Hi, guys! I wrote this story a long, long while ago and I hope it still holds up. :-/ It takes place in high school and is a bit more...chaste...than some of my other stories. As with most of my short stories, I think what it really needs is expanding. A project I'll have to get working on!
When geeky Sophie moves to a new school she has the bad luck to fall for the coolest guy in school. But Jake is dealing with a changing life and rescuing Sophie from her clumsiness might be just what he needs.
When geeky Sophie moves to a new school she has the bad luck to fall for the coolest guy in school. But Jake is dealing with a changing life and rescuing Sophie from her clumsiness might be just what he needs.
Sophie sat on one of the chairs and Alex sat on the sofa at
his parents' house. Paul pulled over
another chair and sat down. The three
friends often met at Alex's house after school, since he lived within walking
distance and his parents were rarely home.
His family's house was also bigger than the one bedroom apartment Sophie
shared with her father and the modest single story home Paul's family lived in.
“Did you
get homework for English and History today?” Sophie asked.
“Yeah,” Paul
said, “I thought the teachers were supposed to work out a deal where it was one
or the other.”
Paul was an
odd child. He wore turtleneck shirts
everyday and carried a briefcase to his classes. He had a baby face that looked many years
younger than seventeen. Sophie had just
moved to town a few months before so she didn't know that he had dressed the
same and wore his hair the same since he was five years old.
“Hey,” Alex
said, “No homework talk. You guys are
such losers.”
Alex's twin brother, Jake, walked through the
front door then and saw them sitting in the living room. He paused, looked them up and down, and
started to walk past.
“You're
welcome to join us,” Alex said.
“I don't
know,” Jake said, “Can't get caught hanging with the geeks.”
“No one is
going to see you,” Alex said.
Jake was in
the popular crowd at school. He didn't
talk to any of them there, but at home he wasn't so bad. Sophie didn't know how it was possible that
identical twin brothers could end up on opposite ends of the social spectrum at
school. They were identical twins, and yet it didn't take long to tell them
apart. Alex's face was softer and
rounder while Jake was all angles.
Jake
laughed and walked toward them, but as he came up, he tripped and fell forward,
grabbing the edge of the sofa to catch himself.
“Jesus,
Jake, we haven't even opened the bottle yet,” Alex said, holding up the brandy
he had stolen from their parents' pantry.
Jake sat
down and said, “I'm just really tired, it's made me clumsy all week. Pass me that.” He reached over and took the bottle from his
brother and opened it. He took a swig,
made a face, and passed it to Paul.
“Are you
sure this isn't cooking alcohol?” Paul asked.
“No,” Alex
said.
Sophie
didn't take any, she held the bottle gingerly by the neck as she passed it
across to Jake again.
“Oh come
on,” Jake said, “Don't be prissy.”
There was
something about Jake that made Sophie feel embarrassed every time he talked to
her. She started to stammer something, but Alex said, “Leave her alone, she
only drinks water.”
“Seriously?”
Jake said, his eyes back on her, now actually looking at her maybe for the
first time.
Sophie
nodded.
“No tea,
coffee, juice...milk?”
“No.”
“That's
weird.”
Sophie
nodded. She'd heard that before. After
the bottle made it around the room a few times Alex put it down on the coffee
table and leaned back.
“So if
we're not allowed to talk about homework,” Sophie said, avoiding looking at
Jake, who was taking up most of the couch, his legs spread wide and his arms
behind his head, “What should we talk about?”
“Sophie,”
Alex said, “I'm certain you have something more interesting in your life than
homework.”
“Not
really.”
“Not that
she's willing to share with us, anyway,” Paul said.
“Come on,”
Jake said, “We've all known each other forever and we're out of good
stories. You're the fresh blood, give us
something good.”
“My life
isn't for your entertainment,” Sophie said, but she smiled and flushed
slightly.
The front
door opened and the twin's parents came into the house. Mrs. Kenley saw them through the glass doors
of the living room when she walked into the hall. “Hi, kids,” she said.
Alex
quickly swiped the bottle of alcohol under the coffee table.
Mrs.
Kennley pulled off her coat. Sophie
admired the long wool coat and the swingy, sensual dress beneath. Mr. Kenley took her coat for her and hung it
and his in a closet.
“We'll be
out again in just a bit, have to get changed,” she said, “You kids have a good
time. Don't stay up too late.”
Jake rolled
his eyes at his brother, facing away so his mother didn't see.
When the parents swept out the door
again, Sophie sighed and murmured, “Your mother is so elegant.”
“Yeah,Alex
said without enthusiasm.
Jake
laughed.
“What?”
Sophie said.
“It comes
with a price,” Jake said.
Alex pulled
a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one. Jake reached over and snatched it out of his
hands and put it out on his shoe. Alex
took out another and lit it.
“Your
parents let you smoke in the house?” Sophie said.
Alex
shrugged. “As long as it isn't Jake, what do they care?”
