The Field Read online

  © 2018

  ISBN: 9781543938883

  Contents

  Acknowledgements

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  CHAPTER SIXTY

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

  CHAPTER SEVENTY

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT

  The Field: A Tale of Two Friendships

  Resources

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  This novel would not be where it is today without the selfless assistance of my editor, Kathleen Brebes. Kathleen read many, many drafts of this novel and provided excellent feedback and comments that made it a stronger and more compelling story each time. I am forever in her debt for helping me make this novel what it is today.

  Thank you, Kathleen, for everything.

  To my cover artist, Steven Novak, who took my ramblings and out of control ideas and created a cover that still amazes and excites me each time I see it. Thank you, Steven, for your help and excellent work! Check out his work at: http://www.novakillustration.com/

  And to everyone else who encouraged me to write, to publish, and to keep moving forward with my writing, thank you. This novel has been a fifteen year journey from a short story to a YA action-adventure novel that I am proud to present to readers!

  Welcome to The Field.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Fourteen-year-old Daniel Robinson sprinted down the final 100 meters of Meadowbrook Middle School’s rubberized track. Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel could see that his best friend, Kyle Hanson, was on his tail, inching his way closer and closer to passing him. Not gonna happen, Daniel thought, his eyes fixated on the finish line.

  Sweat covered Daniel’s face and stung his eyes but he didn’t dare take the time to wipe it off. He had to beat his best time for the mile from earlier this year, 4:25. He and Kyle were both planning to join the cross-country and track teams at the high school, and Daniel wanted to maintain his 8th grade mile record.

  With his last remaining burst of energy, Daniel raced ahead of Kyle and buzzed past their tanned P.E. teacher with her stopwatch poised and ready.

  As he wound down his sprint into a jog, Daniel could feel the heat from the track through his shoes. He focused on his breathing to make sure he didn’t pass out.

  Kyle slowed down to a jog next to him. “We’re gonna kick butt at cross-country next year!” Kyle said as he caught his breath. Daniel nodded in agreement then spat onto the soccer field in the center of the track.

  The two boys made their way around the track once more to cool down as the other students in the class worked their way through the mile. “Did you hear my time?” Daniel asked.

  “4:20,” Kyle replied.

  “Yes! That’s five seconds better than last time. What about you?”

  “4:28,” Kyle said. “I guess running the river trail with you paid off.” The two continued their jog around the track as the other students finished the mile.

  The bell rang. Adrenaline shot through Daniel once again. It was the part of P.E. he dreaded the most: the locker room. Sure, he could get undressed in one of the bathroom stalls, but it was the whole shower thing that really made him uncomfortable.

  Like all the other boys in his grade, Daniel was entering the strange and awkward world of puberty. Every day brought new discoveries each time he looked in the mirror or got undressed. Thanks to the onslaught of adolescence, his once smooth forehead showed the incoming signs of acne.

  Daniel, Kyle, and the other boys filtered their way into the cavernous locker room illuminated by flickering fluorescents. The space echoed with the sounds of talking, opening and closing lockers, and flushing toilets. For some reason the concrete floor was always wet, which made the metal benches between the rows of lockers a much-needed luxury when it came to putting on your shoes and socks.

  “Man, it’s hot out there,” Kyle said as he pulled off his shirt and slung it over his shoulder. Unlike Daniel, Kyle wasn’t the least bit shy about what was happening to his body. In fact, Kyle’s mom had to stop him from showing off his newly grown-in pubic hair to friends and family.

  Despite Kyle’s launch into manhood, he was still a few inches shorter than Daniel. As Kyle moved closer to his locker, he went from being just shirtless to only wearing his shoes and socks. While he opened his locker, Kyle popped off his shoes, peeled off his socks, grabbed his towel and Old Spice body wash, and headed for the showers.

  Daniel remained seated on the metal bench by their lockers, his heart beating as fast as when he’d finished the mile. He wasn’t as brave or as bold as Kyle when it came to this sort of thing. All year long he had waited until the very last minute to shower and change so he wouldn’t have to be naked in front of everyone. He planned to just wear a bathing suit, but another kid tried that and eventually transferred out of their P.E. class. Daniel did not want that type of ridicule and humiliation aimed at him.

  As the other boys left the shower, changed, and exited the locker room, Daniel opened his locker. On the inside of his locker door was a small mirror that he used to style his hair each day. He preferred this tiny one to the larger one in the bathroom at home. Here he didn’t have to see what was happening to his body each day.

