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    irivera
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

A Life Worth Living - 5. Chapter 5

I’M up and awake before everyone else. Honestly, I was up a few hours ago. My mind wouldn’t shut up and I was tossing around. Everything I was able to learn about James was rolling around in my brain. I mean, what are the odds? He ended up in Rhode Island. But how? Lila didn’t know. All she knew was that he was there. His parents are going through a divorce too. What could have happened to cause that? Did they disagree about something relating to him? It has to be that. What else would it be? His face flashes in my head. So instead of lying here, I decide to be productive.

All of my art stuff came a couple of days ago and had been sitting in several boxes that were shoved into the corner of my room. Some of the bigger pieces leaned against the wall. It took me a while to get the courage to look at them, especially the one I was doing of James. I was expecting some bodily reaction when I finally did, but my heart seemed to go slower when I pulled the sheet off it. His face stared back at me. A wide grin. Some of his hair stuck out in different directions. I had just got to color his eyes before everything. I miss his eyes. His laugh. The way he whispered my name in the dark when we lay next to each other.

I look over at my alarm clock. Six-twenty eight. Two minutes before my alarm goes off. I shut it off and look out the window, watching the sun peeking over the horizon as waves rush onto the shoreline. It’s Thursday. Day five.

I get dressed and before I enter the kitchen, I hear Vienna and Nolan talking. I pause.

“It hasn’t been a full week. I think he’s doing better, doing well,” Nolan says. There’s the unmistakable sounds of the coffee machine, clinking glasses, and the fridge opening and closing.

“I want to have a conversation with the kids anyway. I just don’t want him to get overwhelmed with how they are. Especially Blair and Cal,” Vienna says. “His social worker called me the other day and told me he set him up with a therapist and he has his first appointment this Saturday.”

“Oof, honey, you’re making him go to therapy on a Saturday?”

Okay, that’s insane.

“I want to and need to make sure that we are following the rules and order from North Carolina. He can’t go back there. You know that.”

“I know, I know.”

Yeah, therapy on a Saturday is insane. But just the thought of having to go back to my home state sends a shudder down my spine. It can’t happen. It won’t happen. And I gotta show them that I’m doing okay so far.

I step in and do a small wave. “Good morning,” I say. They both perk up, giving each other a quick wide-eyed glance.

“You’re up early,” Vienna says, holding her coffee cup. “Looking dapper.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” I reply. “And thanks, this might be my favorite shirt we got from the store.” It’s a deep forest green polo shirt that fits me perfectly.

“Wish the others could get up early like you. We have to drag Cal out of bed most mornings because he sleeps through his alarms. The kid could sleep through a tornado.” Nolan chuckles and sips his coffee. “You drink coffee?”

I shake my head. “No, makes me too anxious.”

“Good. It’s a nasty habit I must say.” He sighs. “But I must admit, I can’t see myself without it.”

I sit on the bar stool and grab a banana. “It’s better than being addicted to drugs.”

Vienna nods. “That it is. You want anything else to eat? I was going to make some avocado toast.”

“Sure, sounds good. Today is when I’m going to sign up for the student council thing.” I peel the banana.

“This is very exciting, I think,” Nolan says. “Getting involved is a good way to put yourself out there, and make friends.”

“Or some enemies.” I laugh a little. “But I’m excited. Mom would be proud of me.”

“She absolutely would be.” Vienna smiles, putting bread into the toaster.

 

✦✦✦

 

THE fish tank in the front office really grabs your attention. I’ve been staring at it for like, ten minutes while waiting for Ms. Everton. Some loud voices bring me back to reality.

“I just—I don’t understand this shit! Dude, listen to me!”

“Man, fuck off.”

Victor and William step into the room and pause when they see me.

“What are you doing?” Victor spits at me.

“Boys, get going. School is over,” Ms. Everton says coming up behind them. William gives me another look before leaving.

Victor looks at Ms. Everton. Well, he looks down at her because he’s a whole head taller than her. “You’re really not gonna help me out here?” he asks her.

