The Great Gatsby: The High School AU

Chapter 7

The day was May 31 and it was a normal day.

At least until fourth period.

Everything was just like a normal day. Jay took me to school, then we split ways and I hung out with Jordan for the rest of the morning and didn't pay attention in class.

We had a test in calc that day, so I couldn't talk to anyone, but the air of the classroom just felt weird. I could feel people's eyes on me. Even though no one was talking, I could feel the whispers.

I was uneasy. This was really weird. Everything was normal until the beginning of class.

At the end of class, we were all waiting at the door waiting for the bell to ring. I found Owl Eyes; he of all people would know what was going on.

"Hey, Owl Eyes, what's going on? Something's weird."

He turned his head toward me, flashing his big unsettling eyes. "You should check Instagram."

The bell rang and I opened up my feed as I walked through the halls. The first thing that came up was a video by Tom.

I recognized the place the video was shot. It was the motel from the rave. It also had a timestamp: October 11. I felt a sinking pit in my stomach; I knew what this could be.

Just as I'd feared, I came into the frame pushing Chester McKee up against the door of the motel. The video was filmed from far away, so maybe some people couldn't tell it was me, but then I saw Tom's caption: Don't cross me, Carraway.
The stupid thing was that this wasn't something I was trying to hide. I didn't really care that the entire school knew I was gay. It just disgusted me that this is how everyone found out.

I picked up my pace down the hallway. Most people just kind of stared and pretty much ignored me. I heard some of the football boys snickering at me.

"Fucking queer!" someone shouted. I froze. It was the quarterback, Ward Stradlater.

A lot of other people froze when they heard that. Remember, the majority of these people already knew I was queer, I had promposed at a giant party after all. But I do understand that it's nearly impossible to stand up to the East Egg jock types. I wasn't gonna wait for anyone to help me.

"How do you expect me to respond to that?" I yelled at them. "Do you want me to agree with you?"

That pretty much shut them up and I kept walking, on the lookout for Jay. I got to the crux of the school where three hallways met, and I saw him.

Thank God.

He pushed through the crowd and ran up to give me a hug. I melted into his arms.

"You saw the video?" Jay whispered.

"Yeah. It's safe to say, I hate Tom now."

As if I had summoned the devil himself, Tom pushed through the crowd into the crux of the school.

Jay and I broke apart to face Tom, but he didn't let go of my hand, and even in a horrifying situation, that was a small comfort.

"I told you, your actions have consequences, Nick."

I looked around at the crowd of students that started to circle us. "I'm so fucking confused."

"Confused about what?" Tom shouted. "I told you to keep Gatsby away from Daisy, and now they're . . . they're . . ."

Dude. There's no way this was actually real. I didn't think someone could get so oblivious.

I had to laugh.