The Summer Of 2001

Elizabeth: Introduction

                A year ago, I came out to my Dad. A year ago, I moved to Maine to live with my aunt. A year ago, I met her. She had blonde hair and green eyes. She had a crooked smile that warmed up a room. She had bruised knuckles and scarred knees. She had a leather jacket and an iron ring. She was the Summer of 2001. And I'll never forget her... I think.

May 10, 2001:

               I'm walking along the shoreline, trying to avoid the windows of my Aunt's house. I know she's watching me, but I refuse to look away from my feet and meet her glare. I'm replaying Dad's reaction in my head. Its all I can think about some days. The way he change from my father, to a reaper. The way the words he said were like knives to any hope I had left. 

           He used to be so amazing- He never swore, never hated anyone, and always had a smile on his face. He was a friend to everyone. He knew everyone. He was the one you called if you were in trouble. He was a savior to the lost, and a healer to the broken. He was my father. He made up for the mother I never had. But the second I told him I liked girls, he turned into a different person. He was so angry, so confused, and so determined to prove me wrong. So I waited, I didn't speak until he was finished talking. He decided to send me to live with his older sister in Maine. He sent me the day after I told him. He didn't say goodbye. He didn't even take me to the train.

            I wipe away a tear and kick up some sand. I sit down on the cold, wet, rocks above the water. I look down at the waves crashing beneath me. Seagulls are  pulling apart a fish that's found it's way out of the water. That's how I feel- I'm a fish out of water. I don't belong here. I'm not accepted by the world I've been put into. Even my family looks down on me. My options after telling Dad were either an Anti-camp or my Aunt Risa's. And there's no way in hell I'm going to an Anti-camp!

           I reach for my ear and start tugging at it- a habit I've had since I was little. "You didn't happen to see a man walk by, did you?" I jump at the sound of a voice. I stand up but I don't let go of my ear. "I don't think so, sorry." I keep my head down, hoping she won't try to start a conversation. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just taking a walk."

"Really? Didn't look like you were walking." I meet her eyes. I forget how to talk. She's beautiful. And her eyes are the color of the walls at my old house. They're a deep green, and they're begging me for conversation.

"I was um, I was taking a break." 

"Okie doke!" Her voice is cheerful but her expression is worried.

"Say, who were you looking for?" 

"Oh, nothing. I mean, no one. Just needed an excuse to talk to you." She flashes me a quick grin before stretching her hand out. "I'm Charlie." I take her hand, it's warm and her knuckles are bruised. Her many rings rub against my palm. She looks at me for a second and I realize I forgot to speak.

"I'm Elizabeth."