His Name Was Damian

twenty-four

Naomi

I watched Tom attempt to catch Jerry as I snacked on my grapes, popping them in every time Tom missed his target. Melanie and Xavier laid at the end of my bed, while Lana and Teddy sat in the bean-bag chairs adjacent to the TV. Damian laid atop my body, his arms curled around me as he slept silently. His weight didn't bother me, but I did use his body as a table. Before Damian got the chance to kiss me yesterday, Melanie and Xavier went inside the house so the kiss we shared was our little secret. We didn't talk about it after it happened and honestly I don't know where we stand. It was currently around one in the morning and everyone was doing their own thing. Honestly, it didn't matter to me, the vibes were through the roof.

"Do you guys think we would be friends, right now," Melanie abruptly asks, the bluntness of her question tearing through the room.

"What makes you say that," I retort. "Of course we would be."

"Yeah, me and you would be, Naomi, but would we be friends with Lana or Teddy or Xavier and Damian?"

Lana shakes her head as I look over at her, "I don't think we would," She says. "I mean, I feel like we all connected because of Damian."

"Yeah, thank about it," Xavier says. "I gave Damian his tattoos the day after his attempt and then we started to hang out; Then he met you Lana and then, of course, he met Naomi, which led to Melanie."

"Teddy and I already worked together and then I learned that he dated Lana." I pause. "I can't wait to get out of this town; it's so small."

"I agree," Melanie sighs out. "Do you know how hard it is to walk in this town without going past my house? The only good thing is that I am almost eighteen, so I am legally okay to be on my own." Xavier grabbed Melanie's hand in response, not knowing what to say.

I sit up without waking Damian, "But like I feel like no matter how small the town is though, I don't truly know who a person is. Melanie if I didn't know you personally, I would've never known about your dad."

"Why are we asking these questions right now," Teddy asks. "We're friends now, what does it matter?"

"Babe, it's because all talks happen after the clock strikes twelve."

Damian shifts under me, tightening his arms around my waist before lifting his head. He looked dazed and confused before coming to his senses, sitting in a criss-cross position. His hair was messy, like always, and his eyes were glazed with sleep. "What are we talking about," he asks. "I heard you all talking, but I couldn't really understand any of it."

"Just life, man," Xavier responds to his inquires.

Damian nods his head before responding, "If you would've asked me a year ago about where I wanted to be, I would've said in the ground. I wrote a fucking note and everything, expecting that I would be gone and 'in a better place.'"

We all listened as Damian continued his epilogue, something we wouldn't have expected from a half-awake teenager.

"But now if someone asked me where I wanted to be, I would say that I would be in a room with my five friends, asleep while they watched fucking, what are we watching, uh, Tom and Jerry cartoons." We all laughed a little. "I didn't have deeper connections with friends until you all came into my life."