#43 – Light

Wylie

Joe and his friend, Alan, picked me up right when Joe said they would, at six thirty, sharp. I'd been outside waiting since before six; I'd been worried about them coming early, not seeing me, and leaving me behind. I had worried about Joe changing his mind; he had no problem talking to me when nobody was around, but what if he got home and realized who he'd been offering to hang out with? What if he didn't want to be seen kicking around with a nerdy doormat? It's not like I would even blame him. He saved my ass, and I wouldn't forget that. I'd always be grateful, and I'd always be on the lookout for ways to pay him back. Did I really expect him to be friends with me on top of what he'd already done?

So it wasn't with any great expectations that I took my shower and put on my best clean outfit – a Padres t-shirt that was only a year old and some cargo shorts (the one pair I never did yard work in.) I went into my parent's bathroom, looked in the medicine cabinet, and saw that my dad had left behind a half a bottle of some Aqua Velva. I put on just a little, just enough to cover up the smell of rum and cigarette smoke that was sure to cling to me from being in my house. My mom took her eyes off of the TV long enough to watch me walk back through her bedroom, and for a second I thought she was going to ask me where I was going…but then her gaze turned back to Jerry Springer.

I was pleased and surprised when a nice, late-model SUV stopped in front of my house at six thirty. Joe leaned out of the passenger window, grinning just like he had after the fight. "What's up, my dude?" he called. "Let's go!" I tried not to grin like an idiot as I climbed into the back seat, but I couldn't help it.

Alan, a junior I recognized from school (he was one of the football players who always took the mic and promised the student body a win during pep rallies) turned around in his seat to shake my hand. "Wylie, what's up? I'm Alan." He cocked his head at Joe and grinned. "Joe told me the two of you did a little maintenance work on a couple of bullies this afternoon. Said you saved his ass from the second one after he laid out the first one. Nice work, bro."

"That was all Joe," I said modestly. "He was in beast mode."

Joe laughed and slugged me in the arm. "You should give yourself more credit. I think I heard a rib crack when you hit Rhett."

I laughed along with him. "All right, so maybe I helped a little." Both of them laughed, and Alan pulled away from the house and into the street.

We pulled into the little drive-in on Main Street when we got into town, and Alan told the girl to bring three shakes. "Chocolate for us – what do you like?" he turned to ask me.

Vanilla was my favorite, but I didn't want to do anything to make them think I was different. "I'll take chocolate, too." The girl skated off to get them, and I fingered the money in my pocket nervously. If it was less than three bucks, I was okay, but if it was more I was going to have to start paying with quarters, and I was embarrassed about that. "What do I owe you?"

I was saved from humiliation once again by Joe, who waved nonchalantly at my comment. "It's my turn to buy the shakes, don't even worry about it."

"Thanks, Joe. I've got them next time," I promised. I had two yards to mow over the weekend, so I knew I'd be able to make good on that promise, too. The girl got back with the shakes just then, and Joe paid her and passed them out. Alan seemed to chug half of his in one go, then shot a glance at Joe. I didn't know what it meant, but I didn't miss it. Joe cleared his throat and spoke.

"I guess I'd better go ahead and fill you in now," he said to me, making eye contact. "The Sharing is different things to different people. There are hang-arounds, people who just come to hang out. And that's cool – we welcome everybody. Since tonight is your first night, that's pretty much what you'll be doing – hanging out and meeting everybody. The senior members especially. They always like to get a feel for the new guys and girls, just to see where they're at, why they're there, etcetera."

Alan cut in. "Me and Joe, we're full members. Not everybody gets offered full membership. Only people totally committed to The Sharing get the offer. People who care, people who want to make a change…those are the people who are asked to be a full member."

I had a sinking feeling about where this conversation was going. As the kid picked last for dodgeball just about every time it was played in gym, I was used to the feeling. "And you guys don't think I'm full member material," I said, trying not to sound glum about it.

They surprised me by laughing. "That's not what we're saying at all," Joe said. "If it were up to me, I'd offer to make you a full member tonight." I felt a sense of relief when I sensed he was telling the truth. "We're just letting you know why we'll be gone for the second half of the meeting – because we'll be in the full member's meeting, which is separate."

