Because of that Night (Book 2)

Chapter 56: Everyone ~ Seth

Seth sat down on the front porch steps of the Rolland house, and even though much had happened that night, the only thing on his mind were monkey bars.

He had always had a fear of heights, really, he had never known life without having this fear. It made amusement parks difficult, rock climbing impossible, but making friends surprisingly a lot easier. When Seth, his mother, and Sharifa moved to Borne, Seth was only eight and had just started the third grade at Borne Elementary. He didn't really know what it was like to move before. Borne wasn't super far from where he grew up, but far enough for it to be noticeable for an eight-year-old. Borne was smaller, beachier... and whiter. There were far less people who looked like him, and he and Sharifa stuck out like sore thumbs. But luckily for Seth, people like Michael and Zooey existed.

Michael latched onto Seth instantly. Seth had a brand-new Power Rangers backpack. It was a consolation gift of sorts his mother had bought for him so that he could feel a bit more confident on that first day. Michael had a red Power Ranger pencil case. It truly was fate.

But Mike was a lot braver than Seth was. He climbed and ran and jumped wherever he wanted to on that Borne playground to no avail and with zero fear. Though Seth tried to keep up, he screeched to a halt once Michael directed them through the rickety bridge to where the monkey bars were. Michael swung through them effortlessly, but Seth stood frigid at the start, eyeing the first wrung in terror as his heart beat faster. He didn't want to look like a coward. He wanted Michael to like him. But the ground suddenly felt miles away, and his knees began to shake.

"Mikey!" a chipper voice had called, and a gangly girl with blond braids was looking up at where Michael stood on the opposite platform from Seth. "We're playing astronauts on the swings, wanna come?"

"I'm playing obstacle course with my new friend!" Michael had announced, though he furrowed his brow at Seth as he said, "what's your name again?"

"S-Seth" Seth stuttered back. He clung to one of the poles that connected the monkey bars and the entire structure together.

Empathy isn't always a trait that children learn right away. It takes time, and even then, grown adults don't even grasp it sometimes. And children certainly don't always have an intuition about how someone else is feeling unless it gets really noticeable. But that day, Seth felt seen by this little girl. She stared up at him, glancing at his shaking knees and cocked her head to the side. She jumped up onto the platform with Seth, and she gripped the opposite pole, knocking her sneakered heel against it.

"I'm Zooey," she said. "Have you ever done the monkey bars before?"

Seth looked down in shame, still gripping tightly to the opposite pole.

"No," he mumbled. "It's too scary."

"No way!" Zooey exclaimed. "I was really scared the first time I did it. But once I learned, it was really easy. I bet you could do it too. Here, watch!"

She then leaned out and grabbed hold of the first bar. So trusting and agile, she moved to the next as though it were nothing.

"You just gotta swing yourself forward," she called back to Seth. "And if you bend up your knees it helps!"

She jumped down when she got halfway and looked back at him with a large grin. She walked back over to where Seth still stood and looked up at him with a nod.

"Here, now you try," she invited, sweeping her hand out and gesturing to the bar above her.

"I-I can't," Seth whimpered, looking out at those menacing bars as sweat formed on his forehead. "What if I fall?"