Knots 3

Chapter 24

Andy

Yep, there was the green Toyota Tacoma following slowly behind us. We stopped and waited for them to pull alongside us. Jack rolled down the window. “Do you two hot studs need a ride?”

“Nah, we’re fine,” I said.

Jack opened the door, stepped out, and opened the backdoor of the extended cab. “Come on, get in.”

I glanced at Matt, and he shook his head. “No. We’ll walk.”

Jack closed the backdoor and climbed back in

Derrick leaned over Jack. “Hey, don’t forget your free dinner on Friday. Jack and a few others are going to be joining you.”

I leaned down and looked in at Derrick. “We haven’t forgotten, but quit following us. We don’t like being stalked.”

Jack started slapping the side of the door with his hand. “We’re just trying to make sure you guys are safe. You can never tell when some homophobes will come by and kick the shit out of you nice looking guys. We want to make sure you’re fit for Saturday afternoon.”

Matt put his hand on Jack’s arm to stop the slapping. “We’re perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves, so get out of here, otherwise you might not see us on Friday night.”

Jack pulled loose of Matt. “That would be a mistake.”

Derrick put the car in gear and sped off.

*****

Matt turned to me. “What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?”

“Nothing, Matt. They’re just blowing shit out their mouths. First of all, they’re adults and we’re teenagers. They can’t afford to have anyone find out about us. Second, if they want sex with us, they need to treat us right. We’re in the driver’s seat.”

Matt looked doubtful at first but then nodded. “You’re right, Andy. They’re the ones in deep shit, not us.”

“That’s what I said. I’m thinking maybe when we meet them on Friday, we should tell them it’s going to cost them. We can make some quick money.”

He squinted and pursed his lips. “Are suggesting we become teenage prostitutes?”

I gave him a big grin. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. We can have it all. We’ll have a damn great bout of sex and make money besides. If they don’t want to pay, we don’t play.”

“What if they threaten us?”

“We’ll need insurance, so we’ll both leave Derrick’s address and phone number with our parents so they know where we are. They don’t have to know why we’re there. Besides, they both know we’re into gay sex, so I don’t think they’ll ask many questions. Of course, if they knew the guys were all in their twenties, they might stop us.” I shook my head. “Let’s not worry about this shit for right now. We have the school board meeting tonight. I need to give a speech and need to focus on that. Friday is a few days off.”

“You’re right. We have enough to worry about.”

Matt

Damn, Jack and Derrick kept following us. We basically told them to fuck off and they left. Andy had the crazy idea that we should charge them to watch us fuck. Damn, that would make us whores. But as crazy as the idea was, we were going to be fucking Derrick anyway, so why not make a little on the side. They’d be guilty of statutory rape so what the hell were they going to do? Rat on us?

*****

The board meeting was crazy. They usually have it in one of the rooms at the school district office, but they decided to move it to the high school gym. The place was packed. We had our signs and our opponents had theirs. My heart was pumping like an oil well and I was wondering what the hell had we gotten ourselves into. Andy was pacing back and forth and he was too nervous to even carry a sign. He’d written a speech, but really would have preferred Emily go first. She had balls for a girl. Gina was more like Thomas and me. Ollie had written something and he seemed anxious to speak. And guess who showed up? Randy. He had a piece of paper in his hand. I guess he planned on saying something too. Of course, I didn’t have a sign or a piece of paper in my hand because I figured my presence was giving them moral support. Yeah, lots of luck. I was just being a coward.

I found Gina standing next to the wall holding a sign that said “GSA Members Love Everyone.” She looked scared. “I had no idea it was going to be like this.”

“Me neither. What do you think the school board will do?”

“I don’t know.”

I scanned the room. “Look at all the No GSA signs. I can’t believe people would think that God could hate anyone. What uniformed idiots those people are. If anyone is guilty of sin, they are.”

Gina grinned. “That’s one way of looking at it. You know how they say you should never use the Lord’s name in vain? I think those people are violating that commandment. I’m not sure what number it is.”

That made me laugh.

Andy got all the GSA members to agree not to yell or scream and made sure they acted more mature than the protestors against the GSA. The GSA members dressed nicely. Andy told everyone that he didn’t want us to look like we were getting ready to march in a gay pride parade with crazy hairdos and funny looking clothes. That made us all laugh. No one was like that anyway, but Andy was worried.

Those religious right fanatics gave us dirty looks and called us sinners and sodomites. They evidently weren’t smart enough to call us hedonists, which I will have to admit now, that at that point in time, I think I was. In fact, I know I was. Hell, there we were in the middle of this crazy chaos and I was thinking about that coming Saturday and hoping that not only would we get paid, but we’d have sex with more guys than just Derrick. Talk about knots yet to be tied.

