Thanks so much to my beta Shela! you are so nice!~ <3333

Hope you guys like it~ :D

MY TOWN

I was sixteen years old at the time. I thought of myself as a young adult man, but actually I was still naive, because I was still a boy.

I was born in a small town located in the valley. After I finished my second year of high school, I became the best prospective student in two classes, maybe because of my high GPA and impressive talent in painting. That was a great honor for me, but I didn’t choose any of them. I knew how to be cool and not get myself into unnecessary trouble. I admired my parents they were artists and members of the Town Management Committee. I wanted to apply to Pasadena, although it seemed like an unreal dream for me.

At the end of the first month of my junior year, came a transferred student in our class. He had fresh injuries on his face, dyed his hair, wore earrings, lip ring, had tattoos on his arms, used black nail polish, he wore skinny jeans, and his wide belt covered with shiny rivets was hanging on his hip bone. But I had to admit that he was indeed a handsome boy. Girls would get excited, and several notes flew above my head. Such handsome boy was he. He was so attractive to girls. Although he seemed a bit short and skinny, it didn’t matter. He had the typical expression of a rebel and a perverse person.

He differed from all the other guys I knew. My friends and I were the same kind of person; we shared positive attitudes and hobbies. Girls were getting tired of us, and so was I. For some time, I couldn’t move my eyes away from him and I couldn’t even blink. He noticed me after looking around the class unconsciously, with my impolite gazed. But to my surprise, he responded with a small wink, and the lip ring on his fabulous lip shined under the pure sunshine. In the 16 years of my life, I thought that was the best expression I’ve ever seen.

We shared all the mandatory courses. He stuck to just sitting behind me after he chose that seat from the first day. It didn’t matter way, because I don’t have a girlfriend.

“Hey” he said in his low voice, but still sound excited. “My name is Chester, what about you, dude?”

“Mike, Mike Shinoda” I answered, appearing casual.

“Shi---, hum, whatever, Mikey” he held out his hand to me, “You can call me Chaz. I like that name.”

“Hello, Chaz” I smiled. And we became friends.

I’ve never thought it was so easy. One minute ago, I was wondering how to hook-up with him.

During lunch time, he began to tease me, calling me a good boy. I had no strong reaction about it, he asked me why so. I told him that only the childish ones likes to tease and shout everything out loud.

That became another thing for him to make fun of. But this time, he chose to bite off a large piece of bread, lowering his head and smiling. Today I can still remember when he blushed at that moment, but I didn’t know why.

You can tell how special Chester was to me from how quickly I became crazy about him. Two weeks, after we became friends, I realized that I almost took all the possible opportunities to describe his lip and imagined how soft his lips would be. I swallowed my saliva countless times and I felt the pressure on my palate. I was as impulsive as those street boys who refused to go to school.

One day, as usual, we didn’t go home after school; instead, we went to his part-time work place. He lived alone, and I haven’t heard anything about his parents. He lived on the backstreet of the restaurant where he worked at. He would skateboard to wherever he wanted to go. He used to teach me how to ride a skateboard, but it was too hard for me; so when he walked with me, he had to ride the skateboard slowly, with one foot on the skateboard and the other one over the ground. We always do the same things after he finished his work. I often wait until he completed his job and then had some fun in his apartment. I would finish my homework, together with Chester’s on the table at Burger King. Although I didn’t felt it was good to do so, but when Chester looked at me with those expectant eyes, you know, I couldn’t say no to anything he asked for.

Yes, that day, for the first time, I’ve kissed him. He invited me to his place as usual, and we were so excited about opening the new CDs we brought, and just after staring at his excited face and shiny sweat on his forehead, I kissed him, and my head was completely empty.

His respond was beyond my expectations; he didn’t interrupt the kiss, on the contrary, he brought us even closer, he wrapped hands around my neck, and then we threw all the things off the bed, down to the floor and we lie on his worn-out but soft bed.

That day was the first time I had sex. He showed me how to touch him, how to get inside him, how to hold his ecstatic and shaking body. That day was also the first time I spend the night out. My father didn’t mention anything about it, but I knew I shouldn’t. But when Chester hold my wrist and kiss my chest, I forgot about all the words my father said.

The only word to describe our future was crazy. We looked for fun everywhere; we danced in the bar, we went to the nude beach in Big Bear Lake, we made love on the rock in the middle of the lake, and we even borrowed Brad’s car to have some fun in L.A. on the beach. In the tide, we spread our semen almost everywhere, like satyriasis.

When I got home all exhausted, my father spent the whole night talking to me. I thought that what we’ve did was worth it. Chester was wonderful and our love was sweet. I couldn’t imagine anything more amazing than his body, his expressions, and his awesome voice. I had almost decided to change my dream; I didn’t want to go to Pasadena and be an artist. Maybe Chester and I could make a band. Chester can be the vocalist, and I can play the keyboard. Yes, I’ve learned how to play the piano for ten years.

