Danny and Olivier

Part 5- Running

     Danny slept well that night, better than he had in a long time. That was mainly due to the fact that he was satisfied with his night, satisfied with Olivier.
     Danny awoke at five a.m . though, and he tossed and turned in his fluffy California King bed, enjoying the rustling sounds of his puffy down-filled comforter. He tried to close his eyes and listen to the music coming out from his square cube of a radio, but he couldn’t fall back asleep. So he thought about Olivier.
     About Olivier and the dark, shaggy mop of hair that was constantly falling into his dark blue eyes. Olivier and his beautiful, cat-got-the-cream expression that he wore when he was happy. Danny sighed contentedly and let his black hair fall over his eyes, allowing darkness to overcome him.
     Danny fell back asleep again, but he dreamt about kissing Olivier in front of Olivier’s house again, imagining the feel of the wind, the sound of Olivier’s little purrs in his ears, and most importantly, the feel of Olivier’s hands on his hips, his hands soft and pale as the rest of him.
     He wished that he could talk to Olivier, actually talk, and that Olivier could hear him. But Olivier didn’t just hear Danny, he listened to Danny. Olivier understood Danny, which was almost twice as better. Almost.
     Which is why when Danny woke up again at seven to get ready for his last five days of school, he was actually looking forward to the day. He only had to suffer through five days before it was Saturday, then he’d have roughly three weeks of winter break to do whatever the hell it was that he wanted to do.
     He was dead-tired now, guaranteed, since he had been out so late the previous night with Olivier. But it was worth it, Danny smiled to himself and turned the fancy shower taps on, climbing into his marble bathtub and taking a nice, hot shower.
     What if Olivier doesn’t have electricity? What if he doesn’t have hot water? What if he doesn’t even have water at all? Danny started to panic, then realized that Olivier wasn’t one of those starving kids in Africa. Olivier would be okay. But Danny still made a pact to himself. A pact that he’d help Olivier whenever he could.
     I met him roughly 20 hours ago. And I’m already dreaming about him? Danny shook the water out of his ears and dressed accordingly, in all black, then took his time lacing his boots up. Then he took his time doing his eyeliner, rimming around the edges of his eyes with a deep, smooth black.
      No one would care if he was late, especially not old Mr. Miller and his bifocals, which he kept losing but didn’t realize that they were on top of his head. And his classmates sure as hell didn’t care whether he came in at all. Hell, Danny thought, they probably wouldn’t care if I just died off the face of the earth one day.
     And Danny proved to be right. He walked into History half an hour late, and Mr. Miller didn’t even bother to look up from the History textbook he was reading off of.
     “Fag,” someone coughed as Danny walked past him, and the people around him snickered. “Beanpole.” “Cutter.” “Evan-lover.”
     Oh God. Danny took in a breath at “Evan-lover.” No. Do NOT mention Evan’s name again, you asswipe. Danny ignored the comments otherwise, but even he had to admit it poked at him hard. He showed no signs of expression though, letting his black bangs fall over his face. He went to his seat at the back row, where there literally was no one ten feet of him, either left side or right side. There was only the nineteen year old guy in front of him, being there because he had failed his courses. And the guy was huge, but Danny didn’t mind. It only kept him more invisible.
    He opened his History notebook, fully intending to take notes, but twenty minutes later, he looked down. And all he saw was his and Olivier’s names together.
     Dammit. He kicked himself. Here we go again.



