Part One
Beginnings
[OCTOBER 5, 1990 – Friday, 12:00 pm]
Derek
It was autumn when we met, a warm, breezy early October day, filled with slanting rays of sun light and brightly colored leaves. I’d been crossing the Waldron College Quad, heading for lunch at the cafeteria, but the beauty of the trees ambushed me. Without meaning to, I found myself lying on the grass under the low hanging branches of a Beech tree. My backpack lay open beside me, books and papers scattered on the grass where they fell as I dropped it.
My Dendrology professor said the huge tree was over three hundred and fifty years old, and today it was sporting its absolute best coat of autumn gold. Each leaf glowed in the sun. Above me the branches looked to be filled with fluttering yellow butterflies. As I watched, some of the leaves broke free and took flight on a breeze. I sat up and watched the path of one golden leaf as it swooped away.
The leaf flew, twisting and turning, until smacked into the face of a handsome, tall redheaded guy who was crossing the Quad with a group of friends. I watched as the redhead laughed and took off his glasses. He untangled the leaf from the frame and put the glasses back on. Then he paused to admire the leaf. He turned it over and over, staring, until one of his friends shoved him to get his attention back.
The redhead turned to look where the leaf had flown from. He looked right at me, and I leaped to my feet. The redhead saw me move and across the wide lawn our eyes met.
I raised my hand in greeting and felt my face break into a smile. The redhead waved back slowly, but his friends pulled him away. He turned and followed them toward the cafeteria. The golden leaf fell to the grass.
Stunned by my heart’s unexpected pounding, I stood rooted to the ground under the tree. How was it possible I’d made it all the way to senior year without seeing him before? Waldron was a small school—only a few thousand undergrads. I thought I’d already scoped out every guy with potential. So how come we’d never crossed paths? Maybe he was a recent transfer.
The thought occurred to me that he hadn’t smiled back when I waved; so maybe he wasn’t into guys?
I’d known I was gay my whole life; it was just part of the background noise of who I was, like my brown skin and dark eyes or the fact I sang baritone in the Glee Club and wanted to be a mother. I was usually surprisingly good at picking guys who’d be receptive, so maybe Mr. Tall, Red, and Handsome didn’t bat for my team. I was sure I’d have spotted him either way; that hair was like a flag.
The grumbling of my stomach reminded me of my original mission, and the moment passed. I gathered my scattered books and papers and stuffed them all back into my pack.
As I stepped out from under the spreading branches as thick as tree trunks a smaller branch whacked my face. I stopped abruptly. The branch held one remaining gold leaf. It was like the tree was offering it to me, and I knew what I had to do. There was only one way to find out what team that redhead played for. I grabbed the leaf and thanked the tree. Then I sprinted off to the cafeteria.
The View from Mt. Hope 