“He is not a good friend for you; a good friend should get you on the right track. But he is so self-destruct.”

“But I feel good with him!”

“You are so naive.” my father said.

But I chose to ignore him, at my own mutinous age. The next day, when I saw Chester, I swore to him that, in this world, I love him the most. He got excited pulled me behind a tree and quickly kiss me. I felt so awesome at that moment. I thought I was flying; something as amazing as belonging to Chester, a sense of freedom and self unconsciousness, took hold of me.

What was out of my mind was that I never realized that kiss could be seen.

When we finish school that afternoon, I found a note, “faggy”, on my locker. Ashamed into anger, I rip it down and tore it up; meanwhile, I realized some unfriendly teasing around me.

And that was just the beginning. I used to believe that, at least Americans were proud of their openness. But actually, only when this shit happened to you, you can tell what a hard time you’re going to through. There will be endless pranks, endless teasing, and endless curses. Before this matter reach to my parent and our teachers, we’ve already received enough malice from our peers. For the first time, I came back home with a scar on my face. My father responded with a disappointed sigh. I’ve never seen him so disappointed, for I always been his pride and joy, and the pride of the whole family. But now, he sighed and said “Sooner or later, Chester’s gonna ruin your life, you are so childish, you know nothing about yourself…”

No, no, I knew what was good for me, I thought. I am a man now. I knew what was good for me and what I needed.

I didn’t let him finish; I ran out of the house. I needed to go to Chester’s apartment; that was the best place for me. At that time, I’ve already knew how to skateboard. I took my skateboard and rush out to the street. Riding on the skateboard, I went all the way down the ramp. The wind blew near my ears, my T-shirt was affixed to my skin; the evaporation of my sweat made me feel cool. The feeling was just like staying with Chester. We held each other tightly on that worn-out bed; we took those oaths about being together forever. Even against the whole town, we can still be together.

When I got to my destination, I’ve jumped off the skateboard and kicked the edge and grabbed it when it rebounded. I quickly ran into the alley where Chester’s apartment was located.

But soon, I discovered some chaos in the split of that small alley. I found some fucking provocative graffiti on the wall and the door was opened.

I rushed to the alley; a guy was beaten down on the ground, near my foot. I knew him, he’s a guy in our class, and Chester kicked his ass. Chester had some scratches on his face, and some mud on his clothes. To him, this was the second fight of the day.

He never gave anyone who teased us a shoot to do so, an eye for an eye that was his model. If someone dared to throw wastepaper at him, he would throw anything back and shouted “You are fucking shit!” This, of course, immediately attracted the escalation of conflicts, so Chester always had some scratches and injuries. Nothing scared him, and nothing bothered him. It was simply because he came here alone, without his parents. I’ve never asked him about his past and he never talked about that either. Even facing some guys with baseball bat, he never hesitates to act; he would always kick their asses.

Just like today, after suffering from some losses, some members of the school baseball team decided to get together and teach Chester a lesson. Today they planned on damaging Chester’s apartments but they didn’t expect that Chester came home a little early. They even brought some weapons with them. That guy who was lying near my foot painfully punched a roll and got up.

He was a little shock when he saw me, but he quickly picked up his baseball and shouted to me “You are a fucking kid. Stay and watch how we kick your bitch’s ass.”

I was in shock at first, but when I heard of what he was going to do I totally felt provoke. My sanity completely went away. It was obvious that the first fight from this morning didn’t prevent me from staying away from those issues. I grabbed his bat and kicked his stomach hard.

That was how I join that fight, and we fought until those corps come. Since we were outnumbered we suffered from the fight. Both of us had to go the hospital. Besides us, almost half of the baseball team was forced to stay there.

So our love was totally exposed to the whole town.

My mother couldn’t accept it; she even couldn’t stand me anymore. She was the member of the Town Management Committee. “I’ve never thought that my son was a fag, a freak.” She said crying. Chester let go of my arm and shouted at her. But my father, was a step ahead of him, slapped him and then dragged him away like those corps. Chester puffed and groaned with bleeding mouth. He stared at those people with anger. “I hate you. I hate all of you.” He shouted.

My parents sternly prohibited me to see Chester, not even talking to him. No, I thought, why should I listen to them? I had my own ideas. I went to school with scratches on my face. I dyed my hair, got some metal bracelets, and polished my finger nails blue or black, just like Chester. I did those things just to prove to those adults, that I no longer listen to them, that I’m going to do what I want to do. I still hang out with Chester, but once we’re seen, we will be separated immediately by my parents, by our teacher, or by our neighbors down the street.

