R.J Forever?

Chapter 40: The You Matter Project part 2

E.J's POV:

Last night, I stayed up working on the next phase of 'The You Matter Project'. Pt. 1 was to pass out stickers to people except my teammates who are homophobic. Well, I did give a few stickers to Jackson to hand out to sophomores but that's besides the point.

Pt. 2 is to get people involved. I need real students to share their stories. And it all starts with Ricky's story.

I messaged a few other people like Jackson, Carlos, Gina, Trevor, And Nini and I asked Ashlyn to ask some of her queer friends for help too but I just need to hear from Ricky.

I'm doing this for him and I really like him.

I'm nervous for prom and to come out to my teammates but I don't want to pass the nerves to him.

I'm going to ask him if he wants to be my boyfriend at prom but I don't want him to be nervous all the time if we date.

"Ricky, wait up! I have something to show you," I watch him walk into school holding his skateboard under his arm as I follow him.

"E.J, I have something to tell you," I watch him glance around the halls to see if people are staring at us.

"I do too," I  notice Chris and my other teammates waiting for me down the hall.

They probably think that I am bullying Ricky right now or telling him something bad.

"What did you want to tell me?" I look back at Ricky who is fidgeting with his backpack strap.

"Oh it's not a big deal,"

"Are you sure?,"

"Uh yeah. It's nothing. What were you going to show me?"

"Look, I created this Instagram page and google form for other Queer students at East High to tell their stories about being bullied and feeling left out. I want to help students feel found and just be themselves. I've seen how the bullying affected you and I think that you should say something to help other people know that they aren't alone. I can help you write out a post and make image to go along with it too," I show him my phone which has the profile name on it and one post which is of the sticker that Ashlyn and I created.

"Oh wow. Um, I don't know about this. It's a lot. Can I think about it?" I look over at his reaction and am tempted to grab onto his hand to comfort him it but my teammate's are staring at us.

"Yeah of course you can. Hey is something going on? You've been quiet since last week,"

"Yeah everything is fine," I watch Ricky bite down on his lip and walk over to the science hall.

Weird.

I'm trying to get him to open up and at least try to be affectionate in school but something is bugging him.

I'm so nervous for what will happen after people find out that I am bisexual.

"Caswell, what did you say to make that kid run away? That he stinks or looks gay? Wait, he's already gay," I look over and watch Liam and Chris walk down the hall towards me in their nice collared shirts for game day.

"Leave him alone Liam. He never did anything to you," I finally get the courage to stand up for Ricky even though he isn't here.

That entire potluck lunch made me realize a lot of things, and one of the things is that this act that I am putting up is hurting other people.

It was nice to talk to Jackson for a change. He has some good things to say.

"What are you going to do push me into a locker?"