Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 13:18:37 -0400 From: Stan Unknown Subject: Chapters 16 of Beating The Odds Chapter Sixteen Dave drove into the parking lot in front of the school and noticed that Tim, Kevin, Brian and Jim were already there waiting on him. He parked next to Tim's Jimmy and all five of them climbed out. "The four of you looked comfortable back there," Jim kidded, as Ryan, Rob, Bruce and Neal finally got out of the back. "Yeah it was," Rob answered. "I had a nice, soft place to sit." "Please. I just ate breakfast," Jimmy said, as he walked away disgusted. The others just stared at him as he paced back and forth. "Guys, are all of you ready to start a gay friendly club at school? It isn't going to be easy on any of you if you do. We'll have lots of challenges to conquer," Mr. Corwin asked. "We all talked about it last night. Among other things," Ryan answered, as he looked around at Rob, Bruce and Neal and smiled. "We're all in." "Good. Jimmy said he would join as the first straight student. We need support from gay and straight students. How about you two?" Mr. Corwin asked Jim and Brian. "Sure, we would like that. Wouldn't we, Brian?" he asked, as he nudged Brian, who still looked half asleep. "Huh? Oh, sure. Whatever you said," he mumbled. Everyone laughed at that, but Jim said, "He's in. Trust me." "What about you?" Mr. Corwin asked, as he turned to Tim and Kevin. "We're in too," Kevin said, as he put his arm around Tim's shoulders. Tim kind of blushed, but didn't try and pull away. "You two?" Jim asked, grinning widely. Kevin grinned back. "Yeah. We're boyfriends now. After yesterday, I mean." "What happened after you dropped us off?" Jim asked, clearly excited. Tim blushed furiously. Everyone noticed. Kevin knew he was embarrassed and bent down and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Let's just say that we had a long talk and fell in love with each other. Isn't that enough?" "Yeah. We're just so happy for you," Jim answered. "It's really good that we can hear the garage door open when my Uncle gets home," Kevin answered playfully. "Do you know how long it takes to get Tim's plastic leg brace back on?" "KEVIN!" Tim yelled, as his pushed him aside and tried to hit him. Kevin just laughed and dodged out of the way. Everyone broke down in laughter. Except Tim. "You guys are sick. I don't know if I want to be in this club or not," Jimmy said, as he glared at all of them. None of the other boys spoke for a few seconds, and then Mr. Corwin broke the silence. "Jimmy, no one is going to force you to join. While Kevin's remark was mildly suggestive, I think he was just kidding Tim. I'm happy for them. If this is what they both want, why can't you be supportive too? This is what our club is going to be all about. If you can't understand that, then maybe you shouldn't be in the club." "Fine! I'll just spend the day here by myself and stay FAR AWAY from all of them," Jimmy said loudly, as he walked towards the front of the school. Everyone watched him walk away in silence. He finally leaned up against the side of the entranceway and stared into space. "Guys, you have to understand what you will be doing if you start this club. Maybe this is a bad idea. Jimmy seemed supportive yesterday. Now look at him. And he's going to be lots easier to convince than other people. At least he isn't going to get violent. I'll do as much as I can to stop all of you from being hassled. I'll talk to the principal first thing Monday morning. But this isn't going to be easy. I think everyone is going to know you're gay. All of you are really going to have to stick together. It sucks, but you had better make sure you walk in groups, and never get separated from the others for a while. Are you sure you want to do this?" Mr. Corwin asked. Everyone looked around at each other, but you could see the resolve in each person's eyes. Even Tim, as he stared at Kevin. "We can handle it," Mr. Corwin, Jim answered. "Well, we'd better talk about it inside," he answered, as he checked his watch. It's five minutes past nine. Josh is late. I really hope he shows up. I don't want to have to suspend him. Let's give him a few more minutes before we go inside. All of them chatted quietly among themselves as they waited. Every so often, one of them would stare at Jimmy, who remained motionless at the entrance to the school. Mr. Corwin finally looked once more at his watch. It was 9:15. He sighed, and then said, "I guess Josh isn't going to show up. We might as well go inside." He led them to the front of the building and unlocked the door. He let everyone inside and started to shut it when they all heard the sound of a high powered engine coming from somewhere around the school. All of them came back out as