First Born

Note: This is a young adult fiction story - however - it does contain mature subject matter as it relates to coming of age and the college experience. For the older (18+) young adult. About the unicorn: The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears. In even the earliest references he is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, but always mysteriously beautiful. He could be captured only by unfair means, and his single horn was said to neutralize poison. The young gay male, like the unicorn, is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, always mysteriously beautiful, and can be captured only by unfair means. Intro: This is Brent’s senior year in high school, and he has been looking forward to this very week for two years. Brent is spending the entire week with his brother in his college dorm room. When Brent arrives at the university, his brother is thrilled to see him. Brent meets his brother’s best friend, Aean, while he is there, and experiences his very first college party. Brent thinks that he knows his brother as well as he knows himself. They have been as close as two brothers could be for as long as Brent has been alive. During his week with his brother, however, Brent learns more about his brother, who he has adored and admired for as long as he can remember, than he had ever thought existed. Excerpt: Logan checked his brother in at the visitor’s desk, and then the two of them took the elevator to the top floor. Logan opened the door to his dorm room, and Brent immediately went to the window. “You can see the whole university from here. It’s big.” “It’s a lot of walking if you don’t take the university bus, and nobody wants to do that,” Logan replied. “Is your roommate here?” “Oh, yeah, but he stays with his girlfriend a lot. There’s a guy down the hall who said you could stay with him. Hope you don’t mind.” “No way. I’m free. I’m in college.” “Okay, come on, I’ll take you there. His name is Aean and he’s really cool.” ---------- On his way out of the bathroom, Brent heard voices coming from the bedroom at the end of the hall. The door wasn’t shut all the way, and Brent was sure that he had heard Aean’s voice. He’s in there with a girl, Brent thought. He stood quietly beside the door. He knew it was Aean now because he knew what shirt he was wearing and could see part of it from where he was standing. It was hard to hear what was being said because of the loud music coming from the living room. Brent stood perfectly still, watching and listening. “I’ve missed you so much,” Aean said. “I want you tonight." ---------- Aean slammed Brent’s arm down hard. “You want to see permanent damage, Brent? You want to see scars? I’ll show you scars.” Brent watched as Aean rolled up his sleeves. Then he gasped. “What happened?” “Do you know what causes scars such as these, Brent? Do you?” Brent shook his head. Aean was different now, and Brent wasn’t sure he liked the change in him. “These scars are from skin grafts following a burn, Brent.” Brent said nothing, but looked at Aean’s arms. “You can hardly tell,” Brent said, trying to be encouraging, or at least trying not to anger Aean more than he already was.