Page 23 of Where the River Meets the Skye

“Please, don’t ever leave us for that long again,” Gwen pleaded. “It was horrible. And not just because we never got our papers back.”

Skye smiled at her and held up said papers in his hand. “Here.” He handed her hers and then began to pass the rest of the long overdue papers back.

He stopped short when one of his students, Ben, asked, “So how is your boyfriend?”

“Idiot, he’s not his boyfriend,” Kevin chimed in. He looked at Skye. “Is he?”

“No,” Skye replied, his palms starting to sweat. So much for the distraction. “No, he’s not my boyfriend. We’re just roommates.”

“Told you,” Kevin said to Ben.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ben snapped. “The question is still the same. How is he?”

“He’s recovering slowly. He’ll be fine.” He gave them all a small smile and finished handing back their papers, before going over a quick summary of the past week to make sure they had gone through what they were supposed to go through with the sub, just as he had done with his previous classes.

“All right then,” he said, “and that brings us to the Civil War.”

“What’s civil about a war?” one student teased, and they all snickered.

“That’s actually a good question,” Skye said, smiling a little as he leaned against his desk, fiddling with a pencil. “Anyone want to guess what that means? Usually when we say civil we mean peaceable or quiet, but you’re right, the Civil War was clearly anything but that.”

“Was it because the war was being fought between citizens of the same country?” Gwen asked.

Skye nodded. “Very good.”

Gwen beamed.

“And what was the reason for the Civil War?” he asked, looking around the room at the chairs full of students, and waiting. Kevin raised his hand and Skye nodded at him.

“Slavery, right? One side was for it the other side wasn’t?”

“Yes, the South, and the North, also known as the Confederacy and the Union.” He walked over to the whiteboard and picked up a marker, then started to scribble down terms and dates as the students took out their notebooks and pens. “This is all in your books, but it’s a good idea to take notes, too,” he said.

“Yeah, just in case there’s another pop quiz,” Gwen remarked, and they giggled.

“Can you guys think of any issues today that our country faces that divide us, maybe not enough that they’ve caused a civil war, but are still pretty big?” he asked.

“Well, race is still something that divides us,” Kevin said. “It shouldn’t, but it does.”

Skye nodded. “It’s true, and even though the Civil War is long over and slavery has been abolished for a long time, our country still has a long way to go in regards to equality in that area. Anything else?” He looked around the room.

“Gay and trans rights,” another girl, Claire, said, somewhat timidly, and he eyed her. She didn’t speak up very often and it was good to hear her input, especially on something so important. From the look in her eyes Skye wondered if her words were personal.

“Yes, that’s a really big one,” he acknowledged. “Understanding and accepting your sexuality and gender identity is difficult, and it can be really scary. And living in a society that shames you and berates you for it makes it that much harder. A truly beautiful world would be one where our differences unite us rather than divide us. I think the best thing we can do for ourselves is to be authentic, and the best thing we can do for others is to be accepting.”

He was looking at the whole classroom as he spoke, but his eyes landed on Claire when he was finished, and he noticed that she was shaking a little as she tucked her hands into the sleeves of her sweatshirt. She opened her mouth like she was about to ask something, but then closed it again.

“Claire, did you have a question?” he asked.

“Uh, no, it’s, it’s nothing,” she stammered, looking down, her blonde hair falling in front of her face.

“You sure?”

She looked back up at him, and the words tumbled out of her mouth. “Are you gay?” She slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide in horror, her cheeks turning bright red.

“Woah,” Kevin said. “That happened.”

Skye smiled a little, partly because of Claire’s reaction, but partly because he really wasn’t bothered by her question. She seemed so sincere, so earnest. And if his honesty could be of some help to her, then he was willing to give it. After all, that's why he was there, wasn’t it? To help these kids? To make a difference? Although he would have preferred to have this conversation in a one on one setting, maybe this was easier for Claire, and it would help more students than just her for him to say it.

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