It was show time... Philip and David were at the school flagpole with the rest of the kids enjoying the last moments before they had to go in for class. The first kiss went unnoticed but the second and the third did not. Between the moans and sounds of disgust and a few cheers, the two of them made out in front of everybody.
"I told you they were queer!" Thomas's voice came across the schoolyard.
"Your point being?" Philip snickered back. "So are you but at least we don't sleep with anything with a dick... slut."
"What did you call me?" Thomas, red face stormed over.
"A slut!" Philip shouted back... triggering a laugh from the crowd.
"Don't ya'll all see... both of them are gay!" Thomas said desperate to turn the attention back on Robert and Philip.
"Well considering my family... is this a big surprise!" David laughed before he gave Philip another kiss to emphasize his point.
"Man... but we wrestle together." One of David's teammates moaned.
"And I always beat you!" David laughed. "Don't worry Jarred, as you can see you are not my type." David grinned as he wrapped an arm around Philip and walked him to the front doors of the school.
As soon as they entered they were met by the principle. "That will be enough gentlemen." He said with a disapproving tone. "You can make your political statements on your own time... not here."
"Yes Mr. Stern." Both David and Philip said but not before giving each other a quick peck on the cheek before parting ending their coming out performance.
Nathan of course missed all this. It was decided that it would be best for him to be out of eyesight during David and Philip's performance so that Thomas would not be reminded of David's attraction to him.
Instead Nathan got a first eyewitness account of what happened from his friends Galen and Melissa.
"So David and that Philip fellow are queer. Is there a single straight guy in your family?" Galen moaned.
"Well according to Rebecca... Nathan here is very straight."
"Gosh... does anything stay secret?" Nathan moaned.
"Hey... you should be lucky that she told all the cheerleaders... none of them think you are gay... you're not gay... right?"
"Yes..." Nathan sighed. He was not really lying... he was bi... not gay.
Last spring during an away baseball game he and Rebecca had made out on the bus ride back with the soccer equipment make a sort of curtain. The guys being guys had kept their mouths shut, only giving Nathan a knowing smile. The girls though... they had talked it up across the school. Nathan, the cute, innocent, soccer player all the girls liked and all the parents hoped their daughters would bring home was not so innocent as everyone assumed. All that blabbing though did give Nathan an excuse not to date her when she kept calling him. Still, since then the girls would whisper and gossip about which one of them would get him next.
"So Nathan... how long have you known?" Galen asked.
"Asked what?" Nathan feigned ignorance.
"How long have you known that David was gay?" Galen asked again.
"Ummm... a few days." Nathan admitted.
"Only a few days... Wow, I'm surprised he could keep something like this secret from you."
"It is not like David is a flaming queer." Melissa said to his defense.
"Yeah... he's like the anti Greg."
"What do you mean?" Nathan asked a little perturbed by their comments.
"Well... you know Greg. He's not the most masculine guy in school. Not as bad as Thomas mind you but hey I think even Thomas has to work at being so outrageous." Melissa.
"Its just that Greg is more of your stereotyped gay teenager... you know thin, shy, artsy, a little too sensitive " Galen said worried about the anger growing in Nathan's eyes.
"Greg is my brother... so is David." Nathan warned.
"Hey I know Nathan, but is it not weird that they are all gay."
"Do you think there is something wrong with that?"
"No... but it seems to give proof that homosexuality is genetic." Melissa giggled. "Your family should become a science study."
"My family is my family regardless if they are all gay or not." Nathan defended them. And if the two of you have a problem with that..."
"I don't." Galen said quickly. He really valued his friendship with Nathan. "I was not sure how you were handling it."
"I'm handling it fine and I recommend that ya'll do the same."
"Ok... but just answer me one more question..." Melissa asked.
"What is it?" Nathan moaned afraid of what kind of question it is.
"Which one is the wife?" She managed to say before bursting into laughter.
"That's it..." Nathan said as he picked up his backpack and left."
