Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 03:37:28 EST
From: Macncheezaroni@aol.com
Subject: opposing forces, part 7 (high school)

Author's note: Thank you so much for the all the e-mails of support and
comments, I found them to be insightful, thoughtful, and constructive. Oh,
not to mention inspirational. My sincere gratitude to Ed, my editor for
taking his time to format and mold this piece for posting. And of course, to
all the readers, without you-I am nothing. Enjoy.

Opposing Forces
Part 7
by macncheezaroni@aol.com


Third through sixth period--stuck in Radley's old office. Laddy to my left,
hands jittering from either lack of nicotine or fearing the wrath of his
Russian parents.
"Laddy," I hissed. "Stop fidgeting, you're making me nervous."
"Silence!" Radley yelled.
I snapped back to facing straight forward, Laddy returned to his
annoying fidgeting.
"I'll be right back," Radley said, eying us cautiously. "Don't move or
talk until I get back."
He opened the door slowly and left. Laddy immediately got up and began
pacing back and forth.
"Laddy," I hissed again. "Sit your ass down before ol' Radley gets
back. I'm already going to get in deep shit."
"Calm down," he hissed back.
Well, that's ironic...seeing how he's the one pacing back and forth
and I'm still sitting down.
"Radley will probably do a drug test on you," Laddy said. "And he'll
see that you're clean and you're off the hook."
"God, I hope so," I said.
"Oh shit, I hear him coming," Laddy said.
"Sit down then," I said, a bit more audibly.
The door reopened just as Laddy sat down, Radley looked at us
suspiciously but our faces didn't give us away.
"I've decided that a drug test is unnecessary," he began.
"But Mr.Radl---"
"Mr.Carmichael, I am going to entitle my trust in you that you did not
uh...what's the word..."
"Smoke?" Laddy offered helpfully.
"Fine, smoke the content."
"Yes, sir, I can swear on my grave that I am drug free, drug clean,
drug..."
"All right, Mr.Carmichael, you don't need to go that far, but I am
going to excuse you from this mess. Mr.Zerga, on the other hand, I'm sure
your parents would be most disappointed to find their son caught smoking on
the first day of school, so I'm willing to offer an alternative."
"Whatever it is," he replied. "I'll do it."
"Detention, two weeks."
Laddy groaned loudly.
"It could be worse," I commented quietly.
"Easy for you to say, you're clean free..."
"You gentlemen are excused, and Mr.Zerga, I look forward to seeing
you in the library after school, re-alphabetizing the catalogs."
"Can't wait," Laddy said.
Laddy and I walked out of the office and headed for the cafeteria for
lunch. The cafeteria was filled with students and the lunch lines were
atrocious.
"I think I'm going to pass on the food today," I commented.
"Good idea," Laddy agreed. "Where do you usually sit in this place?"
"Over there," I said, pointing to where Jacob was sitting.
We walked toward the table, meanwhile random individuals or groups
would take a cautious glance at our direction. Jacob's eyes bulged when he
saw our arrival and he quickly swallowed the remainder of his sandwich.
"Dway," he said, still chewing. "I didn't think I would ever see you
again."
"See me?" I asked incredulously. "I was just in Radley's office and---"
"But Cindy said that Liz said that Jon said that Will said that Tricia
said that Eddie saw you overdosing on drugs and I thought you might have been

