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Started at the Bus Stop Chapter 36
Percy didn't tell anyone that Bryan wasn't coming back until he was alone with William and had sworn him to secrecy. "I think it's best that the others find out officially first," Percy said.
William said he was sorry to lose Bryan but that they had clearly not seen the true Bryan. "I think he's got more serious problems than not liking you. There's something in there that's been lurking in the background. Perhaps that was what led him to try and screw that girl. It just came out when someone else, someone he despised unfairly, showed him up."
They did not have to keep it secret for long. The Wednesday after the meeting in Magohan's office, Ian Magohan made an unusual appearance at the morning assembly. Normally the assembly was led by the deputy Head Teacher or by one of the Heads of Year, and usually only about half the teachers were present. The pupils knew something different was up as they watched all the teachers file onto the stage in their graduation robes, followed by the Heads of Year and then the Deputy Head. They stood waiting in front of their seats for about half a minute. Ian Magohan entered and said, "Good morning, staff and pupils." He waited for the usual response from the pupils wishing `sir' a good morning, and then he told everyone they could sit down.
Once everyone was seated he continued, "By now you will have worked out that this is not a normal Wednesday assembly. There are two main reasons for that which we will come to shortly, but first, please stand for the hymn and prayer." Most schools had already dropped the hymn singing and prayers in favour of having nothing religious to prevent offending other faiths, but Magohan was a bit of a traditionalist. The school information pack sent out to every family that requests an application for enrolment states that this school would continue to have a Church of England base and would continue to use Christian hymns and prayers in its assemblies.
After the prayers, the school was invited to sit down again. Magohan began, "I will begin by advising you of developments following a recent assault on one of our pupils by another that required the assistance of paramedics and a hospital visit by the victim. Many of you will know exactly who I am talking about, but there is no need to give out names today. Despite an offer of leniency from the victim, the attacker showed no remorse and made no effort to make matters right. As a result, he has now left this school and will not return. Not only does he leave us under a cloud, his history will follow him to his new school, where hopefully he will behave in a more respectful manner. Let this be a warning for each and every one of you. We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour. Disagreements should be worked out in a civil manner without physical aggression. Any future incidents of this nature will be dealt with very strongly. A message to this effect has been sent out to all parents and legal guardians."
He paused to let this information sink in. "Just as this school will not tolerate bad behaviour, we will also recognise good behaviour. It has been brought to my notice that there is a pupil here who has been helping his classmates with subjects they've been struggling with for the entire time he has been at this school. And that is despite the fact that most of his classmates have treated him in an appalling way. Generally this sort of thing would go unnoticed and unrewarded, but this particular pupil has helped others as well. Last week I received a letter from another school, one that specialises in helping challenged pupils. It is this letter that has prompted us to do a bit more. Mr. Percival Nisbett, please come up on the stage."
At first Percy didn't move. He was not sure that he had heard correctly, but when William and Barrie both pushed him, he stood up and made his way to the stage. For once even the twittering of pupils having hushed conversations during assembly was silenced as he walked down the aisle to the front of the hall and then up the steps to the stage.
"I would like you all to listen to the words of this letter," Magohan said and began to read. "We would like to commend to you one of your pupils, Percival Nisbett. Several other teachers and myself were privileged to meet this young man the other evening when he kindly came to our school to show us how he had helped one of our pupils to grasp concepts we have been struggling to teach for months. This humble young man showed us a new way to look at our teaching methods, which will help not just the student he has helped but all of our students, now and in the future. His contribution to helping our challenged students is immeasurable. He is a credit to your school." Magohan paused to fold the letter and place it on the lectern. "Mr. Nisbett, we have been doing some research and discovered just how much you have been willing to help others, even though they were never friendly and gave you a lot of abuse. It takes a strong person to maintain that attitude in the face of such adversity. And to receive a letter like the one that I've just read out makes this school very proud. You may not have stood out in front of the school and done something good, but you have done something greater than that by going about doing your good quietly. In recognition of this, the staff felt it was fitting to give you an award now, instead of waiting until the end of the year. Percival Nisbett, it is my pleasure to present you with this Honours Award." Magohan held out a framed certificate with one hand and offered his other hand to shake Percy's. As their two hands met, there was a shout and whistle from the back of the hall and spontaneous clapping that soon spread across the hall and included the staff on the stage.
