10 years ago

Alex

The new family that had just moved next door is starting to unload their things from the U-Haul truck. My mom forced me to go over and welcome them to the neighborhood.

“Maybe there’ll a boy your age that you could be friends with.” she suggested.

Please. Even if there was anyone my age, they wouldn’t want to hang out around my helicopter Christian parents.

The late August heat nearly suffocates me as I stroll over. My Freshman year of high school is fast approaching. I’m intimidated by the thought of going to a new school, and I’m not looking forward to all the awkward social interaction that comes with high school.

It must be so much easier for people with a lot of friends. It would be nice to have support, to not have to feel so alone. A steady rock in an ever-stormy sea of teenage angst.

But before I let myself drown in self pity, I push those next week thoughts to the back of my mind as I stop at the edge of the family’s driveway. As I’m about to walk up to the front door, the setting sun blinds me for a second. I blink, and when I open my eyes, a young man is standing in front of me, light shining behind his black hair, giving the young teen a halo of summer sunlight. The unknown boy has dark hazel eyes, chiseled features, and a warm smile. For some unbeknownst reason, I freeze for a second, and my mind goes completely blank and somehow I don't hear the young man state his name.

“Hello?”

“Huh?” I snap out of my trance with an awkward cough, “Sorry. Just zoned out there for a second,” I apologize, scratching the back of my neck and looking down at the ground. I can feel the blush creeping into my cheeks. I’m not normally this nervous. What is happening right now? Why is my heart beating so fast?

“I'm Alex.”

“Nice to meet you Alex,” the teen says, and holds out his hand for me to shake, “and in case you missed it, my name’s Marcus.”

I shake Marcus’s hand. I like his name. It suits him.

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Marcus

I pick up a heavy cardboard box labeled “My stuff” and carry it into the garage. I set the box down, cut away the packaging tape with a pocket knife, and open it up. It has pictures of my friends from my old school, a goodbye card they had all signed and decorated with a rainbow, and a signed copy of “Carry on” amidst other books packed in underneath.

If only I didn't have to move. But between the bullying I at school, and the borderline physical assault that transpired multiple times in my old neighborhood, my parents needed to find a safer place for me to live. A place far enough away so that I would never again see the people who made my middle school years a living Hell again. And with my Freshman year of highschool coming up, it was just logical for us to move the summer between 8th and 9th grade and let my make new friends in a school that was new to everyone else too.

As I turn back to grab another box from the U-haul, I see a boy that looks my age walking over to my house. A very, cute boy. The boy stops at my driveway, and I take that time to pop out from behind the U-haul truck. The unknown teen freezes when he sees me, but I don't notice at first.

“Hi, I'm Marcus!” I introduce. The boy is still frozen. He has soft brown hair, pale skin and deep green eyes that are currently fixated on me. Such stunning, swirling green eyes.

“Hello?” I say, trying to thaw the tension.

“Huh?” The boy coughs and turns a bright red. “Sorry, just zoned out there for a second,” he explains. He glances at his shoes, hand at the back of his neck, trying to avoid eye contact. “I'm Alex.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say. I extend my hand for Alex to shake. “And in case you missed it, my name’s Marcus.”

Alex shakes my hand. He seems really nice. I hope we can be friends. He doesn’t seem like someone who’d make fun of me for being gay. Even so, I can’t help but think,

I hope he doesn’t hate me when he finds out.

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