Genesis

History Class

   Under a sky of perfect midnight velvet and under stars so brilliant they drew the eyes heaven-bound, I thought about the crazy night that had occurred. From the rounds after rounds of shots to the couples that sneaked away in between, the dares that were given of jumping over the bonfire, and extinguishing Kraig's flaming slacks. All until, finally, it came to an end as violent retching sounds could be heard from the woods, the contents of the crazy concoctions created and consumed in truth or dare deciding to make a second appearance. It was then that I was glad that Dorian and I had decided to stay mostly sober to look after the rest of the camp, who were now, thankfully, asleep. That left just the two of us to guard the bonfire until the embers died out, when we turned our gaze to the stars.

     "What a night."

     I turned my head towards him in surprise.

     "I thought you were asleep," I whispered faintly.

     He smiled warmly at me before replying in the same breathless tone, "Nope. Just looking at the stars. And thinking."

     We returned our eyes to the stars as I asked a question.

     "What were you thinking about?"

     I felt a momentary pause pass by before he replied.

     "Everything and nothing, really. Mostly old memories."

     I waited in silence, hoping for him to continue, and was glad to hear when he spoke again.

     "They're memories from before juvie, with my family. And how I got separated from them."

     I turned to lay on my side before taking a moment to observe him. He was laying flat on his back, gaze heaven-bound, the musculature of his arms catching my attention as I noticed he had his arms neatly folded back, under his head.

     "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him.

     He chuckled lightly, glancing momentarily in my direction, "I don't think you'd want to hear the sob story of Dorian Franklin. Who was previously Dorian Reed, I guess."

     I raised an eyebrow, "Now you've got me interested. Why did you change your last name?"

     "It's a long story... are you sure you want to hear it?" he asked me.

     "Of course. I'd love to know more about you, if you want to tell me that is," I said.

     He took a deep breath in, running his hand through his hair before he began to speak again, "You should probably know how I grew up then."

     "How was that?" I asked.

     "Let's just say that it was not in the best condition... Long story short, my mother vaped a lot of greens, she was always having guys over, the works."

     He paused a second before continuing in a quieter voice, "I never knew my father. Although, I now think that's for the best considering the type that my mother used to hang around..."

     He shook his head, "Anyway, I loved to read as a kid, obsessively, and my grade school teacher, Emma, saw that I was way above the skill level of other kids at my school, so she gave me better books to read. I guess it was because of her empathy for my situation, but she contacted her brother, also a teacher, to get me a chance to enter this uptown middle school. Vylenia, that's what it was called. It only accepted the very best testers, or the ones who could line the principal's pockets."

     "And did you get to go?"

     "Yes. She helped me study, and I got in."

     "That's so nice of her."