Affinity Ch. 1

The quiet ticking of a clock filled the still shed with the only other sound being that of the breathing of two teenage boys sitting in the silence. One boy, to whom the shed belonged, sat awaiting the anger to subside while the friend of said shed-owner, sat awaiting the first's signal.

The shed had become their sanctuary over the years; Liam's sanctuary really. He had dubbed the old, unused shad as his after his frequent fights with his father pushed him out the back door. The first time he had stormed out the door and into the shed with a flame adorned his head, he found it cool and quiet, ideal for calming him. Since then, he and Chris would always retreat to the shed instead of the house and now, once again, they were going through the process of dousing Liam's fire.

Liam looked up at Chris and nodded. The sandy-haired friend instantly turned on the stereo which quickly drowned out the clock, the breathing, and any curses that may have fallen from the flaming teen's lips. They allowed the music to permeate through them and cleanse them of any anger or anxiety remaining speechless as they enjoyed their refuge. This became a frequent occurrence for them as the tension rose between Liam and his father.

After several long moments, Liam rose and turned down the heavy music. He plopped back down on the old, broken couch and turned to Chris.

“So what are you doing for the project in English?”

And so it went, Liam never having to thank Chris for his understanding and Chris never needing it.

Time passed with idle conversation and silence, as was usual for the two.

That night Liam entered his house cautiously and made his way to his room, careful not to wake his father, and collapsed onto his bed with a sigh. Sleep crept slowly and pulled him into a troubled night.

******

“Things quiet down yet?” Chris asked the next morning as he drove.

“I didn't wait around to find out,” Liam replied casually.

A silence followed.

“Liam, you should at least-”

“Chris, I don't need this right now. You know this always happens.”

“Too often,” Chris murmured though Liam chose to ignore him.

“And things always work out,” Liam stated confidently yet with an edge of annoyance.

Liam turned on the radio and the rest of the ride was void of conversation.

Pulling into the school's parking lot, they started their day. Liam went through classes with a short attention span and a shorter temper where Chris went through classes alert and quiet. Things went as they always had in a tense yet familiar pattern.

“How's Sarah?” Liam asked at lunch.

“Fine. It's just a cold, nothing to worry about.”

Liam watched his friend for a moment. “Yet you are.”

Chris looked up at him with a guilty smile. “She's my little sister. I have to worry.”

“You worry too much.” Liam paused. “Not everything ends in disaster.”

Chris nodded slightly and went back to eating his sandwich.

Liam continued to study his friend, wondering how someone could worry as much as he did. The two of them had always been friends yet they were so different. Liam was a restrained fireball while Chris was a... shy pillow. Liam chuckled, causing Chris's eyes to lift to his with a questioning look.

“Nothing,” he said with another chuckle.

Chris just gave Liam an odd look and a shove as he stood up to leave for their next class. Liam caught up to him and returned the shove before jumping into a conversation.

“Hey, did I tell you that my dad's getting an old mustang to work on?” He left out the details knowing they'd mean nothing to Chris.

“Yeah. Several times.”

“Right, well, I actually get to help with this one. I finally convinced him.” Liam beamed triumphantly. His father repaired cars for any extra cash he could get and would only let Liam help on the more mundane cars. This time Liam convinced his father by reasoning that, with him being eighteen, he'd need the experience if he was ever to get a decent job in a car shop.

“Really? You're old man must be softening up. That or he doesn't care to lose money.” He grinned.

“Har. Har,” Liam said as he rolled his eyes. “But seriously, this is huge. You have no idea!”

Chris chuckled. “You're right, I don't.”

Liam shoved him again as they both laughed.

“You coming over tonight? I'm going to try and get the we're-fine-and-nothing-happened deal over with with my dad but you know how simple that is.”

“Yeah. Walking in, acknowledging each other without saying a word, and then leaving. Very therapeutic.”

“Hey, it works for us.” Liam shrugged.

Chis shook his head as they walked into class.

After the rest of their classes had finished, Chris dropped Liam off at his house. Liam went up to his room and threw his bag onto his bed. He turned on some music before slumping onto his bed and digging in his bag for his Calculus homework. Hours passed as he worked before he heard his father's truck pull up. He paused what he was doing as he listened for the sound of the front door closing. Hearing it, he put his papers away and sat for a few minutes before shutting his music off and heading downstairs.

Pausing outside the kitchen entryway, Liam readied himself. All he had to do was walk in, catch his dad's eyes, they'd both nod to one another, and he'd walk out to the shed. It was always the same but every time he found himself nervous.

With a deep breath he walked in and saw his scruffy-looking father across the room looking through the mail. He looked up and noticed Liam but instead of nodding to him he lifted a hand and beckoned him. Liam froze. This never happened, what now? Fighting down the panic he stepped forward cautiously.

“Yeah?” he asked with a curious tone, hiding his uncertainty.

His father held up a piece of paper and threw the rest of the mail onto the table. “Your report card.”

Liam remained silent, he knew he wasn't the greatest student and his father had been on him to raise his grades since entering high school. Now, as a Senior, he still fell short of excellence.

“Not too good, Liam. You're nearly failing three classes and you are failing English.”

“So? I can raise English to passing with our next project,” Liam half lied, he could only raise his grade if his project was nearly perfect. “Besides, I have a 'B' in Calculus.”

“That's not the point. You're going to be graduating this year and you can't afford to fail any more classes. You're on the edge, one more 'F' and you'll lose out,” his father's voice was deep and earnest.

