Danger (BoyXBoy)

An Ordinary Day

Monday morning came around. I sat in the school parking lot and watched people walk past my car and in to the piece of shit city school. Maya was in the seat next to me trying to think of reassuring advice to give me. There wasn’t anything I could do about it, and she knew this, but she always tried to make the best of things. I wiped away at my watery eyes as she finally spoke up.

“Why don’t you just skip school today? I’m sure your mom would understand”

I rolled my eyes at her. “If she found out a picture of me fucking my boyfriend was on Facebook for all of Seattle to see, she’d call the police on Angie and then have a heart attack.”

“Who the fuck cares if Angie gets in trouble? She’s a heartless bitch”

I laughed at her obvious remark. “I want nothing more than for her to fall of the face of the Earth, but if the police got involved Jay’s parents would have to get involved too, and we can’t risk that”

“Who’s to say they didn’t already find out?”

“I wouldn’t know. He hasn’t made any contact with me”

She unbuckled her seatbelt and began to get out of my car. “We should go. You don’t wanna be late”

I followed her. “I certainly don’t wanna be on time either”

There were 5 minutes until the bell rang. Great. We walked through the parking lot and my stomach dropped as soon as I saw another person.

Maya grabbed my hand. “It’ll be okay.”

I took a deep breath as we drudgingly stepped through the glass doors. Everything was normal at first, just like any ordinary day. Only a few people gave me awkward looks and a couple others laughed to their friends about me. I could handle this. Jay couldn’t. I was a nobody, and I liked it that way. But he was known and he was important. This must be terrible for him and I can’t even be there to help him through it.

Will walked up beside us and wrapped his arm around Maya, kissing her on the cheek. Her face lit up with joy. I greeted him with smile, and I could tell things were weird between us now. He stuttered and tried to figure out what to say.

“Cooper look… I don’t care that you’re gay. We’re all friends here. And I don’t care that Jay is either. I’m here for you guys.”

A sense of relief washed over me. “Thanks Will. It means a lot. Especially after all this.”

“Anytime. If anyone ever messes with you, I got your back.”

I smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind”

The bell was about to ring, so Maya leaned over and gave me a hug, whispering “good luck” in to my ear. I turned the bend and made it to first period. It wasn’t bad. It was a normal 45 minutes of Honors Geometry. It was after the bell rang that I started to worry. I waited at my locker like I always do, and I peered down the hall to see if Jay would come strolling down with all his friends.

He didn’t.

Third period passed, and so did fourth and fifth. By the time lunch came around I was a train wreck. He had to have come to school because his parents are so strict… but I didn’t see him. It was making me sick.

Maya, Will, and I sat at our usual small table in the corner of the cafeteria. She had bought me a bag of chips, but I couldn’t eat. There was one empty seat next to me where Jay usually sits with his feet on the glass window pane. If he was here he would probably be trying to steal whatever was on my plate or secretly asking me to meet up with him during 7th period.  But he wasn’t.

“You doing alright?” Maya asked softly.

“I’m fine. I haven’t seen Jay though”

“He’s here” She said quietly.

My eyes widened. “Where?!”

She pointed over to the other side of the cafeteria. He was sitting with his hood up and his head down. People were talking about him all over, I could tell. I wanted to get up and console him, but both Maya and Will stopped me.

“Don’t. People don’t need to see you together”

I sat back down. “I guess you’re right”

We tried to maintain a normal lunch period but I kept my eyes on Jay the entire time. He didn’t look at me at all, and I know he knew I was staring at him.

After a few minutes some guy named Chris walked up to him and was talking to him. I thought that him and Jay used to be friends since they both were on the wrestling team, but it didn’t look like they were having a pleasant conversation. I saw him mouth the words ‘faggot’ and push Jay, nearly knocking him out of his chair. There was a series of gasps and shouts and all eyes were on them. I wanted to get up and help him but Maya held me back, letting Will run to him instead.  I could tell Jay wanted to beat the shit out of him, and I know he could, but instead he just got back up and sat down. The guy didn’t stop though, and he was being loud enough for everyone to hear him.

“What’s the matter faggot? You can’t fight me? You’re probably too sore from taking it up the ass from that fucking ginger kid”

Jay jumped out of his seat and lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. He threw punch after punch until Chris was nearly unconscious. Will grabbed him and pulled him back, making sure he didn’t do anything he’d regret. A few of the teachers that were supposed to be monitoring the cafeteria ran in and escorted all three of them to the office, leaving all 600 students speechless.

The school day had ended and Maya and I waited outside the office for Will, and hopefully Jay. The door opened and first came Chris and his mom, who’s disappointment in her asshole son was clearly showing. Will and his dad followed and finally Jay came walking out. He had tears in his eyes. Behind him came his parents, who looked more ashamed then anything. He must have told them. My stomach dropped for the millionth time and I clenched my fists. Jay brushed past me and didn’t even bother to look at me, but his parents were the complete opposite. They both gave me death stares and I didn’t blame them.

Soon it was just me, Maya and Will alone in the hallway.

Will broke the silence. “He’s off the wrestling team”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” I screamed. I had never been this angry before.

“They have a no tolerance policy for fighting. It’s on his record and he’s off the team. Permanently.”

“They can’t do that! He was defending himself! Wrestling is his life. He was gonna get a scholarship for that! They basically just fucked over his entire college career because some dickhead was harassing him at lunch”

“I know. But they won’t do anything for him”

I took a deep breath. “And his parents?” I asked hopefully.

Will nodded his head. “He told them. Flat out. Everything with Angie, the fight… you. They weren’t too happy in case you couldn’t tell”

“Oh my God…” I was nauseous and I nearly passed out.

Maya helped me regain my balance. “C’mon Cooper. Let’s get you home. You need some rest”

She kissed Will goodbye and we walked to my car.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I shouldn’t have gotten myself in to this. I fucked up”

“Don’t blame yourself. This is Angie’s fault, not yours”

I lit myself a cigarette and pulled out of the parking lot.

Maya glanced over at me. “Do you want me to come over?”

I shook my head. “No thanks. I need some rest”

“If you say so. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will”

I dropped her off and started my drive home. Thoughts about everything that happened in the past few months filled my head. This was such a mess.

A loud, blaring horn snapped me out of my daze, and I had ran the red light by accident. Next thing I knew a van smashed full speed in to the side of my car.