Against The World

Part 1

It was late February, and school had just started up again. Great. I would give anything to re-live Summer, to feel the sun on my bare skin, the salty water through my long hair, but most of all, I want to re-live the moments I shared with her, the love of my life.

We spent all summer together; swimming and dancing and laughing. It felt like there was no one else there but us, and I loved that feeling. All of the shit we'd been through together, we deserved that break.

But we were back at school, and I would have to put up with the irritating people in my classes, the dresses that never seem to fit right and the books that made it seem as if you were just hauling rocks around in your bag all day. Luckily enough, we were finally coming to the last few terms of our school lives, but the end couldn't come soon enough and the thought of spending the rest of my life with her was... incredible.

I talked to her all morning - Jess, I mean - and it felt like time had stopped. It always felt like that when I was around Jess, she made all of my worries disappear and we could be ourselves around each other. The only problem was that we couldn't be ourselves around others. All of the straight, white bitches at our school looked at us as if we were dirt, or some kind of dead animal on the side of the road - like we were disgusting. It hurt so badly that we couldn't be who we wanted to be, we couldn't be open and free like everybody else could.

The first bell rang and we parted ways, I caught glimpse of the sun hitting her beautiful green eyes as she turned away from me and smiled as if to say "I will see you soon my friend". I went to class after class after class, and it seemed like a lifetime.

Finally, the last bell of the day rang. I was so excited to leave that Hell. To walk home with my beautiful girlfriend. We met up at the front gate of the school, her hair glistened like the snow that falls in the winter time, and when she smiled it seemed like it could light up the whole city. We began talking as we walked home, and when we started it seemed like we could go on forever. Time around us stopped, and it felt like we were in another dimension, where it was only us. It was so beautiful.

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end. So as I walked Jess up to her front door, we let go of our hands. Something as minor as holding hands was considered a crime in Jess' house, and to even think about what her parents might have done to me if they'd found out I, an African American girl, was dating their daughter? It hurts my head.

I quickly kissed Jess goodbye - on the cheek of course - making sure no one saw. She smiled that beautiful smile at me one last time before I left. I walked back to my large, modern home my parents had left for my 4 siblings and I when they passed away. I greeted my oldest brother, Caleb, as per usual, before heading up stairs and getting a start on my homework.

The same thing happened every day: I woke up, went to school, walked home with Jess, did my homework and went to bed. People may call it repetitive and boring, but there was something in me that wouldn't give it up for the world. The time I got to spend with Jess made all of the classes, bullying and 'stink eye's worthwhile. She made my heart sing and my world light up. It felt like there was no one and nothing that could split us apart. We would be together forever, and we had promised each other on countless occasions that that would be the case.