My Side of the Fence

By Naomi R Medlin

Hearts break, but true love never dies.

Jack has a choice: follow the only path he has ever known, the one created by his abusive and alcoholic father before him, or step off it and make something of his life. In a seemingly other world, and with her parents leading lives too busy to care for anyone but themselves, Lucy grows up with a feeling of neglect. She sets off, leaving behind the small town she knew, and the young man she secretly loved, to follow her dream of being a published author. A chance encounter brings Jack and Lucy together again. Will the chance to live happily ever after keep them together, or tear them apart for good?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Black Diamond Books (Big Butt Productions)
• Release date: Sep 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386092919

Book preview

DEDICATION

This eBook is for my late stepfather John Grech. My guiding light.

1

LUCY

Jack and I grew up as neighbors, yet we never had much to do with each other. We went to the same school, sure, but we had different friends and different pursuits. He was the football quarterback with all the sexy young girls hanging off him, whereas I was the bookworm, and the library, and a pen and paper, were my friends. Jack and I may not have had much to do with each other, but I knew him well, for he was my muse for as long as I have been writing.

Words have always fascinated and intrigued me. My parents worked long hours and attended social events, often leaving me at home by myself which gave me plenty of time to write. By the time I was fourteen I had written twenty books, though none of them were published.  Not that I hadn’t tried. I sent them off to publishers, and they sent back rejection letter after rejection letter along with the unpublished manuscripts. Then one afternoon, a return envelope came to my house without the manuscript I had sent into a magazine competition for unpublished authors.

I grabbed it, raced to my room, and threw my bag in the corner. My heart thumping with excitement, I sat at my desk and opened the envelope to reveal a single sheet of paper. I pulled it out and read the words on the page, not really taking them in and then my eyes landed on the words ‘Your manuscript has been accepted’. I let out an excited squeal and began dancing around the room.

My euphoric feeling was soon replaced with an all too familiar feeling that something was wrong. I looked out the window and saw Jack standing at his bedroom window with his back to me. His father had arrived home drunk again and was arguing with him.

I reached for my bedroom window and opened it enough to hear what was going on but not enough to draw attention to myself. Or so I hoped. Jack had caught me from the corner of his eye. His father reached out and grabbed him by the shirt, tearing it and almost ripping it off his body. He took a swing at Jack. And another. Jack tried to fight back. His mother ran into the room, screaming for her husband to leave their son alone. Jack’s father slapped his wife across the face, knocking her to the floor. Tears fell from her eyes and she turned to Jack. Run, Jack. Now.

Jack hesitated. He didn’t want to leave his mother. But she insisted. He climbed out the window as his father continued to hurl abuse at the woman he said he loved. Soon he would pass out and she would forgive him for what he had said and done to her. It was an all too familiar cycle.

Jack came to my window. He was shaking. He gripped the sill hard and his knuckles turned white. I placed a hand on his and looked into his sad eyes. I nodded as if to say it was okay for him to come in. He pulled himself in through the open window and fell to the floor.

I slid down the wall to meet him and he fell into my arms. He was still shaking and I could feel the anger and pain in his heart. I reached up and pulled a blanket from my bed, and wrapped it around us. It kept us warm and safe, and it hid us from the outside world.

The next morning, Jack was gone from my room. I saw him at school that day and it was like nothing had happened. He was still the most popular boy in school and I was still a nobody. But something did happen. A connection was made. Over time, that connection grew into a mutual respect and understanding. There may even, at times, have been the hint of a friendship.

Four years later, I was on my way to college to study creative writing. Jack had secured a football scholarship and was going to major in sports management. I didn’t really need to go, though. To college, I mean. My writing career had gone through the roof since I entered the magazine competition. I had written and published several novels that had made me a millionaire. I owned a small cabin on the lake and had just bought an apartment in the city. I didn’t really talk about my success, and I couldn’t help but wonder if those around me would care if I did.

2

JACK

Though we didn’t say much in the time we lived next door to each other, I felt like Lucy was my best friend. She knew more about me and cared more for me than anyone else I knew. Even my own mother didn't seem to care as much. Admittedly, she had her hands full with my father. But Lucy looked after me. Like that time my father hit me and I went to her house. She would hold me, care for me, and just be there when I needed a friend. My gut would often tighten into a knot with the guilt of knowing I didn’t really do anything in return. Why then would she be so caring towards me?

Graduation