‘Drew’ his Breath away

Tremors ran through his hands, shaking the envelope along with them. Drew Hollister stood in front of his life-long friend, known as Miss Azalea, both holding their college application response letters. The tension was palpable. It all came down to this….

They grew up in the small town of Swimport, where hunting, fishing, and swimming were the main sources of recreation. That, and the radio.

Outside of mining and store-keeping, there were almost no employment opportunities. They were determined to be the first generation to achieve a degree.

It was a tall order to succeed enough in their regional school, but from a young age Azalea Jetso was up to it. She was an academic rocket ship, who only went into overdrive her last year with the tragic disappearance of her brother. Drew just did well to follow her lead.

Now, here they stood, face to face across from the post office. They were so anxious for these letters that they woke up early to collect them from the source before the mail went out. Now they stood with bated breath.

“Ok,” Azalea finally said. “We just open them together.” He nodded. The brought their envelopes forward and readied their fingers under the corner of the flap. They counted in unison. “Onnne… t-two… three!”

They feverishly ripped through the seal, slid the envelope off of the papers inside — and read as quickly as they could.

Azalea was a beat ahead of Drew, but then she lost her place among the sentences. So their eyes hit the fateful words at the same time. His mouth fell open as she gasped.

They looked up at each other and instantly knew they both had prevailed! They screamed uncontrollably, dropping the letters and colliding into each other’s arms. They jumped around mid-hug, shrieking at the top of their lungs.

“Oh my god!” he yelled. “We did it. We actually did it!”

“We did it!” she followed suit. “We did it, we did it!”

The few people that were around at this hour turned to them in surprise. Sue, Drew’s aunt-in-law (as he referred to her since she was married to his uncle, Paul) came running out of the nearby shop with the three eggs she had been inspecting still in hand.

By the time she reached them, they had stopped jumping and spinning and instead were embracing stationary as happy tears formed.

“What’s happening here?” she demanded. They separated and turned to her.

“Oh,” Azalea said, slightly embarrassed. “We… we got into college!” Sue’s eyes went wide as she dropped the eggs. Thankfully, they landed unharmed on the soft dirt road. Now all three yelled in excitement and hugged each other.

“Wow!” Sue finally said as she pulled herself away. “I can’t believe it. We have to tell everyone. Congratulations!” They thanked her as she put her arms around both proudly.

They started walking away blissfully. After a moment, she stopped and detached herself once again. She told them to wait there a moment. She hurried back to where they’d been to retrieve and return the eggs.

***

Once the big day August rolled around, most of the town came out to see them off. Azalea wore a light gray jacket and skirt set that Sue, Paul, and their neighbor Gary purchased together. Drew wore a pressed navy blue suit that his mom, Jodie, had saved up for all summer.

He kept looking around, hoping his father would reappear from wherever he had been the last several years. Unfortunately, even this auspicious occasion wasn’t enough to bring him out of the woodwork.

Jodie would change the subject every time Drew asked, but he knew she had tried to contact his dad to show up for this. He wasn’t sure if she had the current phone number or address anymore.

The last he heard, the man was living in Montana with a preacher‘s daughter. He always wondered if he wanted to see that woman. He doubted he could ever treat her kindly.

After Paul said his peace, wishing them success and fulfillment, a family friend known as Barbell pulled up in his car behind them. The two had already put their suitcases in the trunk. He was to drive them to the train station 25 miles away.

They said their goodbyes to the joyous crowd, who joined together to cheer and throw flower petals around them. They managed to get inside the doors amongst the colorful chaos. With backwards glances and waves from the car windows, they were off.

Barbell smiled back at them one last time before turning his attention to the road. They smiled at each other. They still couldn’t believe where they were headed. What an amazing send-off!

***

Their first week seemed like a lifetime all its own… but then, strangely, the first year went by in a flash. Drew went back home at first, but Azalea insisted on staying for extra reading and studying without distraction during the summer absence. He only stayed back at home for two weeks before deciding that he might as well get back to campus with her.

He had gone into biology, hoping to focus on zoology after strange events 18 months ago had him thinking about the new concept of dinosaurs. He hoped to be a scientist one day (or was it an archaeologist?) discovering something new about these prehistoric beasts.

Azalea, however, was interested in the physical sciences. She was one of the few freshmen who dared take Into to Physics. She passed with a more-than-respectable B+.

Drew, meanwhile, had a hell of a time passing introductory Darwinism. His second semester, however, he aced Ecology. When he stayed over with Azalea, he hit the books preparing for his long shot: Intermediate Paleontology.

It might have been jumping the gun, even Azalea doubted him (because he wasn’t her)… but this was his calling. If he was going to stand out in the field — as a first-generation student — he would have to make it work.

His real turning point would come sooner than expected, however. Two weeks before the semester began, he finally found where the sub-section on prehistoric artifacts was in the library. He headed to the fifth floor with his Dewey Decimal card in hand.

When he got there, he was surprised to find someone already there. A striking young man with a perfectly quaffed haircut and horn-rimmed glasses sat there with a sizable volume open atop a pillow in his lap.

Drew stopped short, frozen in place for a moment. The guy looked up quizzically.

“Oh, uh,” Drew said softly. “I uh… sorry… I didn’t realize…”

“That anyone would be here?” the guy finished for him.

“Well, yeah,” he said. They chuckled.

“Neither did I,” the other said, taking off his glasses and placing them down on the pages as he got to his feet. “Certainly not the place you expect to bump into someone.” Drew smiled sheepishly. “I’m Sebastian.” He held out his hand.

“Hi,” Drew said, shaking it. “My name is Drew.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sebastian said. Drew nodded and they kept hands clasped together for a lingering moment. Drew suddenly jerked his hand away and let it fall.

