Storymania - A Solitary Life by Kain

A Solitary Life
Kain

Starting down the sidewalk with Jake, who was straddling his right shoulder, dragging his feet behind him and mumbling some tune he heard in the car on the way to the party, Harvey made his way towards the house at the bottom of the street. It was about twelve thirty at night and the street had a downhill grade of about 35 degrees, making it difficult for Harvey to drag Jake down the hill. The music and noise of the party behind them was still pouring out into the dark street. A pair of bright headlights start coming towards the boys, Harvey tries to avert his eyes by turning his face to the right only to get a huge whiff of Jake's alcohol heavy breath.
The car accelerates by the boys and a girl pokes her head out the window and yells some sort of insult at the boy's expense. Harvey isn't drunk but he's had enough to make his hearing and sight slightly impaired. Jake is completely hammered. All Harvey knows is that he's got to get to that house down the street.
Finally after what seems like hours of stumbling, the boys finally make it to the simple one story, ranch style house. By now Jake has passed out and Harvey has to wrap his arms around him and drag him up to the door. Leaning Jake against the side of the house, Harvey searches for the doorbell and after a few seconds of unsuccessful poking, he begins to just slam his flat palm against the walls until he finally hits it. After a few seconds of ringing, a light comes on through the window and the door opens. Standing in the doorway is a skinny kid of 16, wearing sweats, which are to big for him. His hair runs straight down over his forehead with little patches poking out from random sides of his head. His face is thin and his eyes are glazed over in a bored expression. He should ask Harvey why the hell he's at his doorstep with a very drunk Jake. He should look a little confused.
"Hey Harvey." Very polite, but bored at the same time.
"Uh, hey Sid. Listen Jake is pretty wasted. Can he rest here a bit?"
"Sure." Sid pushes the door all the way open and Harvey drags Jake through the dark entrance room. Sid leads them to the living room and Harvey immediately drops Jake down on the sofa where he falls straight to sleep.
"Are…your parent's home?"
"No. Their out of town for the weekend."
Sid goes to the kitchen and comes back with two water bottles.
"Here."
Harvey takes one of the bottles and doesn't drink from it so much as he bathes in it, spilling the water on his face. The coldness gives him some clarity. He realizes that he's sitting in a soft chair with a coffee table in front of him. Jake lies on the sofa to the right of the coffee table and Sid is sitting in another soft chair across the coffee table from Harvey.
"Thanks for letting Jake rest here. He got really drunk. Would've stayed at the party, but Jake started pissing people off. You know, trying to start fights and all, so I figured that we should get out of there before he got his ass kicked for being an asshole and I got mine kicked for being this drunken assholes friend."
"No problem." Sid says this very casually, as if he keeps his doors open for these kinds of occasions. A sanctuary for drunken teens.
A silence sets in. Jake is still sleeping and Harvey is looking down at his hands. He then looks at the room. He can remember Sid's 8th birthday party and how Sid, Harvey and the Copler twins started throwing food around at each other and then at the other guests, Sid's parents trying frantically to control the kids, only to end up covered in birthday cake. The time that Harvey and Sid built the standard papier-mâché volcano for a fifth grade science project, pouring too much baking soda in the little crater and absolutely ruining the carpet with a bubbly, foaming mass. Harvey looks to his left at the floor to see if he can find the stain, but it's gone. He looks across the table at Sid who is reading the fattest book that Harvey's ever seen.
"So… watcha reading?" Harvey says.
Sid, too immersed in the book, only lifts up the books front cover so that Harvey can see the title.
"The Recognitions?" Harvey's not really interested but he asks anyway. "What's it about."
Sid looks up from his book. "Forgery, art, and the frauds in society." He puts the book down, just in case Harvey has anymore questions that need answering. After a few more minutes of silence, he asks one of his own.
"How was the party?"
Harvey nearly jumps out of his seat. "Oh. It was cool. I guess. There weren't too many girls there. I guess that’s another reason why I left. I think most of the girls were at Rollin's party. You know. Where there's football players, there's girls. You know our team won yesterday."
"Oh really." unenthusiastically.
"Yea. Killed the bastards. Total humiliation."
