✍The First Page: Crown of Blooms by R.C. Dickens

 


CROWN OF BLOOMS

By R.C. Dickens

Publication Date: September 1, 2024

Literary Fiction

Kayden Moses has worked for 15 years to be a good pastor’s son. He’s volunteered at every Vacation Bible School, never missed a youth group meeting, and tries to follow the example of his spiritually gifted twin sister, Delilah. However, all his diligent efforts are disrupted when he meets the biggest stumbling block of his life: 

Alex. The new boy in youth group. Bubbly. Opinionated. Dizzyingly nice to look at. 

Suddenly, Kayden finds himself caught in a spiral of confusion and asking questions he’s never asked before. 

Who is Kayden Moses? Because he’s certainly not a good pastor’s son anymore.

Crown of Blooms can be purchased at Amazon and B&N.






 
                     














The church gym smelled of fresh, hot body odor and even more profusely of cheap cologne. The boys abandoned the youth game room in favor of a pickup basketball game before their parents arrived to take them home. Kayden sat on the bleachers that creaked with every twitch, imagining the girls upstairs having much more fun with the foosball table and the worn UNO deck, and waiting for someone to tire out and pull him into the bracket. He sucked the noxious smell in deep in an attempt to distract himself from how the late afternoon sun was interacting with the sweat on Manny’s skin; Manny was dark and when the light hit that smooth black skin it glowed, reflecting in stark patches on the ripples in his bare stomach and, most prominently, his chest.
Manny sunk one and celebrated with a cry and a few pops of his pecs. Kayden looked away. The smell wasn’t helping. He’d have to pray hard tonight.
“Boys,” Pastor Zane’s scolding voice echoed through the room as he marched back through the doors, boxy frame straining against his too tight polo, holding his hands out in frustration. The game screeched to a halt, no explanation as to their wrongdoing necessary. Manny and the three other shirtless boys bowed their heads and jogged over to the bench to retrieve their shirts and make themselves modest before the girls returned. 




 
 
R.C. Dickens is the pen name of Juniper Ray, a black, queer writer, choreographer, teacher’s assistant and disaster living in Appalachia with big dreams of escaping out to the West Coast. Along with their debut novel, Crown of Blooms, they have worked as a ghostwriter for several years and have published several short stories. In 2023, Juniper won the Webby Award for Best Single Episode of a Podcast for their appearance on Snap Judgement. When they aren’t writing (which is rarely) Juniper enjoys dancing, singing, anime, cosplay and generally being a menace to the general public. 

 

 

 


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