they saw a black Trans Am Firebird accelerating towards the school. It took the turn into the parking lot at a lots higher speed than it should have and then slammed on the brakes right before the first of a set of speed bumps. The driver gently eased over the speed bump, then gunned it once he was over it. He jammed on the brakes and slid sideways, taking up three parking spaces. Josh jumped out and walked confidently up to the front of the school. "Ok, I'm here. What now?" "Josh, you should know better than to drive like that on school property. Or anywhere else, for that matter." "I was running late, Dave. I didn't want you to me mad at me. You want me to leave? I showed up like you asked me to. If my suspension is over, I'll be glad to go back home and crawl into bed." "I don't think so, Josh. You can go back to bed at 5 after you've soent the day here just like everyone else." "Fine. Let's get it started then," Josh said, as he joined the others. "Didn't you bring a lunch?" Mr. Corwin asked. "I told you to bring one." Josh looked at everyone carrying their lunches. "I didn't have time. I'll get something out of the snack machines." "Suit yourself. You do realize if we had gone inside and you had been later than you are, you couldn't have gotten in and would have been suspended, right?" Mr. Corwin asked. "I didn't get to bed until late last night. I had plans. What's it to you? You want me to leave? I couldn't care less if you suspend me. Actually, I might like that," Josh sneered. Mr. Corwin just stared at him for a moment. "Really, it's your choice. It'd be a shame to drag your butt out of bed this early for nothing, wouldn't it?" "Yeah. You got that right!" Josh answered angrily, as he walked towards the others. Mr. Corwin stopped him from going into the building. "Look, I've about had it with your attitude. If I let you come in here, I expect you to respect me and the other students." "Well, you don't get that choice, do you? I'm here before you closed the door. As far as I see it, I'm on time. And if you keep me from serving my detention, I guess I'll just have to plead my case in front of the Principal Monday morning. We're old friends. I think I can convince him this wasn't my fault," Josh answered, almost nose to nose with Mr. Corwin. Mr. Corwin almost said something else, but he stopped himself. Someone had to be the adult here. "You've stated your point, Josh. Come join the others." Josh stormed through everybody. He pushed Jim out of the way, and Brian almost went after him, but Jim restrained him. "Let him go," Jim said quietly. Mr. Corwin just shook his head, as he led them down the hall after Josh. "Why don't we all go into the library?" he finally said. He was totally confused as to how to relate to Josh. Usually, being able to relate to kids was his strength. Josh had gotten to the end of the hall and was leaning back with his back against the wall and one foot propped up against it, glaring at all of them. "Where are we going? Or is this a tour?" "The library," Mr. Corwin answered, exasperated. "Thanks. I know the way," Josh said, as he walked quickly towards it. Everyone, including Mr. Corwin, just rolled their eyes and looked at each other. This might be a long day of detention. Josh burst through the doors first. There were a set of tables and chairs immediately in front of a teacher's desk as soon as he walked in that the school used as an overflow classroom in case of something wrong with a standard classroom. Josh stalked to be back of the seats and sat backwards on one of the chairs as he awaited the others arrival. Everyone filed in, followed by Mr. Corwin, who shut the door behind him. There were four chairs on each side. Ryan, Rob, Bruce, and Neal went left. Brian, Jim, Tim, and Kevin went right. All took front row seats. Jimmy walked three rows deep and took a seat opposite from where Josh was sitting. "Look, what I would like to do is set up a gay friendly club here. All of you are either gay or sympathetic to gays," Mr. Corwin said. "Bullshit," Josh said under his breath, but loudly enough where everyone heard him. "So Josh, you don't agree? But you got into a fight protecting gay boys from being beaten up?" Mr. Corwin asked. "The fact that they're gay had nothing to do with it. When I first started taking karate, I was trained that you couldn't stand by and let big people beat up little people. My instructor was adamant about that," Josh answered. "That's admirable," Mr. Corwin replied. "Are you glad you helped them?" Josh looked around at all the others, who were staring at him. "If I'd known that I would have to spend all day today with all of you here, I would've walked away right then and let the two little fags get their butts kicked." "Man, you suck," Kevin answered. "Hey, you're