A Night To Remember

Chapter 3

      I slipped on my black combat boots and grabbed a leather jacket and raced down the stairs and out the door. I jogged to the courtyard. There was no one there, and for a moment, I thought it was a joke. I knew it was only a stupid scheme that had caused me to sneak out of the school for absolutely no reason.

      I looked around and found a rather large tree, just right to climb and sit in. So I did. For the first time in my fifteen years of life, I just sat down and thought to myself.

     It was pitch black outside and even though it was, I had never seen so clearly. All of my life, I had been just looking out from the inside. Quite literally, I might add, because most of my days were spent looking out the windows that separated us from the outside world. At Grey's Academy for Exceptional Young Men, the students and staff do not leave the premises. Ever. Not until the summer at least, and even then, we aren't ourselves, not really. We have to be a whole different person, with a different age, name, wardrobe, and personality. No one can ever know the real us. Our lives will never be acknowledged, and nor will our deeds.

     Now, however, I was on the outside looking in. I never thought I'd say this, but maybe my life isn't meant to go this way. Maybe I'm supposed to be the normal civilian, just standing there, completely oblivious to the world around him. In all honestly, I wouldn't know which I am. If I'm more honest than that, I could say I will probably never know.

     I jumped when I heard a noise below me. I looked down, catching a girl around my own age's eye. She just stared up at me. Figuring I had been caught, I simply jumped from the branch and stuck out my hand for her to shake. "I'm Jax... And you are?"

     She smiled. "Jax, I like that. Oh, and I'm Karis, by the way." She shook my hand before wrapping her arms around herself and rocking back and forth on her heels. "So what are you doing here?" I asked her.

     She blushed vividly and stared at the ground. "Oh, I um... I was just looking around" I nodded slowly, knowing it was a lie. My years at Grey's Academy had shown me how to tell a lie from the truth.

      "You have a brother here." I said, reading her facial expressions.     

     "How'd you know that?" She said, puzzled that I could tell without as much as a single hint.

     I only shrugged and looked down. "And yourself?" My head snapped up and I looked into her eyes. "I don't really know... Maybe because I've always seen it here, and I just wanted to go. But I'd never get in, anyways." I looked down once again and kicked a stone, watching it hit the ground a few times before it stopped and I brought my gaze back to her own.

     It was then that I saw how beautiful she was, and how her eyes caught the light from the stars. She was wearing black jeans and a white shirt. I guess that's when I noticed how plain she must think she is. "You're beautiful." I let the words slip from my mouth, before realizing what I had said. She blushed and smiled."Th-thank you." She stuttered, then shivered. I quickly took off my jacket and handed it to her. I wouldn't need it, I had a long sleeve shirt. Besides, I was only being kind.

      She touched the jacket as though she were going to take it, then pushed it back to me. "Oh, no. I couldn't take yours. I would do something silly like forget I had it and you'd never get it back."

     I just shook my head and held it back out. "No, I insist. I'll be fine without it, and if you do forget, I'll simply remind you of it."

     She smiled and took it from my hands, wrapping it around herself. "So it's a big school. Have you ever been inside?" She asked, her voice leaking with curiosity. "Only once." I lied.

     "Well, go on. What was it like?"

     I shrugged. "Amazing. Really old-fashioned, to be honest." She sat on the grass and pulled me down to sit beside her. I smiled to myself. 'One hundred eighty-six boys that go to this school and I'm the one she sat by.' As I sat beside her looking into the night sky, I wondered once again, is this the life that I'm really supposed to live? Is this how it will always be if I choose this path?

     When I turned and looked down into her eyes, I thought once more how beautiful she looked in the dim night light. "So, where do you go to school?" I asked. She snapped her attention back to me and blinked. Almost like I had woken her from a dream. "Oh, nowhere as interesting as this place." She replied, a light red tint spreading over her cheeks. We sat for a long time under the tree, enjoying the night around us. Just living for this moment, this night. I refused to think about what tomorrow would bring, like the punishments I would receive for leaving the building, even if it was only for an hour or so.

     She checked the cellphone I hadn't noticed before. "Um, gosh I really have to go, my curfew was twenty minutes ago. I'll see you again sometime, right?" I only nodded in response to her question, unable to speak the lie. "Sorry I kept you so late, be safe going home!" I called out as she stood quickly and jogged through the gates that led to the school.

    Just as I turned to go inside, she yelled. "You forgot your jacket! I told you I'd do something silly like that." I chuckled softly and smiled. "Keep it. I have another."

     Most people would think that I let her keep it so that I would have a reason to see her again. However, you would be incredibly wrong in your assumption, and I would then tell you that I let her keep it as a reminder of that night. It was only a lie when I told her I would see her again. In all the honesty I have, I could tell you that we would never once meet again, and she would be left with a jacket that meant nothing to anyone on the outside. But I wasn't on the outside and only I would know that I was the only boy at Grey's Academy that had ever spoken to a girl my own age, one who knew more than any normal person or girl would ever be allowed to know, and a pretty one at that. So, once again, I tell you to never assume anything, to be aware of your surroundings, and most importantly... Be aware of what isn't around you. Be aware of the other point of view.