By the end of the day, I hated my school. I hated the people there. I hated the teachers, but most of all, I hated that day. I knew it was going to be a bad day ten minutes after I woke up.
I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth when I heard a knock on the door. "Yes?"
"Nick's outside on the porch. He said the two of you were waiting on someone named Pat to pick you up and take you to school. Why are you waiting for him when you have your own car?" my mother asked through the closed door.
"Pat and I decided it would be better to face this thing together."
"Oh, I see," said my mother.
"Do you have all the same classes?" my father's voice asked as it came through the door.
"No."
"So you're not going to be together all day?"
"No."
"So why does he have to come here to pick you up like you're some girl?"
I dropped the toothbrush and spit out some toothpaste and then I opened the bathroom door to look at my parents. "Today is probably going to be the worst day of my life and if my boyfriend wants to be at my side to start the day and make it a little easier for me, then so be it!" I made eye contact with my father. "Since I'm such a girl, maybe I need my big strong boyfriend to protect me." I flashed him a smile and slammed the door in their faces.
I was surprised my father didn't break the door down so he could hit me for speaking to him like that. I heard my father and mother talking to each other and then there was another knock at the door. "What?"
"It's just me," said my mother, "I want to meet this boy when he comes here."
"We don't have time for that."
"You better make the time because you will not leave this house with some strange boy! Do you understand me?"
"Yes Mother."
"Good. Now I'm going to go talk to your father and we'll wait on the porch with Nick."
"I don't think Dad should be anywhere near Nick."
"It'll be okay, besides he's like a father to Nick, those two are going to have to patch things up eventually."
"Nick has a, had a father. You know what I mean. Dad is not Nick's father and he never will be. He really hurt Nick's feelings."
"Well what better time to work it out than the present?"
"Mom!"
"We'll be outside. Now you hurry up before your boyfriend
gets here."
I heard her walk away so I resigned myself and Nick to our fates. I finished brushing my teeth and gargling with some mouthwash, and then I opened the door to head to my room. I was only in my towel as I passed by my little sister in the hallway. "Save that for your boyfriend," she teased.
I blushed. The comment didn't seem right coming from her. I went to my room and put on some clothes and by the time I was done, everyone was on the porch. I walked out to find my father and Nick laughing about something. "What's so funny?" I asked as I stepped on to the porch. My father stopped laughing and had a tense look on his face.
"Nothing. We were just talking about old times," Nick said.
"Oh." I noticed my little sister so I turned my attention to her. "What are you doing out here?"
"I want to meet him, too."
"But you already know who he is, and you've seen him before."
"Yeah, but that's not the same as meeting him."
"Whatever." I was on the porch for about five more minutes when Pat pulled up.
"Try to be nice," my mother said to my father as I walked to Pat's car.
I felt so bad telling Pat that he had to meet my parents. He looked scared shitless when he got out the car. I grabbed his hand when we reached the bottom of the steps. He jumped, but he didn't take his hand away. I whispered, "Relax. Everyone knows we're together now. It's okay for you to hold my hand. I'm here." We exchanged a look and his eyes thanked me. I couldn't stop myself from beaming. Physical contact with him did that to me, even on days as horrible as I was sure that one would be. My father was rude to him but my mother and sister were decent.
Pat was acting weird when we got in the car. He seemed like he was in a hurry to leave, so I stopped him. I wanted to tell him that the night before I realized I loved him and I needed him, but I didn't want to overwhelm him, so I tried to say it without saying it. I think he got it though because after I told him, he looked in to my eyes like I was the only person in the world. That was a great feeling.
When we reached school, some guys from the hockey team were there waiting to talk to us. This guy, Jeremy, came over and was telling Pat that the hockey team was behind us. He directed a few of his comments to me, but I knew what he was saying, `The hockey team was behind Pat, and only behind me because I was attached to Pat,' but I welcomed any support Jeremy gave me and hoped that the day might be okay after all.
