My Life, and the Ways I Try to Live It

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."-

As Mrs. Seltzer droned on with the words of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, my eyelids began to droop, and her raspy, hoarse voice began to fade when my sleep deprived brain took me out of reality.

I'm not sure of what actually happened while I was out - all I know is that when I regained composure and brought myself back to reality, Mrs. Seltzer's old crackling voice echoed in my ears.

"Well, it's nice to see that you've decided to join us once again today, Mr. Morrison." She said with a tone of anger in her voice. "I'm sure you'll enjoy reading the material you missed during your naptime later this afternoon in detention."

Ouch. detention. That didn't really surprise me though. Mrs. Seltzer is infamous for giving out detentions. I seriously think she enjoys it way too much. Like yesterday, this kid in my class, Ryan, brought some of his lunch that he had left over into the room to finish up eating, and she gave him a detention for eating food in her class. Now, let me clarify that there is absolutely not a rule here at Rosemont High that says you cannot eat food in class. As a matter of fact, most of the teachers here don't mind students eating food in their classrooms at all. Not Mrs. Seltzer, though.. she hates it. And although there is no official rule forbidding it, she will give you detention for eating food in her class.

Anyway, since I can't go back to sleep now, and I don't particularly like passing my time by listening to Mrs. Seltzer rattle off the pages of A Tale of Two Cities, let me tell you a little about myself. I'm Emmett Morrison, a seventeen year old high school junior. A lot of the girls around here think I'm quite good looking. couldn't tell you why; I think I'm just average. I'm around five foot ten, brown eyes, and black hair. My hair naturally has a purplish tint to it. I don't know how the hell it happened, but it did. Anyway, like I was saying. a lot of the girls here for some reason find me attractive. I find it amusing, because I know that they will never have a chance with me. I've only been involved with a couple of girls over the last few years. That was before I came to accept myself for who I really am. You see, I like men, not women. Yep, that's right. I'm gay.

Ugh. there's Crystal. I hate her, I really do. She's sitting over there, giving me the dirtiest looks imaginable. She's one of the two girls I was involved with. I broke it off with her last year, in the middle of my sophomore year. I tried to let her go as easily and as painlessly as I could - in the nicest way possible, I explained that, although we had been seeing each other for nine months at the time, the truth was that I had known for the past five months that I was gay - and had just plain been in denial, and hoped that by continuing my relationship with Crystal, those attractions that I had towards other men would simply vanish. When I had finally brought myself to realize this and embrace it rather than run from it, I knew that I had to break up with Crystal. It was just the right thing to do - I couldn't go on trying to fool myself and everybody else. I knew that it may hurt her to hear the truth, but I figured it was better to hurt her a little back then rather than hurt her a lot more a year or so down the road.

Apparently however, she didn't see it that way. Even though she promised me during our conversation that my secret was safe with her, all that was was a bold faced lie. In an effort to get revenge on me for hurting her, she spread my personal discovery around the entire school. Nowadays, the entire student body here at Rosemont High knows that Emmett Morrison is the gay kid. This is why I hate her. Yet, as much as I hate her, I remember the days when we used to be good friends. and I smile. She's my favorite mistake.

It was then that the sound of the classroom door opening pulled me from my thoughts and cast my attention to the front of the room. There was a boy I had never seen before, standing there, with about three or four ungodly sized textbooks in his arms. I don't know what it was, but something about him wouldn't allow me to return to the immaterial, silent ramblings of my mind. Instead, my gaze remained fixed upon him.

"Excuse me sir, but exactly where are you looking to be?" Mrs. Seltzer asked the boy.

The boy handed her a small white slip of paper.

"Oh. so you're the new kid. Well, you'll learn not to be late to my class. I'll see you later this afternoon in detention." Mrs. Seltzer said.

Oh my god. what a nice welcoming gift. It's the guy's first time here, and within the first minute, he gets a detention. Mrs. Seltzer is such a bitch.

Without even realizing it, my stare remained on the boy as he moved towards the only empty desk in the room and sat down. It wasn't until he was sitting right next to me, just a few inches away, when he turned his head and said hi, that I realized just how mesmerized I really was. As he greeted me, my eyes studied his every feature. He had light colored skin, not tan, but certainly not pale either. Pearl blue eyes were staring back at me, along with short dusty blonde hair. His clothes seemed to fit his appearance perfectly - black, loose worn jeans, a white tanktop, and a plaid blue and white half buttoned up shirt over that. He smiled at me warmly and extended his hand. Slowly, I reached out and took his hand in mine. I felt electricity pass through my body as our skin touched together, and, in stunned motion, shook his hand.

"I'm Sean - Sean Larsen." He said.

"Emmett Morrison. nice to meet you, Sean." My voice trembled as I spoke the words.

Suddenly, I was looking forward to today's detention. For I knew that I had now seen the face of an angel - his name was Sean Larsen.