somewhere in the hospital..."
"God, news does travel fast here," Laddy observed.
"Jacob, do you SEE or HEAR an ambulance anywhere? You can tell Cindy
to tell Liz to tell Jon to tell Will to tell Tricia to tell Eddie that I'm
doing fine and in fact, drug free."
"Here, sit down, drink this," he said, offering his Capri Sun. "You
must be Vlads---"
"Laddy," he said, extending his hand.
They shook hands and we joined Jacob at the table and chatted idly.
Clarissa appeard at the cafeteria and found the three boys sitting at the
table.
"What happened to your spa date, princess?" I asked, giving her a smile.
She gave a smirk and said, "Ignoring your sarcasm but I decided to do
lunch and and nails with mother and get back in time for my French test."
"You gave up beauty treatments for French?" Jacob asked, feigning a
shocked look.
"Shut up!" she said, throwing some of Jacob's lunch at him. Clarissa
turned to see Laddy sitting there, "And you must be the new Russian kid."
Clarissa stuck out her hand. "Well, usually my friends just refer to
me as Laddy," he replied.
Clarissa flirtatiously chuckled, "Witty."
"Yeah," I mumbled, ignoring her flirtiness.
"So what is this I hear about an illegal drug trade, Dwaynie dear?"
Clarissa asked.
"How did YOU hear? You weren't even here!"
"Some dumb girl that sits out front of the school told me," Clarissa
explained. "Please, like I'm going to believe someone who still wears a pink
bow in her hair. I wanted to find out the juicy stuff from the source."
"It wasn't a drug overdose OR drug trade," I said. "I just saw a bag
of pot on the ground and I was curious so I picked it up."
"What? Are you mentally demented? You PICKED up drugs that were laying
on the ground? What next, picking up guns?" Jacob asked.
"I know, it was stupid but hey---"
"Stupid is an understatement," a voice said from behind me.
I turned to find Ryan standing there with his tray of lunch.
"Don't be an ass," I said.
"Takes one to know one," he replied smugly.
"Oh yeah, use that line from what...the third grade?" I retorted.
"Cut it out, you two," Jacob intervened.
"Thank you," Clarissa muttered. "Let's try to get along, it's tough
already having ONE enemy."
The emphasis on 'one' was crystal clear, she was bluntly referring it
to Tyler.
"Fine," I muttered.
"Whatever," Ryan said, taking a seat on the other side of Laddy. "And
you must be the new Russian kid."
"Call him Laddy," Clarissa and I responded.
And so lunch went on....

That night, I was frantically scribbling and erasing my math homework.
Frustrated, I set aside my math material and called Tyler.
"Hey, hot stuff," he said.
"One of these days, your mom is going to catch you calling me that
ridiculous name and we'll both be screwed."
"My mom isn't even home and plus she adores you anyhow, so it doesn't
matter. So what are you up to?"
"I just put off another math assignment."
"Genius plan, just like picking up that bag of ecstacy."
"Ecstacy?"
"Yeah, today during break or something...some guy in my chemistry
class told me ol' Boo Radley caught you dropping E...I was a little appalled
but I figured it was just a rumor...or is there more behind it?"
"It wasn't ecstasy, it was marijuana and I picked it up to examine its
content."
"What is there to examine?" he questioned. "Pot is pot."
"I know, but I was just wondering why it was lying on the ground by
itself..."
"Someone probably dropped it," he replied.
"I guess."
"That was really stupid of you to pick it up, ya know."
"All right! I get it," I raised my voice irritably. "Gees, you're so
unsupportative sometimes."
There was a momentary pause.
"Sorry," he said, trying to stifle his giggles. "I'm just not used to
this supportive thing."
"Gee," I said. "You could've fooled me."
"Shut up," he said, faking a hurt tone. "You want me to come over and
help you with the math?"
"You still remember Trig?"
"Roughly, but Calculus is taking a large fraction of my brain."
"I figured, but sure, come over and help me with this radical
function."
"I'll be over in 5."

Precisely five minutes later, Jane let Tyler into our house. Tyler
traveled into my room and found me...still stumped on the first math problem.

Tyler helped me through the first five, he leaned over me and I could inhale
his scented deodorant. His head was just a little above mine and I could feel

his hot breath on my ear.
"Wow," I commented after fifteen minutes of that position. "Is it me,
or is it hot in here?"
"I think it's just you," he said, smiling.
I opened the window slightly to get some ventilation.
"Are you getting this stuff?" he asked. "Cause I don't want to waste
my breath otherwise."
"No," I said. "I'm getting it, slowly, but I'm getting it."
"Would it be inappropriate to kiss you right now?" he asked me.
"What a silly question," I answered. "It's never inappropriate to kiss
me."
He leaned over slightly and gave me a deep kiss....his tongue probing
the inside of my---
"Oh sweet Jesus!"
I pushed Tyler off quickly and cried, "Mom!"