Nick and I were joking around with each other, trying desperately to keep our minds off of what might be waiting for us inside the building. We started wrestling in the grass and that's when my school day from hell officially began. Matt, my ex- friend, came up and was talking trash so I had to put him in his place. I made it seem like he was gay too, which was probably not the best way to handle the situation, but I was working on auto pilot. I knew he could never whip my ass in a fair fight and to make it even better, he knew it too. The bell rang so he left before things escalated too much, but I knew it wasn't over.
Nick and I separated from Pat after we entered the building. Nick walked with me to my locker and there in huge black letters was FAG, spray painted across it. I looked at Nick and he looked at me but we didn't say anything about it. I grabbed my books and since we were already late, I went to Nick's locker with him. His locker looked just like mine.
"Oh great!" he exclaimed when he saw his locker. He was pissed off and I didn't know what to say, so I kept my mouth shut. As I watched Nick gathering his books, I thought about Pat. I assumed Pat's locker was the same as ours and I wondered how he felt, seeing that for the first time, alone. At least Nick and I had each other.
I walked in class late and a few guys called me a faggot. Idiots. The teacher just told them to be quiet, but she didn't say anything else. She was only concerned that they interrupted her class. "Nice of you to join us, Mr. Masters," she said as I sat down at my desk.
"Sorry, I had a personal issue."
"What, taking it up the ass in the bathroom?" Some guy joked.
"That's enough, Mr. Washington," my teacher told him. "Next time you better have a note, Mr. Masters."
"Yes, ma'am." I should have skipped that class because I sat in my seat and tried to act as if everything was normal, but truthfully, the longer I sat there, the more I thought about the rest of the day. I couldn't imagine what else was in store for me and the guys.
Over my next few classes, I discovered that the football players were the worst, probably because most of them were evenly matched with me physically. Even the shorter guys on the team could give me a run for my money. They were awful to me in the hallways. I was tripped a few times. One guy knocked my books out of my hand. I was shoved against the lockers almost every few steps.
By the time lunch rolled around, I was pissed off at myself for not fighting back even though I knew I was outnumbered. I wondered where the hockey players were hiding and why none of them had come to my defense. The thought of going in the cafeteria petrified me, but I was meeting Pat at our usual table, and I was not going to disappoint him.
I was in the food line when I was surrounded by a group of football players. "Laurie tells us you turned Drew gay!" one of them barked at me.
`Just like her, a bitch to the end,' I thought. "What? I didn't"
The guy stopped me. "She told us that Pat was the only gay one in that group until you came along, you and that Nick. Pat was lost to us a long time ago, but now you've ruined Drew and John."
I stared at the guy trying to figure out where I knew him from. "You use to be friends with Pat." I stated more to myself than to him, as images of him and Pat goofing off in gym class freshman year entered my head.
"Yeah, before I found out he was a fag."
The guy was a few inches taller than me, and had at least fifty pounds on me, so I started to back away when he stepped closer. "I didn't do anything," I told him. Soon I had backed in to whatever was behind me. It felt like another football player, but I was too afraid to turn around and find out. Whatever it was, it pushed me forward and the guy in front of me grabbed me.
He leaned close to my ear and whispered, "We're going to give you the same special we gave Nick." He stayed close to me like that longer than I thought he needed to. I felt him inhale my scent and for a second I was afraid he might kiss me or something. I could feel myself shaking. He pushed me away. "Yep, he smells like pussy," he reported to his crowd of guys. They all laughed and I looked for the nearest exit since it was apparent that the teachers in the room were not going to intervene until I was on the ground.
"Leave him alone!" someone said.
We all turned and looked at the door. I was relieved to see Pat, standing next to John and Drew. `Drew? What the hell is he doing here?' I wondered. Pat ran to my side, like my valiant knight, and shocked me when he grabbed my hand.
"Aww, isn't that cute," said the guy.
"Shut up Eric and leave him alone!" Pat screamed.