“Do you
think your parents are happy?” Paul asked suddenly. He had fished out the bottle of Brandy again
and took a little more.
“I never
thought about it,” Alex said.
“I know
mine aren't,” Paul said. “Don't know how
they got this way, I mean, they were like us once. Full of ideas and plans to change the
world. Now they're just our
parents. Living such small lives.”
“Our
parents are still living grand lives,” Alex said, “They didn't let having kids
slow them down. They didn't even want
kids. Just did it because it was
expected of them.” He paused, dragged on the cigarette, then added, “And they
only wanted one.”
No one said
anything for a while. There was no
denying that Jake got all their parents' attention.
“Sometimes
I wonder,” Sophie said quietly, “If it's my destiny to become a drunk like my
dad.”
“How did
they all get like this?” Paul said.
“Did they
give up on their ideals? Give up on
their dreams?” Sophie said.
“Maybe.”
Paul and Sophie continued discussing, both leaning forward towards the coffee
table, ignoring Alex and Jake.
“It's scary
to go after what you really want. Takes
a lot of guts.”
“Well I
don't want to end up like they are.”
“I have an idea,” Sophie said, grinning.
“What's
that?”
“Well,” she
continued, “If our parents ended up disappointed in life because they didn't go
for something they really wanted because of fear, we shouldn't let that happen
to us.”
“I'm with
you.”
“I propose
a pact. We all promise to do something
we're afraid of. Before we graduate in
June.”
“Yeah,
yeah,” Paul agreed and Alex perked up.
“It's got
to be something really big, though.
Something life changing.”
“Right. I'm in,” Paul announced.
“Me too,”
Alex said.
“How are
you going to pull this off, Sophie?” Jake laughed. “You've got more fears than all of us
combined. Which will you pick?”
“None of
your business,” she said. She wondered
how Jake knew about her many phobias.
Did Alex talk about her? What
else did Jake know about her? What did
he think?
“I'm part
of this too,” Jake said.
“Oh
yeah? You're going to join the geek gang
on something?” Paul said.
“Don't
breathe a word of this at school, that's all I ask,” Jake said.
***
“So the twins are turning 19? How did that happen?” Sophie asked Paul while
they waited at the movie theater for Alex to buy his popcorn. Alex had asked them to come to celebrate his
birthday.
“Well,”
Paul said, “Jake was held back in fourth grade because they said he didn't know
how to socialize.”
“Jake? This is the same Jake we're talking about?”
“Yes, our
Mr. Popular. He was as charming at ten
as he is now, but he got involved in a fight with Derek and they held him back
to punish him.”
“That kid
who thinks he's some hot shot criminal?”
“That's the
one.”
“Okay, but
what about Alex? How come they're still
in the same grade?”
“This is
the interesting part. Just a year later Alex failed all of his classes. I mean, it was elementary school, so they
don't call it failing, but he didn't do any of the work and he didn't pass any
tests. So they held him back too. It was pretty clear to me that he did on
purpose because he had to be with his brother.
He's that way.”
“Yeah, I
noticed.”
“So that's
when I met them, when I was eight and they had just turned ten.”
Sophie
thought about the relationship between the two brothers while they watched the
movie. She was an only child and didn't
even have any cousins. She didn't know
what this bond was between Alex and Jake, but it was strong. It almost seemed visible. Were all brothers like that? Were all twins like that? How had they formed this team where Jake
accomplished and Alex supported?
After the
movie, Alex drove first Paul home and then Sophie. In the car, when they were alone, Sophie
asked, “Why didn't Jake come?”
“He's
celebrating with his own friends,” Alex said.
“They'll probably be trying to sneak into clubs with fake IDs. Hope you don't mind my celebration is
quieter.”
“Ha! Thank goodness. I can't stand crowds and
noise.”
“I don't
think Jake likes them much either. He
feels compelled to fit in and do what's expected of him.”
“And you
don't?”
“I'm the
support player. What I want always comes
second.”
“Why,
though?”
Alex
shrugged. He didn't seem at all perturbed.
“It's always been about Jake. It's okay.”
“No, it's
not,” Sophie said. “Why do you never
complain, Alex?”
“He needs
me.”
“You are
too good. Seriously.”
Alex rolled
down the window and lit a cigarette.
Sophie watched how he didn't even seem to notice he had done it. She thought of how when Jake was around he
always, without fail, took the first one away, but Alex always lit a second.
***
“Did you
know Sophie doesn't believe in pencils?” Jake said as his brother walked onto
the porch.
“Yes,” Alex
said. He sat down on the stairs opposite
Jake.
“Isn't that
weird, though?”
Alex
shrugged. He pulled a cigarette from a
package in his pocket and put it in his mouth.
Before he could reach into the other pocket for his lighter, Jake had
leaned across the stairs and plucked the cigarette out of his mouth. Alex looked at him, sighed, and said, “Did
you think I came out here to listen to you talk about Sophie?”
