Oliver Morgan

## Backstory

Oliver and his older sister, Vienna, lived on the coast of Seattle, raised by his parents in a quiet home that always pushed him to do what made him happy. Most of his talents were more on the creative side, such as music; Oli found comfort in the rhythm heavy instruments like the drums, but his family didn't quite have the money to pay for lessons or even a drum set. The boy would be found in the local music store nearly every day after school, and the instructors there would give him small tips and advice when he practiced in the shop. Eventually, they offered him a job and he was able to buy his own drum kit. Life was going well, until December of his Sophomore year. He awoke at 3am to a knock on the door and answered to a cop who seemed to only want to speak to his parents. He stood off to the side as the policeman informed his mother and father that Vienna had been a victim of a drunk driving accident. She had been seventeen, having just gotten off a flight from visiting a friend in New York, when an SUV of drunk teens hit her car head-on.

There was a card on the desk in her room with his name on it, most likely meant to be gifted to him for Christmas. The day of her funeral, Oliver sat on her bed and read it's contents. What was written inside had brought tears to his eyes. For as long as Oliver could remember, he had been attracted guys, but he never told anyone. His freshman year, he kissed a few girls and eventually complained to Vienna about how he didn't understand why it was so boring. His sister had smiled and informed him that maybe he hadn't been exploring ALL of his options. After staring at her as if his biggest secret had been released to the entire world, Vienna laughed and continued to assure Oliver that he was perfect no matter what, and that their neighbor, Trevor, might be more his taste. Oli had always envied his sister's lighthearted nature, but begged her to not tell their parents. Of course, his secret would be safe with her.

She had snapped a picture of them in that moment and put the photo in the card. 'Tell them.' That was how her message had ended. The next night, he sat his parents down and hardly mustered the courage to tell them. Unfortunately, the event of Vienna's death had been an extreme strain on his mom and dad; they countered his admittance with hostility. *They let him do whatever he liked for all his life and this was how he was choosing to 'act out'?* Their reaction left him fuming and defeated. Suddenly feeling small and unimportant to even his own family, Oliver stayed distant. Eventually, his parent's divorced and when asked who he wanted to live with, Oliver decided to move in with his cousin across the country. If his parent's thought having a gay child was heartbreaking, he would show them that he was capable of shattering any love they could have left by leaving them, too. Now they had lost both of their children. He transferred to Westbrook, adopted his sister's lighthearted humor and love for photography, and shipped his drum kit to his new place owned by his older cousin, Kyle. Finally, it was his last year of high school. The only problem was that his cousin was fully intending on kicking him out after graduation.