A Shift in the Universe Christian Mitchell Copyright 2004
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
I was so exhausted that I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. When I woke up the next morning I discovered that I had turned my alarm clock off and immediately went back to sleep. Yet, I didn't remember turning the alarm clock off. So when I finally opened my eyes I realized that I was seriously running late.
I quickly threw on some clothes and dashed downstairs to eat a quick bowl of cereal. I called Kyle on the way to school to let him know that I was on my way. I spent five minutes looking for a parking space because of my tardiness. Once I finally parked I jumped out of my car to wait for Kyle to arrive. He pulled up two minutes later and parked in the grass lot in front of my car.
"Hey," he smiled. "Good morning."
"Yeah," I yawned. "Man, I fucking passed out last night."
"Me, too."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tyler and Paul walking toward us.
"Here we go," I stated.
Kyle glanced in their direction. "Yeah, here we go."
"What's up, bitches?" Tyler called out. Paul elbowed him in the side as they approached. "Oh, sorry. I mean, what's up?"
"A lot of bullshit, that's what's up," Kyle replied.
"First of all, you should have called me back last night," Tyler complained. "Both of you."
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "There was so much going on."
"Hey, Ashley told me that you guys are an item. Is that true?"
"Yeah, it is," Kyle responded. "Believe me, we wanted to tell you and we planned on doing it soon."
"I wish you had," Paul said. "Ashley's a bitch, dude. She got dumped and now she's out for the kill."
"No kidding," I frowned.
"Well, it's all cool with me," Tyler said.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah, you guys are my buddies," he smiled. "I'm surprised. But it's cool."
"I was beginning to think that everyone was going to hate us," I replied.
"Nah. I mean, I watch Will and Grace," Tyler smiled.
Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Is that why you never want to do anything on Thursday nights?" Paul asked.
"Man, shut up," Tyler shouted. "My point is that I'm comfortable with the two of you being a couple. It might take a little while for it to totally sink in. But I'm fine with it."
"Thank you," Kyle said. "That makes me feel better."
"Hey, you're not the only gay people in school," Tyler continued. "You'll be the first that I hang out with on a regular basis. And, it's not like I'm not going to meet other gay people in college. I mean, dude, we live in Los Angeles."
"What about you, Paul?" I asked.
He simply shrugged his shoulders. "Actually, I don't give a shit what you guys do. If you're happy, then I'm happy. And it means that I don't have to worry about you guys cock blocking me. With the two of you out of the running I have a better chance with the girls. So this is all good news to me, man."
The four of us laughed. Then we heard a voice yelling from across the parking lot. At first we couldn't understand what he was saying. The closer he got we heard "fuck you" over and over.
Brandon was walking very quickly with his eyes focused directly on Kyle and me. Tom Whitman was right behind him. Once Brandon was in front of me he pushed me into the side of my car. My elbow slammed into the window and pain shot through my arm. Then everyone started yelling and pushing and pulling each other.
Tyler held onto Brandon by linking his arms through Brandon's.
"What the fuck, man? What the fuck?" was the only thing that Brandon would say. He was so angry that spit was flying out of his mouth each time he said a word.
"You need to calm the fuck down," Paul warned.
"Yeah, what's your fucking problem?" Kyle questioned.
Brandon pulled himself free. "You're my fucking problem," he shouted. Then he pointed at me. "And you're my fucking problem, too."
"Why?" I asked.
"You turned into a faggot and took your best friend along for the ride. You got him to break up with Ashley so you guys could fuck each other."
I was beginning to suspect that everyone thought that I was the one who pressured Kyle into a sexual relationship with me. It seemed like it was too easy of an assumption for Brandon and Kyle's father.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Kyle interjected.
"You're a fucking faggot now, huh?"
"Fuck you!" Kyle shouted.
"No, fuck you," Brandon responded and aimed his fist for Kyle's face.
Tyler and Paul grabbed Brandon by the shoulders while Kyle went flying to the ground. He quickly stood up and threw a punch at Brandon. His fist landed squarely on Brandon's jaw with a loud snap.
"Don't ever fucking touch me again," Kyle warned. "I'll beat your fucking ass mother fucker!" As he shouted he marched toward Brandon forcing him, Tyler and Paul to walk backward into Tom. This forced Tom to react by pushing them toward Kyle.
I quickly grabbed Kyle around the waist and pulled him away. "Stop it!"
Brandon had a bloody lip and Kyle had a bloody nose. My elbow hurt like hell. Tom threw his hands in the air and walked away. Tyler and Paul were sweaty and all worked up.
Despite the energy at that very moment, silence was briefly upon us.
"You're really fucked up!" Tyler screamed at Brandon.
"Me? What the fuck are you talking about? I'm not the fucked up one."
"Yes, you are," Tyler replied with his finger in Brandon's face. "These are your boys. We've grown up together since kindergarten. And this is the way you're going to act towards your friends? That makes you pretty fucked up."
"Ah, man, fuck you Tyler."
"Even if you're pissed off, why come around throwing punches?" Paul interrupted. "That makes you a punk ass bitch!"
Brandon turned to look Paul in the eye. "Fuck you, too." Then he spit in Paul's face.