"Hey..." Galen ran after Nathan.
"Yes Galen..." Nathan sighed as he turned to face him.
"Sorry about all that... we thought you would see it funny."
"Well I don't." Nathan said seriously.
"I know... I should have know better... Is everything ok? I know you are close to your brothers."
Nathan thought about it for a second before deciding he would tell Galen what had been going on. "Well a lot of things have happened. My dad and Andrew broke up. Andrew took Greg with him so he no longer lives at home any more."
"Dang... I was wondering where he went off. He is usually hanging around you or Emily."
"Well he and Emily had a little falling out. Greg is going to finish up at a private school."
"Really, I hope he can handle it."
"Greg is stronger then you think Galen." Nathan said not for the first time.
"I know, I know, but you have to admit that he carries himself like a weak breeze would knock him over."
"He just needs some self confidence."
"Well you tried to help him with that."
"Yeah..." Nathan sighed. He worried how Greg was handling his first day at his new school.
"Nathan... I know you like acting all happy and stuff even when you are sad but I want us to be... well more truthful to each other. So if you ever want to talk about things I would hope you would talk with me. Hey... you know how bad my folk's divorce was. I'm sure Andrew and your dad are not as bad as they were."
"I hope it does not get that bad." Nathan agreed.
Galen's parents did not have a divorce so much as a two front war. While they were hacking at each other's emotions they tried to get their kids to see things their way. It was all too much for Galen so he had turned to the one adult he still had respect for... Josh Harper, his baseball coach. Working out a plan, Galen had practically moved into Nathan's house for three months until the divorce was finalized and his father moved out of the state. Galen would tell his folks that he was just studying or going to a sleepover but in truth he had moved himself into the guest bedroom. Doing so save his sanity and made him a good friend of Nathan's.
"I'm sure it won't... your dad is a very sensible person."
"He was raised on a farm... they don't make them more sensible anywhere else." Nathan laughed at Galen's description of his father.
"So long as you know I'm ready to return the favor."
"No need to... just lay off David."
"Hey... I like him... he's not my type though."
"Well what is your type?" Nathan asked.
"Well let see, has to be over six feet tall, brown hair, blue eyes, athletic, good sense of humor..." Galen began to list off. "Has to get along with all my friends, must be very caring... someone who I can lean on. Am I forgetting anything?"
"Yes." Nathan laughed.
"Oh yeah... must be female." Galen said in an off-handed tone.
"Yep... I thought you forgot that... someone would almost think you were gay."
"Not in this lifetime." Galen laughed. "But I have to admit that your family has a lot more style then mine."
"Well that's all because of uncle Robert... he doesn't trust Josh to help out with the school clothes shopping. He doesn't even let Josh pick out his own clothes most of the time. I wonder what my dad is going to do with his flannel pajamas."
"Why... Robert never sees them."
"Oh he does now."
"You mean your uncle is now sleeping with your Dad."
"Ewww... that makes it sound so ... so incestuous." Nathan complained.
"Well you do call him your uncle."
"I need to get in the habit of calling him dad."
"So Robert and your real dad are going to get hitch?" Galen asked.
"Looks like it."
"Weird... my soccer coach and my baseball coach are getting married."
"Hahahahaha... should we invite the whole gang to the ceremony?"
"That would be cool. Too bad we are all too big for our uniforms. We could wear our school uniforms though. Most of the guys still play, either in high school or in clubs.
"You can but I can't... this is my dad we are talking about so I think I would need to dress up."
"Ok... but you will ask him if we can all go to his wedding?"
"Yes, I'll ask him."
"Good... this might be my only chance to see what a gay wedding is like."
"I don't know how different it will be from a normal wedding." Nathan replied.
"Well it would be like an all guys wedding... none of formality that women seems to always want."
"Who knows, my dad might like that sort of stuff."
"What... all that lace and flowers?"
"Well..." Nathan said uncertainly. His dad was not big on ornaments and gilding.