the gay boy. I would think you're the one who sucks. And I would think you might need lessons if all you can get is a cripple to play with," Josh answered, as he chuckled. "You Son of a Bitch," Kevin yelled, as he got up and started towards Josh. Josh got up off the chair and calmly waited on him. "KEVIN!" Mr. Corwin yelled. "NO!" Kevin stopped in his tracks and stared back at Mr. Corwin. "Kevin, don't make this any worse than it already is," he pleaded. "He isn't worth it," Tim said, as he also gradually got to his feet. Kevin stared at Josh for a long time and then said, "I'm going to find you when there isn't a teacher around to interfere, ass hole." "Oh, I should be scared now? Oh my God, a faggot's just threatened me. I'm so scared I don't think I can finish this detention. Mr. Corwin, I'm scared enough that I think you might have to excuse me and let me go home. I'm feeling really intimidated by... all... these... FUCKING...FAGGOTS," Josh said, as he hesitated between words to make the emphasis known to everyone. He started to walk out of the library, but Mr. Corwin said, "Sit back down, Josh. I still don't understand how all of this happened. Can someone please explain it to me?" he asked. "I guess it started with me. I glanced over at Billy in the shower and Mark caught me staring," Rob answered, as he looked quickly at Ryan. "All I did was look really quickly," he said to Ryan, looking him in the eyes. "I know baby," Ryan answered. "Great! Not only do I have to spend my Saturday with a group of faggots but also Peeping Toms. None of you had better follow me into the bathroom." "I think that's enough out of you. We aren't exactly happy about having to be around you, either," Brian said, as he also got up out of his chair. "Oh no. A really big faggot is threatening me now. What am I going to do? Mr. Corwin, please, I think I had better go before I get so scared I wet my pants." "If I get my hands on you, you are going to have something to be scared about," Brian said, as he walked towards him. "BRIAN, DON'T!" Jim yelled, as he got between them and held him back. "You can't afford to get into another fight right now and you know it." "He's right, Brian. You two get into a fight and I would have no choice. I'd have to suspend both of you," Mr. Corwin said. Brian looked at Jim, and then back at Mr. Corwin. He finally gave Josh a really hard stare and walked back to his desk and sat down. He didn't say a word but you could tell by the way his jaw was set that he was still plenty pissed off. "Josh, that's enough out of you. Sit back down or get out of here. Don't make me re-think my decision not to suspend you." "I'm sitting, Dave. See?" Josh said, as he sat back down on the chair, still backwards. "All I was doing was protecting myself. I didn't go after either of them, did I? "No, but you're just begging to get into another fight by what you're saying. Just quit it! And now!!!" "Dave, calm down. I'll be good. You don't want to let your blood pressure get out of control and have a heart attack. Then you would have a room full of faggots all wanting to give you mouth to mouth resuscitation. And once they have you down on the ground, your clothes might come off by accident and no telling what could happen then." "You're really a bastard, aren't you?" Jimmy asked from across the aisle from him. "Oh, the girly boy faggot finally speaks, huh? Where's your boyfriend, sweetheart?" "For your information, I'm not gay." "I thought we had settled this before. You're as queer as a three dollar bill. Now, not only are you a faggot like all of them, you're also a liar." "Mr. Corwin, do I have to sit here and listen to all of this?" Jimmy asked. "I'm not even going to join the club." "If he gets to leave, I get to leave," Josh answered. "It wouldn't be fair, otherwise. You can't give him special privileges just because he's a faggot." "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a faggot, I'm not gay, I'm not anything." "Lot's more than that before I believe you, sweetheart." "JOSH, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mr. Corwin yelled. "Sorry, Dave. Remember your blood pressure. What's this about a club? Can I be president?" To Be Continued E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions or other 'constructive' comments or advice may be sent to: stan992001@hotmail.com. All e-mails will be answered. You can also visit the young gay guys support group I created after my "Matt and Mike" story at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/gbct or our web site at www.gayteensunite.org. There is a forum section there where you can enter comments about this story for everyone to see. All comments will also be forwarded to the eleven guys from the group that are in the story.