She stands her ground and looks him right in the eye. “I’m not going to make Will do anything he doesn’t want to do, Victor. You know that. Now, leave before I write you up.”

He’s red in the face and storms off, slamming the door. Ms. Everton then sees me and puts a thin smile on her face. “What can I do for you, Jonah?”

I look at the door and then back at her. “Uh, well, I wanted to know where I sign up to run for senior class president.”

She lights up and seems to get less tense. “Oh! Really?”

“Yeah, I want to put myself out there.”

“Jonah, that’s great! Follow me.” She nods towards the hallway that leads to where all the other offices are. “We actually had another student sign up for the vice president position. They’re running unopposed like the other candidates for treasurer and secretary. I was getting a bit disappointed in the race for the senior class.”

“Why’s that?” I follow her into her office.

She opens a small binder. “Because no one was signing up and I don’t know, I enjoy a good race between students. And William Caputo just dropped out. He and Victor were running together but now that’s not happening.”

So that’s what that was about? I wonder why he dropped out. I mean, I can kind of guess. Victor has not appeared to be anything less than a dick. Can’t see why anyone would want to be a part of that. Or friends with that. Will being his friend has got to be one of the weirdest things ever. He does not seem to like Victor at all. So why stick around?

“Well, I hope I can make your day a little better by signing up,” I say.

“You certainly are! Okay, so sign here,” she points to a sign sheet, “and I’ll give you this. It’s the rule sheet for running.”

I sign the page and take the paper. “Thanks.”

“There will be an assembly on the twenty-eighth where all the candidates announce themselves and then you can campaign the next two weeks. And then on May nineteenth, the same day as prom, the winners are announced.”

“Sounds good,” I say. “Wow, okay, I’m actually doing this.” I read over the paper.

“You’ll be great! Student council is always a lot of fun.”

“Well, thanks again, I gotta get going to the track meet,” I say.

“Have fun!”

I promised Monty I’d come to his track meet. The other morning, he complained that no one came to cheer him on. Blair protested.

“I go all the time!” she said.

“You’ve been twice and only to flirt with that guy from the other school!” Monty shot back.

“Yeah, but I still go.”

So yeah, I promised I’d go. And I did tell Will the other day I would too. He seems to want me to go. He brought it up again in Art class while he was drawing a very detailed picture of a flower.

It’s hotter today and I’m beginning to sweat while walking out to the stadium.

“There you are!” Cal appears next to me and he throws an arm around me. “Thank God you’re going to be here.”

“Huh? I told y’all I was going. What are you doing here?” He certainly did not mention he was going. In fact, he said he would be doing anything else.

He groans. “My piano teacher had to cancel. And Mom and Dad can’t get me till later. So, here I am. Here we are. I hate track meets. So boring.”

“Monty will be excited, though,” I say. We walk out into the stadium. The sun is glaring down at us harshly today. My skin becomes prickly with drops of sweat in a matter of seconds. It’s bright, I shield my eyes as best as I can. The place seems to be pretty filled up. There are eight schools competing today. But not the school that has the guy Blair is crushing on, so she definitely won’t be here.

“Oh, the concession stand is open. Thank God. I’ll get us something.” He pats my back and runs off to join the concession line. I head down the bleachers to be near the track. Monty is with a group of guys stretching. He sees me and waves. I wave back. The other teams are huddled together, stretching and warming up too. I stand at the edge of the bleachers behind the fence looking around for Will. It doesn’t take long, he sees me and runs over.

“Hey!” he says, putting his hands on the fence. He pushes himself up a little, letting his feet hover a couple of inches above the ground. It makes him level with me since the bleacher stands are a little higher than the track. He’s wearing a running tank top with our school logo on it. It seems a little big on him, and the neckline seems low on his chest, but with the way he is propping himself up, it makes his muscles pop out some. I try not to stare.

“Heyyyyyy,” I say. And well, that wasn’t great. I slap myself in my head.

“You made it.” He’s grinning. His hair is a little wet, probably from sweat. It sticks to his forehead.

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” I’m nodding like an idiot. “It’s uh, hot out.” Jesus Christ.

