DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Jack's House
HTML https://jackshouse.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Free Discussion
*****************************************************
#Post#: 30292--------------------------------------------------
Another Story Fragment
By: Jack Date: February 11, 2025, 8:02 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I have this identified as 'UD' in my files. No clue what it was
supposed to stand for.
I did this in Sep '21. No idea where I was going with it,
except it was another idea for a romance novel. It was inspired
by the Brazilian movie 'The Way He Looks', which is an
incredible gay romance/coming of age story (if you haven't seen
it - DO).
While the romance novel didn't pan out, the two characters
introduced here were moved almost completely into CPHS as Gil
Wolfe and Bobby Perkins.
[hr]
CH 01
“All right, Ryan, this is your stop.”
The window was cracked a bit, and I could hear the chatter of a
bunch of people all around. Most of them sounded like they were
my age, but a few sounded like little kids.
“Thanks, Franklin. I really appreciate all the help you’ve
given me the last couple a weeks.”
As I said it, I reached into my shirt pocket and pulled out a
folded bill.
“You don’t have to do that, Ryan. Keep it.”
“I know I don’t have to, but I want to.”
“You can’t make me take it.”
“An Uber driver who won’t take a tip? Don’t tell me you’re
going to start treating me like I’m handicapped now?”
“That’s a low blow.”
“I know, but you’re going to take it, aren’t you?”
He sighed theatrically, making sure I noticed.
“Only because there are people behind us, and I don’t want to
cause a scene.”
I turned so he could see my smile.
“Good excuse. But seriously, thanks.”
“Thank you, Ryan. And good luck.”
I opened the car door and swung my legs out, then I picked up my
backpack. I tapped around to make sure everything was in place,
then I stood. Shutting the door behind me, I put the backpack
over my shoulders, then removed and unfolded my cane. Being
very careful, I tapped around to find the curb, then made sure I
was in the right place by tapping beyond it, to make sure it was
sidewalk, and not yard. Only then did I step up.
I took a second to orient myself. Franklin really had dropped me
off in the exact place we’d practiced. I turned, made sure
there was no one in front of me, and took three steps, then
turned again, now lined up with the steps.
“Could I help you?”
“No thanks. I’m a student here.”
“I figured that, I meant, ‘could I help you to class’ or
something?”
I stopped and turned to ‘look’ at him. Some people found it a
bit disturbing when I did that, but others seemed to think I was
ignoring them if I didn’t.
I was impressed. I’d half expected someone to be trying to play
a joke. I’d already noticed that he was taller than me. His
voice was coming from just above my ear, so he must be about
three inches taller than I am - probably six feet or just over.
What really struck me though was how sincere he was. He
actually wanted to help, and didn’t mind being seen with the new
‘handicapped’ kid.
“No thanks. I’ve got to make sure I can get to class on my own
if I’m going to do this.”
“Okay. Mind if I walk along?”
“It’s a free country.”
I was a bit torn between needing to prove my independence and
wanting a chance to make a friend. I was probably a bit sharp,
but he didn’t seem to mind. I turned to face forward again and
began walking.
“Does it disturb you if I talk?”
I gave my head a shake.
“Nope.”
“My name’s Justin.”
I knew the steps were right in front of me, so I stopped. The
lanyard on my walking stick was already looped around my right
wrist, so I just held it with my left and let the cord ride up
as I reached my hand towards him. He seemed a bit surprised
that I reached right towards him.
“Ryan. Ryan Hunter.”
“Pleasure,” he replied, with rather old-fashioned manners.
I turned back and tapped another step before finding the stairs.
I already knew them very well and counted as I climbed. There
were plenty of people there, but I was still walking in a bit of
an island, with people instinctively clearing the way for me.
“I have the door,” a girl said.
I smiled in her direction.
“Thank you.”
I walked through the doorway, then changed the angle of my cane
to tap along the wall. When I came to the end of it, I went
another four steps, then stopped and turned ninety degrees,
which put me far enough into the hall to evade lockers and
opening doors.
“What’s your first period?” Justin asked.
“Wilcox, World History.”
“He’s pretty good. I had him last year.”
“You a senior?” I asked.
“No, a junior. I just couldn’t fit American History in my
schedule last year, so I reversed them.”
I nodded, and made an affirmative noise, before realizing that
the people I was around now could actually see me nod my head,
so the extra noise I’d learned to make at the blindness training
school wasn’t required. Not that I’d be able to stop making it
anytime soon. That was a deeply ingrained habit by this point.
I turned at what I thought was the right spot, but I’d gotten a
bit distracted talking to Justin, and by people moving around
me. I turned to my right.
“Excuse me?”
I started to reach out with my cane, but Justin stopped me.
“May I help a bit?”
I thought about protesting, but stopped.
“Okay.”
“A girl there has headphones on, and you were about to hit her
with your cane.”
Oops!
“Thanks.”
“The door to Mr. Wilcox room is about three steps further on,
but it’s open.”
“Thank you, Justin.”
“My pleasure,” he said again. “I have to go get my books.
Maybe I’ll run into you later.”
“Hope so,” I replied with my own manners. “Thanks again.”
“Nice meeting you.”