The guy stepped closer to us. John helped Drew as he hobbled in front of us. Drew started talking, "I told you to leave him alone Eric. Your problem is with me, so be a man for once in your life and deal with your problem."
"Uh-oh you guys, I think the crippled fag is getting angry." Two guys laughed but the others looked hesitant to go against their captain. Eric looked Drew up and down. "I take it your father found out about you," he scoffed.
"Shut up, Eric!" Drew told him.
"I should have figured out you were a faggot years ago when you were big enough to kick your father's ass. Only a faggot lets someone like that beat on them."
"Shut up Eric!" John shouted.
"No," Eric shouted back. "He needs to hear this! Hell are you sure he didn't enjoy getting hit?" He looked directly at Drew. "You sure it didn't turn you on, just a little, having someone else dominate you? We all know how you faggots like to be dominated." Drew moved suddenly. He swung at Eric, but Eric moved out of the way. Drew lost his balance a little and then fell to the floor in pain. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Eric gloated.
"You little bastard!" John exclaimed as he charged towards Eric. John punched Eric square in the nose.
Eric grabbed his nose and looked at John. "Did your father teach you that?" he asked with venom in his voice and a smile on his face. John lost it. He started whaling on Eric and beating the shit out of him. We all stood around, dazed. I don't think any of us knew John had it in him to snap like that. A few seconds later, John had Eric on the ground and he was kicking and stomping on him. A hand reached up and grabbed one of John's legs, causing him to fall forward over Eric's body. That's when the shock wore off and we all started to come back to reality. It all happened so quickly.
John's head jerked around almost fast enough to cause whiplash. "Why'd you do that?" he asked Drew.
"I kept telling you to stop, but you wouldn't. I had to stop you."
John stood up and brushed himself off. "I didn't hear you," he said almost in a whisper.
"I know."
John looked at his hands. "My hands are bloody," he said, like he was surprised.
"Yeah, they are."
John's face went pale and he started to slowly turn around. He looked down at Eric's body. "Eric?" he called, asking for a response.
"You killed him," one of the football players screamed.
"No, no. I wouldn't. I-I couldn't."
"You didn't," croaked Eric, "and you still kick like a girl." He looked delirious as he chuckled a little and some blood spouted out from his mouth. "Somebody help me up." One of the football players extended his arm and tried to pull him up. "Ahh, shit! Stop, stop, stop! Don't do that!" Eric shouted. "Just leave me alone!" The guy let him go and Eric's arm fell to the ground. "Shit!" he exclaimed.
That's when I heard another voice, yelling at someone on the side. "Get out the damn way! You're already suspended, and if you don't move in the next second every last one of you will be expelled! Now move!" That voice made me look around and that's when I noticed there were three rings around us. The inner one was the football players. The middle was a group of hockey players. Apparently the hockey players were blocking the path of the teachers who were in the third ring. My teammates began to move apart and so did the football players.
The principal walked through the path and surveyed the scene. "What the hell is this?" he asked out loud, but we all knew he wasn't really asking us.
Pat squeezed my hand and I realized we were still holding hands. I immediately pulled mine away. I felt his eyes move to me, but I couldn't look at him. I was too ashamed of what I had just done. I was the one who started the whole `holding hands in a difficult situation' thing, and there I was, pulling away when I should have been squeezing tight.
"I want you all in the detention room right now! Right now! And someone call another ambulance!" The principal demanded.
Everyone started darting around. John, Pat and I helped Drew to his feet and we helped him to the detention room in the basement of the school. Once we were all seated, Jeremy came over. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine." Pat told him. "Why did you guys block the teachers out?"
"Because Eric deserved it after what he did to Nick."
That's when I remembered what Eric had told me, `We're going to give you the same special we gave Nick.' "What did he do to Nick?" I asked.
"Everyone sit down and shut up!" The vice-principal ordered as he entered the room flanked by two police officers.
c Lustyville 2006 Please send comments to lustyville@yahoo.com and check out my yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lustyville.