Malory and Kyle must participate in the annual April Fest production as the leading co-stars. If they can cooperate by the end of the production, their long records of uncivilized behaviour towards each other will be forgotten. 
Malory and Kyle attempt to cooperate, grabbing the opportunity to make a positive impact on their own future. In the process, they become entangled in the chaos of the other’s personal life. Malory learns of Kyle’s disturbing reality, and Kyle learns of Malory’s scarring past. Can these two brilliant but messy teens learn to rely on each other in the face of their silent battles?

Between The Lines

 I’d given Kyle just enough time to let his fire die down a bit before approaching him. I finally find him in the boys’ bathroom, washing the juice off his skin and completely wetting his hair. 


 Kyle always gets so overworked when it comes to Malory Lloyd... and after four –almost five- years of being this guy’s friend, I’m used to dealing with it. 


 “Dude, breathe,” I say to him. “She’s just a girl.” 


 “Just a girl,” Kyle repeats, his voice dripping with spite. “Sure. You might as well go sit with her and Olivia every day, then. You’re always on her side.” 


 I am not. I simply don’t have a liking for the conflict between two parties where there doesn’t need to be. Malory is an awesome person... minus having strong, impulsive urges to get violent when threatened specifically when it involves Kyle, and spit some seriously wounding insults most of the time. She’s still an all-rounded, intelligent, charismatic person. It doesn’t take much to get along with her. Not for most people anyway. 


 Knowing that, it was always hard for me to understand just why she and Kyle never get along. It was hard to deduce why Kyle was always so closed off from people –even those who take the time to prove they’re being genuine towards him. Like me. You’d think that after four, almost five, years of knowing him I’d be able to pick his brain apart. I can’t. I don’t actually know that much about him. I observe and mentally record what I can. The rest of Kyle Davidson is a mystery to me. He doesn’t let me in. 


 Nevertheless, I know for sure that one of the main reasons I stuck around is because Kyle is like a predator waiting to pounce. One step over the line and he would go insane. I’ve only seen him get pushed over the edge a couple times, but I know it happens. I know there’s more to it than him just lashing out for no reason. 


 “I’m saying it because I know your temper,” I tell him. “I’ve only seen you aggressive a handful of times but I know that it could get out of hand. She’s just a girl. Don’t sacrifice all that’s good in your life to destroy her.” 


 He turns the tap off to look at me with that stupid blank expression he always reserves just for me when I try to warn him –when I try to protect him. “You know, Ron,” he says, his tone mechanical, “it’s like you know me but you don’t know me. You say you’re looking out for me but you deliberately word things in a way that feels like an attack towards me.” 


 “What are you even talking about?” I ask, puzzled. 


 Then Kyle closes off again. He sighs, closing his eyes to stifle annoyance. 


 “You’re either on my side or not. Stop walking the line.” 


 With that, he pushes past me, bumping into my shoulder on purpose and walking out of the bathroom. I watch him leave. 


 He’s so lost; my best friend. Never mind the fact that he’s incredibly smart and has a funny bone every once in a blue moon, or that he’s extremely determined and ambitious. He’s still lost. In so many ways. 


 It amazes me that even after all these years I still can’t pinpoint a defined method of dealing with him; of getting him to crack; of prying him open. 


 I don’t really care anymore, though. As much as I worry about him, I’ve spent far too much time by his side to mope over defeat when I don’t get the answers I want. Time reveals all. Doesn’t it? 


 I’m patient though, and I stick with my hopes that being that patient isn’t a crime –that someday I’ll get the answers I want –that someday Kyle would learn that life isn’t all about work or keeping secrets. Sometimes we need each other to help us realise how to fix ourselves. 


Another Encounter [3]