  Earlier that morning, after Daniel had gotten out of the shower, he’d stood naked in front of the bathroom mi
rror. As he stared at his tall, thin frame with his short brown hair and green eyes, he raised his arms over his head. Hair had started to grow under his arms. His legs had already begun their journey to hairiness months before.

  Then there was what his mom called the “swimsuit area.” That had started to grow and change as well and was probably the most awkward thing of all. Even though no one could see it, Daniel could feel the changes and reactions going on down there; especially when he looked at girls now. Or at any other time, for that matter.

  Daniel heard Kyle making his way back to his locker. Kyle talked and talked and talked with the other boys from the minute he got into the shower until he got back to his locker next to Daniel’s. He kept everyone laughing as a way to make them more comfortable with an already awkward situation. Despite this, Daniel could never join in.

  Kyle sat down next to Daniel, his towel around his waist. He had shaggy blonde skater hair that fell into his eyes. Kyle leaned close to Daniel’s ear. “There’s two guys left in there,” he said. “See ya outside.” Kyle stood, tossed his body wash to Daniel, and started to get dressed.

  Daniel grabbed his towel and began walking toward the showers. By the time he got there it was empty. He made his way to his favorite spot – in the corner – and showered.

  With only a few minutes left before the bell rang, Daniel slipped on his Batman boxers with the yellow and black Batman symbol printed on them and pulled on his favorite Batman shirt and his tan cargo shorts. He ran gel through his damp hair, spiked it the way he liked it best, closed his locker, slung his black Jansport backpack over his right shoulder, and exited the locker room with a sigh of relief.

  Another day in the middle school locker room down, Daniel thought as he pushed open the door, four years in the high school locker room to go. Daniel quickly blocked this thought from his mind.

  Kyle was waiting outside by the drinking fountains. Daniel got to him just as the bell rang for lunch. “Come on,” Kyle said. “I have something to show you.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Don’t ya see it?” Kyle asked Daniel while they sat outside during lunch. They always sat at the same picnic table near the basketball courts of Meadowbrook Middle School.

  Kyle had tilted his head back and was pointing at his upper lip.

  “I see that you should blow your nose,” replied Daniel.

  “Not that. My moustache. See?”

  “Maybe a little one,” said Daniel. “Maybe you should stop pointing your face toward me like that. It looks kinda weird.”

  “Whatever.” Kyle went back to eating his peanut butter sandwich. As he took a huge bite, he continued to talk. “So, I think we should explore the back part of the field this summer.”

  “Great. My dad said we could use more of that wood he had left over from the deck. We can use it to build stuff out there.” Daniel’s dad, who was currently serving in Iraq, had built a deck on the back of their house before being deployed for a second time. Daniel talked to him once a month on Skype and almost daily via e-mail but couldn’t wait for him to get back home.

  “Uh-oh,” Kyle blurted out suddenly. Pieces of chewed sandwich shot from his mouth and onto the table.

  “What?”

  “It’s happening again.”

  “What?”

  “The same thing that must happen to you like ten times a day.”

  “Oh, that. Well, we don’t have to get up for a while.”

  “How do I get rid of it?”

  “How should I know? I’m just getting used to it happening all the time, too.”

  Daniel knew this was the one thing that Kyle wasn’t comfortable with. It was even worse when it happened to him in the locker room while he was naked. But getting an erection in the middle of the schoolyard and having people see it was a fate worse than death.

  Daniel thought back to a similar moment in his English class a couple weeks before. It was not a pleasant memory.

  Daniel had been right in the middle of presenting a report about one of Shakespeare’s sonnets, when he suddenly felt something happen in his swimsuit area. He kept speaking, but could feel his face heat up, and he was sure his cheeks were quickly turning red. What made matters worse was the fact that Megan Walters, the cute blonde girl he had had a crush on since sixth grade, was sitting in the desk directly in front of him. Daniel kept his eyes on his paper and desperately tried not to make eye contact with her.

  He could hear giggles from other students in the room, and thought he heard at least one kid whisper, “Daniel’s got a boner.” The attention caused Daniel to talk faster and faster. His face felt hot. Sweat trickled from under his arms and down his sides.

  He finished his presentation and rushed to his seat...all the way in the back of the room! That meant he had to charge down an aisle with the judgmental eyes of students on both sides.

  He made it just as his problem started to go away. Gee, thanks puberty, he thought to himself. You’re the best!

