Fen and Mara - Open Novella Contest 2019 Short List

Chapter 1

It's easy enough to climb over the fence; Fen lands gracefully on the other side of the seven foot high fence. The chains that are hanging from the waistband of his pants jangle softly, though that is the only sound that can be heard. The boy grabs the strap of his backpack and hoists it over his shoulder as he starts to walk in the direction of the grandstand that oversees the athletic field and the soccer field.
It's starting to get dark and the lights on the corners of the field have already come on, even though there's nobody here on this sunday night. There was heavy rain this afternoon and the ground is wet and muddy. Fen jumps over a large puddle that reflects the lights in the dusk; his feet almost slide away in the mud, though he easily regains his footing.

On the top row of the grandstand he can see two dark figures, only their faces visible in the blue lights of their smartphones. They only notice him when he takes the steps two at a time, the sound of his army boots on the metal steps bouncing off the sides of the grandstand.

"Hey man! What took you so long?" the smallest of the two boys says, putting away his phone.

Fen bumps the fist that is presented to him. "I'm here now, am I?"
He flops down on one of the plastic seats. "Hey man," he nods to the second boy. The boy looks up from his phone and looks him over from head to toe, a joint dangling from his bottom lip. He has pouty lips, almost like a girl's and hazy blue eyes. Fen frowns, he doesn't care for the way he's being looked at.

The boy is a couple of years older than him and Nazreem, Fen guesses he's about twenty years old. He's wearing a fancy leather jacket and the phone in his hands is the latest model; he also has some fat bling around his neck and in his ears. He has short blond hair, carefully tousled with not a hair out of place. Fen and this boy are on the opposite ends of a scale when it comes to looks.

"Davy, this is Fen," says the boy in the middle, gesturing from one to the other. The boy named Davy nods and focuses back on his phone.

Fen unzips his backpack and takes out a six pack of beer. He holds one up to Nazreem, who immediately takes it.
When he opens the can foam and beer runs over his hand and his grey jeans that are ripped in the knees. "Fuck, Fen! What have you been doing with these! Juggling?!"

Fen smirks when he thinks about his backpack's short trip through the air when he threw it over the fence. He lets some air escape from his own can before opening it fully, preventing it from leaking all over his clothes. He can feel Davy's stare and when he glances to the side the older boy nudges his chin to the can of beer in Fen's hands. Fen rolls his eyes, though he passes the beer to the boy anyway.

Naz has taken his phone out again and holds the screen up for Fen's face. "Check this, man!" he smirks. "Wanna bet she's gonna show me the rest before the night is over?"

Fen sees a picture of a girl with bleached hair, wearing a white top with spaghetti straps. She's not wearing a bra and pulls the top down between her breasts with a finger.
"Nice tits," Fen mumbles and opens a beer for himself. 

The Moroccan boy scrolls through the pictures on his phone; there are multiple selfies of the barbie blond girl. Or they're pictures from different girls, that's possible too. Naz has a type: bleached blonde, big tits and airheaded. Fen can't keep them apart; Naomi, Daisy, Natasha, Angelique, they're all one and the same.

Davy has passed the joint to Nazreem and after a few hits he offers the reefer to Fen. He holds his beer can up in defense. "No man, you know I don't smoke."

Nazreem laughs out loud. "Like drinking beer is helping you out on the field!"

Fen shrugs and drinks the last of the beer from the can. He squishes the can under his heavy boot and throws it expertly against the back of the sign that hangs from the roof of the stand; the clanging sounds echo underneath the roof as the empty can disappears somewhere between the lower rows of seats.
'Howemont Sports Club' it says on the front of the sign, bold black letters on a yellow background. The plastic chairs on the stand are the same sunny colour: yellow and black being the colours of the city. The other day Fen was wearing the same colours during the rugby match; a yellow shirt with a broad black stripe across his chest, black shorts and yellow socks with two black stripes near the top.