Our Autumn Fire

One

    Elliot Quentin sat in front of his laptop at a short wooden table bumping his head and humming along to the music that blasted out of his heaphones. His screen was half filled with a long string of html and css and half with the website it coded for. The sinewy young man punched in a few edits and hit save to see that the website had taken over the whole screen. After spending a couple seconds browsing the page, he leaned back with a satisfied smile on his face and sighed contentedly.

   Pleased with the muted color scheme of the new design, Elliot brought his arms up behind his head and sat in silence until a sharp beep from his wristwatch alerted him that he had somewhere to be. Closing the lid, he left the den and entered his slightly dishevelled room to don a light button-down over the undershirt he was already wearing. He checked his reflection in the mirror, sprayed deodorant across his chest, roughly rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, and delicately made his hair look perfectly messy - but not too messy. Elliot left the room and grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter, checking his watch one more time.

    As he approached his car outside, he saw the stray cat that had been roaming around the house for the last couple weeks. "Hey! Git! Go on!" He made a motion as if to chase the small cat, but it didn't stir. Shaking his head and mumbling to himself, he got into his dark red coupe and drove off.

           *            *            *

    Elliot parked in the spacious lot of the Wildwood School and walked in through the large wooden doors. The classes had not yet let out, so he followed the signs to the principal's office. There, a comely woman manned the secretary's desk reading from a paperback novel. As Elliot approached, she looked up and put the book down.

    "Hi there, can I help you?"

    Elliot smirked and leaned against the desk that stood between them. "I believe you can. You can start by telling me what a beautiful person like you is doing here reading all alone."

    The middle aged woman flushed with a minute gasp before she glared at him trying to hide a large smile. "What can I actually help you with?"

    "I'm looking for Mr. Holter. Would you be able to tell me which room he teaches in?"

    "He's in room O-4-7 down the hall to your right and then the first left."

    "Thank you."

    Elliot made his way to the correct room and saw a closed door with a voice coming from behind it. Mr. Holter was lecturing his English class and Elliot thought better of knocking, choosing to wait until they were done instead.

    "That's right. The poem represents the simple pleasures of life, seeing pleasant summers lead into warm autumns filled with bonfires. Mr. Stevenson does a fantastic job of showing how all the seasons have something to be enjoyed." The bell rang as he finished his sentence, so he raised his voice over the shuffling of the packing students. "Remember, chapter one through seven of The Scarlet Letter are due by next class. Now go out and sing a song of the seasons!"

    As soon as he had finished speaking, the students made a mad rush to exit the classroom and Elliot quickly moved out of the way to let them pass. When the last student had exited, Elliot entered the room to see the teacher packing papers into his brown messenger bag.

    "Wes!" Elliot shouted as he grabbed the teacher's shoulders.

    Wesley Holter jumped in shock. "Damnit, Eli! What the hell!"

    Elliot burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, man. I couldn't resist. You ready to go?"

    "Yeah just give me a sec." Wesley sighed and finished packing before following Elliot out to his car.

    As they approached it, a group of lanky boys walked by and one of them shouted at Wesley. "Hey, Mr. Holter! Is that your boyfriend?" The other boys laughed as they continued to walk away.

    "He's not my- I'm not g-"

    "Yes, yes I am!" Elliot cut him off and put his arm around Wesley's shoulders.

    Wesley shoved him away and gave him an angry glare. "Did you really have to do that? Now I'm gonna have to deal with this shit all year."

    "Relax. It's not a big deal. Get in, I'm hungry."

    Wesley kept glaring until Elliot was out of sight below the roof of the car and then followed suit. They drove over to their favorite, secluded cafe downtown and were quickly seated.

    "So when do you get your car back?"

    Wesley checked his phone before answering. "I should get it back by next week. At least that's the mechanic told me."

    "So I only get a few days to mess with your school life? Damn shame." He shook his head in jest.

    "Yeah, not soon enough if you ask me."

    The waitress came by to take their orders, and the two boys ate in general silence making a few mundane remarks here and there. As they were finishing their meals, Wesley's phone rang with a new text.

    He took a look at it for a second before putting his phone down again.

    "Who was that?"

    “It was ‘Ley."

    "Hayley? What's she saying?"

    "She wants to go out tonight to her friend's bar. You down?"

    "Wait, her friend owns a bar?"

    "No, she's a bartender there. Ley wants us to wait until her shift is over so it won't be until later."

    "Is she cute?"

    Wesley gave Elliot a look of disbelief and slight amusement. "Does it matter? Are you down? I still need a ride."

    "Yeah, actually it does matter, but I'm down."

    The two of them paid their checks and left the cafe joking about why a girl's looks make a difference in a situation like this.