Experience

Chapter 1

"Hey there," said the voice to the youngster.

Andrew stopped his weeping and looked up, focusing his tear-stained eyes on the source of the voice. It was another boy around his age, a young teenager with tousled short brown hair, dark eyes of worry and an uncertain smile plastered on the face. The youngster wore a black jacket, a yellow scarf and some weathered jeans ending in a pair of brown boots.

"Hey, you okay?" asked the teen. "What's wrong?"

The moon shone brightly in the dark, illuminating the swing that Andrew sat to calm down. The chains on the swing gave a screech as he quickly wiped his tears and stood up preparing to leave, not wanting any more trouble tonight.

"No please," said the boy with the dark eyes. He reached out with both his hands with open palms and slowly took a step back. "Don't leave. I was just passing by and heard a voice, I just want to help." The eyes looked straight into Andrews with something behind them. They reminded him of his mother, the same look whenever he came home with bruises and not wanting to talk about it.

As Andrew stood up, he noticed that he was a head taller than the stranger and hesitated. It's not like the shorter boy was intimidating.

"It's embarrassing crying in public," acknowledged the stranger. "I know this, but sometimes, you just have to let it out." He carefully took a step closer towards Andrew without breaking eye contact, trying to gauge how the teary-eyed felt. Since the previous crying boy continued to stand still, the stranger took another careful step.

"I'm Stuart," the teen presented himself. "The closest I've ever gotten with a girl is a peck on the cheek and the girl slapped me afterwards. This happened maybe two months ago. I like strawberries, I hate broccoli. Like to watch basketball, ain't that big of a fan of football - either of them. I like games but who really doesn't in this day and age."

Andrew listened to the boys rambling and decided that the person wasn't scary and gave Stuart a nod. The other boy then pointed at the swing next to the taller boy and raised his left eyebrow in a questioning look. Andrew nodded once more and Stuart sat down next to him.

The playground filled with silence as the two boys didn't speak up. The brown-haired Stuart kicked on the sand, drawing simple figures with his legs and occasionally glancing towards Andrew. The other boy didn't even twitch a muscle, staring at the sand in front of his feet, unblinking.

This continued on for almost a full minute before the smaller boy broke the stillness.

"Tough day?"

It was spoken so casually, something a friend would ask after a long day. Not filled with worry, more like wanting to state a fact but that would be too rude so instead layered as a question.

"You can say that again," answered Andrew still looking down at the sand.

"I see, hang in there," said Stuart. After a moment of thought, he added "It's like, you know, when you get stuck in a game and you get frustrated. Put the game down for a minute and next time you try it will get better."

"Thanks but I don't think that works for me," responded the taller boy.

"Had a hard time at work?" continued the brown-haired teen, leaning closer.

"No, it was...something else."

"Oh, okay."

Silence filled the air again, and Andrew took a look at Stuart. The boy was once again drawing figures with his legs, not prodding for more details. Just trying to be close by, in case Andrew wanted some comfort or wanted to talk about it.