Dr. W. A. Frost's Ides of Revolution

Danny smiled his signature perfect smile, posing stereotypically as the phone sat propped up on a sidewalk trashcan with a timed camera counting down. While it was his 21st birthday, and he’d invited nearly twenty people to come out clubbing with him in New York City, he wasn’t entirely shocked when everyone had some lame excuse as to why they couldn’t come. Victoria was in the middle of watching Yellowjackets and couldn’t be bothered to get up off her couch. Taylor was stuck at the airport in Nashville, unable to board his connecting flight due to “inclement weather.” Felicity couldn’t find a dog sitter for the night (bullshit), and Kyle just didn’t even respond to the text. This was relatively par for the course for poor Danny, who’d gotten all but used to the feeling of his “friends” ditching him when it was plans of his own. There were absolutely reasons in their mind as to why going out with Danny was less than an ideal evening: he was a wallflower. Sure, like everyone else in his...

Waiting outside the door on the weathered, splintering porch, Robert took a deep breath. He was ignoring the various this and thats which littered the old veranda now covered in snow. A well to do gentleman like himself, college educated and next in line for partnership in his father’s property development firm, he couldn’t help but stifle the immediate gut reaction to the working class accommodations he was surrounded by. When he’d met Penelope, she was just some bartender at a local haunt. He never expected for things to escalate between them past a simple one night thing. Four months later, and countless late night calls to her, he found himself preparing to have dinner with her and her father. While he certainly could have anticipated the socioeconomic level which she resided in based upon the caliber of bar she worked at, as well as the countless hours she needed to work to merely break even, it was still a culture shock which he was neither prepared nor interested to foray into. ...

Teddy and Lucas were the best of friends. For the past fifteen years, since Lucas’ family moved to town from Argentina, the two were inseparable. In fact, Teddy could remember the very day that they met as if it had happened the day before. Sitting in the back row in homeroom, seventh grade, Ms. Posner’s old cadaverous talons gripping the Argentine boy’s shoulders as she presented him to the class… Lucas didn’t speak English very well at the time, so few if any of the other kids were particularly interested in being his friend. In most of his classes, at least for the first few years, he had to have an aide to help him through his coursework; most of the other kids assumed he was stupid and quiet. But the moment he was sat next to Teddy, sharing that genuine smile, it sparked the beginning of a beautiful friendship. As Lucas’ english speaking continued to improve, Teddy discovered a goofy, funny, laid back kid who just wanted a friend. They weren’t popular kids, passing on sports teams...

  You didn’t really know him. Back in the day, perhaps you knew Nick Kessler, but as far as the “Nicky” Kessler he is today… He might as well have been a total stranger. You lived in the same town, you grew up together, you were in the same classes, you even were known to have hung out on occasion. But as things do, life has it’s own plan. You sort of faded into the background, and he to the forefront. He Nick was quiet, reserved, even awkward at times- a stark contrast to the boisterous, playful, rambunctious little degenerate he became. He started to come out of his shell, hang with different people, started skateboarding and discovered he was quite good. His new friends were all popular, so he became popular. Thus, you watched from afar the blossoming of Nicky Kessler, your former friend, as you stayed the same. That isn’t to say that he was rude, mean spirited, a bully like some of his pals. When you passed him in the halls, he always wanted a high five, or a noogie, or to mime...