“She said
the graphite bothered her, having it on her hands and the sound the pencil tip
makes on the paper. Too soft. She's used only pens her whole life.”
“So she
likes pens, so what?” Alex stood up and walked a little ways into the garden to
light his next cigarette.
“It's just
weird.”
“Shouldn't
you be worrying about Lucy, not Sophie?
You remember her, right? Your
girlfriend? Your anniversary is coming
up.”
“Damn, I
almost forgot.”
Alex
frowned across the lawn at his twin.
“You? You never forget
things. You may not give a damn about
your anniversary, but you always go over the top anyway.”
Jake
shrugged. “It's too easy,” he said. “She wants all the typical things: flowers, dinner, compliments. It's boring.”
“Not going
to give up on her though, are you?
Thinking of dropping Lucy in favor of Sophie?”
“Sophie is
messed up, that's what I've been telling you.”
“I know.
She is my friend.” Alex finished smoking, ground out the stub on a stone and
put it back in his pocket. As he walked
past Jake to go back into the house, he said, “Leave the poor girl alone.”
***
The bell
rang. Alex usually came in after that,
since he would be smoking outside. Today
he didn't. Paul sat down beside Sophie.
“Where's
Alex?” Sophie had whispered at him.
Paul shrugged. “Jake is missing too.”
“Really? That's weird.”
The teacher
threw open the door and strode in hunched over, looking like a frog. He began to take attendance.
“Lucy,”
Paul hissed, leaning over the aisle. A
head of perfectly ringletted blonde hair turned and Lucy looked down her nose
at Paul.
Lucy was more perfectly composed than a china
doll. The bones along her neck and
shoulders stood out because of the way she held her body loftily with her hips
slightly forward and her slender waist bent back. Her mouth had a coy crease beside it, giving
her smile a tempting quality. Her hair frizzled in the most stylish way and
each wave seemed to be exactly where she wanted it to be. Her eyes were absolute blue without a single
speck of another color. Her well-manicured fingers spread away from each other
gracefully when she grasped Jake's arm and whispered in his ear. She would put a stick of gum in her mouth and
playfully blow bubbles as he tried to talk to her. She made even Sophie, who rarely noticed
people? attitudes toward her, feel inferior.
Jake didn't seem to enjoy her company much, his smiles were almost
grimaces when she was around.
“Did you go
out with Jake last night? Do you know
where he is?” Paul asked.
“I don't
know,” Lucy replied, her fingers combing her bangs, “No one answered when I
called last night.”
“Mr.
Miller,” the teacher interrupted, “I would appreciate it if you would sit
forward on your chair.”
Paul swung
forward and smiled innocently. Sophie
saw Lucy roll her eyes.
After
school Paul and Sophie went straight to the Kenley house. They found that Lucy was there too.
“Don't talk
to me,” she said.
“Don't
worry about it,” Sophie said. She sat
down next to Paul on the steps and waited.
No one was home and there was no indication of where they had gone. After twenty minutes, the family car pulled
up. The parents got out first. Their faces were tight and drawn. Alex got out next and said, “Okay, nobody say
anything.”
“What would
we...oh,” Lucy said as Jake got out of the car.
He had a cane in his hand, but he was holding it in the middle, as
though he was just waiting to hand it over to someone else. Sophie noticed that he didn't step forward,
but leaned against the car.
“It's a
misunderstanding,” Jake said, “Just a mistake.”
“What?
What's going on?” Lucy said.
“They
think,” Jake said, “They think I have MS.”
Sophie
gasped.
“What?”
Lucy said, but everyone ignored her.
Mrs. Kenley
tugged at the bottom of her suit and said, “There are treatments. We'll be aggressive.”
“Not now,
Mom,” Jake said.
“Jacob, you
listen to me,” Mrs. Kenley began, but her husband took her shoulder and guided
her toward the house. “There will be
time to talk about this,” he said. When
the two adults had entered the house, Sophie, Paul, Alex, Jake, and Lucy
remained outside.
“It’s
nothing, really,” Jake said, “They said there’s no way to know for sure
yet. I just pulled a muscle or
something. Alex, tell them it’s crazy.”
“It’s
crazy,” Alex whispered, but he was looking down. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
***
The next
week Jake put the cane in his locker and stayed close to the walls as he walked
around the school. He was late to every
class. For the one class he had with
Sophie and Paul he showed up seven minutes late and the teacher lectured him on
respect for the class. Paul and Sophie
looked at each other and Paul shrugged.
Jake
finally gave up after he fell in a classroom and grabbed hold of a desk that
then toppled over on top of him. The
teacher was furious at the disruption and thought he was drunk. She sent him to the office.
He
retrieved the cane and tried to pretend it was the latest fashion
accessory. For gym class he had a note
from the doctor and when the gym teacher, who was also Jake’s baseball coach,
read it, he coughed gruffly and said, “I guess we won’t be seeing you at
practice anymore.”