"I didn't think so... all the weddings I've been to the brides and mother's have been in charge, it would be good to see something different and hopefully more relaxed."
"Yeah... it would be interesting to see who takes charge of the ceremony. If I had to bet money I would have to say Robert." Nathan laughed.
"Man... then I have to be there."
"Just so you can make fun of it?"
"No... Robert is cool. I'm sure it is going to be one hell of a party."
"Yep... he would want to make sure that it is a big celebration." Nathan agreed just as the bell rang the start of first period.
"Well I'm off to chemistry." Nathan said as he gave Galen a pat goodbye.
"See ya then... it's going to be an interesting day." Galen said as he headed for his trig class.
Greg's dad escorted his son to the administrative offices of the school an hour before classes were supposed to start. As soon as they arrived a sectary led them to a conference room where three people waited for them.
"Good to finally meet you Mr. Windship." The man who had been sitting at the head of the table said as he got up and shook Greg's hand.
"Thank you." Greg said but didn't really feel.
"Thank you...?" The man asked as he held on to Greg's hand.
"Sir..." Andrew whispered to his son when Greg didn't reply immediately.
"Thank you sir." Greg said, finally getting the hint. "It was going to be one of THOSE schools;" Greg thought to himself.
"Have a seat young man so we can talk about your future." The man, satisfied with Greg's second attempt, said as he let go of Greg's hand.
Greg took a seat next to his father, opposite where the three men were sitting. The man who shook his hand also returned to his chair, in the middle of the two other men, the one on the right looking to be in his mind twenties while the other looked to be in his forties.
"I am Dr. Larson." The man in the middles said one he had sat himself down. "I am the headmaster of this school. To my left is Mr. Bremen, he will be your tutor. He is new here so give him an easy time. To my right is Dr. Randall. He is the school consoler. As you are new here you will have to see him once a week for the next six weeks so we can monitor how you are settling in."
At this point Dr. Larson stopped to see if Greg had any questions. Greg though just nodded his head that he understood.
Containing Dr. Larson began to explain the role of Mr. Bremen. It turned out the school had a very low student to teacher ratio of one to three, which allowed each student to spend two one-hour secessions a day with their tutor working to develop the their reading and writing skills. Greg knew that such a school must be costing his dad a fortune. He just hoped that his father would not remind him of that fact.
Dr. Larson looked with favor on Greg's relative clean record at school, only getting detention twice for being late to class too many times. He did notice the lack of sports on Greg's school records as well, something that Dr. Larson informed Greg would change while he was here.
"I don't care if you never hit the ball, make a basket, or win a race, every student here has to participate." Dr. Larson said with some enthuses.
Dr. Larson then went over the rest of his schedule... chemistry, Brit. lit., computer science, Algebra II, and world history. This left one class unlisted. "Well, I think that is all we need you for Mr. Windship." Dr. Larson said to Greg's dad.
"Ok... I better get to the office then." Andrew said as he took Dr. Larson's offered hand before leaving. "Take care Greg."
"Bye dad." Greg said more as a sigh. So far he was not happy with the choices his dad was making for him.
Once his father was gone, Mr. Bremer spoke up. "Well your father did not notice that we did not list your entire schedule. We wanted to talk to you alone about that."
"Ok..." Greg said nervous about what they would want to hide from his father.
"Your dad told us to make you elective course public speaking. He says that you tend to be shy and from what I have seen so far he might be right." Dr. Randall said.
"But..." Dr. Larson broke in. "We also noticed all the art classes and camps you have been to. It would be a shame for you to give something up when you seem to clearly enjoy it."
"But won't my dad be mad?" Greg said nervously.
"Our school is not just to educate you the way your folks want, it is also to prepare you for the real world. That means teaching you how to stand up for yourself. So if you tell us you would prefer to take art over public speaking then I see no problem in changing your schedule." Dr. Larson finished.
"..." Greg remained silent.
"Well...?" Mr. Bremer asked hoping to get a response.