  Puberty. What a strange word, Daniel thought as he brought his mind out of the past and back to the present. I guess there had to be a strange sounding word for the strange stuff that happened to your body during this time, he thought.

  “Dude, is it gone?” Kyle asked, a look of desperation on his face.

  “Shouldn’t you be able to figure it out for yourself? I’m not gonna check.”

  Kyle looked under the table, breathed a sigh of relief. “Good to go. Let’s join a basketball game.”

  Daniel and Kyle gathered their things and walked over to the court. The heat was intense on the blacktop and everyone on or near it was feeling the effects. “Man, it’s gonna smell in class today,” said Daniel. Deodorant wasn’t a major priority for most of the kids in his grade, and after lunch inside a stuffy classroom was a clear indication of that fact. Some days it smelled worse than the locker room!

  The bell rang. Games stopped. Students slowly headed back to their final classes for the day.

  “We never have enough time,” Kyle said as he caught a basketball from a passing student.

  “Maybe once you get your little problem under control, we will.” Daniel laughed. Kyle joined in.

  “See you after class,” said Kyle.

  “See ya,” Daniel said as the two parted ways and went to their respective classrooms.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Daniel was the first one out to the bike racks on the final day of school. Not only was it his last day of the school year, it was also his last day at Meadowbrook. In the fall, he, Kyle, and many others would be freshman at Enterprise High School, trading in the school colors red and white for black and gold.

  As he unlocked his bike, the Redding, California heat turned on the sweat faucet all over his body. He could feel sweat run down his forehead and down his sides from under his arms. His backpack had already begun to help create a huge sweat stain on the back of his shirt. Redding wasn’t known for much, but it was definitely known for its oppressive 110-degree and above summers.

  Kyle appeared with two water bottles in tow and handed one off to Daniel. “Thought we could use these on our way home,” he said.

  “I say we use half now,” Daniel said. He opened the water bottle and poured about half over his head. The cool water cascaded down his face and onto his shirt. Kyle did the same.

  “It’s days like this I wish I didn’t have so much hair,” Kyle said as he shook his wet head like a dog. The excess water sprayed onto Daniel and other students nearby.

  Daniel took a quick swig of what remained in his water bottle, placed it in the bottle holder on his bike, put his helmet on, then got ready to ride.

  Daniel weaved around the neighboring streets with Kyle riding next to him. The shade from the overhanging trees was much appreciated since he could already feel the water evaporating quickly.

  The tranquil quiet of the residen
tial area soon disappeared as he and Kyle arrived at the traffic-heavy intersection of Churn Creek Road and Hartnell Avenue. Daniel breathed in a lungful of car exhaust, and the reflection of heat off the asphalt and sidewalk made the already stiflingly hot day seem even hotter.

  “What time are you guys leaving for graduation?” Kyle said over the traffic as they waited for the crosswalk light to change.

  “Six, I think,” Daniel said. He was looking forward to tonight, although the thought of wearing black pants, a long-sleeve white dress shirt, a tie, and a red cap and gown didn’t sound very appealing given the current temperature.

  The light changed and Daniel and Kyle walked their bikes across the intersection packed with other students. The combination of heat and the large mob of people made him long for his ultimate summer destination: the field behind his neighborhood, Clover Creek.

  Daniel’s love of exploration and adventure led he and Kyle to discover the field beyond their homes one summer afternoon when they were ten, and they never stopped venturing out further each year into the unexplored territory. On the surface, the field was just a large undeveloped area behind the neighborhood where Daniel and Kyle lived. But to Daniel, it was a non-stop, adventure-filled playground full of endless adventures.

  Littered with hills, weeds, gnarled old trees, a creek bed that snaked through its middle that was empty most of the year, and more than a handful of bike jumps, Daniel could spend all day with Kyle on what felt like their own private island. There were plenty of places to explore, and Daniel always had a plan when it came to he and Kyle’s field-based expeditions.

  The field was surrounded by neighborhoods on all sides; some old, some new, and some still under construction. The area of the field farthest back from Daniel’s backyard and situated near a bank of trees was on the travel agenda this summer, and his excitement was mounting.

  Daniel stopped on the sidewalk and pulled the water bottle from its holder on his bike frame, took a short sip, then poured the rest through his helmet onto his head. The water was already warm from the heat but it still felt better on his skin than the sun.

  Kyle pulled up next to him. Daniel noticed that his best friend’s face was slick with sweat and beet red. Pieces of wet hair were glued to Kyle’s forehead and the sides of his face. Kyle poured the remainder of his water on his face.