“Looks that
way,” Jake said.
He skipped
a math class and went to the cafeteria early and just sat in the empty
room. The first lunch bell rang and
people began to arrive. Sophie walked
through the door with a red stain spread over the front of her shirt. For a second he thought it was blood, and
then he realized it was ink. She saw
him, but didn’t let recognition register on her face. Since he was in the popular crowd he didn’t
ever talk to his brother’s friends at school.
This time, though, he called out, “Is that what they mean by a fashion
statement?”
“Do you
really have to make a comment?”
“Sophie,
you look ridiculous.”
“That’s
just what I needed to hear. Thanks. Why don’t you just lend me your jacket like a
gentleman?”
Jake smiled
and pulled his jacket off. He handed it
up to her and she put it on, covering the red ink stain that had spread across
the front of her shirt.
“Tell me
how this kind of thing happens to you.”
Sophie
shrugged. She sat down next him at the
cafeteria table. “I didn’t realize I had
left the pen uncapped, and I was listening to the teacher, and I before I knew
it, the pen was bleeding onto my shirt.
What are you supposed to do about that?
I can’t just go home and change.”
“By this
time I would think you’d put spare clothes in your locker.”
“Look, you
live your way and I’ll live mine. Do you
even have lunch now? What are you doing
here?”
“Free
period. Lucy is meeting me here.”
“Oh.”
Sophie stopped abruptly. “Is that going
to be weird?”
He didn’t answer and his eyes drifted past
Sophie. She turned around to see Lucy
coming into the lunchroom.
Jake
reached down and pulled a cane out from under the table. He stood shakily, leaning on it.
“See you around, Sophie,” he said, “I’ll get my jacket from
you tomorrow.” She heard a tightening in
his voice.
Sophie
watched Lucy’s face as Jake walked unevenly toward her. Lucy wasn’t watching him. She was leaning on the doorframe, looking
bored, and scanning the cafeteria to see who was around. To her, Sophie didn’t even register: she was
just another piece of furniture.
Jake
followed Lucy into the hall. She stopped
in front of a locker, but her eyes darted to the people walking by. He waited for her attention.
“People are
staring at us,” she hissed.
“They’re
curious, what do you expect?”
“Is there
somewhere we can be alone?” she said.
“I don’t
want to walk that far,” he said and watched the red spots of embarrassment
spread along Lucy’s neck.
“Jake,” she
said, “Please. This is hard for me.”
“That’s
funny, it’s been easy for me.”
“Don’t be a
jerk. It affects me too.”
“Can you
put that on hold for a minute? Just
forget about yourself for a tiny moment?”
“This is
really heavy. This is more than I can
deal with.”
“Is heavy
in again? Are we using that word now?”
“See, how
can we get through this when you can’t even talk about a serious subject?”
Jake
sighed. “You are no fun to talk to,
Lucy.”
“Well,
lucky for you, you won’t have to talk with me anymore.” She flipped her hair
over her shoulder and walked away.
He had
planned to break up with her anyway, but he preferred that it be done in his
own time. What kind of girl breaks up
with her boyfriend right after he’s been diagnosed with a progressive
neurological disorder? Wasn’t there a
required waiting period?
He turned
around and went back to the cafeteria.
His brother was sitting with the usual two cohorts. Sophie was still wearing his jacket. He smiled at the way all three spoke so
enthusiastically to each other. Jake's
friendships were so much about appearances and not saying the wrong thing, he
could never be as free as that.
He walked
over to the table and said, “Hey, guys, can I join you?”
They all
turned around and looked behind them, trying to figure out who he was talking
to.
“That's
funny,” Jake said. Alex pulled over
another chair and Jake sat down. There
was a pizza in the middle of the table.
“Where did that come from?” Jake asked.
Alex snuck
out and got it during his study hall,” Sophie said.
Jake looked
over at her plate and raised an eyebrow.
She had picked each element of the pizza off and had them all arranged
separately on her plate.
“What are
you doing?” he asked.
“This is
how I eat pizza,” Sophie said, crossing her arms in front of her
defensively.
“Seriously?”
“Don't make
fun of me! Just because Alex lets you
control his life, doesn’t mean you have any business telling me how to
live!”
Alex looked
away, but there was a smirk on his face and Paul caught his eye and started
laughing. “Just let her eat her pizza,”
Alex said.
***
The next
morning Jake was watching the back of Lucy's head in calculus class. She was sitting in the front, pretending he
didn't exist. Jake sat on the side, not
even pretending to listen to the teacher.
He just let his eyes bore into her.
She could feel it, he knew she did.
And she was listening in her head to all her justifications over and
over and over.
When the bell
rang Lucy rushed to throw her books and papers together and get out the door,
but everyone was rushing out and she had to wait. Jake got in her way and she had no choice but
to look at him.