That action was all it took for the pushing and pulling to start all over again. Once again Brandon started swinging his fists and I was on the receiving end. I lost my footing but used my hand to stop my fall. I quickly straightened up and pushed Brandon with all the strength I had in my body. He went flying backward and landed on the pavement. Before he could get up I jumped on him and held his arms down at his sides.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I yelled. "Why are you doing this?"
"Get the fuck off me," Brandon sneered. "Get off me!"
My right elbow and left cheek ached like hell. Brandon had punched me hard. I could already tell that I was going to have a very bad bruise on my face.
"Just fucking leave!" Tyler shouted. "Get the fuck out of here."
"And don't try this shit again," Kyle warned. "Keep your fucking distance."
Suddenly two security guards arrived on the scene. One was a very tall and muscular black guy named Bruce. The sight of him strutting down the hall usually frightened all the students that crossed his path. The other was an older man that preferred to be called "Dome." I have no idea why.
Bruce yanked me off Brandon with one arm. "Looks like we've got a small riot going on here," he smiled.
"No," Paul replied. "Nothing's going on here."
"That's not what it looked like to us. Ain't that right, Dome?"
Dome said nothing. He nodded his head once and smiled.
"You boys are in a shit load of trouble now."
"Oh, damn, Bruce. Give us a break," Kyle complained.
"No can do, fellas. We're all taking a trip to the office."
"I didn't do shit. And I'm not going anywhere," Brandon shouted as he was about to leave.
Bruce grabbed him by the arm and swung him back around so that he was facing the group. "Don't fucking lie to me, boy. I saw everything."
Dome cleared his throat. "Yep, let's go boys. You know the way."
Bruce pointed at Kyle's car. "Who drives this vehicle?"
"I do," Kyle answered.
"Move it. You can't park on the fucking grass. Park it in the lot and get your ass to the office."
Kyle walked toward his car as the four of us started to walk toward the building. Bruce and Dome followed us all the way to the principal's office. As we passed students many of them whispered and pointed in our direction. A few people laughed. One of the last people we saw was Ashley. She was leaning against her locker with her arms crossed against her chest. She smiled.
One by one we were marched into Principal Michael's office. Tyler was called in first and emerged five minutes later. "Two fucking days suspended," he said as he walked out of the office.
Paul received two days as well.
It was my turn to go one on one with Principal Michael.
His thinning gray hair covered his forehead like spider webs dangling in the breeze. He motioned for me to sit.
"What happened in the parking lot?" he asked.
"I was talking to my friends when Brandon walked up yelling at us."
"What was he yelling?"
"Fuck off."
"So, he was upset with you then?"
"Not just me. But, yeah, he was angry."
"Why?"
"He wasn't happy about some things that have happened since the weekend."
"Well, Marcus, I don't want to get into all the dirty details," he sighed. "This is the first time that you've been in my office. I'm not sure why. And actually I really don't want to know."
I sat silently and nodded my head.
"Bruce and Dome told me that Tyler and Paul were pretty much trying to stop the fight. Is that correct?"
"Yeah. But I didn't want to fight. I was just - - "
"I don't care. Did you hit anyone?"
"Not exactly," I replied.
"Did you lay your hand on anyone else?"
"Yes, but - - "
"Four days suspension," he stated sternly. "You may go now."
"Four days!" I protested.
"I don't care why, who, what or when," he continued. "But where, I do care about. Fighting is not allowed on this campus. And all the students know that."
"But, Principal Michael this is totally going to screw with me my college admissions."
"If you don't leave now I'll give you an extra day for each minute of my time that you waste arguing."
I got up and left the office defeated. "Four days," I said to Kyle on the way out. He shook his head back and forth then stood up and walked into Principal Michael's office.
Brandon glanced at me then flipped me off. "Enjoy your vacation, bitch."
When I arrived at my car I immediately called my mother.
"I was just suspended from school," I told her.
"Why?"
"For fighting," I replied. "Brandon basically walked up to us with his arms swinging and we all got into a fight."
"Who?"
"Me, Kyle, Tyler, Paul and Brandon."
"Marcus. I don't know what to say,"
"I know," I whispered. "I'm sorry, mom. But Brandon was acting crazy and calling us names. He pushed me first and I defended myself."
My mother sighed heavily into the phone. "Okay. I know what this fight was all about. You'll have to wait until I get home. Then we can sit down and talk about it."
"Okay," I replied. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry. It's fine," she said. "Are you hurt?"
"My elbow and my jaw," I answered.
"Well, you need to get ice on that right away. Why didn't they take you to the nurse?"
"I don't know."
"You need to take care of that elbow, Marcus. Think about baseball."
"Yes."
"Go home or stop somewhere along the way."
"I will," I replied.
"Good. I'm sorry, honey, I have to go. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay. Bye."
Kyle and Paul were walking together toward me. Kyle was holding up five fingers. "Can you believe that shit?"
"You're lucky that's all you got," I replied. "Michael was being an asshole."
"Yeah, I know," he frowned. "Fuck. My parents are probably going to kill me. If they didn't want to kick my ass last night, I'm sure they will today."
"What happened last night?" Paul asked.
"I told them about me and Marcus."
Paul winced as if he were in pain. "Ouch."
"No shit," Kyle said. He clapped his hands together. "So, what are we going to do with our free time?"
"First I need to get some ice," I answered.