Percy was asked to remove his blazer and tie. The deputy head stepped forward carrying a blazer and tie. The general school blazer and tie were in navy and silver stripes. Percy was now given an Honours tie, navy with a single school crest printed on it. Once he had his new tie on, he was helped into the Honours blazer, solid navy with the school crest on the breast pocket and silver edging to the collar and lapels. Finally he was handed a carry bag holding his old tie and blazer, which he would take home and never wear again.
Magohan told Percy he could return to his seat. As Percy left the stage there was another round of clapping and whistling. Magohan waited until the noise began to abate and then held up his hand for silence. After a few moments silence descended and he was able to continue. "Your reaction proves to me that you appreciate what it means. Any of you can earn this honour by following Mr. Nisbett's example. Be conscientious about your studies. Help others. Make this school proud to list you as one of our pupils. But know this: this is not an easy award to win. As you go about school today look at how many of your fellow students are wearing the honours tie and blazer. There are but a handful, and they all deserve your respect and thanks for what they have done for you and for this school. Aim high and you too might one day be able to proudly wear this honour."
As Percy went back to his seat, he could see the biggest smile, by far, was plastered across William's face. Any of their classmates looking at him would have to wonder just how close the two boys were. As Percy drew near, his group of friends all stood up and began to clap for him again. The head teacher allowed this for the few moments it took for Percy to get to his seat and receive pats on the back from his friends. William held his certificate while he got seated and then passed it back for Percy to get his first good look at it.
The head teacher made a few more announcements and then turned to leave the stage. As he did so, everyone stood up. Assembly was over. An immediate buzz broke out across the hall as pupils started to chat to each other. Being near the back, Percy and his friends were some of the first out of the hall, and then he was being congratulated and told it was about time someone other than a good sportsman got recognised.
"You deserve that more than those guys who get their colours for whatever sport they play," William said.
Being awarded colours for a sport or several sports was considered an equal award to the Honours award. The sports colours were the opposite of the honours award. Their tie was a silver-ish grey with the school crest and their blazer was a light grey with navy edging. Winners of the school colours were also allowed to wear matching light grey flannel trousers instead of the dark grey the rest of the school wore. Honours winners were allowed to choose between the dark grey and charcoal flannel trousers.
Percy had already decided he was going to order in some charcoal trousers. For the first time in school, Percy felt really proud of what he had done and was glad to have some friends to share it with. What helped to make him feel even better was that his new friends genuinely were pleased for him and all felt he deserved this award. It also put him in line for consideration to be a prefect the following year.
At their first break they were all talking about Percy's award and Bryan's departure when Gregory Mitchell and a few of the other members of the rugby team approached them. "We just wanted to congratulate you, Nisbett, on a well-earned award," Gregory said, holding out his hand to shake Percy's. Gregory was wearing his colours tie and blazer, which he got for representing the school in the First Fifteen Rugby Team.
Percy shook hands with Gregory and said, "Thanks, I appreciate it."
"You deserve it," John, another team member, said. "And we're well rid of Sanderson. He needs to look inside his head and get it sorted."
"There is one other thing. We worked it out that you and Chesterton here must be an item, and judging by the look on his face this morning as you walked back to your seat, we were right. We want you to know that we're okay with that. If you need any muscle to help sort out anyone that isn't okay with it, just shout. We know you didn't want us to do anything to Sanderson, but don't let anyone push you around anymore," Gregory said.
"And the same applies to you too, Chesterton. Anyone give you grief for being gay, let us know and they'll wish they hadn't," John said.
"Thank you, but I don't believe that violence is an answer to any problem. I may not know what the answer is, but wars never seem to sort anything out and just cause a lot of death and destruction, and sadness for too many," Percy said.
"Well, the offer's there. And it might be that we don't wait to be asked," Gregory said. "Anyway, you guys stay well and enjoy yourselves."
