SandScript 2020

FICTION
stumbling around their room. Justin
couldn’t stand up straight, and he collapsed
into bed. He let out a soft cry like a wounded
animal.
The next morning when Steve saw
him, he wanted to say something, but he
didn’t know how. He wanted to tell Toby.
Toby would know how to fix this, but Justin
looked fine. Steve kept his secret, but it kept
happening. Eventually, Steve stayed up
every night waiting for Justin to shuffle in,
collapse on the bed and cry out quietly in
pain.
Steve was angry at Justin, or maybe
just at himself. He couldn’t tell. But when
Justin would sneak in at night, Steve
wanted to scream at him to stop, but he was
too afraid. He said nothing.
*
In high school, Steve joined the track
team. He loved the way running made him
feel. When he really pushed himself and all
he could hear was his heartbeat. He stopped
thinking about Mom coming home high
late at night, Toby failing to find a job or
finding Justin sobbing in the bathroom, the
homework he didn’t finish or the money
he didn’t have. The thudding in his chest
drowned out all the other noise and he felt
weightless. He could outrun anything. When
Steve laced his tennis shoes, he was free.
The summer before junior year,
Steve was out running every morning at
4:30 when all the dingy houses were still
sleeping. This was the perfect time to break
in the new pair of red tennis shoes Toby
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