Andy

Emily came up to me. “Where’s your sign?”

“I’m too nervous to carry a sign.” I looked up at hers. It read, God Is LOVE, Not Hate. “Aren’t you nervous?”

“A little, but being around these small-minded people kind of makes me feel a bit superior. You should feel the same.”

“I guess you’re right. But do you think the school board will listen to us?”

She smiled. “I have no idea, but we’re at least going to give it our best shot.”

The board chairman rapped his gavel and called the meeting to order. All the GSA members sat and lowered their signs. The crazies kept chanting and walking around the room until the chairman rapped his gavel again and said, “If you don’t sit down and show some courtesy, we will have security escort you from the room.”

His reaction seemed like a good sign in our favor.

The chairman took care of some small housekeeping agenda items and then laid out the rules for the discussion on forming a GSA club. “We want to allow everyone to speak, which means, given the crowd that’s here, we’re going to limit everyone to three minutes. We will alternate between those in favor and those against forming a Gay-Straight Alliance at Edison High School. We will start with Principal Evans.”

I was surprised because I thought they were going to call on me first.

A line began to form behind Mr. Evans. Emily and I figured we’d better get in it if we were going to have a chance to speak.

Mr. Evans came up to the mic which was on a tall stand about halfway down the aisle between the two rows of chairs that had been set up in the gym. He cleared his throat. “I’m in favor of forming a GSA Club on campus. We have many students who feel isolated and need a place where they can feel comfortable. We do our best to prevent bullies from picking on some of our students, but no matter how hard we try, we miss some, and those children are too afraid to report it because they’re scared worse things will happen to them. A GSA club will give them a place to go and be with other students who are both gay and straight. That is the beauty of this club. It is not a gay club or a straight club. It’s a club for anyone who would like to join. Statistics show that children who are gay are often isolated, and because they are alone and have no support either from their parents or from the school, commit suicide. I don’t want to see that happen here. We have been fortunate so far, and I want it to continue to be that way.”

I loved what Mr. Evans was saying, except for the fact he called us children. Hell, you don’t call sixteen-year-old guys who have been fucking their brains out with twenty-four-years olds children. You call them stupid or horny as hell. Sorry, I didn’t mean to digress.

He said thank you and sat down.

“Now let us hear from someone who is opposed to this club.”

The man in front of me moved to the mic. He carried a sign that said, “God Hates FAGS.” He turned around and gave me a dirty look before he started to speak.

“Is this what our society has come to? Here we have the principal supporting sin in our schools. Homosexuality is a sin and homosexuals shouldn’t be encouraged or allowed to meet on a school campus. They will poison good innocent children from good Christian families. God hates sin and consequently hates gays who do all kinds of disgusting things with each other. What they do is goes against God’s law. The only thing that is going to happen if you allow this club to form is that the straight children in the club will eventually become gay.” Then he started chanting “no GSA” and the others from his group did the same. He raised his sign up and down as they chanted.

The chairman rapped his gavel. “Please, stop demonstrating.” He looked at our members who were sitting quietly holding our signs. He gave all of us a nod. “Next speaker.”

I moved to the mic and lowered it. “Mr. Chairman. My name is Andy Gibson and I’m gay.” The paper in my hand was shaking. “As you can see, I do not have two heads or show in any way that I’m any different than the man who spoke before me except that I am far more tolerant. Gay people are not evil. If anything, gay people are vulnerable and repeatedly exposed to the negative attitudes of society. We are condemned by people like the man before me, and others in here who have signs condemning us because they fear we will somehow infect their children. We are not pedophiles and we are not missionaries. We are simply gay. Our goal is not to recruit others to our cause. Our goal is to find common ground with straight as well as gay teens so we can support each other.

“Here are a few statistics:

Research shows that youth harassed on the basis of sexual orientation are:

• More than twice as likely to report depression and seriously consider suicide
• More likely to report low grades, smoke, drink alcohol or use drugs
• More likely to become victims of violence
• 3 times as likely to carry a weapon
• 3 times as likely to report missing school in the last 30 days

We want a GSA Club in order to support each other so that none of these things occur here at Edison High. Thank you.”