This irritated Liam. What did it matter to him? It was his life and he was the only one that had a say in it.

“So what? I don't care if I graduate,” he said hotly.

His father's eyes sharpened and his voice rose. “You don't care? You don't care if you get a decent job? You don't care if you can feed, cloth, and house yourself? Well you better start caring, Liam. You're eighteen now and legally an adult, you need to be able to support yourself.”

“I don't need a high school diploma to get a “decent job”. I know what I want and it's not something taught at our school!”

“What? Working at a car shop? You could do so much more if you just worked harder!”

“I'm sorry I'm not a genius and that cars seem to be the only things that make sense to me, but I promise I'll work harder to try and give you a son who has a decent job; more than thought possible of a Gale!” Liam shouted knowing his father was thinking his only son was going to end up like him and what seemed to be the rest of their family.

“I'm not asking for perfection, Liam, and I'm not asking you to give up working with cars. I'm just saying to do the bast you can now so it won't prevent you from doing something in the future. Maybe you could even own your own business but to do that you need to be educating in business and-” he broke off with an frustrated sigh. “I don't know what to do. I'm just trying to make you see possibilities in your future, not make you change what you want.”

“Right because telling me that working at a car shop-what I want to do-isn't a decent job is not trying to make me change what I want,” Liam growled.

His father's jaw tightened as he reached his breaking point. Throwing the report card aside, he yelled, “Fine! Maybe I should just hold you from the mustang since I'm evidently trying to change what you want. Then you'll have some incentive to raise your grades! Don't push me, Liam!”

Liam could feel his blood rushing to his face in rage as his fists clenched. “Don't do me any favors, Greg!”

His father's eyes narrowed at the use of his first name. Seeing this, satisfied, Liam stormed out the back door slamming it behind him. The dry heat hit him but he barely noticed, he was already beyond heated.

Making it into the shed the cool shade did nothing to settle him. He wasn't even sure why he was so irate. This fight was tame compared to many of their others and his father was showing concern. But this was his life, not his father's. Was that why he was angry? His father trying to push him and guide him when he wanted none of it? Or was it that he was tired of arguing with him and just wanted to form a truce, wanted it to end and his father prevented that by starting a new one without ending the first? Were their fights going to run along on a continuous stream without peace?

He raged and cursed as he threw boxes and junk about. He was fed up with everything, he just wanted a time without the tension and without the anger. Then he realized that he was part of the cause of everything he was tired of and everything looked grayer then usual. For a moment he wondered if it was the grey of his eyes, his father's yes.

Letting out a frustrated growl, he threw another box and papers went flying. He caught a glimpse of one and saw that they were pictures. Pictures of him and his father, him and cars, even of him and his mother who he hadn't seen since he was real young. One picture grabbed his a attention and he stared at it for a long while before, hesitantly picking it up. It was candid family shot. He had his arms around his dad's neck hanging off of him and his mom hand her hands on his back. They were all grinning. He was maybe five or six in the picture, not too long before his mother left.

Liam continued to gaze at the photo as if trying to remember that happiness with his family. He couldn't. Crumpling the photo in his fist he held it tightly as he fell onto a hard wooden chair, his eyes shut trying to get his breathing back to normal.

“Liam?”

He looked up to see Chris coming in and shutting the door. Liam just shook his head fearful that if he opened his mouth something other than words would escape. He couldn't have that, he was stronger than that.

Chris stepped forward and gripped Liam's shoulder as if trying to offer some strength. “What is it?” he asked softly.

Liam looked down. “Another fight.”

Chris remained quiet as if waiting. Liam gave up and lifted the crumpled photo to his friend without looking at him. Chris took it and a moment later sat down on another chair. Looking up, Liam saw Chris gazing at the photo and wondered if he was thinking about his own childhood. Chris's parents divorced a while after Liam's mother had left and he barely saw his father. Since then Chris's mother had remarried and had another kid, Sarah, and their family seemed happy but Liam knew Chris felt somewhat guilty about his parent's divorce no matter how much he was contradicted on the matter.

“Hey,” Liam said with a small grin. “What do you say we drown out the world?”

Chris simply smiled.

Liam leaned over and turned on the old stereo, instantly filling the shed with the heavy music. Closing his eyes, Liam tried to will his world to drown. He was slowly able to only focus on the movement of the music.

Then he heard three things: Chris's gasp, the music skip a beat, and his name.

His eyes flew open and saw Chris about to grab him and the terror swelling in his hazel eyes. He also saw a flickering reflection in them. Spinning about, he saw flames. He knocked over his chair as he jumped up and backed away. He followed the line of leaping flames and saw that they would be enclosed in no time at all.

Liam turned to Chris, who had grabbed his arm and was trying to drag him away, and stumbled after him towards the door. The fire raged behind them and seemed to be chasing them in the small space. Liam could see the flames spread and grow and wondered how it could move so fast while they seemed stuck in slow motion.

There was a loud crack and Liam turned in time to see a portion of the roof cave in on Chris. Chris crumpled to the ground under the sudden weight and his grip on Liam slipped away. Flooded with horror, Liam let out a scream as he collapsed next to his friend trying desperately trying to shove the burning debris off him. His eyes landed on Chris's face to see blood.

He was gasping as tears of terror and grief streamed down his face. Panic took him as he staggered to his feet. The flames were now all around him, dancing and flickering. They whipped at his skin as he tried to process anything other than his bleeding friend.

The fire grew closer, surrounding him. He heard a shout from outside and with gulp of flames his breath was stolen from him.