"We need to have a serious talk," my mom said, leading Tyler and me
down towards my dad's den.
"Someone's busted," Ben commented as he watched us descend down the
stairs.
"Bite me, retard," I said.
"Suck this," he said, grabbing his balls.
"BOYS!" my mom cried. "Cut it out. Tyler and Dwayne, den, now! Ben,
room, now!"
Ben went back to his room while my mom continued to escort us to---my
dad.
"Honey!" my mom said, as she opened the door.
"Yes, dear?"
"I caught your son kissing," my mom said, more worried than mad.
"Is that it?" my dad replied. "Kissing is very normal for kids his
age."
"No, honey, he was kissing..." and she silently and not too discreetly
pointed at Tyler.
Tyler looked away, embarrassed.
"Oh, honey," my dad said. "You had me going there for a second. It's
about time it happened."
My mom slowly nodded in agreement.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"Your father and I have known since you were little that you were
not---"
"---straight," my father finished. "It was very apparent that you two,
since about six, were very affectionate with each other."
"TOO affectionate, I think," my mom said, slightly smiling.
"It was just the matter of time before you two, well...tied the knot, so
to speak."
Tyler tried hard not to laugh and I was showing six different shades
of red.
"So you guys knew and you guys were just waiting for me to tell you?"
I asked, slowly.
"We figured you'd be ready to tell us at your own time," my mom
answered.
"And you're not mad, disappointed, frustrated, worried...anything?"
"Gee, Dwayne, I've had about ten years to figure everything out," my
dad said. "Your mother and I have everything squared out. We're just mainly
looking out for your happiness. Are you happy?"
I took a long look at Tyler, his eyes gazed into mine. I gave a mock
look of indecisiveness.
"I don't know, Dad, it's hard to tell," I said, smiling. "But yes, I am
happy."
"Good, then. Well, I really should be getting back to these bills," my
dad said wearily.
"I'll get you a cup of ice tea, dear," my mom said, exiting the room.
"Well, I'm going back upstairs to my room, Tyler is helping me with my
math homework."
We turned to go back upstairs when I heard my dad mutter, "So THAT'S
what the kids are calling it today..."
We laughed heartily as we leaped back upstairs to my room.

Homeroom. Spanish. And on goes the whole day...
"Hey," Ryan says, walking up alongside me.
I glanced briefly at him, "Hey."
"You want to come over to my house to watch a movie or something?"
"Sure, my place instead?"
"Seven, good?"
"It's fine."
"Later."
"Later."
I made my way to student government and made posters to advertise the
upcoming festivites.

Later that night, I finished the last of my Spanish worksheets and
slid them between the bindings of my Spanish book. There was a knock on my
door, "Come in."
Ryan walked into the room, he put his backpack on the chair and sat on
the bed.
"I brought...Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, Scream 3, What Lies
Beneath, Psycho, It...and yeah, that's it."
"I guess we're going for the scary motif," I commented.
"Any preferences?"
"I rather stick to Scream 3, it's the least scariest and fakest out of
all of them."
"Scream 3 it is," he said, sliding the tape into my VCR.
Two-thirds into the movie, Ryan and I were sitting cross-legged on the
bed with a bowl of popcorn between us. The scary guy was chasing Neve
Campbell (again...) and off we go on this vicious circle. Sydney is walking
towards the window...and THERE'S the Scream guy. I jumped and hid in Ryan's
arm for a few seconds.
"I kinda like this," Ryan commenting on my nestling in his arm.
"Yeah, it's nice," I admitted.
I could feel his warmth enveloping me, HIS intoxicating scent of
aftershave and deodorant. I nuzzled closer...and Ryan leaned his head down
towards me and ...
CRASH!
I sat up, alert. "Did you hear that?"
"No," Ryan said, a bit irritated at the loss of the 'moment'.
"I think it's coming from the closet," I said, eying my closet door.
"You're just imagining things," Ryan said.
WHACK. The sound of someone's arm hitting the side of my closet, I
walked closer. I could hear the shuffling of feet...
"Ok, I know there's someone in there," I said. "And I intend to find
out who it is."
I walked toward my closet doors and yanked them open.