Two of a Kind

Chapter 1

"Oww," I rubbed the spot where I hit my head. "What the fuck! Stupid tree..."

I had been too lost in my thoughts to see the tree that was right in front of me.  Back home mom and dad were fighting again.  I left just so I wouldn't have to hear the constant yelling.  

I headed into the forest behind our house.  There wasn't much out here, but it was mine.  Down by the river I had my own spot.  It was hidden by the surrounding bushes and all but the most observant would overlook it and walk on by.  I went here whenever I needed time to myself.

I walked up to the entrance of my spot.  Usually the only thing you can hear are the nearby rapids of the river.  But I swore I heard what sounded like...sobbing?  I pushed aside the branches blocking the entrance.

Inside I saw a boy around my age huddled up and crying.  His skin was bronze and his hair was black.  I recognized his uniform immediately.

"Hey, aren't you from Middlebrook High?"

The kid looked up at me surprised by my sudden appearance.  "Yeah...I am," he said as he attempted to wipe away his tears.

"Why are you over here crying?  I thought Middlebrook had classes on Saturdays?"

"W-we do...b-but...I was..." he broke out crying again.

"Hey its okay.  What's wrong?  You can tell me.  I'm all ears." I pushed the leaves, that were on the ground, out of the way with my foot.  I sat down next to him. I waited for him to start talking. It took him a couple seconds, but he had managed to calm down enough to talk.

"I was r..." he whispered too low for me to hear.

"What was-"

"I was running from some guys," he blurted out weakly.

"Guys?  What guys?"

"Guys from my school," he paused for a moment. "They called me a faggot and a homo...  I thought they were my friends..." he looked away and down at the ground.

"Well they sound like assholes if you ask me." I glanced at him.  His tears had dried up for the most part, but his face clearly showed that he was not okay.  "Forget them!  Who needs 'em!" I said trying to cheer him up.  I got up and held my hand out to him.

He glanced up at me before grabbing my hand. I didn't know this kid at all, but I had to do something to cheer him up.  I couldn't just pretend like I didn't care.

 "Come on, lets get out of here."  I exited my hiding spot pulling him along with me. "I'm Jamie by the way. What's your name?"

"S-Sebastian," he stuttered.

"Well, Sebastian...I know we just met, but if you want, you can come over to my house and play video games?" I thought about my parents, but the walk back to my house was a good 10 minutes.  I just hoped my parents argument would be over by now.

"Um, s-sure..."

I smiled at him before wrapping my arm around his shoulders. "Cheer up! Who needs those assholes anyways. I will be your friend. Come on.  My house is that way."

I led him down the path towards my house.  He was quiet most of the way there and seemed to be looking more at the ground than anything else. Once we reached my house, I opened the back door and led him into the kitchen.  I called out to my parents, but no one seemed to be home.  I wasn't surprised.  My father usually goes out drinking after he's had an argument with my mom.  And she usually goes next door to talk to the neighbor.

It seemed like this was the case more and more often these days.  I could only hope it wouldn't get too bad.

I led Sebastian up to my room.  He sat on the bed while I knelt down on the carpet looking for my games.

"Well...I got lots of games here.  What do you want to play?  I have Street Fighter, Skyrim, Halo, Dragon's Dogma..." I searched through the rest of my games listing them off to him.  "Sorry that I don't have a lot of two-player games.  I don't usually have friends over."

He just looked at me with this gloomy stare.  "That's okay, we can play whatever...I don't care."

Grabbing one of the games I mentioned earlier, I replied, "Okay.  Why don't we play halo.  That's multiplayer." I popped the disc into the tray and grabbed two controllers.

We played for half an hour before we opted to watch a comedy movie on Netflix instead.  By the end we were laughing at how horribly cheesy the movie was.  I was glad I was able to cheer him up.  Its seemed he had forgotten all about the bullies; he was having too much fun.  I think he was starting to warm up to me.

After a while, it started to get late, so Sebastian decided to head home.  I agreed to meet up with him tomorrow at the park down the street.  We said our goodbyes.  Then, I watched him turn around and walk down the street.  I'm not sure, but I swore I saw a small grin on his face.