"Have fun tonight," Alan urged. "Talk to people. Ask them about The Sharing. Just like we want to get to know you, you should get to know us. If you start to see what we have and you want to be a part of it – a full member – let people there know that. We want the people who want to be a part of it, you know?"

"Got it," I said. Truthfully, I didn't even know what the hell The Sharing was. All I knew was that I definitely wanted to be a part of it. It sounded to me like once I became a full member, there would be people like Joe and Alan getting my back all the time. Just as much, I wanted to get their backs, too. I wanted to be a part of something. I wanted to be in the crew.

We got to the Rec Center a little before seven, and I felt the anxiety I always feel at seeing a group of my peers. About twenty kids my age were milling around the front doors, talking, horseplaying, laughing. I recognized a couple of them as people who used to pick on me, but I did note that it had been a while since any of the ones present had tried to torture me. "You ready?" Joe asked, getting out of the truck without waiting for an answer. I guess he saw that I was nervous, because he threw a friendly arm around my shoulders as we walked up to join the group. "You can chill here. You can be yourself. This is a place where you can be happy, Wylie."

It seemed like he was right. A lot of kids who wouldn't have looked at me at school came up to say hi to me, and they all seemed happy to see me. They all seemed to be glad I was there. Slowly, I began to relax a little. The adults in the crowd seemed to fit in seamlessly with the kids; there wasn't that usual separation that happens between the two age groups. They mingled.

The front doors opened, and Principal Chapman came out. He was smiling, something I suspected was against the rules for him to do at school, based on how rarely I saw it. "Good evening, everybody! Wow, great turnout! Give yourselves a hand!" I almost laughed, but everyone in the crowd started clapping, so I did, too. I felt self-conscious about clapping for something as stupid as showing up for a community program meeting, but I clapped anyway. "We've got a great meeting tonight, so let's get to it!" He turned and went back into the building, and everybody followed him in.

Once everyone was in the lobby, he pointed to the left. "We have pool tables, snacks, and refreshments that way. Everyone new to The Sharing, please go that way to sign in. Jimmy, Jason, Elena? If you would, please go with them and make them welcome!" He started walking down the hallway to the right and said, "Full members, this way, please! We have a lot to discuss tonight, so we're going to get right to it! If there's time, we'll hang out with the prospects after the meeting."

Joe elbowed me in the ribs. "Guess that's me, Wylie. Don't worry about a thing, you're going to have a great time. Tell 'em I sent you." He started walking after Chapman, but turned around to walk backward for a minute so he could throw me a wink and a confident smile. "Have fun, dude!"

I followed a group of about eight other kids down the left hallway and into a large, brightly-lit room. Two pool tables dominated the middle of it, but there were tables along the far wall set up with snacks and drinks – enough for a hundred people. I noticed that the soft drinks were all cans on ice, and that struck me as a little unusual. I knew that people usually put out paper cups and the economy-sized three liter bottles for groups; I'd been to more than one community meeting, not to mention open houses at school. The rows of chips and dip were all name brand. It made me wonder what The Sharing did for money – apparently, they weren't sparing any expense when it came to the new members.

A young woman walked up to me with a clipboard and a blank nametag. She was very pretty, and she gave me a stunning smile which I nervously returned. "I'm Elena," she said. "I'm so glad you came! What's your name?"

"Wylie," I replied. She quickly scribbled it on both her clipboard and the nametag, the latter of which she handed to me. I put it on the front of my shirt.

"Well, Wylie, welcome," she beamed. "I'm going to get everybody signed in. Get yourself something to eat and drink – when I'm done, do you think you and I could talk a little? Just so I can get to know you a little better?"

The heartbreaking smile didn't leave me much choice. "Sure, Elena. Thanks," I tried a smile in return, and hers widened, if that were even possible.

This kid I had second period US History with, Jeff, moseyed over to me as I cracked open a can of Coke. "Wylie, what's up?" he asked, acting like he really didn't want to talk to me but that he didn't have much choice. It sounds weird, but it was actually comforting. It seemed like the first genuine thing that had happened since I'd gotten there; it made it feel like less of a good dream and more like real life. He pointed his can of root beer around the room. "What do you make of all this?" he asked, and I was further relieved to hear that he sounded anxious.

