The Kids Don’t

Stand a Chance

by Jake Shapiro

Will Michaels dropped off a package on one of the tip-top hills of San Francisco. After his tired ride, with the extremely heavy package he was furious. Will Michaels knocked on the giant metal door. A beautiful woman with short hair appeared from the other side. She was wearing skinny jeans, and a tank top with a green cardigan over it. John Michaels forgot his anger and frustration in that moment. He even forgot the reason he was at her door.

“Can I help you?” The green cardiganed woman asked in a monotone voice. John Michael could get no read on whether or not she was attracted to him.

“Oh, sorry!” Will Michaels frantically responded while unstrapping his bag and reaching for the package he had for her. “I have a package.” He wiped the sweat off his brow and focused back on the woman with the green cardigan. With zero reaction she took the package shut the giant metal door. Will Michaels turned around with a disappointed, but satisfied look on his face. He road his black bike with black handle bars down the steep hills until he got to his house. It was about thirty minutes away from her place. It was almost late now and he was hungry from the long ride. He went and grabbed food from the man with the green hair and pierced lip. After the amazing meal he called his buddy with the white pants to see if he wanted to go out. Will Michaels threw on his black and white sweatshirt, black pants, and white and black chucks. He was ready to go to his favorite club where the bartender always wore a purple fedora, with a grey jacket. He sweats a lot, but always looked stylish. A couple minutes into the club that he regularly went to, he spotted a girl with a pink tank top on that read “PFLAG.” It was the girl with the green cardigan. He had never seen her there before. Will Michaels walked up to her, and she instantly walked away after catching eyes with him. Will Michaels was stunned. He stopped in the middle of the dance floor, turned to the man with the purple fedora who was sweating a ton, and yelled for him to line four shots of Jack Daniels. Will Michaels stopped him and yelled, “No the white one.”

“You sure about that?” The purple fedorad bartender asked.

“Just do it!” Yelled Will Michaels, than seconds later added a please. After a couple of minutes of realizing that he was not in the partying mood. Will Michaels went and sat outside. His mind began to overflow with the daydream of him talking to the girl. “So, what was in that package?” Will Michaels asked.

“I thought that was illegal for messengers to ask.” Replied the woman with the green cardigan.

“Usually, but not when it starts up a conversation with a cute girl.” Will Michaels slyly added. He could see her cheeks turn a soft red.

“Is that right?” The green cardiganed woman had a sort of sexy smirk on her face that led to a very sexy voice that made Will Michaels smile with confidence.

“Yeah, the office actually has a rule book, and that is the first one.” After realizing that his last comment was heading toward the end of the conversation, he asked, “You want to grab some food? I know a guy with green hair who makes a mean…” The green cardiganed woman stopped before she even knew what food it was because she just wanted to spend time with Will Michaels. She found him to very interesting and sexy.

“Ay, I’m leaving.” Will Michaels friend yelled from across the street. The words woke him up like a painful headache. Just like that the beautiful daydream that made him eager for his mind to continue with its unexplainable imagination, ended. Will Michaels sat in silence for a few moments on the wet sidewalk that wasn’t colored. It was a beautiful and natural grey. He looked down to the grey of the sidewalk, and then to his black and white shoes. At that moment he felt a change within his body. Something powerful was throbbing at his heart. The feeling wasn’t leaving, but instead it ran up to his mind, and then like a switch of a light. He knew he could not live the way he was living anymore. Will Michaels fell to the ground before he could finish his thoughts. Will Michaels yelled with pain. He heard a woman with red shoes yelling into her phone for an ambulance. He also saw a man who he recognized with all black pants walk right by him without even a glance to him. With all the pain, Will Michaels was feeling he wouldn’t let it trap him, because the woman with the green cardigan couched down beside him. An ambulance arrived at that moment and he was lifted into it on a stretcher. With all the power that he could, he spoke to the woman with the green cardigan. The only problem was that he didn’t say what his imagination played. The pain overtook his precious thoughts, and all of his recent change was wiped from his memory like a wave washes away a boys hat after it has been blown away by the wind.

“That green doesn’t go well with your skin,” Will Michaels yelled. He woke up in an all white room. All it had were some gadgets to his right and a TV in the left corner. A woman walked in wearing a blue uniform. She had short hair and beautiful eyes. His vision was blurry because his eyes were trying to get used to the bright room, after being so used to the dark.

“How are you feeling?” The blue uniformed woman asked in what seemed to be a forced concerned voice. It wasn’t the same sound as when his mom would ask when he was sick. Or that one time when he came back from school with a black eye. He told her how he got into a fight with a boy at school who wore green jeans over a girl. Then all of a sudden all of his friends who wore green jeans started punching him as well. His friend with the beautiful turquoise sweatshirt tried to get all of the green jean-wearing boys off of him. One of them got pushed by the turquoise sweatshirt friend and…

“How are you feeling?” She asked again in an annoyed voice. Will Michaels could definitely tell she wasn’t truly concerned, but rather she didn’t want to be around him. His eyes adjusted to the light, and he figured out that the woman in the blue uniform was the woman with the green cardigan.

“What did you do to me? What happened?” Will Michaels replied in a serious tone. He tried not to sound angry but the blue of her uniform was frustrating Will Michaels.

“What did I do? I saved your life! I told the woman to call an ambulance then sat beside you while you were crying on the ground.” She was furious. She could no longer hold a reasonable patient doctor conversation.

“Was that the woman with the red shoes?” Asked Will Michaels.

“Woman with the red shoes? What are you talking about?” She was still irritated from the beginning of the conversation, or rather argument.

“The woman with the red shoes. The one who called the ambulance,” Will Michaels continued.

“That woman. Why do you know what shoes she was wearing? Why is that important at all!” The green cardiganed woman asked with a more wonder to her voice than anger now.