“Hello,
Jake,” she said.
“Hello,
Lucy, what? happening?”
“Not much.”
“No? Not too busy?”
“What are
you doing?”
“Having a
conversation. People who know each other
do this.”
“Don't be a
jerk.”
“I'm just
being friendly.”
“And I'm
leaving.” She passed him and hurried down the hallway.
“Man, what
are you up to?” Paul asked.
“Just
making her squrim.”
“You know
you guys were totally wrong for each other.”
“I know.”
“Let's go
meet Sophie and Alex for lunch.”
Jake didn't
argue. He hadn't hung out with his
supposed-friends in days and he was having a hard time caring if they saw him
with his brother's friends.
That night
Jake was supposed to go to the symphony with his family.
“Too much
walking for me,” he said. His mother
began to make tittering noises. Any
reminder of what the diagnosis upset her.
Jake caught Alex's eye and grinned.
His brother knew it was just an excuse.
Although, it was true he felt very tired.
“All right,
Jake,” their father said. “Take it easy, we'll be home late. Come on, Alex.”
After they
left, Jake settled on the couch with a ham sandwich and turned on the TV. Rather than watch it, he thought about what
had happened to him. As an infant he had
learned to walk, but now he wondered why he had bothered, if the ability was
simply going to be stolen away. His
body, even at his young age, had rebelled.
The limbs no longer obeyed him and he was now condemned to spend the
rest of his life losing things: movement and functions and also girlfriends,
jobs and, most likely, his sanity.
He couldn't
imagine what the future would look like, he had no concept at all. He looked at the cane leaned against the wall
and felt a strange combination of hatred and gratitude. His feet were not going to stay stable against
the ground, the cane at least let him continue to move without falling over
constantly.
The
doorbell rang and Jake grumbled to himself.
His one evening to be alone and undisturbed, but he couldn't be left in
peace. He considered not answering, but
it rang again and his curiosity got the better of him. He held onto the furniture as he made his way
to the door, looking down at his feet as he walked, fascinated by how they
seemed to not even be his. They were doing their own thing, barely under his
control at all, like wayward pets.
When he
opened the door, he discovered Sophie standing on the stoop.
“Do you
have an aspirin?” she said.
“Come on
in,” he said.
She walked
past him to the kitchen and began digging around in the cabinets. “I've got a bad headache,” she said when he
made it to the kitchen, well after her.
“So you
came all the way here. You must have
more on your mind then a aspirin.”
“You're a
sharp cookie.”
“Why do you
think I get As in school?”
Sophie
laughed before she swallowed the pills and put the glass in the sink. She sighed.
“How do you know I just didn't have aspirin at home?”
“So you
took the bus all the way over here.
Wait a minute. My brother.”
“Okay, yes,
Alex asked me to check up on you.”
“I don't
believe this. He's out of the house one
night...”
“He's just
worried about you, and Lucy, and everything.
Come on, don't be mad. I brought
my toothbrush, we can have a sleepover party.”
“Want to
watch a movie?” Jake said.
“Sure,”
Sophie smiled. “Can I ask you
something?”
“What?” he
said, already walking to the living room to rummage for the video.
“Are you
scared?” Sophie said.
Jake
stopped and turned to look at her. He
said, “No one will talk about it.”
“You know
me,” Sophie said with a smile, “Asking the hard questions, searching for the
answers.”
“Have you
been watching the news for fun again?”
“Tell me
really.”
He put the
DVD in and sat back down on the couch.
Sophie came and sat beside him.
As the movie started, Jake said, “Whatever I have, I will lose. It is scary.
It's scary to think that I don't know what I'll be able to do and not do
months from now and years from now. I've
always been the strong one, I can't find my place any more.”
“You're
still you,” Sophie said quietly. “And
whatever comes in the future, you'll figure it out.”
“Thanks,”
he said.
She nodded
and eventually said, 'Thanks for letting me stay over.”
“No
problem,” Jake said, “But next time you talk to my brother you can tell him
that if he doesn't mind his own business I'll break his neck.”
“I'll be
sure to relay the message.”
Sophie
stretched out on the couch. She sighed
and pressed her head back into the couch's throw pillows.
Jake
watched the whole movie, and when he pressed stop and turned off the TV he
discovered that Sophie was fast asleep.
He shook her legs gently, but she just moaned and pushed her head
further into the pillow.
He leaned
over and touched Sophie's face gently.
He brushed her brown hair back away from her face. Sophie didn't wake up. That medicine must have been the drowsy
kind. Trust Sophie to never read the
label.
She was an
adorable walking disaster. He was glad
his brother had befriended her when she moved to town. His life would not be the same without her
daily mishaps.
He put a
blanket over her and went next door to his father's study. Lately he had been sleeping on the couch
there.
***
Sophie woke
up uncertain where she was. She had
slept through the night and was wakened by the sun coming in the living room
window. She thought back and remembered
starting to watch a movie with Jake, but then her memory went blank. Oh dear.
