Paper Walls Chapter 4
Warning this story contains underage sex of the same sex! So if it's not legal where you are back out now! This story is completely fictional! All characters are made up with made up names! They are not supposed to represent anyone I know! Please do not copy or paste this story without my permission! Thanks and enjoy
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"How old is your Brother?" Coach asks.
"He's thirteen sir." I tell him looking over at Ryder whose brows furrow.
"Does he play ball?" Coach asks.
"No sir he doesn't." I tell him.
"I thought you had a little brother?" Ryder asks.
"He is my little brother."
"But you said you have to watch him." Ryder presses.
I sigh, "I do."
"Is he like special or something?"
Coach reaches over and pops Ryder in the head, "Shut up Ryder. What's the deal Shawn?"
"Coach, I do look after him, my mom just isn't the best provider I guess you could say." I tell him.
"What exactly does that mean?" Coach asks.
"Just normally she isn't home a lot." I tell him.
I tell coach how to get to the park, and we pull up and I am out the door before the SUV is even parked. I see Dylan and I notice the red mark on his face and the busted lip. "What happened?"
"Mom....has a new boyfriend... or something." He says whispering.
I pull him into a hug, he has dirty blonde hair that's slowly turning brown, and light green eyes. He is slim with natural muscles.
"How you doing?" Coach asks approaching us.
"He's ok." I say looking from Coach to Dylan.
"I'm Coach Kessler, you can call me Coach K." he says extending his hand to Dylan.
Dylan hesitates looking at his hand, and I give him a look and he takes it finally. "Dylan."
"Pretty nasty cut on your lip." Coach says.
Dylan touches his lip and winces. "I didn't notice." He says quietly.
"Thanks for the lift coach. Our house isn't too far from here I will take him home." I tell him.
"No, come on get in. I already had Ryder call Mrs. Kessler and she will be home making dinner for us and she just happened to have another steak available. You hungry Dylan?"
Dylan looks to me, and I avoid his gaze. I know no matter what Coach is going to make us go. As if on cue his stomach growls and he looks down. Coach lets out a laugh come on boys.
We get into the SUV, Ryder has moved to the front seat, and he turns around. "Hey dude."
Dylan's eyes go wide, "You're Ryder Kessler!"
"Yeah that's me." He says.
"You're like really good at football." He says again.
"Thanks man, so do you play?"
He shakes his head, "No, but I love football. I am just not any good at it."
"Why not?" Coach asks.
"Just not that good at it sir. Plus I really want to focus on my art and hopefully get into a good art school."
"You're an artist huh?" Coach asks looking in the review mirror.
"I don't know about that. I just like to draw a lot. I mean I love to draw I kind of get in trouble at school because I draw at times in class when I'm supposed to be paying attention"
"I would like to see some of it one day." Coach says.
"Really?" Dylan asks more animated.
"Yes, I actually like art a lot. Have you ever been to an art show?"
"I almost went for my birthday, but Mom..." I elbow him in the ribs and he winces and lets a little yelp out.
"You okay?" Ryder asks looking back at Dylan whose face has gotten a little pale.
He nods his head, "Just got a cramp." he breaths out.
We finally get to Coach's house. "I am going to show him the bathroom and look at his lip." I tell Coach.
"Okay, I will send Mrs. K in so she can check his lip and was it his ankle you said?" Coach asks.
"My ankle is fine." Dylan says.
"Ahh okay maybe I just misheard." Coach says.
I pull Dylan into the closest bathroom and shut the door. "Let me see." I tell him.
He pulls up his shirt, and I can see the angry dark purple bruises along his ribs. I reach out and touch them, and he yelps. "How did this happen?"
I was drawing and he tripped over my feet and he kicked me so hard. He had steel toe boots on. He was kicking the shit out of me so I caught his foot and tripped him and that's when he kicked me in the face."
"You called me after that?"
He shakes his head. "No I shut myself in our room. Until they left."
"When did this happen?"
"Maybe two hours ago."
We hear a knock at the door, and he lets his shirt down, "You know you can't say anything about mom."
"Ok." He says and I don't look convinced.
The door opens and Mrs. K comes in. "Hey, you must be Dylan."
"Hi." He says shyly. Unlike me Dylan is really shy around anyone but me.
(Ryder's POV)
"He's adorable." I say.
My dad chuckles, "Don't tell me you want a little brother now?"
"No! I like being the only child actually."
"I think I need to get to know Shawn a little better, something isn't matching up their stories are different."
I look at him confused, "How so?"
"Remember, Shawn said it was his ankle that he messed up skateboarding?"
"Yes sir."
"Well I don't think that's true that boy doesn't even have a skateboard." My dad says.
I walk out of my dad's office and sit at the counter in the kitchen. I text Jeremy and let him know that things have gotten way more interesting. I see my mom come back into the kitchen and rub my back,
"Hey baby."
"Hey mom."
"How's your chest?"
"It's ok, sore. How is his lip?" I ask.
"Not so bad. Something is off with it, their stories don't match up." She says.
