A Very Queer Reality

(Chapter 9) Summer

Winter break was the longest thing ever. 

Coming back to school was not an easy transition, from late nights and sleeping in, and not doing relatively anything all day for two weeks to rough schedules in cold days.

It was so good to see Casey again, though. His family had gone on vacation all break, leaving myself and Kelsey to throw Sorry pieces at each other across the room when there was nothing else to do.

Carol got a job at some newspaper place as a writer. She's always had a knack for that.

I'm proud of her, but it takes her away for more time than either of us are accustomed to. Often times, I'd be on my own for dinner (I'd end up making microwavable burritos or Hot Pockets), or Kelsey would come over for a sleepover and we'd bake something elaborate and end up burning the edges. 

At last, those of us affected were adjusting back to the environment of public school, and though it was partly good, there was a lot less grace for us now. Kelsey gets off a little better than Casey and I and any others do, since she has a clinical issue still. She smuggles us snacks from the lounge vending machine and does her best not to ditch us, but sometimes she has to, and we understand.

We've got a good thing going on, like well-oiled gears in a machine.

And then something new happens. The high school hadn't gotten any new students since the parade, and has actually gradually lost some, even recently. Just as any event in life, though, this pattern was broken by chance.

British foreign exchange student, Summer Eden, shows up two weeks after winter break, just at the dawn of the second semester and fourth six-weeks period. She has a similar class-pattern to Kelsey, so she shows her around as best she can. Casey and I have offered to help as well.

I can already tell Summer isn't like a lot of other students here. She's very quiet and doesn't like big crowds or confined spaces from what I can see; very unlike the outgoing jocks and the popular girls. They're all very cliche, while she's got her nose in a book or some kind of design.

She's artsy and cute in a bit of a bookish way. Once you get her to open up and start talking to you, she can rant on for hours about something that holds her passion; it's undoubtedly adorable, hot even (if you're into girls).

Kelsey is very sweet to her, and has become one of the only people Summer will even associate herself with or hold a conversation longer than two minutes with. The only others are Casey and I, and the English III teacher. I'm not sure if Kelsey is crushing or just being friendly; she's always a bit flirty, but rarely flustered. I've listened in on a few deep conversations the two of them have shared, and I'd be flustered too-- stumped even. The depth of the complex of Summer's mind is amazing.

Her vocabulary is different, but we all love it. I'm sure anyone could listen to her talk for hours, and could fall in love with the way she thinks (and while it's selfish, I pray that Casey does not).

Summer's tenant-family is going out of town on family-matters soon, for a grandmother who was put on hospice, so Kelsey and I offered to let her stay with us in my apartment. (She accepted the offer!!) 

Kelsey and I practically live together now. She has so much stuff at my place, and I probably have more things at her's than I can even think of. Often times we fall asleep on the couch, or beside each other in my bed. Anyone looking in would think we were together (in that way), but in reality, we are together in a way even more beautiful. She doesn't like boys. I don't like girls. But we click. Platonic love has probably never been stronger-- and I can say that: I love her. I love her with everything I am for everything she is. More than her future wife probably will. Because it's different. 

Like David and Jonathan in the Bible; they loved each other dearly and would've done anything for each other, whether it endangered themselves with Saul or not. That's like us in a way.

She's my everything in a non-romantic way, and I honestly think that is the best thing right now.

Even if Casey never likes me in the way I'd like him to, I have Kelsey and that is more than enough. I only hope she doesn't get swept off her feet by a girl that will steal her away from me entirely. 

I 

will

not

let

that

happen.

But it's not in my control.

It's up to her

           I have to trust her

                              with this.

And I do.

Maybe it's                                                           everyone else

I                   cannot               trust