Biography: Derek Strong

DEREK STRONG

Derek William Strong is the youngest of two children; his parents, Dwight and Janice, had a girl, Jennifer, not long before he was conceived. While they were only one year apart scholastically, Jenny was old for her grade and Derek young for his; and, amongst his eventual high-school crowd, only Christa (November 28) and Meredith (May of the year after) were younger. He bonded early and well with Jenny, doing his best to keep up with her and earn the same privileges she had, but at an earlier age. This studious, high-achieving "younger sibling" role turned out to be more of his personality than he expected.

Derek grew up in the Mount Hill area and knew many members of his eventual social circle from a young age; he has been taking classes with Jane Myers, for instance, since second grade, and with Sajel Malhotra since the fifth. Quiet and unassuming, he was mostly overlooked by his peers; he got good grades, but not high enough to really stand out (especially with overachievers like Jane and Christa around); he excelled at sports, but not enough to be competitive; he rarely got in trouble on the school yard, and occasionally stayed indoors at recess to talk with his teachers. While he tried to be social, he never seemed to meet anyone who cared to befriend him; somewhere along the line, "quiet and unassuming" had become "bland." He would later realize that, even at that young age, he was holding back, preferring to keep his distance; but he also recognized that most of his classmates misjudged him, taking his reputation at face value and refusing to look further. Partially by choice, partially by fate, Derek Strong was a loner.

Derek learned to be self-sufficient; like many before and after, he turned to books for his friends and his adventures. From them he could get what he didn't have in his real life, though if only by proxy. The Internet was also a blessing for him; he made many friends there. And there was always his family to fall back on: his parents were as supportive of him as they knew how to be; they would later claim that Derek never went through the rebellious/uncomfortable phase that all teenagers are supposed to submit to. Jenny was also his ally; she did her best to line him up with girls who might be interested in him. Unfortunately, none of them ever were.

The day all this turned around was when Derek decided to sign up for Mount Hill High School's choir. In retrospect, he never knew why he did. He'd sung in the shower, and occasionally in public, and been told he had a good voice, but that certainly didn't explain it. Why choose something that would only cement his status as a, well, choirboy? Well, besides the nearly 3-to-1 female to male ratio. Even with that, he seriously doubted any of the guys in the choir were getting any. After all, weren't most of them like him? Nonetheless, he signed up. And through whatever luck or fate or circumstance, through it he made the best friends of his life.

Derek wasn't involved in the Naked In School Program when it first came to Mount Hill; he wasn't quite that crazy or desperate yet. But it touched his life nonetheless: through one of the other choir members, Brandon Chambers, and his Program Partner, Arie Chang, Derek became entangled in the whole thing. By the end of the week he had new friends—not just Brandon, but his entire social circle. By the end of the week, he had had lost his virginity. And by the end of the week, he had a new girlfriend—Arie. All of this might have been just circumstance, just being at the right place at the right time. But some of it was knowing how to step in, what to say and how to say it, who to be and why his friends needed that personage from him. And at times it seemed as though Derek's whole life had been a preparation leading up to that exact point.

Being a member of Brandon Chambers's family was a new experience for Derek. He had always seen himself as self-sufficient, as independent, as not needing anyone, or anything from them, to make his life good. But now he was but one link in a chain, for even though his attachment to the group was peripheral at best (the boyfriend of someone more central), everyone went out of their way to include him. He became friends with Meredith, with Sajel, with Zach; even Jane, on the rare occasions she dropped by, was nice to him. When others needed help, he volunteered; it was his way of contributing, of thanking them for the gifts of their friendship. And suddenly Derek was integral, was a central part of the circle (for no one, not even Jane, was extraneous); suddenly he was surrounded by friendship and love. And Derek looked back at the boy who thought he needed no one, and thought how young and foolish that boy had been.

The best of it was being Arie's boyfriend. While he was a virgin when they first began to date, they weren't for long; and Arie seemed completely happy to teach him everything he needed to learn. Even more than that, she was deeply explorative, wanting to try everything and anything at least once—any teenager's wet dream, in other words. And while sex seemed a dominant force in their relationship sometimes, there was plenty more to do. Arie was still depressed, and occasionally self-injurious; Derek lost count of the number of times he found himself on the phone with her at some bleary-eyed hour, feeding her as much loving reassurance as he could, or at her house holding her tight. During the good times, the two of them encouraged each other's study habits, went to movies together, made snide comments in classes; he encouraged her to be more staid and reliable (like himself), while she encouraged him to let his pants down and enjoy himself (like she did). And there was always the super-good sex, which she was always interested in sneaking off to do in some illicit corner of the school grounds. They seemed made for each other, and by the time they graduated from high school, they were beginning to plan for the future—five years, ten years, sometimes even twenty. There were no rings or extravagant promises, but it had solidified in their minds: they would be together for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, things don't always work out right.

Derek's friends barely knew what happened, only that, at the beginning of the summer, he was with Arie, and by the end of it, he was not. Derek has historically remained tight-lipped on the topic himself, preferring to protect his and Arie's privacy; evidently, whatever passed between them is too shameful for him to admit. Arie seems to feel the same way. The two went to college at the University of Seattle, together but irrepairably sundered.

College life did not agree with Derek. He kept to his room, making few friends, hating his classes, hating the weather; he transferred to the University of Puget Sound the instant he arrived at SeattleU, thus taking him away from Arie but not out of the area. During the summer he transferred again, to Mount Hill Community College, but was disappointed by (what he felt was) the low quality of the studentry; finally he announced that he would drop out unless his friends could convince him otherwise. Salvation came from an unexpected place: Jane Myers, who suggested that he transfer to Schweitzer with her in Southern California. It was a completely different climate, he could make a new start, and both of them would have a leg up on making new friends. As it turns out, Derek was not that much of an asset to her; the melancholy planted by his separation from Arie has remained on him ever since, and normal socializing was, for the most part, beyond him. But, at the very least, he had a new best friend, and has never wavered in his loyalty to the one person who showed him compassion.

Derek's story has not had the rosy and hopeful future so prevalent in many of Brandon's circle, and many people worry about him—even Arie, whom he still loves despite all. But Derek is young. If he can find the strength and energy to pull himself free of The Hole, he may yet find his happy ending.

Derek is unusual in that he is not based on any real person, emotionally or physically. This makes it extra-hard to find photos of him: I'm actually not entirely sure what he looks like. (Subconsciously, something came out that makes him look like an acquaintence of mine from 8th grade, but I don't even remember that person's name.) At the moment, this is what I've got:

• Derek. I wish I could find a picture of this person not-smiling.