The Boy with the Green Eyes

New Beginnings

After Dawn got home from the dance Friday night, she stayed up typing on her computer. Finally, after spending plenty of time on her essay, Tuesday afternoon came and she was sitting in Miss Davis' room, ready to turn it in.

Amy was sitting next to Dawn, as per usual, but Tori still wasn't in class. She been absent the day before, and neither Dawn nor Amy had heard a word from her.

The late bell rang. Miss Davis was standing at the front of the room. She began to speak, "Class, you have had the past two weeks to write your essays on your life lessons and I am eager to hear them. Would anyone like to present to the class?"

Just then, Tori came bursting into the room. "Tori," said Miss Davis, "you're late."

"Sorry Miss Davis," said Tori. "I have a pass," she handed the white slip to her teacher.

"Alright," said Miss Davis. "Well, we're just about to present our essays. Would you like to go first?"

"Actually," said Tori, "I really would."

Tori put her bag down in her seat. After rifling through her bag, she procured her essay and walked toward the front of the class.

She started to read, "'This past Saturday, I went to the dance we had here. I enjoyed myself quite bit, actually. Before I went home, I danced with my girlfriend. She sits at the back of this classroom, next to me. Towards the end of the night, she kissed me, and it made me so happy.' Tori was looking at Amy. Amy was beaming. 'But then I was scared. Scared of facing the mockery of my peers and the non acceptance of my family.

"'I went home after that, I was so worried. I knew I would have to tell my parents and I thought that they might not understand. I told them, and I was so relieved that they understood. They get that I'm not weird or anything. I'm just really, really, really, gay. Let's face it. Girls are awesome.

"'I've realized that I should stop worrying about what other people have to think about me. I am not defined by my sexuality, just like straight people. Just as they are all normal human beings who like people of the opposite sex, I am also a normal human being. I just like people of my sex. To think I'm strange or something because of my attraction would be like saying that people who like vanilla over chocolate are odd and out of place, just because a lot of people prefer chocolate. It's all just personal preference.

"'In conclusion, I would just like to thank everyone who has helped me realize my life lesson: my mom and dad for their support, my friend Dawn for being one of the first to know and making sure I was fully comfortable with everything, and my girlfriend Amy for being such an amazing person. I love her so much, and I am glad that she has been here by my side to help me figure out everything that has happened.' Thank you."

Tori handed her paper off to Miss Davis and took her seat. Amy hugged her and didn't let go until even after the cheers from the class had died down.

"Thank you, Tori," said Miss Davis. "That was lovely. Congratulations.

"Who would like to go next?"

Dawn looked around and saw no one else raising their hands. Timidly, she raised her own.

Miss Davis looked up. "Dawn," she said, "come on up."

Her legs shaking a little, Dawn walked to the front of the class, looking straight ahead. When she finally reached the front, she turned around and began reading, "'As a lot of people probably know, I am a very awkward human being, socially. In fact, I have been told that I come as sort of...creepy, in respect to my interests.

"'As anyone who knows me can tell, I have always been a big book lover. But not everyone who meets me can fully understand this. They think it makes me a bad sort of different. I've just never been able to get it.

"'Until the other night. I was at the school dance on Saturday evening and I heard this criticism from someone who meant a lot to me. I was devastated. Never had I thought it could come to that, being torn between my books and a person I cared for so much.

"'I felt almost... lost within myself. But as good friends do, they told me this person wasn't worth it. That if I gave up my books, I would be giving up a part of myself. And I realized: I don't think I could live with myself if I did that, even if everything else in my life came to be in place.

"'I now know that changing myself for someone else isn't right. If someone doesn't want my passions, they could never really want me. Something my books have indirectly taught me is that my life doesn't have to be like the lives of the characters in them. In every book I have ever read, all the main characters find love. But from my encounter this past Saturday, I have learned that I don't need that, and if maybe I can find it someday, that's great, but for now, I'm happy to be on my own, and I hope that maybe others can realize this about themselves, too.' Thank you," she finished, looking up from her paper and handing it off to Miss Davis.

Miss Davis nodded and took Dawn's paper. There was light applause from the class. Amy's arm was around Tori and the two of them were cheering the loudest out of everyone in the room. Carson was the last thing on Dawn's mind. And for the first time in what felt like a long time, she felt complete.