Loving Mr. Daniels(67)

“I wasn’t sure that I would be able to stand up here today. Um, I’ve known Ryan only for a semester, but if you knew Ryan, a day was all you needed to fall in love with the guy. He was a jokester but always such a wise, intelligent kid. It was when he wrote his first paper in my English 12 AP class that I realized how deep and complex the mind of Ryan Turner traveled. We had an assignment at the beginning of the year…” Daniel paused, clearing his throat, fighting back the tears. He shifted his body around a bit to try to fight the emotions, but he was losing the battle. “Sorry,” he muttered, turning away from the microphone and running his hands over his face.
When he returned, I could see the redness in his eyes that ran deep into his very being. “We had an assignment at the beginning of the year… I asked the students where they saw themselves in five years. Who they wanted to be. And I held on to Ryan’s paper and would like to read it to you.” His shoulders rolled back and he stood tall, holding the paper in his hands. “‘What do I want to be when I grow up? Mr. D, that seems to be a very heavy question for someone my age. Life is hard and adults are always telling us ‘kids’ that it just gets worse as time passes. I’ve been trying my best to understand what keeps people going, what keeps them reaching for something greater in this world. Belief? Hope? Passion?
“‘I’m gay, Mr. D. I’ve never said those words to a teacher, but the way you walked into class on the first day with so many nerves made me realize that I can trust you. You’re just as afraid of some secret as I am. So I thought I would share my secret with you. But my sexuality shouldn’t define me, right? There’s so much more to me. I like thunderstorms. I love baseball. I think rock music is the best music. I have blue eyes. I hate peas. My blood bleeds red and my heart cries sometimes, just like yours, I suppose.
“‘You know what I can’t understand? I can’t understand how the people who are meant to love you unconditionally are the ones who turn on you in a heartbeat. Lately, I had to convince myself that it wasn’t me who she turned on, it wasn’t me who she blamed for Dad’s death—she loves me. I know she does. She just can’t comprehend the different ways that love can work. Ways only us teenagers can grasp before the land of adulthood takes away our magic, our wonder. Being a teenager is a curse and a gift. It’s the age where fairytales cease to exist and Santa isn’t real but parts of our hearts want to say ‘What if…’
“‘It’s the time where you feel everything but everyone claims you are just overreacting. You and the guidance office and society throw out strong questions that we teens have no clue how to answer. Who are we? Where do we see ourselves in five years? What do we want to be? The most frightening thing to me is picking a study, choosing a life path to follow at such a young, na?ve age. No one knows who they are at our age. No one has a damn clue where they will be in five years. The last question is my favorite: What do we want to be? That’s the easy one.’”
Daniel paused and looked over to me, quoting the last part of Ryan’s powerful letter. “'Alive. I want to be alive, and I have no idea why, seeing how hideous life is at times. Maybe it’s belief, hope, and passion all wrapped into one shape that rests inside my chest. Perhaps my heart is just praying for better tomorrows to replace all of those shitty yesterdays. So to answer your question in a very depressing, teenage-angst manner, I want to be alive when I grow up. So now I ask you, Mr. D. What do you want to be when you grow up? Because growing never stops, and dreaming rarely ceases.’”
The room filled with a silence that even the gods of the earth found unsteady. Daniel folded up the piece of paper and slipped it back into his pocket. He spoke into the microphone and smiled a sad grin. “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. But if there’s anyone I want to be like when I do, it’s that young man who wrote those words. I want to be unafraid of the outcome of life. I want to remember to breathe in the laughter and cherish the tears. I want to dive into hope and land in love. I want to be alive when I grow up because…I have never been alive in all of my life. And I think the least we can do, in order to honor Ryan, is to start living today. And forgive ourselves for all of the shitty yesterdays.”

On the steps of the church stood Hailey and Jake. The winter breeze was unkind to any bare skin. I watched as Jake whispered something to her and she nodded in understanding.
“Jake.” He turned my way at the sound of my voice. I nodded him over to me. He glanced at her and then moved back toward me.
He stepped in close. “She’s pretty wrecked, Ashlyn.”
“I know.”
The sad grin he gave me almost broke my heart. “She blames you.”     
“I know.”
He stared out into the distance, his hands in his pockets. “Pretty much the whole senior class showed up in there for him. Everyone loved the guy. Did you know he was the king at our junior prom last year?” He took a deep inhale. “How do you get to a point where you feel that alone?”
There wasn’t an answer to that question. I thought that’s what hurt people the most—the unanswered questions.
His thumb and pointer finger pinched the bridge of his nose and he closed his eyes. “Look, Ashlyn. I know this probably isn’t the right time, but…” He sighed. “The guy you gave your heart to… Why isn’t he here?”
My voice cracked. I shifted my eyes. “You’re right, Jake. It’s not the right time.”