"That's what dad said as well. Where are they?"
"Honey, maybe it's best if you don't get too involved in what's going on with them." She says.
"What do you mean?"
"Honey, what do you really know about them?"
"Nothing, I mean I know Shawn is the QB and a pretty ok person. I just met Dylan, and I mean he is...oh..."
"Look honey, I know you are lonely and you want friends and a love interest but you don't know much about them at all. Get to know them, get to know him."
Shawn comes in with Dylan. "Thanks Mrs. K for helping Dylan."
"Anytime, so are yall getting hungry I know coach is back at the grill about to fire it up for the steaks."
"Yes Ma'am! Do you think coach would mind if I go out there with him?" Shawn asks.
"I am sure he would enjoy having someone take an interest in grilling." She says shooting me a glance.
I put my phone down, "Not my fault I don't like to grill, I burn everything I try to cook."
This gets Dylan to laugh, and I smile at him and he blushes and looks away. Shawn goes out the back door and Dylan continues to just stand there. "Have a seat." I tell him.
He takes a seat next to me, I can feel how uncomfortable he is," So what do you like to draw?" I ask.
He blushes a little, but doesn't meet my eyes. "I can draw some animals, I do some portraits and I can paint as well."
"Cool you think you could show me some?" I ask.
"Yeah...maybe sometime I guess. I mean I am not that good." He tells me not looking at me.
I can't help but smile that he is being shy, "do you have any on your phone or something?" I press.
He shifts in his seat, "No. I don't."
I look over and my mom gives me that look to let it go. "So Dylan what grade are you in?" my mom asks.
"I will be in eighth grade this year." He says.
"That's cool." I tell him.
"Are you getting good grades in school?" My mom asks still milling around the kitchen.
"I pass my classes if that's what you mean?"
"Yes, do you have any problems with school?"
He shakes his head, "No, but I was telling coach I get in trouble cus I like to draw when the teachers are teaching." He says.
"Well, you need to pay attention, unless it's history then its ok to draw." She says laughing.
I finally get a text back from Jeremy. "Mom Jeremy says hi!"
"Tell that goof ball I miss him!"
"Who's Jeremy?" Dylan asks.
"He was my best friend back home."
"Oh, well I want to go see what my brother is doing." He says.
I look at mom as Dylan walks away, "He's an interesting kid."
"And you weren't sweetheart?"
"You loved it Mom!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paper Walls Ch.5
The next week didn't go by as quickly as I would have liked, it still seemed like most of the team resented me. I mean none of them were hostile towards me, but they didn't go out of their way to talk to me, which really sucked if I could be honest, but I never let it show. Shawn actually did talk to me a lot and I could tell other players wanted to as well but they just didn't know how to approach the subject with me.
As usual I was the last one left in the locker room waiting for my dad, Shawn has long since been gone, he had to go to work tonight so I couldn't hang out with him. Today was our last practice before school. That means I would just be relaxing tomorrow since we will be in full pads on Monday.
I thought I was the last one left, until I see Garret walk through the locker room. My heart speeds up a little bit with apprehension. He hasn't spoken one word to me since the incident in the weight room. I pull my knees to my chest and focus on my phone, as he digs through his locker. He slams it shut and I wince, he finally looks over at me.
"Your still here superstar?" He asks.
I hate that stupid nickname, "Yeah." I say.
"Why are you still here?"
"Waiting on my little brother." He says sitting down at his locker which is sadly right across from me.
I fiddle with my phone, I wished Jeremy would just text me back. I can feel Garrett's eyes on me and I don't like it. He makes me uneasy, "You and Shawn are pretty tight huh?" he asks.
I shrug my shoulders, "I guess so. I mean he is the only friend I have."
He nods like he understands, "So you're not trying to take the QB position from him."
I roll my eyes, "No, I already told you that. Why do you hate me?" I ask bluntly.
I can tell this catches him off guard, "I don't hate you, look man it's just your not personal with anyone, you don't talk to anyone. No one understands what your deal is."
"It's hard to strike a conversation with people you don't know." I tell him.
"Have you tried to get to know any of us?"
"Yeah last time I did I ended up with a weight lifting bar on my chest." I snap back.
He flinches, "Yeah wasn't my brightest moment."
"Plus it's not like any of you have gone out of your way to even talk to me, I am not stupid Garret you haven't liked me since I got here, I know you and Shawn are best friends that's cool. I am not replacing him as QB, and I am not replacing you as his best friend so you can relax about that. Stop being so paranoid."
He just gives me this wild look, "You are such a tool."
"Only when I need to be." I retort.
He laughs out loud on this, "You're not so bad superstar." He says smiling.
I smile a back a little at him, "Your kind of weird." I tell him.
He shrugs his shoulders, "So answer me are you human?"
I cock my head at him, "What do you mean?"
"Dude you whipped my ass on the suicide drills, and Shawn said you did a lot of up-downs. "
I just shrug my shoulders, "Suicide drills aren't that hard. Plus I have been doing them for years. Like I told Shawn I get up and run every morning."