"..."
"Then I guess you will be taking..." Dr. Larson began to say.
"Art...sir. I'll take the art class." Greg finally spoke up.
"Good for you young man!" Dr. Larson smiled. "Now that is out of the way I'll leave you in the care of Dr. Randall."
Finished, Dr. Larson got up and left the room, but not before giving Greg a pat on the back. Mr. Bremen stood up next, told Greg he would see him in about two hours and walked out himself, leaving Greg with the school shrink.
"Now that they are all gone we can talk." The middle aged man said as he took a seat next to Greg.
"What are we going to talk about?" Greg asked nervously.
"About you mostly... how you see yourself... what your family is like, who are your friends... what do you see yourself doing in the future."
"Ok..."
"So tell me." The man grinned.
"Where should I start?"
"Well, tell me about your family."
"Well my dad just broke up with my other dad... Josh... forcing me to move out and come here."
"And you are not happy about that?"
"No... I'm mad about it. Everything was fine until my dad messed things up."
"Well if you ask me, things were not that great if your dad decided to do all these changes or, do you think your dad is trying to make your life miserable?"
"No... he was just unhappy." Greg admitted.
"Is that what you think?" Dr. Randall asked, not as a challenge but to make sure that is what Greg believed.
"Yeah... I guess I do."
"Still, you have every right to feel a little un-rooted by all this."
"Yeah..."
"So... your father told me that you are gay... do you have a problem with this?"
"No... do you."
"No, it's just that most kids have problems dealing with their sexuality."
"Well I never did. My dads always made sure that I would be accepted regardless."
"Good. Tell me about your friends."
"I don't have any."
"You don't?" Dr. Randall said in mock surprise.
"Well there is Nathan... but he is more like my brother then a friend."
"And who is Nathan?"
"My other dad's son."
"Ok... is he gay too?"
"I'm not sure if I can tell you that."
"Why not?"
"Well you might tell someone else."
"Don't worry, unless you are thinking or know about someone breaking the law or hurting themselves then you have nothing to worry about."
"Ok... Nathan is not gay." Greg finally said.
"So are most kids... why do you want me to keep it secret?"
"He is not gay... he thinks he is bi." Greg clarified.
"I see... and that is hard for you to accept."
"Well I wish he was one or the other. If he was gay it would be really cool cause then he and I could talk about how hot we find some guy. If he is straight that would be cool as well cause then I could be an uncle someday."
"Then what is the problem of him being bi?"
"Cause I don't know how to relate to him. I know what to expect from straight kids and I know how gay kids are like as I'm one myself. I just don't know what to do with someone who is both."
"I think you should talk to Nathan like you have always have. It is not like he has changed overnight."
"He has for me though. I mean I've seen Nathan kissing girls but know I am seeing him kissing guys as well."
"So you just found out that Nathan is bi?" Dr. Randall asked.
"Yes."
"Well then I think it might take some time but you need to talk with him about these feelings. I'm not Nathan so I can't tell you what is going through his head. You need to ask him about that."
"I'll do that then." Greg said, finally smiling.
Dr. Randall returned the smile before he took out a folder. "Good... now we can get to the good stuff." He said as he handed Greg a packet of papers.
"What is this?" Greg asked looking thought the hundreds of multiply choice questions.
"An aptitude test. It will give as a "fuzzy" look at what you are good at and what things you are interested in."
"Ok... " Greg replied nervously.
"Don't worry, as I said it gives us a fuzzy look into your mind. What we talk about together and what you do in class means a lot more."
"Alright." Greg understood but didn't feel any better.
"I'll be going now. Take your time. When you are done give the test to the lady at the front desk. Mr. Bremer should be waiting for you by then to take you to your first tutorial."
"Thank you sir." Greg remembered to say.
"Good to meet you Greg." Mr. Randall replied before leaving.
Well we just reached the halfway point... the rest of the story can be found here
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adultwritingworkshop/