30I waited until everyone had left the room and the sounds of laughter disappeared in the distance, and began to pull myself up. It was then that I noticed a small red puddle collecting on the classroom's linoleum floor. With one hand I reached up and wiped the trickling blood from the bottom of my busted open lip. I heard soft footsteps coming my way from the opposite side of the room. Shit, I thought everyone had left.
I turned to see Sean standing there, with a concerned look on his face. He extended his arm towards mine. I'm not usually one to accept help from others, especially in these times of obvious vulnerability. But again, there was just something about him that made me want to accept his gesture. I brought my arm up and our hands clasped together once again, and once again I felt that electric feeling pass through my body as he pulled me up off the floor.
"Are you okay, Emmett?" He asked. Before I could answer, he started over to Mrs. Seltzer's desk, getting the tissues that she kept on her desktop for herself and students to use, and passed them to me. I took a few and wiped at my bloody lip.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." I answered him.
"You wanna go to the nurse's office? I'll walk with you." He said.
"Nah, I don't need to go to the nurse. But you can walk with me to lunch if you'd like." I answered with a smile.
"All right." He responded with a slight grin.
Lunch was just awesome. I sat at a small table with only Sean, and we talked about everything imaginable - well, almost everything. Of course I didn't tell him about me - that I'm gay. But other than that, we talked about almost anything you could think of. He told of his ex lover. He told me how he had been seeing this lover for three years, and got so close that he slept with her, losing his virginity. He said that she was the only person he had ever slept with, because she was the only person he had ever loved. Their relationship ended when she had to move away to another state. He was depressed for so long after that. I didn't do a lot of the talking; I listened. That's what I do best, I'm a listener. That's what people tell me, too. He had all the interesting stuff to say anyway, he talked about his relationship with his ex, whom he said he still loves but has learned to move on, how his life was back in New Jersey where he used to live, and about all his old friends. The only thing I really had to talk about was my uptight parents, and my sister who's a year younger than me, Alyssa. We did make plans to hang out sometime, though. In fact, Sean invited me to stay the night at his house sometime. which of course I readily accepted. We just never set a date. It's really amazing how much we hit it off, I had only known the guy for a few hours since he came into the classroom this morning, and already he was inviting me to stay at his house sometime. I think we're going to be very good friends, which is nice. I don't have many of those around here. All the people around here are severely homophobic. Including my parents, which is why I will never tell them about myself. and, if I ever do, it'll be on my deathbed. I can just imagine the looks on their damn faces as I'm lying on a shitty, worn out bed, and my last words I utter are "Mom, Dad.I'm GAY!" Uh, yeah, anyway.
Before I knew it, lunch was over and we had to go back to class. I got up from the table with Sean.
"Well, I gotta go to Chemistry now. Where do you go?" He asked.
"I go to Wood Workshop. Looks like we have to part ways for a while." I said.
"Yeah well. I guess I'll see you later then." He said, turning and walking away with a wave.
"See ya!" I called back.
The rest of my day went by rather quickly, until I left Workshop and went to Chemistry. It was there that I ran into Steve Christianson.
"Hey, Emmett, you faggot!" He screamed at me the minute I walked in the door.
"Shut up Christianson, I don't have time for your shit right now." I answered him aggressively.
"I see you were sitting with that new kid today during lunch. Is he a fag too? Is he your new boyfriend?" He asked mockingly.
"You know he has a name. It's Sean. And no, he's not my boyfriend, as far as I know he's not even gay, and even if he was, I don't see how in the hell it would be any of your business." I responded with a smirk.
Without warning, he fired a shot into my lower stomach, and I doubled over in pain. He began laughing. I let a smile curl my lips as I lunged at him and tackled him to the ground, letting my fists fly at his head as he tried to protect himself by putting up his forearms. The Chemistry teacher, Mr. Henderson, pulled me off of him after he got a few shots of his own in on my forehead.
"Break it up! If you guys wanna fight, take it elsewhere! I won't have it in my classroom! Emmett, go to the office." He commanded.
I angrily got to my feet and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me. When I arrived at the office, I explained to the receptionist what happened. She pointed out several bruises on my forehead.
"If you want to get an ice pack to stop the swelling on your forehead, there should be some in the in the freezer in the men's locker room." She told me.
"All right." I said. With that, I left the office and headed for the locker room. When I pushed open the heavy double doors, I went right for the freezer. Suddenly, I thought I heard something. I listened intently for a few moments, and then I knew for sure what it was. It was definitely two separate voices. Upon closer inspection, I recognized one of the voices. I knew I wasn't mistaken, that was the voice of Sean! Then, a voice I didn't recognize followed.