“So…” he said, looking around. “Don’t tell me you’re learning about Paleontology too?”

“Early humans,” Sebastian said.

“Oh wow,” he said. “That must be fascinating.”

“It is,” Sebastian said with a grin. “It’s mysterious, and might answer some of the biggest mysteries we have about ourselves.” Drew smiled. “But of course, most people won’t understand that.”

“Yeah,” he said. “But I will! I’m here to study about dinosaurs.”

“Oh, you don’t say! That’s an even newer field. It’ll take someone quite intrepid to break that code.”

“Oh… well yeah. I’ll try.”

“You came up here, which means you have the drive. That’s half the battle. I already have confidence in you.”

“Wow! Well, ok. Thank you, Sebastian.” Drew’s face was flushed.

“Any time… Drew.” He clasped his shoulder encouragingly. “Let’s find you a book.”

***

Drew told Azalea all about his chance encounter and the afternoon he spent in the library. He began pacing behind her desk as she sat taking notes from her open textbook.

“Wow,” she said, chuckling. “You found a book-worm study buddy! I’d be jealous… you know, if I needed one.”

“Haha,” he said sourly. “But no, he is well-read. And so confident. Well, he is about to be a junior, so guess that makes sense. I wish I’d met him last year.”

“Well, you’d better pick his brain as much as you can,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him. “Third semester might wear you down.”

“As a matter of fact,” he said. “We’re meeting up there again at 2 tomorrow.”

***

They met in the library or out in the quad every day for the rest of the summer. They’d already discussed so much of each other’s fields that Sebastian joked they could take each other’s classes.

Then, before they knew it, it was the last day before classes began. They had gotten so used to learning together that the concept was now foreign to them. How could they possibly maintain this level with a set curriculum and thirty other students?

“How about this?” Sebastian asked as they walked to the cafeteria for lunch. It had reopened a week ago as their peers slowly trickled back to campus. “We get a big bottle of wine tonight and sneak up to my building roof.”

“Ha!” Drew exclaimed. “We didn’t drink all summer.”

“Speak for yourself,” Sebastian said, nudging his arm.

“Really? Well I haven’t, anyway. Why start now?”

“Because we’re about to lose the freedom we’ve made here. Might as well celebrate and hold onto tonight.”

“Oh, this has been freedom, has it?”

“Of course it has.”

“Well, I have felt free, come to think of it.”

“Ah! So…?”

“Oh ok! Why not?”

“Attaboy!” Sebastian grabbed him by the shoulders and tussled his hair. Drew laughed boisterously as he tried to wriggle away. Sebastian then pinched his side and he yelped.

“Ok, OK,” he finally managed as he broke free. He caught his breath as they both chuckled. “Tonight. You bring the wine and I’ll bring the cups.” Sebastian gave a two-fingered salute and turned away with a grin.

***

The bells chimed as the clock struck seven. The sun sunk towards the horizon, setting the yellowing trees aglow. Sebastian’s hand grabbed ahold of Drew’s from above and hoisted him off the top-story balcony railing.

With considerable struggle, Drew grabbed ahold of the lip of the roof and pulled himself up as Sebastian steadied his arms.

“That was the most foolish thing I’ve done,” Drew said after catching his breath.

“Maybe,” Sebastian said. “But look at this view!” They walked forward to the other end, taking in the panorama. Drew sighed blissfully.

“Ok,” he practically whispered. “It was worth it.” Sebastian smiled and slid of his backpack.

He retrieved the wine and cups from it and poured them two glasses.

They clunked them together with a cheer to the “last night.”

It didn’t take much for Drew to become tipsy and he soon asked that they sit down instead. Sebastian drained the rest of his cup and obliged.

The sky burned bright crimson and gold as sunset took over. Sebastian poured more into the cups. Drew just held his as he sipped.

“Thank you so much for this,” Drew said. “I would never have done this if it weren’t for you.”

“You’re welcome, my friend,” Sebastian said. “I’ve had a wonderful time with you.”

“Likewise,” Drew said. Their eyes met. A moment passed with an energy neither had felt before.

In split second, Sebastian’s face fell towards his and their lips landed on top of each other. Drew tried to yell out, but his voice was muffled as they sunk into a kiss.

Drew relaxed and melted into the moment as Sebastian wrapped his arms around him. He held him close as they passionately blurred together among the dazzling lights of the sky.

***

“I uh… I… I don’t know,” Drew said. “I just… don’t know.” Azalea stared as him blankly. If he had been hoping for her to jump in with some kind of comforting guidance, she wasn’t providing it. The morning haze broke through the simple blinds on the window.

“Well…” she finally began. “Did you enjoy it?”

“I… uh…” he said hesitantly. “I… I don’t know. I never thought about… you know… anything like this.”

“Ok…” she replied slowly. “But you didn’t stop him, did you?”

“Well… no. And I don’t even know how long it lasted.”

“I think you have your answer, Drew.”

“But… how? I like him of course — as a friend. But I’m not… I mean I don’t think I’m…. I can’t be, right?”

“You know, I went to the Sorority party in April.”

“What?? I thought —“

“I know. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

“Wow. Ok…”

“Anyway, Sally Connors kissed me.”

“What?! Really??”

“Yeah!”

“Oh. Well… what did you think?”

“I wasn’t sure either. I’ve had no time to think of boys, much less girls.” Drew looked down. “But… if I knew it would make me happy, I would go back to her.”

“Wow… well…. I don’t know what to say.”

She put her hand on his shoulder. “Thank about it, Drew. If he’d make you happy… go to him.”

Drew nodded and turned towards the window pensively.