A Short Story: Walking Side-By-Side With A Chainlink Fence -- Re-edited and Re-posted (also posted on Wattpad under phoenix_vixen)

Ryan was on his way home from school.  He was following the chain link fence that ran from the elementary school yard beside his high school to the edge of the street where he needed to turn left and follow, still, the same chain link fence as it ran to the edge of the block where the youth center’s baseball diamond could be found side by side with a small, privately owned animal shelter.

He walked silently, casting small, furtive glances at each changing sight through the fence.  He watched as kids played in the yard while they waited for their school buses or parents or whoever the hell was picking them up from school.

 

Ryan turned the corner and slowed his pace even more, just enjoying the everyday sights that he saw every time he followed the same path.  He touched the tender spot on his stomach and winced.  He really did not want to go home yet, but he knew he had to.  He would just get it worse if he didn’t, so he trudged on.

 

He passed by the baseball diamond and stopped for a minute to watch the teenaged volunteers at the youth center play ball.  He had been invited to join the game each time the other kids spotted him standing by the chain link fence with the fingers of his left hand going through the warm metal as he grasped onto the links. He always refused.

 

He watched the game silently, his eyes following each move the players were making.

 

His gaze was caught by piercing blue eyes, the owner of which flashed him a huge smile.  It was his best friend, Joshua.

 

Joshua called a time-out and ran to where Ryan was standing,

 

“Hey, buddy! What’s up?  You want to join the game?  You know William and Miguel had been asking me over and over again about you,” the boy asked, a little out of breath because of all of the running he had been doing earlier.

 

Ryan flashed Joshua a tentative smile and shook his head.  “Can’t, Josh. You know my Dad…”  He couldn’t bring himself to finish his statement as he touched the tender spot on his stomach gingerly once more.  It was an unconscious move, but he tended to do so a lot, especially when he recalled the pain even if the marks were no longer there.

 

Joshua saw the move and winced.  He now knew what Ryan had gone through two nights before which caused his absence from school.

 

“Did he…?” Joshua whispered, linking his hand with the one Ryan had through the chains.  He always did this, even when he and Ryan were barely even old enough to think.  It comforted the older boy.

 

Ryan cast his amber gaze down and nodded, swallowing audibly.  “Yeah,” Ryan whispered back.  He looked back at Joshua and smiled weakly.  “I’ll be fine Josh.  You know I’m tougher than that.”

 

Joshua nodded and let Ryan’s hand go.  “Sure man.  Just...uhm...take care.”  He looked back at his honey-eyed friend and smiled widely.  “By the way, dinner at my place on Friday.  Mom said she’ll cook all your favorites if you stay over for the night.”

 

Ryan’s smile faltered. “I –” he started to say, but Joshua cut him off.

 

“Mom already asked your Dad and he said yes.”  Joshua smiled bitterly as he turned his head to look back at his other friends on the baseball field.  “I think the bottle of Jack Mom gave your Dad might have done it, although I’m not really too sure.”

 

Ryan laughed a little and straightened himself up.  “Okay. I’ll be at your house by seven.”

 

Joshua gave him a relieved smile in return.  “Cool. I better go, before Pete rips my head off for delaying the game.”

 

Ryan nodded and watched as his best friend jogged back to the center of the field and the game resumed.  He stayed a few seconds more to watch the other teenagers as they played, carefree and not worrying about the consequences of coming home late and seeing their Dad either passed out drunk on the sofa or fuming with rage – drunk still – because his son caused the death of his wife.

 

He made his way down the sidewalk once again when he got tired of watching, following the chain link fence down the road.  He tried whistling a happy tune, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.  Everything around him was gray, black, and white.  Drab, dirty and disgusting.  The same color as the metal links to his left.

 

Ryan felt his phone vibrate, which made him jump a little.  He was so immersed in his own world that the small movement of the smartphone inside his pocket had a jarring reality pull on him.  Like a feather free-falling inside a vacuum.

 

He pulled his phone out and read the text message.  His Dad was still lucid enough to send him a text, it seems.  It was comforting and scary at the same time.