"So I saw you sitting with Emmett today during lunch." The guy said.
"Yeah, I was." Sean replied.
"But really though, why are you hanging out with him?" The guy asked.
"Well why wouldn't I?" Sean asked.
"You've got to be kidding me. Don't you know that he's gay?" The guy exclaimed.
"Well no, I didn't, and he hasn't told me so yet. Even if he is, what's it matter? He's still a nice guy." Sean answered.
"Just thought I would let you know, that's all." The guy said. "Well, I gotta get outta here."
"All right." Sean said.
I heard the double doors open and shut. Thinking they both have left the locker rooms, I walked around the corner holding the ice pack to my head. Only a mere moment later that ice went crashing down on the floor of the locker room floor. What I saw standing just a few inches in front of me truly took my breath away. It was Sean. But it wasn't Sean like I had seen him before; this time was different. He wore only a pair of thin red gym shorts - no shirt. He must have been just coming in from the showers, because his body was still wet and glistening in the fluorescent lights of the locker room. My mouth hung open and my jaw dropped at the magnificent sight of his toned, somewhat muscular body. Then, as I regained my composure, I leaned down to pick up the ice pack.
"Hey Emmett." He said. Still struggling to regain my composure, I answered shakily.
"H-Hey S-Sean. What's up?" I asked.
"Not much. What happened to your forehead?" He inquired, pointing to the large bruises.
"Oh. I, uh, just got into a little fight with Christianson." I replied.
"Christianson? Who's that?" He asked.
"The guy who tripped me earlier this morning." I said.
"Oh yeah, him. what's his problem, anyway? Why does he treat you like that?" He questioned.
It was then that I remembered what I had heard him and the other guy talking about a few moments ago. He obviously didn't realize that I had been in here before he saw me. Since he really did know the truth now, I considered telling him exactly why I get treated that way - but decided against it.
"We used to be friends, until his ex girlfriend broke up with him and went after me. Since then, he's hated me." I answered.
God, what a blatant lie that was. Now I feel bad. sort of.
I looked at Sean, waiting for a response. I could tell that there was something bothering him, something that perhaps he wanted to ask me. I knew what it was, too. But for some reason, he didn't ask. Hey, if he wasn't gonna ask, I wasn't gonna tell.
"Well, gym's almost over now, so I gotta get dressed. But I'll see you in a few, in detention." Sean smirked.
"Heh, all right." I said. With that, I went for the double doors and headed for Mrs. Seltzer's room for detention. Before I left the locker room, though, I turned my head back and took one last look at Sean, who was sliding his black jeans on, and then walked out the door.
I arrived at Mrs. Seltzer's room and sat down at the desk with my paperback copy of A Tale of Two Cities, and flipped back the cover. I didn't want to read it, but this was the reason I had gotten detention. so I had to. I saw Mrs. Seltzer looking at me with a satisfied smile out of the corner of my eye. Bitch.
Just then, Sean walked into the room and sat down at the desk next to me. For the next fifteen or so minutes, I sat with the open book covering my face and secretly staring at the clock, watching the minutes and seconds pass. I would have talked with Sean if I could, but Mrs. Seltzer wouldn't allow talking in detention.
"All right boys.." She said, while standing up.
Yes! I'm home free! I shouted inside of my mind.
"I've got a few things I need to go do. To make sure you don't run off somewhere, I'm locking the door from the outside." She said with a grin.
Damn it. Looks like I'll be here for a while longer. Mrs. Seltzer was soon gone, leaving only Sean and I in the room. I tried to keep reading, but the book was so boring. and Sean was so enticing. eventually, I let my eyes wander toward his view, and was surprised to find him looking right at me.
"Hey Emmett. this is gonna sound sort of strange, and I know it's kind of sudden, but there's something I wanted to ask you." Sean spoke.
Uh oh. I knew where this was going. Suddenly I found myself to be grateful that I happened to have been in the locker room during their conversation. It gave me time to prepare for a good, lying answer.
"Now you don't have to answer this if you think it's none of my business, but I've heard around and I'm wondering if it's true." He continued.
Wait a minute. What is my problem? Why am I trying to think up a lie to tell him? I was there in the locker room when nobody knew about it. I heard his honest, true reaction to the truth! Why do I need to hide from him? I don't. and I won't. I will tell him the truth.
"I don't know how to say this. so I'll just spit it out. Are you gay?"
