sure he was okay.’

‘Any particular role you were looking for? Big one, small one?’

‘One with no talking,’ he answered so quietly, Olympia could barely hear him.

‘Alright, are you sure you don't want any lines?’

‘Yes.’ Corey turned away and went back to Olympia, who was still there looking at him. The teacher didn’t introduce Corey the way all the other new members were introduced. She began the lesson by assigning characters, Olympia getting the lead role, as everyone expected. She took her script and acted as if she was actually on stage, performing for the world to see her. Corey always admired her courage and her bravery, her ability to speak to people. Being a 6’2” blond boy, he had the potential to be popular in school, but he refused to talk to anyone, getting Olympia to talk for him. 

‘Hi, I’m Olympia, who are you?’ Four-year-old Olympia said. Corey, towering above the tiny little Olympia, didn’t say anything, just looked at her. ‘You don’t say much, do you?’ Corey shook his head. ‘We should be friends.’ Corey smiled and nodded. It was only their first day of school, and already they had found a friend. Olympia reached her hand to Corey’s and they walked to the mat together, taking their seats side by side, staying like that for many years to come.

Seventh Grade

‘So, Olympia, do you wanna go out with me?’ Jax Grusone asked. Corey was there with them, the only thought through his head was telling Olympia to say no, he didn’t want to lose his best friend to a person like Jax. 

‘Yeah, sure. Why not?’ She answered. Corey wanted to walk away from it. Walk away from Olympia and her new boyfriend, but he had nowhere else to go. No other friends to go to, so he stayed there, putting up with the fact his best friend of nine years was going to be seeing someone else more than she was going to see him.

‘Hey! Stay away from him!’ She yelled at the other kids. Corey was there, defenseless, silent, getting punched repeatedly by the three kids who always hated him. He couldn’t stand up for himself, he was their target. Olympia recognised one of the boys hitting Corey. Her ex-boyfriend, Jax, who had blamed Corey for the break up because she was always around him.

‘Or what?’ Jax asked. They stopped hitting him, but he was on the floor, having been hit so hard, his face with purple bruises and blood pouring down his forehead and cheeks, the warm metallic taste filling his mouth.

‘Just stay away.’ Olympia repeated.

‘We’ve got what we wanted anyway.’ All three of them walked off, waiting for the right time to get to Corey again. Olympia knelt next to him, cleaning up the blood with the jumper around her waist.

‘Why are you helping me?’ Corey asked. ‘After all this time, you’re still friends with the quiet kid.’

‘You’re my best friend, C, you always have been, always will be.’ Corey cracked a smile through his pain as Olympia cleaned him up.

‘I’m happy you guys broke up.’

‘Yeah, so am I.’ They looked at each other for a short moment. ‘Can you get up?’

Tenth Grade

Corey opened the door to his room, the forest feel from the green on the walls and blue of the bed gave both Olympia and Corey a place to disappear from the world. Corey stopped in the doorway and turned around to face Olympia, stopping her in her tracks with a hug.

‘Oh, um, okay. Why are we doing this?’

‘Please don’t leave me.’

‘I wasn’t planning on it, C. What made you say that?’

‘My mama is gone, my papa doesn’t want me, you’re all I have left.’

Sixth Grade

‘I love you, Corey.’ His mum said to him as she lied on her deathbed.

‘No, mama, please don’t leave me.’

‘Honey, I’m sick, there’s nothing we can do.’

‘You have to keep fighting!’ In his mind, Corey knew she wasn’t going to make it, but he didn’t think it would be so soon. ‘Please, mama!’ He took her hand and finally allowed himself to cry. ‘I need you.’

‘Olympia will take care of you, she always has. And you have your papa.’

‘But I need my mother.’ She didn’t answer him, didn’t squeeze his hand to comfort him, nothing. ‘Mama?’ Still no answer. ‘Mama?! Please, please, say something!’ His voice was raised, which caught the doctors’ attention. They came running and took Corey outside, where Olympia was waiting. Neither one of them said a word, both of them knew what was coming and had guessed that it had. They just stood there in a hug, Corey bending down to bury his tear-stained face in Olympia’s shoulder.

Tenth Grade

‘I’m not going anywhere, C. Besides, you’d never let me,’ Corey smiled at his best friend’s words, not letting her out of his grasp.

‘We can’t stand here forever, we have drama class soon.’

‘Right, we do.’ He let go and they went to drama class. Once they arrived, they went to their usual seats, but Corey didn’t sit down when Olympia did.

‘You alright?’ She asked, her defensive voice coming through.

‘Yeah, just gonna go talk to the teacher for a minute.’ Her face said it all, even just six months of drama class had gotten Corey initiating conversations, he was finding his courage, and she was surprised.

‘Can I have a bigger role in the next performance?’ The teacher smiled.

‘Of course, what made you change your mind?’

‘Olympia.’

‘Out of everyone who could be as close as you guys are, it’s hard to believe it’s you guys. You’re so different.’

‘She’s great, she’s been helping me find my courage and get through less than perfect situations.’

‘Happy to hear that, take your seat and I’ll find a bigger role for you.’ Corey walked back to Olympia and sat down next to her.

‘What was that?’

‘You’ll find out. I know you’ll be proud.’ They spoke for a few minutes before the teacher started talking.

‘And our lead man and woman for the next production we are undertaking are Jax Grusone and Olympia Abbott.’

‘What exactly would I be proud of? I have to share the stage with Jax.’

‘I asked for a bigger role. I’m going to actually have some lines.’ Olympia’s face lit up, her expression seemingly more proud of Corey then she was for herself.

‘Wow, C! That’s great!’ She leaned over and gave him a hug.

‘You proud?’

‘Yes, very.’

Fifth Grade

Olympia was starting to annoy Corey. Always telling him to get out of his comfort zone and do something. She always wanted to be around people, but he never wanted to leave her side, they were so different. While her wish to be with people was annoying to him, and his shyness annoying to her, they still remained together forever, neither one ever letting go of the other.

Tenth Grade

Corey ran out from the side stage at the end of the year’s final production and proudly took a bow. He had finally stepped out of his comfort zone and performed in front of a large crowd. He went to the other side of the stage after the audience applauded him and his cheeks had gone bright red, as red as a sunburn. Jax and Olympia came out last, they got a standing ovation. Once she was off and far away from Jax, she went to find Corey. They hugged each other, Corey muttering three words.

Present Day

‘Go on, C! You can do it,’ said Olympia. Corey nodded, his courage shining through. He went to the stage of the eleventh grade talent show and began singing, his voice sounding like the angels. The first time anyone had seen his courage to its full extent, heard him sing, been astounded by his voice. He finished and went back to Olympia, giving her a hug as he sat down, muttering only three words, the same three words he said to her at the production.

Corey Travis

I went from the shy kid who ‘hid behind Olympia’, the quiet kid with a dead mum, the boy Jax beat up over my best friend breaking up with him. I was the kid with no courage, no bravery, no social life and worst of all, no friends. I never knew how to change any of that, until Olympia taught me. There were only three words I could think of, I knew they weren’t worth much, but they meant the world to her.

‘Thank you, Olympia.’

THE END