"Dude do you ever just not think about football?"
"Running isn't for football it's for myself, I like to run plus it keeps my anxiety in check." I tell him.
"You get anxiety?" He asks looking at me skeptically.
I shrug my shoulders, "I guess but running helps me relax."
"Well when I need to relax I rub one out, or play some video games." He says laughing.
I go bright red at the sound of that, and he laughs even harder. "To each their own." I tell him.
He laughs harder, "You are something else dude." He looks at his phone. "Okay well my brother is waiting in the parking lot I guess I will see you Monday."
"Yeah I guess so." I tell him.
I watched him leave the locker room, I wanted to tell him thank you for even talking to me, but I figured that was just stupid. I felt dumb for even thinking of saying that. I pick up my phone as it starts to ring.
"Jeremy?" I ask.
"Hey man what's up how are you?"
"I'm okay." I tell him.
"Yeah okay, you don't sound like it at all." He says.
That's why I miss him so much he knows me so well, "I just miss you man."
"What's wrong Rye?"
Hearing him call me that made my stomach clench, "I just miss you, home and our friend's man. No one likes me here, plus I miss playing I am pretty damn sure I am just going to be benched the whole season.
He sighs, "Nah man I am sure you will get to play some.
"It's not looking like it Jer, dad is set on having Shawn and that's it. Am I really that bad at making friends?" I ask him.
He laughs on the other end of the phone, "You always had me Rye and we didn't need a lot of friends, but yeah you're a bit awkward with your whole football stuff but once you get comfortable you will be good man."
I let out a sigh, "You're probably right, but I wish you were here man."
"Ryder, you have to get over this man. You would've only been around me for one more year and then I'd be leaving for college." He says firmly.
I mutter something in Russian hoping he doesn't hear me. "I got pieces of that Ryder. You know I'm right. Besides dude just think I will be going to college in Austin! I will see you all the time!"
"That actually makes me happy." I tell him.
"Okay man I am going to go shower, I have a date tonight!" he says with a suggestive tone in his voice.
"Who is she?"
"You don't know her buddy she just moved to town."
"Oh, okay....hey Jeremy."
"Yeah man." He says.
"I love you..."
"I love you too goofball, don't worry things will look up soon I promise."
I wait a few more minutes and my dad finally comes out of his office, "You ready to head out?"
"Yes!" I tell him.
He chuckles, "Come on boy."
We get into the vehicle, and I put my phone in my pocket I know dad isn't big on having phones out when it's just me and him. "You ready for school Monday?"
"Not really, I am kind of nervous." I admit.
"How come?" He asks.
"New school and I don't have Jeremy here either."
"You don't need Jeremy to have a good year son. What is really bothering you?"
"The fact I'm gay...and adopted at that plus no one on the team hardly talks to me as it is and when you throw in those factors its social suicide."
"Ryder now you are being dramatic. You know I will take care of anyone that has a problem with your being gay. You don't have to tell anyone you are adopted, Just because your mother didn't give birth to you doesn't mean we love you any differently. You are our son."
"Thanks dad. I'm just nervous about a new school. I have known all my other friends since I first started school." I tell him.
"How have you been sleeping? Any nightmares I know you had one the other night, no sense in denying it. Do you think we need to set up a meeting with a therapist?"
"They aren't as intense as they were when we first moved here, and no I don't want to just yet. Dad why am I having nightmares again? I don't remember much from when I was in the orphanage, or anything. I just remember getting off this plane and you were the first person I saw." I tell him avoiding his gaze, because I just lied to him and if he looks me in the eye he will know.
"I don't have the answers to that buddy. I wish I did, look you don't need to know anything that happened when you were in Russia, what matters is you're here safe, and loved. I will talk to your mother and see if you need to see a therapist or wait a little longer." He says.
"But you just asked me if I wanted to!" I say.
"I wanted your input and I have it now. Your mother and I will need to discuss this though." He says.
I don't say anything else because I am getting annoyed at this, and if I do say something I will get in trouble.
We don't say anything for the next few miles, "I think your mom wants to take you clothes shopping."
"I don't really need any." I tell dad.
"Just amuse her son. She wants to spend time with you, pretty soon you won't have the time for her."
"Kind of like how you and I never have time." I say.
I know that was a low blow, and he doesn't say anything. I know he wants to but he doesn't. I can't see his face behind his sunglasses and it drives me insane he can be so emotionally distant, and I hate it.
We pull into the driveway, and I go to get out, but he stops me. "Son I know this has been a hard move for you. I do apologize for that, but it was necessary. I promise we will have some bonding time soon."
I shake his hand, and he lets go quickly. "Okay." I tell him.
He gets out and walks to my side, "Come here."
I get out of the car and he pulls me into a hug. "I love you Ryder you're always my number one no matter what."
I have decided to release chapters 4 and 5 mainly because 4 was the shortest in the series, and also I am finally done with my semester! I hope you all have enjoyed these chapters. I love emailing and talking to everyone that has emailed thank you all so much!
KD