Somehow she had fallen asleep and left him alone when she was supposed
to be keeping him company.
She should
do something nice to make up for it. She
wandered back to the kitchen and started poking around the refrigerator. Sophie didn't really cook, but she remembered
her mother once told her you could make eggs sunny-side-up in the microwave.
She took a
couple out and broke them into a bowl.
After the microwave was finished, she pulled out the bowl and looked
down skeptically. The eggs looked
rubbery and there was a crust over the yoke.
She took a fork and started poking at them.
When the
fork tine hit the yoke, there was a sudden pop and Sophie shrieked and dropped
the bowl. The egg had exploded and
pieces of it were covering the room. There were bits of yoke in Sophie's hair,
on her cloths, on the ceiling of the kitchen, and the counters and floor and
chairs.
Moments
later Jake was in the doorway staring at her.
“What on
earth have you done?”
“Sorry,”
Sophie said, biting her lip. “I made
kind of a mess.”
Jake
laughed. “Well, let's just get it
cleaned up, then.”
Jake's
parents and brother all arrived in the doorway at the same moment. “Are you all right?” his mother asked
Jake.
“Do I look
like the one in trouble here?” he said.
Everyone
cleaned up while teasing Sophie. There
was no doubt that Sophie was a klutz.
Jake had never been clumsy in his life until recently. Sophie fell over for no reason all the time,
but no one had ever given her the excuse of a progressive neurological
disorder.
She was
foolish to think that Jake was ever going to see anything in her. She always screwed things up. He needed to be with someone who could take
care of him as his body weakened, not someone who was likely to cause more
trouble. The end of the year was
approaching fast. They would all
graduate and she would probably never see him again.
***
Jake was
often alone in the hallways now, as he took his time to walk between
classes. Sometimes he took a little more
time than necessary. The teachers
wouldn't complain anymore. They had had
some kind of secret meeting in which his condition had been whispered. One day he was walking around a corner when
he saw someone huddled on the floor at the far end of the hall.
“Are you
okay?” he called, but the figure didn't move.
He started to walk closer, then he recognized the briefcase laying on
the floor. He had to stop himself from
trying to run, remembering that his legs would no longer allow it. He walked as fast as he could and quietly
cursed the strange jerking movement of his legs. “Paul?”
Paul lifted
his face and looked up at Jake. His eyes
were puffy and black, almost swollen shut.
Blood was oozing from a cut on his cheek and his lip was swollen up. He clutched his stomach and Jake saw more
blood puddling under him.
“Oh my God”
Jake dropped to the ground and touched Paul's shoulder. “What happened?” But it was a stupid
question. He knew what had
happened. Derek had happened. “Hang on,” Jake said, “Just hang on. He
pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Alex's number.
“I'm in
class, Jake, this better be an emergency,” his brother's voice said.
“It is.”
“Are you
okay?” Sudden alarm in his voice.
“Come to
the hallway outside room 128 and hurry.”
Another
student came walking around the corner.
“Hey, you,” Jake called, “Get the principal and the nurse, would you?”
The student nodded and stared at Paul while he started to run toward the
office.
Jake called
911. Then Alex came into sight. His eyes met Jake's, then he looked down and
his face changed. “Paul?” he
whispered. He ran faster than he had
ever run before and dropped to his knees in front of his brother and friend. “Paul, can you hear me?”
“Stay with
him and wait for the ambulance,” Jake said.
“Of
course.” Alex gently lifted Paul's head onto his lap.
“Help me
up.” Jake put his hand on Alex's shoulder and struggled back to his feet.
“What are
you doing?”
“Fulfilling
my part of the bargain.”
Alex called
down the hallway after him, “Don't do anything stupid, Jake. He did this to Paul, think what he could do
to you!”
Jake knew
where to find Derek, in a little-used bathroom at the far end of the
school. Derek used it as though it were
his own private office. Jake pushed open
the door with his shoulder and Derek regarded him without surprise. “Are you upset about what I did to that fag?”
Derek said.
“If you
mean Paul, then yes.”
“So he sent
a cripple to beat me up? Why didn't he
send his boyfriend?”
“If you
mean Alex, then fuck you, you don't know anything about us.”
“Taking
this awfully personally, aren't you?”
“Yes, I am
taking this personally, because it's my family you're screwing with. I should have put you in your place years
ago.”
Derek
laughed. “I'm not going to hit you,
cripple.”
“You know
my name.”
“You're
right, I do.”
Then Jake
punched him in the stomach. Derek
doubled over, his eyes bulging in surprise.
He coughed, tried to get his breath back. He stood up and no longer looked superior and
in control, it was real rage in his eyes.
Jake considered for a moment that he may have miscalculated this.
