After Fire - Dreamnotfound

One|dreamwastaken

November 1
18 years ago today, I cried my vocal cords out in a blindingly white hospital room in the hands of a man dressed in scrubs (and could have very well been one as well). In other words, today was my 18th birthday. Just like all my other birthdays since I turned 13, it was a normal day. Though, I did have a particularly interesting run-in with my host brother.

As the three siblings were dropped off at the front of the school, Clay immediately broke away from the other two as he found his soulmate waiting against the wall right outside of the building. George had never personally talked to him. Despite being defiant with listening to a boy who flips him the bird whenever they cross one another's paths, he still followed their rules. He never spoke to the younger boy, never touched him, acted like they didn't even know each other, and never told his parents. That was to keep them off not just Clay's back, but George's as well. However, George had been around long enough to inevitably figure out who was on the other end of the fire birthmark.

The boy was about George's height and wore the same hoodie every day with jeans that also looked the same, but George would give him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he owned ten of the same pair. And every morning, without fail, they'd greet each other with a quick kiss before entering the school with their fingers interlocked.

"Can you come to my soccer practice again after school?" Asked Drista as they entered the high school. "I'm kind of nervous for this game. We're going against St. Francis on Thursday and they're a private school. And you know private schools. They're rich with inflated egos."

"Oh, God, it's an entire team of Clays," George said. "I can help you prepare. I'd call myself a pretty decent forward."

"Sweet! Thanks, George." She scanned the quad. There weren't many people as of yet, leaving the tables and benches filling the open area vacant aside from a few early birds who sat on the benches alone while playing on their phones. George knew where she was looking. She was gazing down at the fourth tree that was next to the band room where her friends always met up. Typically, she was the second or third one to arrive, though today looked as if she was the first.

"You can stick with me 'til you see them if you want."

The young girl shook her head. "No, it's fine." She started forward before George reached out and stopped her.

"Let me give you my number. If they don't show up, just shoot me a text or call me. I'll keep you company."

Drista rolled her eyes with a laugh. "That won't be necessary."

"Okay, well let me give you it anyway in case of emergencies." He pulled out his blue notebook and, on the first page, wrote down his number.

"Oh, my God, George," She laughed as she pulled out her phone. "Why do you act more like an older brother than my actual brother?"

"I don't know. I'm an only child."

"It's a shame your parents didn't have more kids. They'd have a very caring brother."

George strained a laugh. "Yeah, but I think it's good they stopped with me. I get all the love they can offer."

George's phone vibrated in his pocket, and when he checked, it was Drista sending him a picture of him she had taken of him over dinner the night before. It wasn't the most attractive George had ever been, and he didn't know Drista had even taken a picture.

"Alright, I'll see you after school."

"Bye, George."

The two went their separate ways. George hiked upstairs and into the library to find his friends sitting at a table with their faces stuffed into a shared book. He approached them and dropped his bag by the chair across from them, and they both glanced up.