I went to sit down and some lady kind of bumped me as she stepped to the mic. Her sign said “Sex Should BE Between a MALE and FEMALE”. “Mr. Chairman, the young man who spoke before me may appear to be a nice young man, but we know from the news that he’s promiscuous and has had sex with multiple partners at the same time. All of this was with other young men who are in this room and are a part of this sinful club or at least the club they’re trying to form. We do not want our children exposed to these bad elements and bad influences. These people are sinners and are going to hell. We’d like to save their souls, but it appears they do not want to be saved. They want to form this so called alliance with straight children so they can all become sinners. You cannot allow such a club to exist in our high school.” She began to chant, but the chairman rapped his gavel, dismissed her, and nodded towards Emily who was next in line.

Emily came to the mic. “I am not a lesbian or bisexual. I am straight. Many of the members in this proposed club are my friends. They have never made any attempt to get me to choose their lifestyle. We are just friends. I respect their sexual identity and they respect mine. This is what GSA is all about. It’s about mutual respect. The last speaker talked about the things some of the boys in our club have done. But she failed to mention that each of them was influenced by someone who passed himself off as being straight and then seduced all of these boys. He wasn’t a part of any GSA club. He’s now in jail for raping one of them. He was a star football player and the son of a very distinguished and wealthy family. Look at the number of religious leaders who have preached against homosexuality and were homosexuals themselves. Our GSA club will not be a secret club. We will meet in the open and anyone is welcome to join. Our goal is to show tolerance of others and not the bigotry expressed by those who oppose our club. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”

It went on like this for almost two hours. The religious crowd chanted and got out of hand quite a few times, but our members showed a maturity I was proud to be a part of.

Thomas said a few words as did Ollie and a few of the new members. Randy did too. What a surprise. He was very articulate and said he hadn’t joined yet, but planned to if the club was allowed to form on campus. And you know what was going through my mind as he talked. Yeah, you guessed it. Maybe he’d like to join Matt and me on Saturday.

There were five members on the board, two women, and three men. One of the women asked who would be the club advisor if such a club was allowed to form.

Mr. Lynch stood. “I’ll be the advisor.”

The board members gave each other quick glances, which seemed to indicate they thought he might be gay.

The chairman asked him to step to the mic. “Are you doing this voluntarily or did Mr. Evans ask you to?”

“I volunteered.”

The other woman, a thin-faced woman with long gray hair asked, “Would you mind telling us why you volunteered?”

“No. I’d be happy to. The young men and women who wanted to form this club came and talked to me about it. I had my doubts, mostly because of what we saw here tonight from those who oppose it. But that is also the same reason I support this club. Not enough adults show the courage to support our kids in unpopular causes. I wanted them to know they had at least one adult on their side. I talked with Mr. Evans about it, and while he had some reservations at first, you now know that he also supports forming a GSA club.”

The chairman asked, “Do you expect trouble from other students on campus who do not support this club?”

“Some. And I imagine we’ll have demonstrations outside the school for a few weeks until many of the people in this room finally accept it as a reality. I’m sure you don’t want to wait for the first young man to be bullied and injured or become so depressed that he kills himself. Statistics show this happens more among boys than girls. And as you heard earlier, many of these students carry weapons to protect themselves. It would be a big mistake not to allow this club to be formed.”

The chairman thanked Mr. Lynch and then told the crowd they were going to take a ten minute break and then return to take a vote.

My heart was beating loud enough for me to hear it in the silence of the crowd as we waited for them to return and vote. They finally came back and cast their votes. The vote was three-to-two in favor of forming the GSA club. The chairman and the two women voted for the club and the other two men voted against it. That’s when our kids broke out with cheers and hugs as the religious people yelled, “You haven’t heard the last from us. We refuse to allow sinners to meet on our campus.” As if they owned it.

All our members gathered at one side of the gym and decided we were all going out for pizza despite it being a school night. Mr. Lynch and Mr. Evans came over and said it would be their treat. It meant a lot to us that we had school leaders like them. I’m not sure it would have passed if it hadn’t been for them.

All Matt did was provide moral support. He finally picked up a sign at the end and then sat quietly. I was beginning to think I might not even vote for Matt if he ran for junior class president.

Matt

Well, I was a coward. I didn’t speak. I just grabbed a sign at the end of the meeting and sat quietly as Andy already told you. Even Thomas and Ollie spoke. But not ole Matt.

At least it passed, and who knew what lay before us. It was May and almost the end of the school year so we really wouldn’t know until school started again in the fall. Andy planned on having one more meeting before school ended.

That week went fast as our Friday dinner at the Outback approached. Andy and I were both scared and excited at all the possibilities.