Olivier was technically qualified for the whole free-breakfast program thing they had at Kennedy Prep, but seeing as everybody around him was rich, had the newest backpacks and cell phones, and not deaf, he decided against it, most of the time. Why add to the poorness, right, Oli?
     Olivier was constantly hungry. So when fourth period rolled around, the people sitting beside him were looking at him funny. Olivier stuffed an arm into his school blazer to stop the growling.
     Olivier focused on reading Mrs. Fernandez’s lips, but he knew that his stomach was making the guy sitting beside him look at Olivier funny.
      “…the twenty first century…”
     Growl.
     “…King Henry and his wives…”
     Gurgle.
     “….beheaded- “
     GROWL.
     Olivier ducked his head in embarrassment. Why do these things have to happen to me?
     Mrs. Fernandez looked back at Olivier. “Are you okay, Olivier?”
     “Yes,” Oliver mouthed, his face still red and hot. The bell finally rang for lunch, though, and Olivier was the first one out of his seat.
     He quickly walked to the cafeteria and turned his hearing aid down, the mass of students’ voices overpowering the vibrations his hearing aid was picking up. Olivier got into the hot lunch line, grabbed a paper bag stuffed with food, and made a run for it just as soon as the lunch lady got his EBT card scanned in. He knew it was the last of his EBT card for the month, and he wished that his father’s paycheck would come in so that they’d at least have something in the fridge.
     Olivier couldn’t stand to think of anything but Danny as Olivier went to his usual lunch hangout, the staircase near the back of the library. It was dark there, it was dingy- hey, just like my house, Olivier thought as he put his bag down and opened up his bulging paper bag. Inside, there was an apple, a bag of pretzels, a big, stuffed subway sandwich, and a 16 oz. of Vitamin Water.
     Olivier ate the subway sandwich quickly, then his apple, then drank his Vitamin Water, all in the matter of ten minutes. He put the pretzels in his bag though, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hands. His stomach stopped growling and he could feel the swell of his satisfied stomach.
     He sat there for a while and closed his eyes, dreaming of Danny and how he cared silently. Sometimes, Olivier thought, it feels like my parents are compelled to care for me, simply because I’m their child. But that’s not fair to them. Danny, on the other hand, actually wants to. Olivier smiled softly and imagined Danny’s lips on his again. And I wouldn’t mind another kiss, either.
     A small chill suddenly flew up the staircase, and Danny pulled out his ratty coat from his bag, putting it on. He put his hands into his pocket, and touched something papery.
     His hand flew out, and his fingers were lacing a 20 dollar bill. Olivier knew that it wasn’t his parents who put it there. It certainly wasn’t there before he headed out last night.
     Danny, Olivier thought. Then he smiled to himself.

Later that day, at roughly 12:15, right after lunch, both boys were on the running track for P.E, both halfway across town from each other. Danny’s in a pair of black sweatpants and his ugly P.E shirt, and Olivier’s in the mandatory basketball-shorts-and-shirt dress code.
     Danny loved to run. He loved the feeling of escaping his world. He loved the fact that when he ran, the whole world was a blur to him; that no one could stop him, even if they wanted to. He’d just keep running and running and running.
     Olivier, on the other hand, had mixed feelings about running. He loved how the world blurred when he ran, but he hated the consequences of running. He hated the fatigue and the soreness at the end, the burning calves and the sweat pouring down his chest.
     Both boys had to run the mile that day, as per requested by the state for the California Fitness Test. Danny ran it in six minutes. But he didn’t stop running. He kept on running around the track, even after the coach blew the whistle at him.
     Olivier ran. He ran it in ten minutes. At around the time that Olivier finished his last  lap and Danny was just starting his fourth lap, they both realized something.
     They were still running. Running from WHAT? Danny and Olivier both wondered as they slowed down.
     Both boys looked around the track. They weren’t running from anything. And that’s when it dawned on them.
     They were running, but they were running in circles. There was no way to escape something if it were to chase them. It’d go back around and around and around again.
     So there’s no escape, huh? Olivier thought about his hearing aids. Danny thought about his loneliness.
     Then Danny and Olivier both ran off. Danny ran off into the woods. Oliver took a beach trail. Both of their coaches started yelling at them, but there was no stopping them.
     There IS an escape. You just have to make it happen, both boys thought. And they ran peacefully for another twenty minutes, just them and nature surrounding them.