He lets his feet hit the ground. “Yeah, it’s finally feeling like Spring. Takes a while. Oh, can you do me a favor?” He unhooks his necklace. “Can you hold on to this?”

He hands it to me. It’s a thin gold chain with a lightning bolt attached to it.

“Why?”

“It’s my lucky necklace, but it came off in a race not too long ago and I was so afraid I’d lost it and I don’t want that to happen again.”

I let the chain slip between my fingers and enclose it in my palm. “You want me to hold on to this? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of it being lucky?”

He shrugs. “I think it’ll be okay. Better yet…” he reaches and grabs my hand. I open it and let him take the necklace. “This will help.” He reaches up, his hands brushing against my neck as he places the necklace on me. His hands are soft. My heart is pounding. Why is he doing this? “There we go.” He steps back.

“I guess this makes it easier to make sure I don’t lose it.” I look down; the lightning bolt is right at the top of my chest.

A whistle blows.

“I gotta go,” Will says, “but I’ll come find you when I’m done.” He starts walking backward. “You better watch my race.” He does a quick wink before turning and running off to meet the team.

I’ve known Will for four days and the only thing I’m positive about is one thing. He confuses me. He seemed to take an interest in me. Quickly. But then he hangs out with who he hangs out with and it’s not clicking.

I watch him as he does some jumping jacks with another guy. He laughs and does some sort of twirl. He seems happy here.

“Good afternoon! Welcome all to this afternoon’s track meet hosted by us here at Southampton Secondary! Get ready! Our first event is the 800-meter relay!” The intercom blares through the air.

I take a seat and a few seconds later I get this uneasy feeling that someone is watching me. And they're right behind me. There’s a creak from the bleacher and then they’re sitting next to me. Victor.

“I thought this may be a good opportunity to have a formal introduction,” he says. He’s looking right ahead.

I don’t move either. My gaze is locked on the field, watching them set up the relay. “Okay,” I say.

“You’re wearing my friend’s necklace.”

“He told me to hold onto it for him.”

“And wear it?”

“He put it on me.” I can see him shift in the corner of my eye, his eyes are on me now.

“You should hand it over to me,” he says. “He’s my friend after all.”

“Is he?”

“He doesn’t even know you.”

“He seems to know me enough to trust me with it.” I still don’t move. It’s clear what he’s trying to do. Intimidation. It won’t work on me.

“People like you don’t belong here,” he says, his voice low and single-toned.

“Like me? And what am I?” I let my fingers find the necklace and start playing with it.

“A damn leech. I’ve met people like you before. You come here and think that just because you live here now it makes you one of us. You’re not. And you can leech off your family all you want but you don’t belong here. And you know that.”

“You seem very insecure of yourself, Victor. Do you feel threatened by me?”

He scoffs. “You wish. You know, I’ve grown up here. It’s my home. And we don’t get a lot of new people, but when we do, I like to look into them. Make sure that any new flesh won’t darken the image of this beautiful place I call home.” The first race starts. “I hate trash.”

“You should see yourself out then,” I say. Our team is already winning.

“Jonah Kildare,” he says, “the poor orphaned boy whose parents died in a tragic accident right before Christmas.”

Now I look at him with my now slightly parted lips. “Where did y—”

“Don’t.” He cuts me off. “You should know that I have my ways. God, how was that?” His face is blank and emotionless. “Was it scary? Watching them die?”

“The fuck is wrong with you?”

“All I’m trying to say is, know your place around here. You may think that just because you’re now with your cousins and their lifestyle, which I’m sure is way different than the one you came from, that you’re safe. You’re not.”

I frown. “Why do you talk like that? This is high school, Victor. In real life. Not some fucking HBO show. I haven’t done shit to you. I don’t know you. So whatever weird shit you got goin’ on where you think going around to people you don’t know and trying to make them feel small or whatever, get over it. It’s weird.”

A smile creeps onto his face. The scar under his eye seems to redden under the sun. “Do you feel threatened?”

“You wish,” I say back. “And you know what? You’re right. I am the orphaned dude whose parents died before Christmas. I lost them and someone else I love. So that means I’ve been real unstable recently. You wanna come for me? Do it. Fuck around and find out.”

