It was such a beautiful day in the park. The sun was shining and the air was filled with the rich scent of fresh grass clippings. It would have been perfect if it hadn't been for the headaches....
You watch the informal football game with interest and envy. Any other Sunday you'd be out there yourself with Tom and Phil and the rest of the boys from school, knocking the ball between the gateposts made from untidy piles of coats and bags. Today, though, the doctor's told you that it would be a bad idea. The headache that you can feel developing somewhere behind your eyes is reluctantly convincing you that he might have been right. This is going to be a bad one but then they've all been bad haven't they? Migraines that appear out of nowhere and leave you staggering, unable even to walk in a straight line. The first one came almost a month ago, in the middle of a football match and you had let two of the oppositions attackers past you to score before you let your team see how unsteady you were on your feet.
The doctors cant seem to help. All they say is that it's probably just growing pains - lot's of fifteen year old boys find they have random aches and pains, apparently. Yeah, right. Lot's of fifteen year olds are incapacitated at random intervals - you see it all the time!
You shake the sarcastic thoughts from your head. They're not going to help and what else do you expect the doctors to say? They've tested your blood chemistry and sleeping patterns. They've even given you a brain scan to look for tumours. There's nothing there.
You feel the lightning beginning to strike the back of your eyeballs and turn to walk away from the game. Every ounce of concentration is focused on walking evenly and in a straight line so none of your friends see that you're in trouble. Besides, if you concentrate on walking you don't have to think about other things. You don't have to think about the thing you've not told the doctors yet. You don't have to admit to yourself how scared you are.
Because the headaches are getting worse, aren't they?
"Jay!" Someone is calling your name and with it comes an explosion of pain in your head. You stagger momentarily and then turn around to face whichever of your friends has followed you from the game.
For a moment you are confused, then just surprised as you remember who he is. The boy calling you is short and brown haired. The remnants of puppy-fat makes him look younger than he is but you can see the well defined adult features beneath. He's about your age and there's something ...familiar... about him.
The boy looks at you strangely and for a blissful few seconds the pain that's flashing across your vision subsides. As your thoughts clear so do your memories.
"Kevin? Kevin Wilson?"
"You remember." He sounds pleased and you nod cautiously.
You were at primary school with Kevin, a long time ago. Were you friends? It's difficult to say really. When you're a kid you have a couple of close friends and a couple of enemies who are almost as important to you. Everyone else is just there. They're kids you play games with when you need a lot of people, kids you work with in school because you need to work in groups. They're not really friends or enemies - just people you know. Kevin was a bit like that you recall. You try to remember if he had any close friends but none spring to mind. Kevin was always a bit quiet, even a bit strange, but you remember that he always seemed like an okay kind of person.
"It's been a long time, Kevin." You try to stay polite but the headache is beginning again, tying to pound your brain against the inside of your skull. You zip up your coat, trying to pretend your trembling is just a reaction to the cold.
He nods, watching you closely.
"We've not spoken since we went to different schools when I was ten." He agrees.
"Kevin, now really isn't a good time...." You know you're being rude but you've got to get away before you collapse!
Kevin frowns and again you find the pressure in your head is lifting. You just hope it's going to last this time and that you can get away from Kevin before the pain comes back.
"I know." The other boy hesitates and looks from side to side. You're out of sight of the football match now, on the other side of the public lavatory block that the council maintains so badly. You came round here intending to find somewhere away from everyone else so you could sit down and try and hold your skull together. Kevin must have followed you and for the first time you begin to wonder about his intentions as his expression becomes furtive. "Jay, I know you've been having headaches. I know that they're getting worse. I can help you. There's something I've got to tell you about me, about some of my friends, about you yourself."
He holds out a hand as if offering you something and you stare at it suspiciously. You've not seen this boy since you were both kids and now he says he knows something that you've not mentioned to another soul.
Your headache returns with a crash and this time it's Kevin who winces. Your eyes shift from his hand to his face and back again.
"Come with me, Jay, and I'll help. I'll show you things you wont believe."
Do you:
a) Go with Kevin?
b) Tell him to leave you alone?
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