I shrugged. "I don't know, I just got here. It's…friendly," I said. I didn't really know how else to describe it. "Weird" didn't seem like a very polite way to put it, even if it was accurate.

"Yeah. Friendly," he agreed. "You know Sarah? The girl that sits in front of me in History?"

"Everybody knows Sarah," I replied. Sarah was a cheerleader and changed upper-class boyfriends like socks.

"Right," he said. "That's why I'm here. She never talked to me at school, not even once. Then, yesterday, out of nowhere she turns around and asks to borrow a pencil. Then she asks me if I'd be interested in going with her to a meeting." He shrugged helplessly, as if to say, "What am I going to say to her? No?"

"I came with Joe and Alan," I said, just for something to say.

"Alan? From the football team?" I nodded. Jeff's mouth narrowed. "Wylie, I'm not the coolest cat in school. Forgive me, but neither are you. So why are the preps all of a sudden so high up on The Sharing…and why are they all of a sudden inviting people like us?"

Before I got a chance to answer, Elena walked up. She smiled at Jeff. "Hi, Jeff," she said, reading his nametag. "Hope you don't mind – I was going to borrow Wylie for a minute." Jeff muttered something about that being cool and walked off toward the other kids milling around the pool tables. Elena smiled and pointed to the comfy armchairs in the corner. "Shall we?"

We sat and talked for a while, mostly about me. Elena had a ton of questions about me. My home life, school life, who I hung out with, what I did with my time. I was expecting the inevitable "what are your goals in life" questions, but they never came. She didn't seem interested in my future, just the present. Honestly, it was kind of nice.

"What about you?" I asked when it seemed like she was running out of questions. "What do you do?"

She smiled easily. "I'm a junior at UCLA, but I'm taking a year off. I work part time as an office assistant here to pay the rent, but most of my time goes into this right here – The Sharing."

"It does seem pretty great," I admitted, looking around the room where everyone was talking, laughing, getting along. "It must be great for you to take a year off of school for it."

"Life's too short. Doing what I can in The Sharing makes me happy. This is only a small part of what we do. We help out the community, but that doesn't make us special. Cleaning up graffiti, picking trash up off of the highway…these things are important, but they're superficial. We're committed to getting in deep and really changing the world, one person at a time."

"Saving troubled teens like me?" I asked, deadpan. She stared at me for a second, then grinned as she realized I was joking with her. She slapped my knee playfully, and my heart jumped. That was the minute when I realized I was falling in love with the older brunette with the heart-shaped face beside me.

"You're not troubled," she said, getting serious. "I've seen troubled, and you're not it. You're a smart, capable young man who just needs a direction. Once you find your purpose, you're seriously going to fly, Wylie. I sense that about you."

I didn't really know what to say to that; I wasn't used to open compliments. "I hope so," I said, just to say something.

"So. Helping the community? Finding your way? Getting the confidence that's already inside of you to come out? All of these things sound good to you?" she asked, still serious. "We think of The Sharing as a guiding light. Something to look forward to and walk toward when things get tough. Do you think what we have here at The Sharing might be for you?"

I thought about Joe and Alan. How they seemed to cut through life like a hot knife through butter. I thought about how no beautiful girl had ever looked at me twice before Elena. I thought about how great it would be to get out of my house more often, to do positive things with people who made me feel good instead of putting me down. I thought about having a place to go when my mom was crying and screaming at the moon and my dad was calling her a dumb drunk bitch.

I forced myself to look into her eyes when I said, "Yes, Elena, I do. I want what you have. I want to be a part of The Sharing."

To Be Continued

Author's Note: This little mini-arc has one more part to go…whether or not I finish it before moving on or just save it for later depends on you. 111 people read part one in the 24 hours it's been up, and Sweetbriar was the only one to let me know what she thought. If nobody lets me know if they like it or not, I'm just going to table it, move on, and probably just finish it at some other time.