Page 41 of Burn Falls

The rest of the night was a blur. Athan and Valencia returned with drinks, and we danced and laughed as we rang in the New Year. As we counted down from ten, my heart was racing. I wondered if Draven was going to kiss me. That was what people did when the clock struck twelve, but I hadn’t had a kiss at midnight in a few years. However, instead of kissing me on the lips, Draven leaned down and pressed his lips to my cheek. I was bummed, but then again, we weren’t officially dating, and I shouldn’t have expected him to kiss me for the first time in front of the packed bar.

Just before we got into a taxi to go home, Draven told me that he’d call me to set up a date for Saturday. I couldn’t believe I was going to go on a date with him.

Just like two teenage girls, V and I laid in my bed, gushing about the night.

“Athan is so hot.”

“So is Draven.”

“I can’t believe you have a date with a doctor.”

“I can’t either.” We both giggled. I blamed the alcohol. “Did you ask Athan what he does for a living?”

“No, that never came up, except he said he lives in Russia.”

“Russia?”

“Yeah. Crazy huh?”

“Did he move from the States?”

“I guess. He really didn’t say.”

“I wonder how he and Draven know each other.”

“They both look really young. Do you know how old they are?” V asked.

“I don’t know. How long is med school?”

“Grab your phone and Google that shit.”

I reached over to the nightstand and did just that. “Google says that generally most people graduate college at twenty-two and medical school at twenty-six. Then after three years of internship and residency, many physicians begin their career at twenty-nine.”

“Is he an intern or resident?”

“I don’t think he’s either. He seemed to be doing stuff on his own like a regular doctor and not an intern or resident. Not that I know much about doctors.”

“So he’s at least twenty-nine?”

“I think so.”

“That will make Athan around the same age then.”

“You like him?”

She turned onto her side, facing me. “Who? Athan?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s not to like? He’s hot with his light beard and dark eyes, but he apparently lives in Russia so it doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll ask Draven his deal.”

“Again, it’s not like it will matter. I live in Seattle.”

I was going to miss Seattle: the good coffee, the Space Needle in the distance, Unicorn bar, and my best friend. Before I drifted off, I thought about how the end of the year was so shitty, but the start of the new one was looking promising.

Over the next few days, my family and I, including Valencia, packed up my father’s clothes to donate as well as anything my mother wanted to part with. I was going through one of his drawers when I found a small stash of photos with a rubber band around them. I removed it and started to look through the images.