Stephen

Once when Stephen was 13 he was sitting at the side of a village hall towards the end of a school disco. After wearing a thick black shirt all evening, the heat generated by the summer air and dancing mixed with the pubescent turmoil in his armpits left him very sweaty. As the final slow dance song started up, Sarah Scott casually invited a dance and it was Stephen who she asked first. Sarah Scott was number one in the league table of common thoughts in Stephan’s mind. As he watched her reach for books in library class or sit crossed legs in English, the chemicals which he had not yet learned how to live with tore through his body crashing into his chest, spilling into his stomach and simmering in his pants. The first time she tried to talk to him, the chemicals paralysed his body in fear and he couldn't force out a word but by the time Sarah asked Stephen to dance they had built up a genial dialogue. The chemicals had done their damage in a different way this time though. The sweat could not be revealed to her and the offer was turned down. Instead she danced with Aaron May. Aaron was a fat boy who grew out of his fat but kept the anger. He carried the demeanour of a bully but lacked the strength and or cutting wit to pull it off so instead just made his own life joyless and violent place. They went out all through school and the hope of her was lost forever.