He stands. “Stay away from Will. He doesn’t need distractions.”

I look up at him, his head blocks the sun making him a dark silhouette against the sky. “I’ll do what I want, thanks. And by the way? I’m running against you for senior class president.”

His eyes narrow and he opens his mouth, but no more words come out. He turns and walks off.

What the hell was that?

“Dude, you good?” Cal slides in next to me and hands me a Coke and some chips. “Sorry, it took so long, that line was crazy.”

“Thanks,” I reply. “I’m good. Victor just declared me public enemy number one for some reason. I don’t know why.”

“He’s a piece of shit. He hates us and I genuinely think it’s because he wants to be us. What a loser.”

“Next up is the 100-meter dash!”

“I found James, by the way,” I say. Cal is the only one in the family I’ve really talked about James with, as he’s the only one who would understand. Everyone else would probably just look at me sad and try to tell me that it will all get better. Cal is actually interested in hearing about it and supporting me.

“Wait, what? Where is he?”

“Well, I didn’t find him, but I found an old friend of his on Instagram and she told me he’s in Rhode Island. We chatted for a bit and she is also kind of in the dark and didn’t know much more than that.”

“Who’s he with?”

“She said ‘distant relatives’. I don’t know.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We?”

“Dude, this is big. I wanna help you find him. We gotta make sure he’s okay.”

I smile. “Guess we’re in this together then?”

“You betcha.” He fist bumps my shoulder.

We sit in silence for a bit watching the events. Monty hasn’t done a single event yet. He sits with the team and every once in a while, gets up and does a little lap up and down the sidelines. He will also glance over to make sure we’re still here and wave when he sees us.

“He’s like a little kid,” Cal says.

“He’s excited!”

Alright, everyone! Next up is the 300-meter hurdle and that means we get to see our very own conference champion Montgomery Kildare in action!

Cal straightens up. “Oh hell yeah. Let’s go, Monty!” he yells.

We both stand and Monty takes his position at the start line. He stretches his arms, jumps up and down a few times, and shakes his legs out. The seven other guys are lined up. I’ve never seen Monty in action. From what I’ve heard though, he’s really good.

The track coach raises the starter pistol. They go into the starting position. And pop! Monty is in full force, running with long strides and then he approaches the first hurdle and—

“Holy shit,” I say. “He just glides over them!”

“He’s a freakin’ gazelle. C’MON MONTY!” Cal yells again.

He’s meters ahead of the other guys—hurdle after hurdle. The crowd is growing louder and louder and then he’s finished. Number one. He throws his hands up and punches the air before doing a cartwheel.

“Aw, man, that was actually quite cool. I may have to go more to these,” Cal says, sitting back down. I sit too and the sun catches onto the necklace making it shine against my shirt. “Whoa, cool necklace, where’d you get that?”

“Uh.” I scratch my head. “It’s Will’s. He wanted me to hold onto it.”

Cal’s jaw drops. “Will? As in Will Caputo? As in him?” He fully points to Will who’s across the field.

I swat his arm down. “Don’t do that!”

“Damn. You got Will around your finger? I’m jealous.”

“It’s not like that,” I mumble.

“Uh-huh. Right. That’s why your ears are red. I have always thought that Will was part of the fruit basket, but it’s been hard to settle that. I guess we’ll see.”

“Again, it’s nothing.”

Cal lets out a sigh and leans back a little. “Damn, Cuz. You’ve been here five days and you’ve already made enemies with Victor, you’re wearing Will’s necklace, you’re running for senior class president, and you may have a lead on finding James. Booked and busy.”

“It’s either this or wallowing in my grief.”

“Up next is the 3200-meter race.”

“Oh, shit, that’s the two-mile,” Cal says. “Wait a minute. Will is walking to the start line.”

So this is his event? The two mile? Jeez, my guess was way off. He does some leg shakes like Monty did and gets into position. There’s only a few guys doing it. Must not be a popular event. The gun goes off and he’s running.

“I had no idea he did this event,” I say.