But Derek
took a deep breath and instead of lashing out, kicked the cane out of Jake's
hand. Jake, not prepared for the sudden
lack of support, grabbed the sink next to him to stay upright. “You know he deserved it,” Derek said. “You can't just wear whatever you want, do
whatever you want. Order has to be
maintained.”
“By
you? Why don't you let yourself off the
hook?”
“Things are
going to go my way. I am the one in
control here, Kenley, don't forget it. I
can do whatever I want to you, or to that snot-nosed queer who looks down on
me.”
“Go ahead,
then. Be a big man, beat up on the
people who are weaker than you are.”
“That's
what you don't get, you're all weaker than I am. Every last one of you.”
“In this
little fishpond, fine. Maybe that's
true, but you're going to get crushed by the world at large.”
“I'll take
my chances,” Derek said, and he walked forward, giving Jake a push as he walked
past him out the door. Jake hit the
ground, but didn't bother to get up for a while. He looked up at the bottom of the porcelin
sink and wondered if that really counted as doing something he was afraid
of. He decided that it did. Derek would be out of his life soon enough
and Jake would not have wanted to miss the chance to confront him. Jake pulled out his cellphone and dialed his
brother.
“Is Paul
okay?”
“He'll be
fine. Are you?”
“Yeah.”
The
principal made an announcement asking for anyone with information on the attack
to come forward. It was a pointless
gesture. Everyone knew who had done it
and no one was going to tell him.
That night
the twins were eating dinner alone, as their parents were out at another of
their functions. Jake took it as a good
sign that they were continuing their social calender despite his
diagnosis. Alex had spent the afternoon
with Paul in the hospital.
“His
parents came to get him and the hospital had no problem releasing him, it's
mostly just a lot of bruising.”
“If Paul
wouldn't dress the way he does.”
“So it's
his fault that they harass him? Jesus,
Jake, he could have been killed.”
“No, it's
not his fault, it's just I wish he would take more care to protect
himself. He chooses to stick out and
people who stick out get picked on.”
“I know
you're too cool for him now, but he is your friend.”
“Don't talk
like that. It's not that I think I'm too
cool, it's that I know how to blend in and not cause a stir. You and Sophie and Paul don't seem to have
that skill. Why does he let people think
that he's gay?”
Alex picked
up his plate and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs without answering.
***
Sophie
heard the news the next day when Paul wasn't in school. That afternoon Jake was taking the town bus
with her. His house was close to school,
but not close enough for him to walk anymore.
While they sat on the bus, Jake tried his argument again, this time with
Sophie. “Why does Paul have to make
himself a target the way he does?”
“Really? That's what you think? Why does Derek think it's his right to punish
people who are minding their own business?”
“It's just
how things work.”
“I've had
about enough of you,” Sophie said.
“You know
you love me.”
“You are so
self-absorbed.”
“Am not.”
“Have you
even noticed what's going on with your brother?”
“What's
wrong with Alex?”
“I don't
know, but something is eating at him.
You're so wrapped up in yourself you can't notice anyone else.”
“Cut it
out, I've heard enough about what a selfish son-of-a-bitch I am, okay? There's nothing wrong with my brother.”
“I'm just
saying...”
“If I'm so
self-absorbed, how did I figure out what your problem is?”
“What are
you talking about?”
“All these
fears and sensory problems, I did some research and you have Asperger's syndrome.”
“Jake,
you're not exactly a doctor.”
He opened
his backpack and pulled out a stack of printed pages. “Here, I printed this out, read it and you'll
see it explains every one of your quirks. I have a label, and now you get to
have one too.”
Sophie
looked down at the pages. She wasn't
sure how she felt about this. On the one
hand, it might be nice to find out there was a reason for her quirks, but would
it take away her uniqueness to know that?
Jake seemed to see it as something that bonded them and that was
touching to her. So, she smiled and
thanked him for going to the trouble of finding this information.
“Let's talk
about something more fun,” she said.
“The prom is coming up.”
“You think
I should go to the prom? Sophie, you
really have lost it.”
“We should
all go. You'll regret it later if you
don't.”
“I'm
already regretting going.”
“So that
means you're coming?”
“I don't
have a date.”
“Come with
your brother and Paul and me, we'll just
do a group thing.”
Jake
grumbled a non-committal noise, but two weeks later he found himself sitting at
a table in a ballroom watching people dance.
He was already in a bad mood because they'd had to fight to use the
elevator to get to the ballroom where the prom was being held. “I'm not trying
to look like a pimp with this fucking thing,” Jake had said to the person at
the front desk, holding up his cane, “I can't walk right, you idiot.” Alex took over and convinced the man to let
them use the elevator.
“I can't
believe you talked me into this,” Jake said now.
“I just
thought you might have a good time,” Sophie said.
“Watching
Lucy dance. That's a real good time.”
“Shut-up,
Jake. You don't have the monopoly on
misery here.”
“You seem
to be having a fine time.”
“Seem.”