"Yeah. I am." I answered.
"Hey, it's fine with me. I don't have a problem with it at all. I just wanted an honest answer." He told me.
"As long as you aren't like all the other assholes around here, we won't have a problem." I grinned.
He smiled back at me and we both laughed, just as Mrs. Seltzer entered the room once again.
"OK boys. detention's over, you may go home now."
Both Sean and I got up from the desks and grabbed our stuff, anxious to go.
"So where do you live, anyway?" He asked me.
"I'm on Sycamore Street." I answered.
"Cool. I'm on Limerock Avenue." He said.
Just as we were coming upon the exit to the school building, I heard a female voice a few feet behind us that I recognized instantly.
"Emmett! Emmett, hold up!"
My sister, Alyssa, ran up to us.
"What do you want, Alyssa?" I asked.
"Oh. nothing really. I just saw that you were with this hottie here, and I wanted to check him out." She smiled.
Sean immediately blushed, as I began laughing.
"Alyssa. this is my pal Sean. Sean, this is my sister Alyssa. I believe I told you about her at lunch."
"Oh? What did you tell him?" She asked with intrigue, glaring at me.
"Nothing bad." Sean interjected, and then stuck out his hand for greeting. Nice to meet you, Alyssa."
"Likewise." She replied, shaking his hand.
"Well, I've really got to get going. I'm supposed to be home to watch my brother until my mother gets home from work. if I'm not there, she'll kill me." Sean told us.
"All right. See ya later, Sean." I waved slightly.
"Bye!" Alyssa said, with a glazed over look in her eyes.
Oh boy. I could tell, she liked him just as much as I did. I knew that if she knew how much I liked him, she'd back off. but I couldn't tell her. My parents weren't the only ones who didn't know I was gay.
So I ended up walking home with Alyssa. The whole time we were walking home, she was asking me questions about the newly discovered "hottie".
"I haven't seen him around before. Is he new?" She asked.
"Yeah. He just got here today."
"Where's he from?"
"New Jersey."
"Cool! He doesn't have a girlfriend, right?"
"He's single."
"You should have him come here and visit sometime." She said with a mischievous look in her eye as we walked up our driveway.
"I probably will." I told her.
"Hell yeah!" She responded, with the biggest shit-eating grin I have ever seen in my life.
Oh, this was just great. I was going to have to sit here and watch my sister swoon over the guy I wanted.
We walked through the kitchen and into the living room, where my father was sitting in his easy lounge chair, with his feet up, flipping through the channels. He finally stopped on the afternoon news. I was bored and I had nothing better to do, so I sat down and stared at the television. Alyssa went up to her room, more than likely to call one of her air headed friends and tell them about Sean the hottie.
One piece of the news in particular caught my attention.
"Norwester resident Jeffrey Davidson was arrested today after authorities followed tips from citizens as to his whereabouts. A warrant for Davidson's arrest was put out last week after another Norwester resident, Mark Jenkins was found tied to a tree and beaten to death. Police searched Davidson's home to find the steel baseball bat used to attack Jenkins early this morning. Davidson has been taken into custody by Norwester police officials and is awaiting trial next month." The news reporter said.
"He shouldn't be tried for that. All of those damned gays are sinners in the eyes of God, and that Mark Jenkins got exactly what was coming to him." My father belted out.
I scoffed in disgust. When Mark Jenkins was found dead a week ago, it was made highly publicized that he was apparently murdered in an act of hate crime against homosexuals. Like I said before, people around here are so homophobic and hostile. and it's not just the teenagers, either. Those two men that were just talked about on the news are in their late twenties and early thirties. Grown men are committing these types of hate crimes. and the world wonders why I can't come out and be myself to people like them, people like my father.
"What are you scoffing at me for? Don't you agree?" He asked me.
"No, Dad, you know I don't." I answered him.
"Why in the hell not? That Jenkins was a sinner in the eyes of God, in the Bible it says that all homosexuals should be killed. Davidson was doing us all a favor!" My dad shouted.
"Whatever, Dad. I don't give a damn what you think, we're all humans, and nobody deserves to be treated like that - I don't care who you are, what happened to Mark Jenkins shouldn't be happening to anyone, and I hope like hell Jeff Davidson goes to prison for his crime." I said.
"What are ya Emmett? Are you one of those faggots that should be killed off?" He retorted.
"Did I say I was? Did I?! No, I didn't."
"Well you hadn't better be, otherwise you won't be living in this god damn house." He told me.
Now pissed off, I got up off the couch and stormed up the stairs.