 

‘I’ll be out with your Uncle Teddy.  Won’t be home till late.  Susan asked for you to have dinner at their house and stay for the night, you can go straight there.’

 

Ryan sighed and pocketed the phone.  It calmed him a little to know that his Dad won’t be home when he got there; now he can take his sweet time going home to pack an overnight bag.  But it also chilled him to the bone thinking about what his father would do if he changed his mind.

 

The amber-eyed boy shivered and pushed the thought aside.  He just had to make sure that everything was in order before he left for the Evans’ home and that there was dinner in the microwave for when his old man gets home and wanted to eat something before he passed out in his bedroom.  He prayed to the God he no longer believed in that his Dad won’t wake up to look for him in the middle of the night and not remember that he agreed to letting Ryan stay at Josh’s house for the night.  That might cause some serious physical problems – again – on Ryan’s part the following day.

 

He continued making his way home, dragging his feet as he went.  There was no point in hurrying now since his Dad won’t be home when he gets there anyway.

 

Ryan thought he must’ve walked a hundred miles because that was how leaden his feet suddenly felt, but he stopped abruptly.  Wrinkling his nose in curiosity, he turned to his left and stepped closer to the chain link fence.

 

It was the new animal shelter owned privately by Patrick Winchester, who happened to be a good friend of Pete Sullivan, the guy who ran the youth center.  Like the youth center, the animal shelter only accepted volunteer workers from the local high school where Ryan went to.  The volunteers were mostly teenagers also from Ryan’s school.  The school was big on after-school programs because of their anti-drug campaign, so they required all the students to volunteer at one of these places.  It made Ryan remember that he would lack three units if he didn’t volunteer at one of those places soon.  His mind wandered to the after-school music program the youth center had where he could teach children and other teenagers how to play the guitar.  But it would mean time away from home, and he wasn’t sure if his Dad would allow him to do so.  He made a mental note to ask his homeroom teacher to write him a letter about it to give to his Dad.

 

He was about to let go of the metal chains and start walking once again when movement caught his eye.  He turned back and couldn’t help but stare.

 

He watched two teenagers – two boys, both around his age, give or take a year, step out of the animal shelter’s back door followed by seemingly a ton of small puppies and kittens.  One of the boys – the one with sandy blond hair – had a calm demeanor about him, sitting in the middle of a litter of kittens.  He laughed openly when one of the tabby kittens started pawing at the edge of his pants.  Ryan remembered his name as John. He and John had English and band together.  He’s a good guy, Ryan thought.  He always seemed to feel at ease and comfortable when he talked to John on occasion, and that was saying a lot.  It took so much to earn Ryan's trust.

 

What really caught his eye, though, was the other boy who sat with a plop in the middle of a litter of puppies, laughing and playing with them like his life depended on it.

 

This boy had thick, longish raven locks tied back in a small ponytail at the base of his nape, and his fringe was being blown around his face by the wind.  He turned a little and Ryan noticed his eyes.  They were a deep chocolate-brown which lit up every time he laughed or smiled.  He had lush, plump, pink lips that Ryan suddenly caught himself thinking of kissing all of a sudden.  He shook the thought out of his head – no need to add another reason for his Dad to use him as a punching bag.  He gazed back at the grassy lot of the animal shelter and smiled to himself when he saw the boy throw back his head laugh.  He had a musical laugh.  A laugh that he wouldn’t mind hearing all the time.

 

He hadn’t seen him before.  He was sure he didn’t go to his school.  He wouldn’t have missed that face in the mass of faceless teenagers that Ryan grew up with at his school.  It was either he was new in the neighborhood or came from the neighboring town near the edge of the suburbs where he lived.  The thought of the teenager living quite near his house sent a thrill down his spine.

 

He was so immersed in watching him that he didn’t notice John lean over to him to say something.  He looked up and their eyes locked.  Those plump, pink lips suddenly stretched into a beautiful smile.  Ryan’s breath caught in his throat at the sight.

 

He didn’t notice John stand, nor did he see that John was now making his way towards him at the chain link fence.  John only succeeded in catching Ryan’s attention when the boy tapped on the fingers that Ryan had curled through the links.

