Chapter Text
It’s 11:24 p.m. and Ralph Allebach is supposed to be meeting Simon Camborne at the park down the street. He hesitates jumping down from his window on the second floor, like always. One slip of the foot and he would plummet face first to his death. Like always, again, he shakes off his nerves and leaps down, landing flat footed and grasping his knees. Like. Always.
He begins his nightly walk to the park, usually arriving approximately one minute early and Simon arriving approximately five minutes early. Unlike Simon, Ralph had to wait out his father in order to sneak out. He had to wait until his father had been asleep for at least ten minutes. Simon didn’t have to be cautious at all. His parents couldn’t care less about his whereabouts. Well, his mother does. Or did. Until she ran away when he was eleven and hasn’t come back since. She hasn’t even talked to him. Ralph wishes his mother was at least alive. His mom had died of cancer when he was just five years old.
Ralph spots Simon sitting on top of the playground equipment, as usual. He waves and Ralph runs over towards him and climbs up.
“Ralph, hey! Guess what?”
“Hey, Si.”
“Guess!”
“Oh- uhm- I don’t know… you…gained three pounds?”
Simon giggles and gently shoves Ralph’s arm.
“Yeah, right.”
Ralph and Simon had a strange way of joking with each other. They used cruel humor, but only about certain topics. For example, Ralph can make a joke about Simon’s eating disorder, but making a joke about his absent mother or his abusive father would be crossing the line. Meanwhile Simon can joke about Ralph’s lack of friends or his depression, but he would never dare to say something about his dead mother. That’s just how they communicate.
“Okay I guess I’ll just tell you,”
Ralph settles down beside Simon, his legs dangling off the edge of the tower they’re on.
“My friend Maurice- you know, the real smart one from choir? Anyway, his birthday party is this weekend, and I actually got invited!”
“That’s great Simon,”
“I know! This’ll be the first birthday I’ve been to forever.”
Ralph becomes skeptical of this. Simon’s “friends” have always treated him like absolute shit. They’ve left him out of almost everything. Mostly because of the “leader” of the friend group. Jacob, was it? Or maybe Joseph? Ralph can’t seem to keep up with the heathens Simon goes to school with.
“Are you sure about going? I mean, won’t they just treat you horribly like always?”
“Yeah…I suppose you’re right.”
Ralph notices how Simon shuts down, like he always does when Ralph destroys his hopes.
“Hey- I’m sorry, Si. You should actually go. I’m sure they’ll be kind to you, especially now that they’re getting older.”
Simon looks at Ralph with glossy, big brown eyes. Oh god, please don’t cry.
“You think so?”
“Yes, I’m serious.”
Simon wipes his eyes and thinks for a second, before excitedly grabbing Ralph’s arm.
“Ralph! I have the best idea, you should come with me!”
Ralph is looking at Simon as if he just spoke another language. Is he out of his mind?
“I don’t think that's a good idea-”
“Yes, it would be perfect! You can come with me in case I get left out again!”
“You can’t just invite me to someone’s birthday party without asking them first!”
“No, trust me Ralph, they’ll like you.”
Ralph wonders what he means by that. Does he mean that I’m capable of acting like they do? No, surely not. He knows me better than that.
Right?
“Ralph please. Don’t make me go alone.”
Ralph looks over at Simon, who is already looking at him. He makes the mistake of looking directly into Simon’s “begging eyes” (that's what Ralph likes to call them) in which he can never seem to say no to.
“Fine.”
“Yay!”
Simon pulls Ralph into a hug. Ralph doesn’t hug him back.
I guess going to this party won’t be the worst thing in the world. I mean, he definitely won’t be making any friends there. But at least he can be there to stick up for Simon when needed. He’s not afraid to face those bullies that he calls friends.
Ralph manages to get Simon off of him.
“Anyway, how was your last day of school?”
“It was okay…we didn’t really do any work in class. The teachers just told us to reread our bibles”
Simon went to an all-boy catholic school. Although the school was strict on its catholicism, the kids that attend the school somehow managed to still be hell-bent. Simon was always telling Ralph stories about boys sneaking girls into bathrooms or how some kids would show up to class high. Ralph would dread going to such a place, but at the same time, longed deeply for it.
Ralph has been homeschooled his whole life. He was raised strictly Catholic, just like Simon. He was told to never date a girl until he’s twenty-one. He didn’t really have to worry about that anyways. He pretty much had an arranged marriage planned out for him. Sarah Fletcher: fifteen (same age as Ralph), brunette, five-foot two, and beautifully tanned skin. His and her fathers made a deal to have them marry when they are both twenty-one. Ralph disliked the thought of marrying Sarah.
It’s not like he disliked Sarah, it’s just that he feels like his whole future is already planned out. He wishes he could have some freedom. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t get married at all. The thought of even holding hands with a girl made Ralph nauseous. Let alone having kids with one. That’s one thing Ralph’s father would never have to worry about. Premarital sex. Absolutely disgusting. He doesn’t know how the kids Simon goes to school with can manage to do that more than once. Doing it one time would probably send Ralph into a coma.
Sarah really was a nice girl, though. Just not particularly Ralph’s “type”. Come to think of it, Ralph didn’t really even have a type. He would always just imagine himself with a random girl, but it never seemed to fit right. It always felt like something was off. Then he would imagine him and Sarah side by side, convincing himself that it looked right. Deep down, he knew it didn’t.
“I’m kind of sad, though. No school just means I’ll have to be around my father even more.”
“It’ll be alright. You still have church on Sunday’s.”
“Yeah, and I have choir meets on Wednesday’s.”
“See, you’ll be fine. I know it.”
Simon and Ralph exchange hopeful smiles.
“Lucky for you. It’ll be like nothing changed.”
“At least you have friends…or…people to talk to. You’re all I got.”
“Is that so bad?”
Ralph playfully shoves Simon and they laugh together.
“You know what I mean,”
“Maybe you’ll make friends on Saturday.”
“Yeah, right. I just know I won’t be able to stand those guys.”
After a moment of comfortable silence, Simon checks his wrist watch.
“I guess I should head back,”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Bye, Ralph. See you tomorrow.”
“Not if I see you first,”
Simon giggles, turns around and runs off into the night. Leaving Ralph by himself, surrounded by the darkness and cold air. He begins his walk back home.