"Hm."
The silence resumes. Sid, seeing that Harvey is out of questions, picks up his book again. Jake has been sleeping the whole time. Harvey goes back to looking at his hands. He hates the silence. It shouldn't be like this. He and Sid should be talking endlessly about the parties they went to and the trouble they've gotten into. Why aren't they as close as they were in Junior high? What happened in Freshman Year? Harvey thinks of how the two boys would talk about their future high school exploits in 8th grade. The drinking, the drugs, the girls. And then high school came and Sid didn't want any of that. He completely disappeared from the social scene. His once loud behavior in the class room turned into quiet reserve, neither acknowledging the teacher who was trying to teach or joining in with the other students in their disruptiveness. Sid could only be found reading books. At break and lunch, he'd be by himself. Harvey tried to take him to games and dances and parties, but Sid was never interested. All he wanted to do was stay locked in his house like a damn hermit reading his books. By the end of the first semester of high school, the two stopped talking to each other. Harvey went on to enjoy a social life with kids like Jake. He lived up to his 8th grade boasts. Why doesn't Sid join in? He's 16 years old and he's reading some huge ass book on a Saturday night. Why don't you go to parties Sid? Why don't you drink, fuck, or smoke? Why do you keep yourself trapped in this dark home with these big, pointless books?
"Why not?"
Oh shit. Harvey must be a little drunker than he thinks. Can't tell when he's thinking and when he's speaking. Fuck it, he needs answers.
"Wadda ya mean why not?"
"Why is reading such a despised form of entertainment, while getting wasted is socially acceptable?"
"Shut up with that. I don't wanna get into any argument on the nature of entertainment in out society. I just want to know what happened. Remember junior high? All the fun we had fucking with the teachers and running around getting in trouble."
"I don't know. That stuff bores me now."
"You've never even been to any parties. Don't ya wanna go crazy and act wild?"
"Nope."
"Don't cha wanna feel what it's like to be drunk or high?"
"Not really."
"Jesus, don't ya wanna fuck a girl or two?"
"Not interested."
"A guy or two?" trying to lighten the mood, but also seeing if it’s a possibility.
"Nah."
"What's your problem!? These are the best years of your life man! You shouldn't be spending them here by yourself!"
"Why not?"
"Cause it's not fucken normal, that’s why!" standing up and shouting. Sid remains in his chair with that glazed look.
Jake begins to stir. He rolls over and falls off the sofa, hitting his nose against the coffee table on his way down.
"Shit!"
Harvey snaps out of his trance, runs over to the kitchen and brings back some napkins. Sid has helped Jake sit up on the sofa.
"Where…am I? Who're you?" Jake mutters while holding his nose. He's not too drunk anymore and his eyes began to probe Sid.
"Oh, hey darkboy." Jake mutters, still holding his nose.
"Hey." Sid replies
"Darkboy?" Harvey says while he hands Jake some napkins to shove up his bleeding nose.
"Yea man. This kids…kids always just sittin and readin in the back of my English class…with that big black hooded jacket man. Darkboy."
Harvey decides that it's time to go get Jake back to his house, only a few blocks away.
Jake is able to stand up on his own, but Harvey helps him along. They shamble over to the door, leaving the light of the living room and entering the darkness of the entry way. They open the front door and Jake shambles off into the darkness of the night. Harvey looks back at Sid who has been standing in the living room doorway, watching them leave.
"Goodbye Sid."
Sid has turned around, making his way back to his seat and his book. "Seeya Harvey."
Harvey knows that they won't see each other and walks out the door to catch up with Jake, slowly closing the door behind him. Jake is standing along the curb trying to figure out where he is exactly. The party is still going and at this hour, the police can be expected anytime now. Harvey starts to lead Jake back to his house.
"Why did we leave the party?"
"You were about to get your ass kicked."
"Oh. Thanks."
Harvey looks back at the house.
"Why'd ya take me to Darkboy's house? Ya know him?"
Harvey turns and faces the empty street in front of him.
"I used to."
Following the glow of the street lights, the two boys continue on into the night, stumbling away from the party, the house, and Darkboy.