 

“Hey Ryan,” John greeted him, his smile easy and serene.  Ryan tore his eyes away from the hyper raven cuddling with the puppies in the middle of the yard with much effort so he can look at John.

 

“Y-yeah. Uhm, hi, J-John,” Ryan stuttered.

 

John glanced behind him and his eyes settled on the black-haired boy as well.  He motioned Ryan to follow him to the side.

 

“Come on.  I’ll introduce you to Simon," John said easily.  The older boy led Ryan to the side of the street where the entrance to the animal shelter’s backyard could be found.  Ryan stared at the make-shift gate in amazement.  He had been following the chain link fence all his life when he goes home, walking side by side with it since when he was younger to make sure he didn’t lose his way, and it has now turned into a part of his everyday life.  Never had he noticed the gate that was made of metal bars and the same chain links until now.

 

John chuckled at the look of awe on Ryan’s face.  “Yeah, it’s a pretty inconspicuous gate, which works for us here at the animal shelter.”

 

Ryan stepped through the gate and turned his attention back to the other boy – Simon – who was now staring at them with a wide grin on his face.  Ryan felt a blush creep up his cheeks as he followed John to where the puppies and kittens were now playing together.

 

A particularly feisty little husky jumped Ryan’s shoes, making him smile.  He leaned down to pick up the puppy and cradled it against his chest.

 

“Hey there – er…”  Ryan stopped and glanced quickly at Simon who still hasn’t moved from his position in the middle of the playing puppies to see his mouth ‘girl’ at him.  He smiled his thanks and turned his attention back to the puppy in his arms.

 

“Hey there, girl. What’s your name?” Ryan cooed at the beagle.  The puppy stared at him with wide, brown eyes and barked once, licking the skin of his arm.

 

“Her name’s Misty,” Simon said, looking at him with mild curiosity in his eyes.

 

Ryan smiled at Simon and chuckled as he watched Misty’s antics.  He settled himself on the freshly trimmed lawn, crossing his legs so that he was a bit more comfortable.  He placed the husky on his lap and watched as the puppy played with the frayed edges of his jeans.

 

Ryan suddenly looked around him with mild surprise.  The colors of his surroundings suddenly seemed more vivid, more alive.  He roamed his eyes, staring at the stark green of the tree leaves and the bright red of the sidings of the house beside the animal shelter.  He was awestruck at how sharp the colors of his surroundings were now compared to five minutes ago when all he could see were grays and blacks and whites.  He turned to his right and saw Simon in stark contrast to his now beautiful surroundings.  Simon who was more alive and beautiful than anything else he had ever seen in his entire life.

 

Ryan knew he was staring and that it was rude to do so, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.  Besides, Simon was staring back at him as well.

 

“Hi,” Simon said shyly, although his smile was still wide and endearing.

 

“Hi,” Ryan replied, his lips curling into the first real smile he has ever sported in a very long time.

 

John was eyeing his two companions with interest, the smile on his lips mirroring Ryan’s.

 

“Simon, this is Ryan Birch, my classmate.  Ryan, this is Simon Shaw.  He’ll be attending our school this year.  He’s coming in as a sophomore,” John introduced them.

 

Simon extended a hand which Ryan took in his and shook it.  ‘Nice to meet you’s’ and ‘you too’s’ were exchanged shyly as they played with the puppies and kittens all around them.

 

Ryan looked back at Simon after a few minutes and smiled when their gazes met.  When Simon returned his smile, butterflies started fluttering inside Ryan’s stomach.  He turned his attention back to the husky on his lap and his smile widened.  He was starting to become happier even though he and Simon had barely spoken an entire sentence to each other.  But somehow the smiles they shared seemed enough for now.

 

He used to dread the sight of that long chain link fence he always walked beside every time he made his way home.  He dreaded it because he dreaded going home.  But if he had chosen to take another route that day, he might never have met Simon.  His entire world would never have the colors it now has.

 

And maybe – just maybe – he can now appreciate walking side by side with the chain link fence.