A Crowded Place

Chapter 1: A little bit about me

My name is Olivia, but everyone I've ever known has always called me Liv. So— that's me: Liv Garner.

I grew up with a loving family in the Australian outback, in a farmhouse mansion on a few lush acres of farmland. I'm an only child, and my parents are both very tolerant and kind - they've sacrificed a lot to give me everything I needed, growing up. My family isn't crazy-wealthy, but we're definitely above your average Australian household in terms of income.

My high school years were spent at a private boarding school. I received an outstanding education but attending that school also meant being away from my family for most of the year - it was hard but I learned to get through it and become more independent.

My free time - that is, any time not taken up by my studies - was usually spent immersed in classical music. Both mum and dad wanted to pursue music as a career before they got into accounting and medicine respectively. I guess their hopes were passed onto me when I decided to take up learning the violin.

Violin is my greatest passion for sure - it brings me so much joy and is definitely something I couldn't live without. I've been playing violin for over 13 years now.

My high school had state-of-the-art performing arts facilities, and my mentors were some of the most distinguished violin teachers in the state. I basically grew up with Beethoven's symphonies, Mozart's operas, the Tchaikovsky violin concerto, and Bach sonatas and partitas. I was dedicated, practising up to 3 hours daily.

I'd sleep each night with calloused fingers and a sore shoulder, but always a grin on my face after I'd overcome another difficult passage in whatever piece I was working on.

This sheer passion and dedication to music also meant that I missed out a lot on my social life.

'Liv, are you coming with us to get dinner at [insert name of restaurant] tonight?' They'd ask me. But they'd already be halfway out the door when they heard my reply, 'Sorry I'm busy practising right now!' because it was the same every single time.

But I didn't regret any of it. I'd figured a long time ago that music was going to bring me more happiness than my friends ever would.

But that changed as relationships went deeper as I became older, and I found myself in my first proper relationship with a guy (more on that later). But you know what else changed? My life was turned upside-down when I got accepted into Yale University in the United States.