I walked carefully into class. Unlike the halls, I couldn’t be
sure how much had stayed in the same place. It was obvious that
the room was already crowded, though I wasn’t sure how many
students there actually were in the class. I oriented myself to
the wall and moved carefully as I approached my desk.
“Hello, Mr. Hunter,” I heard Mr. Wilcox say. “Nothing has
moved, and your way is clear.”
“Good morning, sir. Thank you,” I answered with a nod, though
not looking at him.
“Good morning, sir, thank you,” someone mimicked me from the
back of the room.
I turned my head to face him, and it was obvious who had spoken.
The feeling of trauma and anger almost made my stomach churn.
The voice had been deep, so obviously a guy, and I could have
almost felt sorry for him. It was like someone who’d been
wounded over and over again, without a chance to heal. However,
even though the wounds were infected, and he was in obvious
pain, he was thrashing around, spreading his infection, and I
didn’t care to be splattered with it.
I had the feeling my direct stare disconcerted him, and I kept
facing him, even as I continued to my desk. I finally stopped,
simply because I didn’t want to draw too much attention to
myself and faced forward again.
I folded my cane, slid the backpack from my shoulders, and
slipped the cane into its pocket. While I could sense no malice
around me, I wasn’t feeling particularly trusting, so I made
very sure of my chair before I sat. I put my backpack beside
me, and used the small velcro strap to secure it to the chair
leg. Then I removed my laptop, headphones, charger, and braille
pad, and set everything up.
A hand came to rest on my shoulder, as a quiet, tenor voice
spoke.
“Hi, I’m Kenny.”
The hand tingled with warmth, and the voice was amazing. My
belly tingled, and part of me stood straight up in reaction, as
well as sitting up in my chair. Then I turned, keeping my right
hand at desk level, until it bumped the desktop behind me. Then
I raised it a bit.
“Hello, Kenny. I’m Ryan.”
Kenny took my hand and gave it a brief, normal shake, but I
stopped him, and showed him how to do the handjive I’d always
done with my old friends. There was no real reason to, but it
gave me an excuse to hold his hands for a moment.
#Post#: 30293--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another Story Fragment
By: Jack Date: February 11, 2025, 8:03 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Ch 02
I knew we were going to have a new kid starting in class, but I
hadn’t really thought about it. I mean, there had to be a
reason Mr. Wilcox moved Sue Collins from the desk in front of
me, I guess. I was just a lot more worried about mid-terms last
week. After all, trig had been kicking my ass, and Dad had
promised to pay for my driver’s ed, IF I could bring home
straight As this semester. Now that those were over, with me
clearing the hurdle Dad set, I had settled into the new Mercedes
Lackey novel I’d been putting off.
I was busy reading when something caught my attention. The
class room was still as noisy as it normally was before the bell
rang, but there was something… different about it; something
upon which I couldn’t put my finger. I bookmarked my spot and
looked up.
The new kid must have just come into the room, and it seemed
that he had everyone’s attention. It wasn’t hard to tell why.
I could only see him from the side, but I could already tell he
was beautiful.
There were too many rows between me and him, and too many people
already at their desks, for me to have a great look at him, but
I noticed right away that he had thick, black hair that he wore
above his ears, but not real short. He also had rather big
glasses that didn’t seem very fashionable. Of course, he wasn’t
dressed very fashionable either.
As I looked down his body, I noticed that he was walking slowly,
and that he seemed to be holding his arms strangely. It was
only when he reached the front of the room and turned that I
realized what was going on.
The new kid was blind.
He was still really good looking.
His clothes fit pretty loose, so it was hard to be sure, but it
looked like he had a really tight body. He was wearing mostly
black - black work pants, a black t-shirt with ‘Iron Maiden’ and
some cartoon on the front - I think it was an old rock band -
and an oversized black and red flannel shirt, he wore with the
sleeves rolled up two or three times, but it still reached his
hands. The only real color he wore was red sneakers.
Mr. Wilcox said something to him I missed, because I was too
busy looking at him, but then Jenkins made one of his regular
smartass remarks, and the new kid turned towards Jenkins. If it
had been me, I think I would have pissed my pants, because this
kid looked serious. Then I had to wonder how he’d even known
who to look at. Voice, I decided - he must have heard where the
comment came from.
The kid sat down in his desk and started unpacking his bag. He
had a laptop and some stuff with it, which seemed weird, but I
guess that’s how he got around not being able to see a book. I
normally don’t like intruding on people, and I almost went back
to my book, but I couldn’t help myself. This kid wouldn’t even
know I was here, if I stayed quiet, so I reached up and put my
hand on his shoulder.
“Hi, I’m Kenny.”
He stiffened for a second, but then seemed to relax and turn
around. He held his hand out to me, so I shook it.
I’m Ryan,” he replied, but he also smiled and shook his head.
“Like this, my dude,” and he walked me through a different
shake, where we started normal, but then switched to a thumb
grip, before pulling back and holding each other’s curled
fingers. When he released, he snapped and pointed at me. As
soon as he’d started, I knew what he was doing, but I still let
him finish, because, quite honestly, I liked the way it felt
while he held my hands.
*****************************************************