Sophie looked out across the dance floor away from him, but he still saw her
eyes and knew that something was bothering her.
Still, he wasn't ready to let go of his own pain.
“What are
you all upset about? Nobody asked you to
the dance?” he said.
Sophie
stared at him and just as guilt began to prickle his skin she spoke,
'”Fine. I don't know why I talk to
you. I can see you're too busy feeling
sorry for yourself to consider the strain this night puts on other people
besides you.”
“This was
your idea,” Jake said, but she was already gone, shoving her way through the
crowd. He knew she didn't leave the
dance, though, because he saw her a while later standing on the other side of
the room.
Sophie
thought about calling her dad to pick her up.
She didn't know why she had thought this would be fun. Most of the time it didn't bother her that
she wasn't a popular kid, but she could really feel how different she was
here. And time was running out for her
to do what she had promised she would.
Tonight was the perfect opportunity and she was fighting it.
She didn't
have a cellphone, as she found phones scary, but she could use the phone
downstairs at the venue. It was an
emergency, she could get through one simple phone call to her dad. She started to walk that way, but tripped on
the hem of her dress. She was powerless to stop the forward momentum and landed
in an embarrassed heap on the
floor. Her face flushed and her
vision began to blur with tears. She
would never be the graceful, elegant, mature women that Jake dated.
She hardly
felt the energy to get to her feet again.
The night could not get any worse.
This was going to be her memory of her senior prom. It was ruined.
Then a hand
presented itself in her periphery vision, through the veil her own hair was
creating across her face.
“Thank
you,” she muttered, grasping the hand and standing up. She found herself standing in front of Jake,
less than two inches from his face.
“Sorry,” she said, “You shouldn't be having to rescue me all the time.”
He
smiled. “If I don't do it, who
will? Sophie, you are such a walking
disaster that you may be the only person left on earth that I can still help.”
He pulled her close and hugged her with one arm, while leaning on his cane with
the other. “Why don't you come back to
the table and make fun of people with me?”
She started
to smile and agree when she noticed something over his shoulder. “Oh my gosh,” she said, her mouth hanging
open in surprise, and Jake slowly turned to see what she was looking at.
It was his
brother. A slow song was playing and
Alex was swaying while holding Paul.
They seemed unaware of the rest of the room, looking only at each
other. People nearby stopped dancing,
looked around at everyone else to see what they should think or say. Jake stared.
And then Alex leaned forward and kissed Paul on the lips.
A chaperone
arrived and pulled Alex by the arm until he had to drop his hold on Paul and
both began to laugh. Jake turned back to
Sophie with wide eyes.
“I guess
you were right,” he said, “Something is going on with my brother.”
“Looks like
they held up their part of the pact too.”
“That just
leaves you, Sophie. What will it be,
pencils? Telephones? Juice?”
“Shut-up,
Jake.”
“Make me.”
“I love
you.”
“What?”
Jake dropped his hold on her and she crossed her arms in front of her body.
“I'm
sorry,” she said, “I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just.
That's my thing. That's what I
promised I would do. Tell you. When I first moved here I knew you wouldn't
ever even look at me. But now we've been
kind-of friends and I really value that.
But you'll be going off to college and I don't even know what I'll be
doing and I just wanted to tell you before I missed my chance. And if Alex and Paul are brave enough to do
what they just did, then I have to be brave enough to tell you I love you.”
“I don't
know what to say,” Jake said.
“It's okay,
you don't have to say anything. I just
had to say it. So that's all of us. We all did what we promised to do. Do you think we'll be happy?”
“I'll tell
you what would make me happy right now.”
“What's
that?”
He stepped
toward her again and kissed her.
“Oh Jake,
your reputation”
Jake
laughed. “What's left of it can go for
all I care. I'll let you in on a secret,
being popular isn't really worth it.”
Really liked it. Good work.
ReplyDeleteFabulous story, tender and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI second that!
DeleteThank you! That's so encouraging :)
ReplyDeleteWow. I loved this story so much, i'm gonna probably be reading it again and again! Please write more, i would love to read more about all of them.
ReplyDeleteI was told we weren't allowed to write about highschool kids...
ReplyDeleteI really liked this a lot, but then I enjoy a sweet character driven story, more than the more explicit tales.
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
I think that it is more "me." I just don't feel all that comfortable with writing explicitly. I think I need to return to my roots and write what I like to read :)
DeleteI love this!! I don`t think it needs expanding. The characters are nicely fleshed out and three-dimensional, despite it not being overly long. I think it`s just perfect. I like this much much better then Blue Moon - after thinking about it, the reaons are that it doesn`t feel rushed, and apart from the fact that I didn`t understand the characters in Blue Moon (probably because it is too short), your heroes of Blue Moon seem not real, as in not having any faults. These guys here do, like all humans.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this story!
Tina
Thank you! This is great to hear. I don't know why I haven't felt as confident about this piece!
Delete