AUTHOR:

René Zadoorian

American Boys

The first thing Darius told me was a lie.

“Got an A. You?”
“Same,” I replied, keeping my paper face down. 

We were each other’s first friend, I’d like to think. Despite being inches shorter than I was, he stood with confidence, as if he hadn’t landed two months prior. Dark tight curls covered his head, eyes brown with a tint of redwood if you looked close enough, and eyebrows thick above them. I envied his long eyelashes, even as a child. It didn’t take long until I found out he envied me, too.

16 June 2025 | René Zadoorian