“It is who she is. It gives her a definition. How would you have described her? Will Michaels honestly wondered. He forgot about her clothes, and was interested.

“Define! Why do I have to define someone with the clothes they wear?” She asked.

“You just have to, it’s the way you look at people.” Will Michaels interrupted her.

“By me telling you what shoes she wore, what does that give you? Do her shoes tell you how she helped to save your life? Do her shoes tell you her childhood, and the house she lives in? The woman with the green cardigan and now blue uniform was loosing her temper.

With an unusually calm voice, Will Michaels responded, “I had never really thought of that.” She calmed down with the sweet words and the sweeter voice. Peter Gabriel wanted to spend more time with her, and decided lunch would be the best medium in between a serious dinner, and a friendly breakfast. Not to mention he needed a shower, and had to brush his teeth. The terrible taste of alcohol that he drank last night was taking over his taste buds. She agreed to lunch because of her interest in his mind and his thoughts. They met up at a family style restaurant. The walls were a light brown with white trim. The chairs were an odd green, which unsettled Will Michaels. The smell of the restaurant reminded both of them of an experience in their childhood. While she was caught in the replay of her experience, Will Michaels blurted out, “So, PFLAG. What is it?”

“What, Oh PFLAG. It’s parents and friends for lesbian and gays. I run a clinic on…”

“That’s weird. This place is pretty cool huh, other than the chairs. Will Michaels awkwardly asked.

“Are you kidding me!” Yelled the green cardiganed woman. “ You can’t just cut me off when I am talking about something you asked about. Why did you do that?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Will Michaels rushed the words out of his mouth to try to stop the obvious decline in conversation.

“Just answer the question, please.” She couldn’t look at him, because she feared his answer. She assumed what it was going to be and she looked down for something to brace herself with.

“Do you enjoy being a nurse?” Will Micheals timidly answered. The woman with the green cardigan stormed out without another word.

Wait!” Will Michaels ran out, and grabbed her around the arm in an attempt to stop her. She pulled away and screamed, “Don’t touch me you homophobe!” Those who were standing around turned their heads to see what was going on, as if the sentence was the sound of a gun. Three different people turned to look. Will Michaels specifically turned to the man with the green tie and told him to get out of his business. He also yelled to the man with the green tie to watch his back.

SLAP. “How dare you!” Tears flowed from her eyes and down her cheeks without a break. The tears melted Will Michaels heart as if he was the wicked witch of the west.

“Whatever the reason for your anger, don’t take it out on him. He didn’t do anything wrong to you, “ she continued.

“You are right. I’m sorry.” He turned to the man with the green tie and yelled, “I’m sorry.” The man with the green tie nodded his head in appreciation, and walked away. The two of them stood in silence for a while, and then the green cardiganed woman took Will Michaels hand and they walked down the street. They ended up at her house. Will Michaels walked into the house with the huge metal doors. The walls to the entry way were a sweet crème with white ceilings. There were red roses everywhere. As they walked into her room, the walls switched to a soft brownish-grey. The ceilings stayed a pain, but rich white. There were tons of roses in the bedroom as well. The lights went on. There were white Christmas lights hung in no specific pattern. On her walls were silhouetted birds flying throughout the room. One of the birds rested above her closet door, and another was above the end of her bed where they were both lying. She rolled down the sheets, and then excused herself to the bathroom. Will Michaels was confused at all the events that just occurred, but he was sure that the bird that was perched above her bed was the only one painted a beautiful green. It was the first time in a while that green had sparked his interest. The green was flowing through his mind and heart, just as the feelings of anger and separation had once consumed his life for so many years. With a blink, the green cardigan woman was standing in front of him, but this time she wasn’t wearing a cardigan. There was only one color on her body now. It went from her sweet and perfect toes, all the way through her skinny legs. And from her legs to her tight stomach and then to her breasts. From her breasts to her neck. And from her neck to her chin which was like rolling over a perfectly round hill. The passed over her nose, which smelled the simple roses in her room. It ended at her forehead, which Will Micheals kissed. They slid under the covers and disappeared from all the colors of the world into darkness. When they came out from the covers, Will Michaels stood up and put on his pants. The green cardiganed woman smiled. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but than topped and smiled again. Only the second smile appeared to feel innocent. Will Michaels putting on his pants reminded her of…SLAM. A car door closed outside. It awakened Will Michaels from his magical feelings. Will Michaels looked to his right and saw a closet full of another mans clothes. He walked over to it, and saw all the colors of the rainbow on the button up shirts. They ranged from brown to blue, from green to yellow.

“I knew you were on there side!” Yelled Will Michaels.

“Whose side?” The green cardiganed woman panicked and was confused as to what he was talking about.

“Them!” as Will Michaels pointed to the shirts.

“How is that a side? Those are shirts.” She still confused, but she tried to seem stable, as she knew the problems the next couple minutes could have in store.

“How can you see shirts, when all of these colors are in your face?” Will Michaels temper was rising along with the veins in his neck and forehead. He was becoming furious. SLAM. The front door closed. Will Michaels turned his head towards the door of the bedroom, pulled out his loaded all black gun and pointed it to the direction he was looking.

“STOP!” Yelled the green cardiganed woman. At that moment in ran a tall man wearing brown pants.

“What?” Asked the brown panted man in a panicked voice. He assumed she was being hurt, not that a man was going to point a gun at him when he ran in. He froze, and then ran away headed towards his office where he hides his gun. Will Michaels chased the man into the crème colored room, and then to the next room with the burgundy walls. Will Michaels noticed that this was the only room so far that had matching walls and ceilings. He looked back to the man. They raised their guns at the same time and pointed them at each other. Will Michaels never knew that blood was as red as the roses he saw throughout the house.