Chester got fired by his boss at the restaurant. He didn’t have any other source of income. So I gave him some of my pocket money for Chester. On the other hand, I also found ways to steal a little more money. But my friend, Brad, a devoted Christian, believed that it won’t work out this way. He said “If you stop engaging in this scandal, you could still be the best kid in this town” and “It was obvious that the new guy was the only one to be blame,” he added. Seeing the crucifix around his neck shining in the sun, I punched him. Chester grabbed my neck and kissed my lips. From his eyes, I guess he had come up with a new decision, but he was not ready to share it with me. I felt anxious about not belonging to Chester, not feeling wild and free. No matter how hard we tried to go against the town, continue doing so exhausted us. So one clear morning, Chester told me his decision.

“Let’s go away, Mike，away from this damned town. Let’s go somewhere else, somewhere we belong.” he said.

I am shocked. I’ve never thought of running away with him. He looked into my eyes and spoke calmly and firmly. He was always the bravest guy I’ve ever known. It seemed that nothing scares him. I agreed with his decision and we decided to meet at Park Street at 2 am, and then go the train station.

After I returned back home, I took a nap and I didn’t wake up ‘til the afternoon. I dragged out my bag from under the bed, opened my closet and filled my large bag with some clothes, some CDs, and picture albums.

To be frank, I wanted to take my computer with me, but it was too large. After thinking for a while, I knocked down the computer and removed my hard disk and put it in my hag. It was so full that closing it was pretty hard. But I still wanted to take some more stuff with me, such as my middle and high school yearbooks, the model I’ve made, my favorite pillow, and two pair of shoes. My parents brought those shoes and they’re still totally new. I thought maybe I should replace the picture albums with my shoes, because I can buy picture albums anytime, but my parents may never buy me another pair of shoes.

When that thought came into to my mind, suddenly, I felt depressed.

If I run away from my home today, I couldn’t see my parents anymore. I threw my bag to the floor and lie on my bed; my room was a complete, terrible mess. Although my room was never clean before, it was full of my memories; it was full of my past life. I’ve lived in this room for sixteen years, and every corner was filled with my memories. I remembered when I was twelve years old, several friends and I played so recklessly that we almost burn down the house. If I go away, then I won’t own it anymore.

As for money, there was less than fifty dollars in my bag.

When I raised my head, I saw myself in the mirror, what a crazy and rebellious child, just like Chester. I saw my finger nails vanished into black; I saw the threatening monster on my bracelets. They looked so weird, so obtrusive, and my red hair looked like fire. What I saw shocked me.

I was lost in my own thoughts ‘til super time; I didn’t eat with my parents since the fall out with them. Maybe this was the last time I’ll see them, I thought. When I realized where I was, I was already in the dining room. After quickly glancing at me, my mother went back to the kitchen, sighed. But my father stood up from his chair and took another dinner place and put it in front of me. Meanwhile, my mother came back to serve the soup, when she saw what my father did, she responded with anger. “What are you doing? He didn’t regard us as his parents; why did you sever him food?”

My father replied without any expression. “Whatever he did, he is still my son.”

When I heard what my father said, I almost fell off my chair, and then tears filled up my eyes. My mother changed her attitude in a second; she gave me a big hug, like every hug I got in my childhood. Suddenly, I realized how childish my behavior was. My father was always right; I was naive. My mother’s soup made me feel that I am just a peevish child. But I shouldn’t be so, and I remembered my most proud self.

At eleven o’clock, I said good night to my parents and went back to my room, but I couldn’t sleep. I knew Chester must have already packed his bag. The clock on the wall was ticking; it never stops.

This small town was located in the valley, through Big Bear Lake and those mountains in Los Angeles. If you go down south, soon you’ll reach the California and Arizona Desert. The railroad in this small town leads to many small places, and big cities.

It was midnight; the town was so silent that I thought it was no longer the Twentieth Century. After going through Big Bear Lake, the wind from the mountains became gentle and peaceful. I found Chester; he was wearing a waist coat, standing below the street light. His blond hair, his thin neck, his wide belt covered with shiny rivets still hanging on his hip bone, nothing seemed change from the first time I saw him. When he noticed me, he ran up to me, excited.

But soon he stopped, because he noticed that I didn’t bring anything with me.

“Chester, I can’t.” I sighed.

At that time, I thought I did the most reasonable thing. Although at the end, it turned out to be the most stupid thing I’ve ever done.

When I got back to my room through the window, the feeling that he was the one for me came to my mind subconsciously. For the next seventy years, I’ve regretted my decision. In the end, he went away alone. No matter how many years have passed by, I could still remember his lonely vanishing back and his helpless cry in the silence, and blank streets.

Chester became my dream; every night I dreamt of his voice. In my dreams I saw the backpack which he used for our planned trip, hung loosely on his shoulders. Because he had few things and I didn’t bring anything, I thought that I couldn’t leave this town, because my parents, my friends, and my life were here. Everything important to me was here.

So I decided to stay here, in this town, but I forgot that my love wasn’t here.

That was the first time I saw his tears.

I knew he went away by train, the same way he got here.

FIN.