LEARNING HOW TO FLY Chapter 3 ~Dinner~
Hello Everyone. Here is yet another chapter of my story. As always, comments, praise, and criticism is greatly appreciated and should be send to Pandora0071@lycos.com .
Enjoy! joey
Disclaimer: This is fiction. None of this ever happened and I do not mean to imply anything about the sexuality of any of the celebrities mentioned.
If you are offended by the homosexual content of this story, please leave. If accessing this sort of material is illegal wherever you live, or if you are underage, please leave.
On with the story.
Management had reserved a banquet room in a restaurant not too far from the hotel. It was huge and the two tables in the middle of the room seemed lost in the vast emptiness. After the waiters had brought drinks and food, they vanished and closed the door behind them. Silence descended. No one knew what to say or how to start a conversation. They were almost thankful when Howie knocked over his glass and spilled his water. Nick, who sat next to him, helped him clean up and teased him about being a klutz. The Backstreet Boys laughed and even the Drangonflies could not help but chuckle. Finally the ice was broken.
"So how did you start out?" Kevin asked as they had settled down again.
"Dave and I have been best friends since our freshman year of High School. We were both into music and dreamed of starting our own band. But we needed more instruments." Colin started.
"Yeah, so I asked my sister's boyfriend if he wanted to join, because he plays guitar." Dave continued. Nicky nodded, smiling.
"That was me. Of course I wanted to join. But we still didn't have a drummer."
"So they put an ad in a magazine and millions of people replied, but I was simply the best out of all of them. Naturally, they had to pick me." Jamie took over.
"What we liked best about him was his modesty. He's just so down to earth and humble." Nicky joked.
AJ laughed.
"Yeah, just like me. I'm like the most humble person on this planet."
"Man, Alex, that joke is about a billion years old." Howie complained.
"So, Jamie, you're the youngest, right? Doesn't it suck? I know Kevin likes to treat me like a little kid. Almost worse than having the parents around." Nick's comment had been made in a joking tone, but when he saw the serious expressions on the Dave and Colin's faces, he drew his forehead in lines of confusion.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No, you couldn't have known. I don't really have parents. I grew up in a foster home, so those guys are my only family. And I'm kind of glad that they watch out for me. If it wasn't for them, I don't know where I'd be now." Jamie explained. Nick looked shocked.
"I didn't mean to..." He started, but Jamie shook his head.
"Don't worry. It's alright." Feeling the need to explain himself further, he added "Heck, it's good they treat me like kid. That ad in the paper saved my life. If they hadn't let me join the band, I'd probably be in jail by now." No one had paid any attention the look on Brian's face as he listened to the conversation. But now he chose to open his mouth for the first time since `Dragonfly' had arrived.
"So are there any more secrets? We have a faggot and a juvenile delinquent. What kind of trouble were you in, anyway?" He spat. Kevin turned to look at his cousin in shock. Colin shook his head sadly.
"Kevin, let him speak his mind. If he is going to hate me, I might as well know why." Kevin mouthed `I'm sorry' and covered his eyes with his hands. Jamie was dumbfounded. He had seen many reactions to his past. Most people had pitied him. Some had started to feel uncomfortable around him, unable or unwilling to deal with the situation. But no one had ever looked at him with the contempt that was blatantly visible in Brians eyes.
"I used to smoke weed with my friends every once in a while and I was busted for possession. But since I didn't have much with me at the time, I got off easy with a warning and some social service. I made a mistake and I paid for it. If you still want to hate me because of that, fine by me. But don't you dare hurt Colin."
"No, I won't hate you for that. I'll just look down on you. And don't worry, I'm not gonna touch your friend with a ten foot pole. It's just wrong."
"You've been reading too much of the bible, haven't you?" Colin said with a sigh. He usually didn't bother with people like Brian, but he was going to have to get along with these guys for a while. He'd have to reach some sort of agreement with Brian.
"You can never read too much of the bible. It's God's law and we all have to live by it." Brian replied.
"You know, I've read so many times that you're a level-headed, intelligent young man. But what I'm hearing from you know makes you sound like some ignorant, homophobic redneck. What are you afraid of? That I'm contagious? That I'll hit on you? Brian, I am not afflicted by some lethal disease. I am simply gay. It's not a conscious choice I made; but it's just there and I accepted it. Why can't you?"
"Because I know that it's wrong. Don't you see? It goes against everything we have been taught." Brian seemed actually desperate and for just a second Colin wondered if Brian was gay himself and just trying to cover it up. Many homophobes act the way they do because they are gay and afraid to admit it. A spark of sympathy flared up but he suppressed that.
"It's not wrong. But you're entitled to your opinion just as I am entitled to mine. All I ask of you is that you treat me like the human being I am and refrain from making ignorant comments. Can we agree on that?" Why did his voice sound so tired? Maybe because he had said these words so many times? Maybe because he had said them to his parents, but never received the respect he had asked for? Why was he constantly struggling to be accepted?
Brian shook his head, but didn't say anything. He had made it clear what he thought and there was no point in fighting anymore about it. Not now, not tonight.
The evening was over after that. They didn't feel like eating or talking anymore. They just wanted to get away. And as they all left one by one, no one noticed that Nick scrambled to get away first, tears glistening in his eyes.
Well, that's it for now. joey