"Fucking hell, that is something!" Inky said, after the rugby boys had moved far enough away.
"Yeah, a few weeks ago they might have scorned you. Now they praise you. William, you haven't just opened our eyes to what we were doing to Percy, but you've turned half the bloody school around," Martyn said.
"No. I didn't do that; you guys have, by believing in what I told you about Percy. And by accepting our relationship," William said.
"One thing. It does seem that we're pretty much out to everyone. I don't think we want to go and shout it from the roof top, but I think it would be pretty pointless denying it if asked," Percy said.
"Yeah, I think you're right. Let's just play it by ear and see what happens," William agreed.
"You never know. You might help some others to have the courage to come out as well," Nicky said.
"Are you thinking of anyone specifically or just talking generally?" Percy asked.
"Just generally. Shit! It took me long enough to work out that you two might be gay and you're closer to me than any of the others. But I'm sure you're not the only two in this school," Nicky replied.
"We're not the only ones in our year," Percy revealed.
"What? Who else is gay?" Inky asked.
"I won't even tell William. You all know how good I am at keeping secrets. If they want you to know then they can tell you. I'm pretty sure they think no one knows about them," Percy said.
"Probably a good job Bryan has left us then, because if he found out about any more, who knows what he might have done," Martyn said.
"Well, they've managed to keep it hidden better than Percy and I have done," William said. "Maybe Bryan would never have found out."
"We'll never know now anyway," Inky said.
They had to end their conversation as they had arrived at their first class and had to split to go into different rooms. As Percy entered his classroom, the students who were already inside began to clap and congratulate him.
"Thanks, guys, but this doesn't make me any better than any of you. Just my usual different," Percy said. He was smiling and couldn't hide the happiness he felt at being more accepted and acknowledged.
By not denying their sexual leanings to the members of the rugby team earlier Percy and William had let the cat out the bag, and it wasn't long before several others were either derisive towards them, calling them fags or queers, or were genuinely okay with it but wanted confirmation that the rumours were true. They would never find out who it was that started the ball rolling, but by the end of the week it was pretty universal knowledge among their year. However, those whose approach was not friendly soon found out that they had best not voice their opinion too loudly. Gregory and his fellow teammates were keeping their promise to William and Percy. Fortunately for all, those who got warned off heeded the warning and there was no need for any physical persuasion.
When they left to walk home after school, Juliet was full of praise for Percy and let him know in no uncertain terms that she believed it was fully deserved. They were about half way home when Juliet asked, "Can you stop by for an interim fitting today, please?"
"Fitting for what?" Percy asked.
"Something I'm making for the three boys in my life," she said. "William, I need you for a fitting too, please."
"What on earth are you talking about? I didn't know you were making any clothing for me."
"Something Percy said gave me the idea. But today it's not the whole thing; you'll have to wait to see what my final idea is. I don't think you'll be able to guess it from what I've got done so far." Juliet was being a bit evasive and mysterious, but the boys both felt it wouldn't hurt to humour her.
"Okay, I can spare some time. We do have quite a heap of homework today, but I can still have an `interim fitting'," Percy agreed.
As they approached the house they saw Clive's lift pull up outside their house and drop him off. Clive saw them and instead of heading to the front door, he dropped his bag on the pavement and ran down the street shouting a greeting at them. The TA who had brought him home, got out of the car to make sure that Clive was safe; it was her responsibility to ensure he got into the house and was not left stranded on the doorstep. The TA recognised Percy from the school visit and called out to the older teens asking if they were alright to keep Clive with them. William told her they were, and she got into her car and pulled away.
Once they were inside the house, Juliet told Clive that she needed him for a fitting as well and suggested they all just leave their bags in the hall and go through to her sewing room. Not wanting to give any of them a chance to escape to the kitchen for a drink, Juliet followed behind them, making sure they went to the right room.
"You're going to have to bare your sweet little butts to me, but I'd prefer it if you just all stripped off so I can enjoy all of you," Juliet told them and waited as they began to disrobe.