warning signs (not a love song)
title: warning signs
pairing: not a love song
age: 12
rating: PG-13
summary: He should have seen the warning signs. People change, and they didn't always do so for the better.
Hans is Norway, Søren is Denmark.
Hans’s father had warned him about dangerous jerks. He saw them everywhere, like a contagious disease of society - those who drank more alcohol than water, asked for numbers before names, used fists before tongues. They were the ones Hans avoided.
Never did he think; however, that Søren would ever turn out to be one of them.
It had been a gentle transition. One day they were playing with worms in the gravel pit, the next week Søren would tease the girl who couldn’t kick the soccer ball in a straight line. The week after that Hans ate lunch by himself in a washroom stall, and before long he found his friend holding hands with a girl instead of him. He stopped calling. They never made eye contact at school.
Now he sat on the porch of his old house. The rocking chair was gone. The laughter replaced by silence. Even Mother, who always said she loved him, had disappeared a year ago without a word. As he slurped up a can of soda, all he could wonder was how in the world it turned out like this?
“I told you to stop, bastard!” It was the lady. The one father told him to call ‘mom,’ though he never did.
“Shut up you stupid woman! It was nothing okay? Stop trying to get caught up in my business! I told you that before, didn’t I?” Father was quick to respond.
“How can you say that?! The house is being repossessed because of you! If you didn’t waste all our money on gambling, this would never have happened!”
“Shut up! Don’t tell me what to do!”
The loud screech of a chair being pushed and heaving thumps quickly brought Hans’s hands to his ears. He didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t need to hear this. Every word reminded him of Søren.
The words may have been different, but the tone was the same. The yelling was the same. The echoing grunt from the punch was the same.
“You-you bastard!” She raised the volume, but still sounded so helpless. “You started this all! How dare you hit me!”
“Get out of here you bitch!”
Another cry, another punch.
Hans closed his eyes. He didn’t know where his new home would be, but he hoped it would be somewhere nice. The moving trucks were coming soon. That crooked-faced man would come and take all their valuables and it would be the last time he could call this house his home. Just like how last Christmas was the last time he ever called Søren his favourite person.
“I hate you!”
“Get out! You better never come around here again, you hear?!”
Wishing it could have been different was meaningless. People were people. They changed their minds. They changed their ways. Nothing could have prevented their fallout.
They were different people. No matter how close two friends could get, it was impossible for two to become one.
“My God!” The lady was crying. High heeled boots clicking, she scrambled down the stairs in her spring dress. Even though Hans was sitting there, she didn’t even notice him. Probably couldn’t notice him through her tears.
“Hey kiddo. Pack your bags, okay?” Father sounded so different then he did a minute ago. He was always kind to Hans, even after Mother left without a word. Perhaps he missed Mother like how Hans missed Søren.
He got up. His legs were numb.
“Hey,” Father looked at him; Hans pushed his bangs to the side and stared back. “How come I don’t see Søren around anymore?”
Hans wanted to laugh, to cry, to yell - to tell him how terrible of a father he was because he never noticed anything about his own son. Instead, he just stared at him blankly.
“He’s a jerk.”
Father laughed. “They all turn out that way, don’t they?”
The breeze picked up. The warm draft foretold summer heat.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I did warn you about dangerous jerks. They always turn out to be someone you never expected.”
The wind stopped blowing.
“Yeah.” It was always the ones you loved the most.
---
Errr, it's been a while hasn't it. xD I kind of banned myself from internet during exams, but I'm not dead yet! =D
Thanks to idraax and raecat for beta-ing!
pairing: not a love song
age: 12
rating: PG-13
summary: He should have seen the warning signs. People change, and they didn't always do so for the better.
Hans is Norway, Søren is Denmark.
Hans’s father had warned him about dangerous jerks. He saw them everywhere, like a contagious disease of society - those who drank more alcohol than water, asked for numbers before names, used fists before tongues. They were the ones Hans avoided.
Never did he think; however, that Søren would ever turn out to be one of them.
It had been a gentle transition. One day they were playing with worms in the gravel pit, the next week Søren would tease the girl who couldn’t kick the soccer ball in a straight line. The week after that Hans ate lunch by himself in a washroom stall, and before long he found his friend holding hands with a girl instead of him. He stopped calling. They never made eye contact at school.
Now he sat on the porch of his old house. The rocking chair was gone. The laughter replaced by silence. Even Mother, who always said she loved him, had disappeared a year ago without a word. As he slurped up a can of soda, all he could wonder was how in the world it turned out like this?
“I told you to stop, bastard!” It was the lady. The one father told him to call ‘mom,’ though he never did.
“Shut up you stupid woman! It was nothing okay? Stop trying to get caught up in my business! I told you that before, didn’t I?” Father was quick to respond.
“How can you say that?! The house is being repossessed because of you! If you didn’t waste all our money on gambling, this would never have happened!”
“Shut up! Don’t tell me what to do!”
The loud screech of a chair being pushed and heaving thumps quickly brought Hans’s hands to his ears. He didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t need to hear this. Every word reminded him of Søren.
The words may have been different, but the tone was the same. The yelling was the same. The echoing grunt from the punch was the same.
“You-you bastard!” She raised the volume, but still sounded so helpless. “You started this all! How dare you hit me!”
“Get out of here you bitch!”
Another cry, another punch.
Hans closed his eyes. He didn’t know where his new home would be, but he hoped it would be somewhere nice. The moving trucks were coming soon. That crooked-faced man would come and take all their valuables and it would be the last time he could call this house his home. Just like how last Christmas was the last time he ever called Søren his favourite person.
“I hate you!”
“Get out! You better never come around here again, you hear?!”
Wishing it could have been different was meaningless. People were people. They changed their minds. They changed their ways. Nothing could have prevented their fallout.
They were different people. No matter how close two friends could get, it was impossible for two to become one.
“My God!” The lady was crying. High heeled boots clicking, she scrambled down the stairs in her spring dress. Even though Hans was sitting there, she didn’t even notice him. Probably couldn’t notice him through her tears.
“Hey kiddo. Pack your bags, okay?” Father sounded so different then he did a minute ago. He was always kind to Hans, even after Mother left without a word. Perhaps he missed Mother like how Hans missed Søren.
He got up. His legs were numb.
“Hey,” Father looked at him; Hans pushed his bangs to the side and stared back. “How come I don’t see Søren around anymore?”
Hans wanted to laugh, to cry, to yell - to tell him how terrible of a father he was because he never noticed anything about his own son. Instead, he just stared at him blankly.
“He’s a jerk.”
Father laughed. “They all turn out that way, don’t they?”
The breeze picked up. The warm draft foretold summer heat.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I did warn you about dangerous jerks. They always turn out to be someone you never expected.”
The wind stopped blowing.
“Yeah.” It was always the ones you loved the most.
---
Errr, it's been a while hasn't it. xD I kind of banned myself from internet during exams, but I'm not dead yet! =D
Thanks to idraax and raecat for beta-ing!