“God, look at his leg muscles,” Cal says.

“I am.”

There is something freeing and fun about being able to talk about things like this openly. And sure, what was just said was slightly creepy, but still. I’m so used to having to be behind closed doors and now I’m in open air.

Watching Will run has my blood rushing. He smiles with every lap. And he’s also ahead of everyone else.

“Go, Will!” I yell.

“You’re down bad,” Cal says.

“Shut upppp,” I say, laughing.

Will gives me a small wave when he passes by us. His hair is now even more wet with sweat. His orange and green shoes are blurred when he starts picking up the pace. Two more laps. I can see him focusing. He’s still first but another guy is approaching him quickly.

“C’mon, c’mon,” I mutter.

Will doesn’t seem to notice the guy or if he does, he isn’t caring. He locks in, his upper body angling forward just a little more. He picks up speed, his strides are longer. One more lap.

The guy is getting closer, but Will is now sprinting full-on. I grab the lightning bolt. One more length of the track. Closer. Closer and—

“We have a winner! Our very own William Caputo finishing first in the 3200-meter race!”

“YES!” I jump up and rush to the fence. Will runs over with excitement plastered onto his face.

“I did it!” he says and he hops over the fence in one swift motion. “I’ve never done anything like that before! I was on fire. It didn’t feel like two miles at all!” He grabs my arms with his sweaty hands. I watch as a bead of sweat slides down his neck and onto his chest, which rises with every breath.

“It makes sense as to why you wear a lightning bolt,” I say.

His hands fall to his side. “Oh, yeah.” He does a quick flex of his arms. “I’m like Achilles out there.”

I glance over at Cal who is covering his mouth with a hand, but his eyes are wide.

“You were awesome. Really, it was impressive as hell.”

He does a small bow. “Thank you, Sir. Thank you. Oh! I heard you were running against Victor for senior class president?”

“What? How did you hear about that?”

“A guy on the team said he overheard Ms. Everton talking to another teacher about it. Is it true?”

“Yeah, it is. God, word travels fast.”

“You want a running mate?”

Cal’s now crept down from his seat and joined us, grinning ear to ear. He’s loving this. And I’m never going to hear the end of it. “Oooo, you two running against Victor? How scandalous.”

Will is smiling, but he rolls his eyes. “I’m tired of his ass. He’s so controlling. I know you saw us this afternoon after I went into the office and dropped out and he was pissed and begging me to not. But this would be hilarious. What do you say?”

Cal was right. A lot has happened in the five days I’ve been here. But is it a bad thing? I don’t think so. I’m putting myself out there! Who cares if that douchebag Victor thinks I’m someone he needs to be afraid of or whatever he thinks. I’ll be perfectly fine.

“Hell yeah,” I say. “Let’s do it and kick his ass.”

He puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “Now that is the attitude I like. Give me your number. We got some planning to do.”

He lets me punch my number into his phone and he sends me a single superhero emoji before running back off to his teammates.

“This is about to get very interesting, isn’t it?” I say.

“Not just that. You, sir, are about to start World War Three with Victor,” Cal says.

“Let him try.”

“Let’s go find Monty and get out of here. He and Blair are going to lose their damn minds.”

We start walking up the bleachers. Victor sits with his girlfriend and for a moment, I let myself lock eyes with him. And just to fuck with him, I wink.

My boy is getting messssssy. Haha! Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I'm super excited about the next chapter. But let me know what you thought about this one! Also, I'm thinking about posting the short story I wrote a few years ago when I was a senior in college for my fiction writing class. Let me know if you'd be interested in that. Thanks y'all for reading and for all the comments, it's been fun to read and has kept me motivated to keep this story going. :) 
Copyright © 2025 irivera; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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@irivera, as a fellow writer, I agree with the others, definitely post your short story at some point. When we have something to share, we share it. You’re a good writer and story teller. Folks here always want more of that.

It’s not here, but I found a way to put a short piece I wrote a few years back for a worth contest into one of my stories. I made it a writing assignment for a high school character. Jonah is an artist, but maybe one of the trips could be the author of your other piece if it’s not too long.

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