Derrick already had a round table set for six when we got there. The hostess seated us with Andy to my left. We sat and waited while giving each other looks that said, “What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?” Finally, Derrick came by and said our dinner was on its way. He said he thought we would like what’s on the menu. Jack showed up first. He was tall, thin, and blond. His face was chiseled and lean, and he sported a beautiful set of white teeth. “Nice to see you two again. I’m first on the menu.” Just as he sat, a sandy-haired guy showed up. He was stocky, had a round face, and was sporting a broad smile. His body showed he used the weight room. He stuck out his hand which held a beautiful jeweled gold ring. He had a gold chain around his neck. “My name’s Chet. I’m second on the menu.” He knew each of us by name. He sat to Jack’s left.

Andy asked, “If you’re first and second on the menu, what are we?”

Jack smiled. “You’re dessert.”

Menu item number three showed up next. It was as if they were waiting in line just out of sight so they could show up one at a time. He stuck out his hand. “Hi, Matt. I’m Alex.” He turned to Andy. “And of course I know you’re Andy. I’m menu item number three.” Alex had the same body type as Jack except he was a brunette and had beautiful blue/gray eyes that contrasted with his tanned skin and brown hair. He had a beautiful gold bracelet on his left wrist, a gold ring similar to Chet’s, and what looked like a platinum chain around his neck.

This seemed all to clean and smooth to me. My curiosity was killing me. “Have you done this before?”

Jack answered. “No, this is the first time. It was Derrick’s idea. We heard about you guys from him, and we were interested.”

“Interested in what?” Andy asked.

Alex answered. “We’re not sure yet. That’s why we’re here. We need to do some negotiating.” Andy and I gave each other quick glances.

Menu item number four showed up next. He was a tall dark-skinned man who had mixed-race features that made him very handsome. He had a very trim waist and broad shoulders. His hair was cut short and the white of his teeth against his skin made him extra hot. His clothes looked like they were right out of Abercrombie and Fitch. He could have easily been a model.

“Hi, my name’s Deshaun. I’m menu item number four.”

Derrick came to get our orders just after Deshaun sat down. The guys ordered wine and Andy and I ordered Pepsi. Boy did that make us feel like kids.

Derrick returned with the drinks and said, “Andy, Matt, and I have top billing so I’m going to stay out of the negotiations and leave it all up to you. Jack, you’re in charge.”

I was really beginning to feel like a whore. Shit, talk about getting ourselves backed into a corner and tied in a knot.

Jack began. “The question is, can we watch the two of you put on a show with Derrick or can we also participate and make it an orgy?”

“You don’t waste any time do you?” Andy asked.

Chet leaned in close to Andy. “No, why waste time. You know why we’re here.”

I nodded but left everything up to Andy. “Matt and I talked about this. We want to get paid whether you watch or participate. It will be more if you participate.”

They gave each other surprised glances.

Jack smiled. “You guys are real businessmen, aren’t you?”

“We like the sex, but we’re underage and you’re overage and it only seems right that you pay for the privilege of watching us or having sex with us. What do you want to do?”

“What’s your price?” Jack asked.

Andy surprised me when he said, “One hundred dollars each to watch and two hundred each to participate.” We hadn’t discussed this part and it seems stupid now that I’m writing this, but hell, if anyone could handle shit like this it was Andy. My mind was calculating the money. Four hundred dollars if they watch and eight hundred if they play. Damn good money for doing something we love.

The table went silent as they looked at each other. We expected them to negotiate but instead of negotiating Jack said, “Sounds fair.”

“So what’ll it be?” Andy asked.

Jack answered as if they’d already anticipated this whole thing. “First we’ll watch and then after you’ve finished the first time, we’ll join you for the second round. How’s that?”

Andy rubbed his chin. And of course I’m sitting there like one of the chairs. “Well, that sounds like four hundred for watching the first time and eight hundred for participating the second time.” I couldn’t believe him. “That’s twelve hundred bucks.”

I was really feeling like a whore now.

This time Jack countered. “One thousand. That seems fair.”

Andy held his hand out to Jack. “You’ve got a deal.”

We ate, made small talk, and everyone left with smiles on their faces except for Andy and me, whose faces went between what the fuck did we do, and damn, we’re going to be rich.

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Chapter Quotes

When you get to the end of your rope-tie a knot in it and hang on. - Eleanor Roosevelt.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. - Albert Einstein

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If you like this story, please write a review, click like, and follow me. Contact me at eliassctt@gmail.com I answer all emails.

I’d like to thank Lisa for taking the time to edit Knots 1, 2, & 3. As the author, I take final responsibility for all parts of the story, including any errors.

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales, is purely coincidental and no slanderous intent is implied.