The Citizen Soldier (DNF)

4) A New Chapter

*Clay POV* 6:30 AM

The sun. That was my first thought. The sun. I felt the sun. Why do I feel the sun?

Then my memory returned. George.

I bolted upright, annoyed and thankful for the sun. It was streaming through the closed curtains at such an angle to only hit my face, but I knew that if they didn't shine through then I likely would not have even gotten up today, and it was of course a work day. I drew the mahogany curtains and walked out onto the little balcony, leaning on the wooden railing.

I could have died yesterday, I thought, And yet I didn't because he was there to save me. I pondered whether I would ever see him again. George. My only friend. Or at least, he was an ally. He didn't know much about me, just basic stuff, public stuff. I went back inside to change my clothes into something more appropriate for work than pajamas, humming that little song I made up as I did so.

I even started to come up with more lyrics for it.

I used to hear a simple song,
That is, until you came along
Now in its place is something new,
I hear it when I look at you

I hummed to myself for a while before coming up with something else.

With simple songs I wanted more,
Perfection is so quick to bore

I certainly wanted something perfect, like a perfect life. But it really would be boring to have a cookie-cutter life, one that served no purpose and had no meaning. I shrugged on my shirt and got to work with putting on my belt.

You are more beautiful by far,
Our flaws are who we truly are

I was yet to meet a perfect person, except for maybe George. He was beautiful in his own ways, both physically and emotionally he seemed perfect. But he too had flaws, like his arm. That meant his head had flaws too. And that was okay with me, I had them bigger.

I hummed louder and with more clarity in this verse, adding more "instruments" to it. Then I broke out into clear, confident, and pretty loud singing that came from the soul.

"I used to hear a simple song,
That is until you came along
You took my broken melody,
And now I hear symphony."

I vocalized along with imaginary instruments as I danced around my little room, spinning and leaping about. I eventually came back down to earth, huffing and puffing as I wasn't quite used to so much activity in such a short amount of time yet.

"And now I hear a symphony."

I sang the last bit slowly, softly, and respectfully. I would have been embarrassed about doing that if I didn't know that the neighbors did this type of thing all the time, and that I cheered them on myself. I smiled to myself. That was one of the first times I've ever really been confident with letting out my real singing voice, I was always told that I wasn't masculine enough for it, or that I was a boy and I shouldn't be singing, or that singing and theatre was "gay".

I was taught by society to be ashamed of myself for the way that my voice sounded when I sang out loud, and from the heart. I closed my eyes and basked in the temporary silence, going outside onto the balcony. I realized that I'd left the sliding glass door open. I closed it behind me as I stood at the balcony, looking down at the ground three stories below. I whistled at that. I'd never really thought about how big up this spot was.

Then I heard clapping and cheering from next door as a teen with blonde hair like mine that for some reason insisted on calling me Dre stood on the balcony in a white tee with red sleeves and jeans. His hair looked all messed up with sleep, but it was clear that he'd already gotten ready for school. It seemed, from what I've seen of him, to be his style. He cheered.

"Whoo! Let it out big man Dre! You can do it I believe in you! Yeah!" His voice was loud and sounded like it would be incredibly annoying to live around, but it sounded almost cute at the same time because it was obvious that he was caught in the middle of puberty, or at least it would have made sense. If he wasn't he didn't know what to say to the kid.

"Thank you Tommy! Your singing voice is nicer though!"

"Bullshit!"

I laughed my signature laugh, one that my neighbors called the tea kettle laugh, though I didn't see the resemblance.

His father, Phil I think it was? He came out onto the balcony and wondered why his son was yelling so loudly ant this ungodly hour. A conversation seemed to pass between the two of them before Tommy was led inside by his father, flashing me a quick thumbs up before disappearing into the house.

I chuckled a little before going back inside to grab my coat and put on my boots. I knew that it was a good thirty minute walk at least if I was walking in a rush, but I was out the door almost over an hour earlier than usual and it was a forty-five minute casual walk anyway, so he stopped to visit the shell station again. The cashier there was nice enough.

When I walked inside, I saw the man's head pop up from what he was doing because of the jingle of the bell. The name-tag always read Skeppy, and yet I never knew why, it was a so-called dare from his friends but I had a sneaking suspicion that it was his preferred name, so I used it instead of what he said I could call him, which was Zak.

"Oh! Hi there, Clay! I was getting worried that you'd died or something." He chuckled to himself, obviously not knowing that it could have been a valid possibility. He wiped his hands off on his little apron, and I didn't know just how necessary it could have been to do. He handed me a Twinkie out of one of the pockets. He presented it to me with an elaborate bow.

"To the dear sir Clay that likes to spend time at the gas station and keep me company, I present the Twinkie of friendship!" I chuckled and took the Twinkie.

"Was that some sort of initiation or something, Skep?" I asked it as I unwrapped the Twinkie of friendship. Surprisingly, he stood and nodded his affirmation.

"You passed. Now spill it, who you crushing on~?"

I blushed. "W-what?"

*George POV* 6:45 AM

I took a deep breath, knowing that now might be a good time to text Clay for the first time.

'Hello Clay!'
'This is George!'

Clay was apparently a fast responder.

'Thank you so much my friend backed me into an awkward situation'

I laughed, though I felt really tired. I figured it wouldn't kill me to stay up a little later texting Clay.

'Well I'll always be here if you want to talk as a distraction or something.'

...

'Really? Thanks :D'

...

'Sure, it's no problem. Except I'm about to head off to sleep in a few.'

...

'Sure, that's fine!'
'Have a good sleep!'

...

'Will do, Clay."

...

'Sweet Dreams!'

...

'And good luck with your friend.'

...

'Oh, he's an ass.'

...

'Pffft well I feel really tired so imma sign off now. Night!'
'Or rather, morning.'

...

'Haha well goodnight to you too.'

I turned off the phone and put it to charge. I unplugged my fairy lights and got into the backseat to sleep on the floor of my car, as I had done for years and would persist doing until the end of the universe.