| "Hi. My name's Cole. Today sucked the usual...hah." |
| As he slumps home after an extra horrific day pondering whether or not to even GO home, Cole goes over the terrible events in the Principal's office again and again. "How did he know?" |
| One of Cole's odder habits is his tendency to narrate his life to himself, as if he were in a movie, third person singular. Usually he even has a soundtrack going on in the background, in his head. Today, with himself the central, and only, character in his own shitty life-make-believe-movie, he wonders what he could've done different. Gradually, hapless bystander, crimefighter and criminal all morph into one as he (OK, "I") wander the brittle city streets, evading detection by enemy aircraft, when who should appear but... |
| ...some guy on a motorcycle? |
| Who is now turning around and stopping. But it turns out I know him. He's this guy Ryan I see in school. I've always been sort of scared of him. But he's ok, though I've never really talked to him before. He's sort of above me. |
|
"Hey Cole, I thought that was you. Thought you'd take a walk on the freeway?"
"Funny man". For some reason I told Ryan then about Eric Hutzel and Barnett and Mr Booth, the principal, but he wasn't even surprised. I decided Ryan was a little less scary than I'd thought. He told me in 8th grade how Eric once said he'd kick the spokes out of Ryan's bicycle, total b.s. says Ryan. Eric was a psycho, but to Ryan he was mainly a chickenshit; no way was he gonna mess with Ryan's stuff, cause Ryan would kick his ass he said, which made me laugh. Then he offered me a ride. |
| Yeah like I'm going to turn down my first ride on a motorcycle, even if it is on back. Actaully it felt sort of a safe back there, lodged against Ryan's shoulders. The backpack wanted to catch the wind but my arms were tight around his shirt. I didn't care where we went, so long as it was away. Eventually Ryan told me about his secret hideaway. I eagerly accepted the invite. A half-hour later, we were there. |
| It was an abandoned farmhouse. There were acorn trees all over, and lots of junk, which in a place like this probably goes without saying. He shut off the bike and I took off my jacket and looked around. |
| It was in sorry shape, but I was enjoying myself. After all it was away from everything, it was a good place to hide out. You could tell we both started to totally relax. |
| "It's been neglected for in a while," he said. Yeah well, what hasn't? Ryan must've spent some time here; inside there was a space cleared out complete with a foam pad and a Coleman lantern. I realized that Ryan slept here. |
| Then we went out back and he showed me this spot he liked that looked down on the Erasier Valley. |
| Later I explored a bit more, looking for treasure among the junk, while Ryan talked about his plans for the place. We wound up playing keep away with an old chrome Christmas ornament I found in the grass. |
| We had more fun with that Christmas ball than I'd had all Summer! I couldn't believe how Ryan and I were so at ease together. |
| We must've rough-housed for a long time, cause it was getting dark out. |
| Then a miracle happened. Ryan grabbed my shirt, pulled me down onto the ground, and straddled my chest. I was pinned, helpless, and couldn't seem to get away from his eyes. |
| What happened next wasn't exactly what I'd dared fantasize at the moment... |
