The Way I was Raised

Chapter 5: Parties and the Boy

(Trevor)

"My name is Trevor." I say to the stranger in front of me. Why I felt the need to grab his arm and tell him my name I don't know but I just felt like I needed too. I want to know his name. I want to know where this boy is from.

"Excuse me?" he says and looks at me strangly.

"Trevor. My name is Trevor and you are?" I ask him. Just tell me your name please. He takes off his strange looking hat and removes his arm from my grasp and places his hand over his chest.

"My name is Elijah." he says and places his hat back on his head.

"Well it was nice bumping into Elijah. Where are you from?" I ask him.

"A small farm in Ohio. Now if you excuse me." he says and walks away from me. I stand there for a moment shocked and finally turn away too. Well he is different.

Who walks around like there from the 1800s anyway? It was weird. He was weird. What was a boy from a farm doing in New York anyways? Why am I still thinking about him? Stop it.

I walk down the street and head back to my apartment. It wasn't the best apartment but it was home and I wouldn't be here to much longer anyways. I planned on packing up my life and traveling around the world soon to paint. Painting was my passion and traveling is where I get all of my inspiration. Different sceneries, different cultures, and different people were fascinating to me. I love to capture them in my visiom and paint them on my canvas.

I unlock my door to the apartment and was greeted by my roomate.

"Hey man where were you?" he asks.

"I went to my favorite shop to get some pants and a shirt." I say and set my bag on the table.

"Some boy literally ran into me and I banged my head off the floor. He was a strange one thats for sure. He looked like he was from the 1800s." I say and sit next to him on the couch.

"Really? I ran into a girl like that today. Bonnet and a plain dress with a apron attached to it shopping. She was sweet and I invited her to the party tonight." he says.

"That's strange. Do you think they know each other?" I ask casually.

"I know that look Trevor. You were interested in him! Why didn't you invite him to the party?" he asks me. I shrug my shoulders and look away.

"It was hard even talking to him Blake. He was so serious looking. He's intimidating." I say.
***

The party started an hour ago and I was not having fun at all. The boy Elijah was still swimming through my mind and it looked like he wasn't leaving anytime soon. There was something about him that interests me and I wish that I had talked to him more.

"Hey man you okay?" Blake asked me.

"Yeah just not in the party mood I guess." I say. He nodded his head and went back to the party. The club we were at always had nights were it allowed underaged kids come in and party on certain nights. It was mainly college kids who needed a break and teenagers who needed to let off steam. They always found a way to sneak in alcohol and other illegal drugs and the manager pretended not to know and chose to stay in his office instead of supervising us.

I stood and shoved my way over to the bar to fix myself something to drink that wasn't ninety percent alcohol and ten percent punch. I leaned againist the bar and sipped on my drink and scanned the crowd. Everyone was either dancing or sucking each others faces off or walking up the stairs for more privacy. I sighed and sipped at my drink again.

This was depressing. I could be having fun right now if that stupid boy wasn't still on my mind.

I looked up again and nearly choked on my drink. He was here. Blake was with a girl I didn't recognize but there he was. He was dressed differently though. He was wearing red skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt with black converses.

Next to him was a shorter boy who clung to his side like a leech; I was instantly filled with jealously and made my way over to them.

"Hey Blake is this the girl you met earlier?" I asked him trying to sound casual.

"Yes. I almost didn't recognize her." he says and smiles down at her. She really was a beautiful girl. But all I could focus on was the boy next to her.

"Hello again Elijah. You look different as well." I say to him and smile. All he does is shrug.

"New clothes." he says. I look down at the boy next to him.

"And who are you?" I ask.

"My name is Nathaniel. Who are you?" he asks quietly. He looked nervous and I instantly felt bad for being kind of harsh.

"My name is Trevor. I met Elijah earlier today. Are all of you related?" I ask them.

"No were all just from the same community." the girl says. Blake looks at her and smiles.

"Come on Pearl. Lets go dance." Blake says. She nods her head and lets Blake pull her onto the dance floor. I look at Elijah and Nathaniel who were standing there akwardly.

"Would yall like something to drink?" I ask them. They nod their head and I lead them to the bar. They sit on the stools and I make my way behind the bar.

"What would yall like?" I ask.

"Just water." Elijah says and Nathaniel nods. I grab them a bottle of water and come to sit beside them.

"So whats Ohio like?" I ask.

"I mainly stay on the farm so I really don't know." Elijah says and sips his water.

"Oh." was all I could think of to say. We sit in silence for a while just listening to the music play in the background. A boy I knew, Kyle; came up and asked Nathaniel if he wanted to dance. Nathaniel blushed but nodded is head.

'Nathaniel? Are you sure?" Elijah asked him.

"Yes I'm sure." he says and walks away.

"Kyle is a good person I promise. He won't hurt him." I tell him and he nods.

"So tell me about yourself." I tell him and he looks at me.

"What do you want to know?" he asks and turns to face me.

"Well. What are you doing in New York?" I ask him.

"Just a trip." he says and looks away.

"How long have you been here?" I ask him.

"A day and a half. We just got here yesterday." he says.

"Are you and your friends like in theater?" I ask him. He looks at me strangely like I said the dumbest thing ever.

"No. Why?" he asks me.

"Just from the clothes you were wearing and the way Blake described that girl. Now yall come to this party dressed in regular clothes." I say.

"The way we were dressed earlier are our regular clothes we wear on a daily basis." he says.

"Why dress like you are from the 1800s?" I ask him curiously. He stays quiet for a moment like he is debating answering or not. He takes a deep breathe and finally looks at me.

"Were Amish." he says.