Buddy Holly (boyxboy)✅

What's with These Homies

Adam Durgin

"What's with these homies, dissing my girl?" the words of Weezer played in my head on my way to my hated Geometry class. At least Mr. Duffner was funny and easily distracted, often going on long tangents unrelated to Geometry.

D.J. Doyle and I had been playing soccer together for as long as I could remember. He was also the biggest asshole I'd ever known, getting his kicks from picking on others he perceived as different than "us," "the cool kids." If anyone ever found out the truth about me, I'd lose my "most popular boy in school" status.

Loud and physically aggressive, D.J. was the type who was impossible to ignore. Chase Palmer was the same. They paraded around, acting like they ruled the sophomore hallway.

Heading down the hall, my mind wandered as these assholes sought out other underclassmen to taunt. The song, Buddy Holly, continued to play in my head... "Why do they gotta front?
What did we ever do to these guys
That made them so violent?"

If I had my way, Simon Duffner would be my guy with my so-called homies dissing him. Thanks to D.J., the Weezer song was stuck in my head all day, not that I minded because the song reminded me of Simon, someone I liked to dream about.

This morning Simon looked different. After a second I realized why: He wasn't wearing his cool glasses, making his brown eyes and amazingly long eyelashes more noticeable. Biting my bottom lip, I tried not to smile as he fumbled down the hall. Christa thought I was looking at her and smiled flirtatiously at me. Girls liked to think I liked them when most of the time I had my eyes on someone else.

Simon could barely see in front of his face, walking right into Chase, who then bumped into some girl in front of him. Not a good scene. In half a second, all of Simon's books toppled everywhere. As students fought their way through the hallway to get to class on time, Simon's books were trampled and stomped on. Some of his books even ended up on the opposite end of the hall.

"Watch it, Simple Simon!" Chase bellowed, turning around to face him. He shoved him hard, causing him to stumble backwards. Losing his balance, he landed on his ass, wincing in pain. My heart sank, watching Chase bully the cutest boy in the school, but there was nothing I could do about it. Students giggled and snickered at Simon's expense as he sat against the lockers.

Ever since I was thirteen, I was considered a so-called "chick magnet." My dad liked to think of me as a lady's man even though I never had a steady girlfriend. But, the way he looked at it, I went out with a different girl every week, which made me a playboy in his mind, just like him when he was in high school. If my dad ever knew the truth, I was a dead man. I belonged to a certain group and that's where I was supposed to stay. Simon Duffner wasn't part of that group.

He also wasn't a girl. I wouldn't have liked him like this if he were a girl.

I was gay and no one could ever know about it.

Nearly late for class again, the three of us walked away as D.J. sang in that annoying, mocking voice of his, the song that was perpetually stuck in my head.

"Oo-ee-oo, Simon looks like Buddy Holly..."

Just as I was about to enter Geometry class, I hesitated, stricken with guilt. This was my chance to make it good with Simon. For some reason he had something against me and I wasn't sure what it was. Collecting some of his books, I went to him, the only student in the hallway. Chase and D.J. were long gone.

"Hey," I said, crouching down in front of him. "Where's your glasses?"

"In my locker," he replied.

"Why? I think you need them, don't you think?"

"I know," he said. "I hate them. Why do you care, anyway?"

"Why are you always such a dick to me?" I asked. "I'm trying to help you out."

Standing up, I extended my hand down to Simon. Taking my hand, I pulled him to his feet.

"I like your glasses," I said. "Come on, I'll walk you back to your locker."

"Why?"

"So you can put your glasses back on," I said. "Don't be an idiot. You won't even be able to see the board."

Standing beside him, I watched him search his locker and backpack, eventually finding his much needed glasses. He sighed heavily, closing his locker.

"Look," I said, smiling at him. "I got braces yesterday. Do I look geeky?"

Simon put his glasses on and looked at me, focusing on my mouth. I kept my mouth shut all day. Most kids got braces in middle school, but I always had a hard time with the dentist, so he couldn't put them on until I was older and better behaved. One time, when I was ten, the dentist had to hold me down just to fill a cavity. I was probably the only sixteen year old with braces in the whole school. I was afraid that if anyone noticed, I'd become unpopular in a flash. Simon was the first person I showed.

"Do you have to wear headgear?" he asked.

"At night," I replied.

"The silver makes your blond hair and blue eyes stand out," he said. I wasn't sure if that was Simon's attempt to be funny. I was just glad he was speaking to me. More than once over the past year and a half I tried talking to him, but most of the time he ignored me or got up to sit across the room, as far away from me as he could. Unlike D.J., I was always nice to him. Sometimes he'd even blush like the girls. It was cool when he did that.

"Great," I said sarcastically. "I hope I have teeth like yours someday. You have a perfect smile."

His cheeks turned pink at the compliment.

"We're really late for class," he said, blushing.

"Yeah, I'm always late," I said.

Together, we headed down the hall. My stomach fluttered, my hands shaking whenever I was near him.

"I have a game after school," I said. "Maybe you could come."

"Why would I want to go to your soccer game? So asshole D.J. can yell insults at me from the field?" he snapped at me.

"No one would even know you're there," I said. "No one except me, anyway. Maybe we could do something after."

Simon paused, maybe contemplating coming. I could only hope.

"I think I'll pass," he said.

Simon continued to walk as I stopped at the door of his father's classroom.

"What's with you, huh?" I said to Simon. "I'm just trying to be a friend and you're being a complete dick."

"Why should I trust you?" he said.

"Maybe you should try," I said.

As I entered the classroom, all eyes went straight to me.

"Sorry I'm late," I muttered, searching the room for a seat. A girl smiled, pointing to a seat in front of her. I quickly took it.

"You're late again," Mr. Duffner said.

"I...I...was just helping a blind kid get to class," I explained, which was partially true. "That's the honest to God's truth."

"Did you get braces, Adam?" Mr. Duffner asked. Mr. Duffner tended to speak his mind, often asking weird questions and embarrassing students.

"Um...uh...yeah..." I said.

Hiding my mouth behind my hand, I opened my textbook, doing my best to ignore the whispers as if getting braces was front page news. Since it pertained to me, it was pretty big news. This was what I was afraid would happen.

Word count: 1321

Total word count: 2389