October

One August Evening

It had all started two months ago. Corbin had been at a party, you know the kind. The kind that high schoolers go to, with alcohol stolen from their parents' liquor cabinets and weed "borrowed" from a friend of a friend. It had been August. Just before senior year started. Things had been going great. Corbin had just been hanging out with some friends. They had all been talking about pretty mundane things. Music, rumors, school, sports, and of course, the most dreaded subject, love interests. Corbin always let himself fade out of the scene when ever that got brought up. He would just stand towards the back near the edge of the crowd and try not to let the fact that he'd never had anyone -girlfriend or boyfriend- bother him. He wasn't the most popular person. Funny? Sure. Likable? Yeah, why not.

But popular?

Completely out of the question.

He was nothing special. Corbin stood 5'9" on a good day, was about average weight, had an average face, and his hairline was already receding at the tender age of seventeen. So he had taken to shaving his head. It wasn't a great look, but it was better than having someone's uncle's hairline. But at the edge of that circle he was surprised to have someone address him. A much shorter boy that he had never seen before. He only stood at about 5'3" and was staring up at him with kind but curious eyes. He had very long hair, hair that was easily past his ribs, and it was a soft, silky black. His face was pretty and delicate. The mystery boy had said,

"Hi, I'm new around here." And he had smiled when Corbin was almost too nervous to say anything back to him. After that, they had gotten to know each other. Corbin learned that his name was Yleed, and that his family had come to the states from Czechoslovakia when he was still a kid. Yleed Kvapil. That night, Corbin also learned that he was in love.

He had given Yleed a ride home and he had felt a flutter in his chest as Yleed had turned to look over his shoulder and smile at him. That night Corbin had gone home in a state of something close to bliss. He had laid down and crawled between his sheets. His heart had been warm that night, circulating a rush of love and excitement through his veins. All the way from his head down to his toes. He had been giddy.

Since then, he and Yleed had grown close. In fact, they had been seeing quite a lot of each other. You could call it dating. A few weeks ago he had even taken Yleed out to see a movie. As soon as the first of October came around, though, things had been a bit odd. Yleed seemed paler, quieter, and there was usually an anxious wrinkle in his brow. Less focused on school and always ready to go home. He always seemed hurried and preoccupied. Corbin was starting to get worried.

"I just don't get it, Aristos. We were so close, and now it's like he never wants me around outside of school. He just always wants to go home alone." Corbin said. He was lying on his back on Aristos' bed, staring up at the ceiling and tossing an old baseball up in the air. It met his hands with a soft thwack, and he threw it up again. This time it nearly bumped into the white ceiling. Aristos sighed and settled down in his desk chair that was opposite the bed. His room was sort of small, with just enough room for his bed, a nightstand, a desk and chair, and a dresser. He didn't mind it too much though. He watched Corbin in mild concern.

They had been best friends since middle school, and Corbin had come to trust Aristos with just about everything. Aristos held all of Corbin's secrets and then some. Corbin did the same for him, naturally.

"Well, maybe there's something going on with his family. Why don't you just ask him about it?" Aristos asked. He watched Corbin let the baseball land against the dark blue comforter. It rolled off the edge of the bed and landed on the carpeted floor with a quiet thunk. Corbin crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's not that simple," He began, "Whenever I ask to come over to his house or ask too much about his family he avoids it. It's like he's hiding something from me." Corbin sighed and looked up at the ceiling and then at one of the many rock posters hanging on the crowded walls. Aristos kept watching him.