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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Someone Like Me - 4. Chapter 4
Chapter Four
After Mrs Pfeffer called the roll, she proceeded to hand us all a blank piece of paper.
"First off, we're gonna be doing personality sketches. On this paper, you're going to tell some things about you, without using words. Things like your interests and hobbies, and what you are like as a character. Only use drawings and sketches that represent something about you. Use as much color as you want, so that we get a taste of your personality." She said to the class.
Not that I was listening too closely. I was still getting over the fact that the school's most beautiful boy was sitting right next to me. And he had flirted with me.
No, no, no Jordan. He didn't flirt with me. He's most likely not even gay. How could I be such a fool to think that? He simply just complimented my name and that's that.
But then again, the look he gave me was...I don't know how to describe it. Genuine. A little bit more than friendly. Or maybe he was just being friendly. It's messing with my mind, real bad. Why can't I just ask him: Did you just flirt with me, Sean? Yeah, that's gonna go down well. What a way to not make friends.
"What things do you think you're gonna draw?" Sean suddenly asked me, bringing a screeching halt to my thoughts. Oh god, his voice is so cuuuute! What the hell do I say? I don't even know what I'm going to be drawing! Something about me...
I twiddled nervously with my pencil. "Ummm...maybe because I like drawing cartoons and anime, I can draw myself in the front center. I like music so I can perhaps have music notes to the right here flowing from a stereo...and tedious little things like food, TV and reading, which I can't get enough of, over here floating in a swimming pool cause I like swimming too. My expression might be uplifting, with a bright light behind me to emphasize that because I'm a generally happy person...I dunno, what do you think?"
Wait, hold up, did I seriously just say all that to him? Oh god, I rambled on, didn't I?
But Sean looked from my blank paper up to me, a look of complete awe on his face.
"That is amazing." He said softly.
I didn't quite know how to handle every good opinion he was saying, directed specifically to me and no one else. It was like having a helium balloon blow up inside you. After enough helium-like flirtatious compliments, you felt like floating up and away forever. But what made me fall in love with him was the true, joyful smile he extended towards me. Man, a few minutes ago, I didn't know who he was. Now I'm head over heels for him. I have to get friendly with him. He'd be a cool friend to have, even if he isn't interested in me...sexually. Engage him in conversation already!
"Thanks." I smiled shyly back. "Wh-what are you gonna draw?"
He looked down at his own paper and tapped the desk with his finger in thought. "Well...hmmm..." Then a mischievous grin spread across his face and he looked at me again. "It'll be a surprise."
I laughed. "You've got no idea what to draw, do you?"
"Shut up."
We burst into hysterics, until Mrs Pfeffer told us to shush. We suppressed our giggles as best as we could, turning our concentration on our work, or making it look like that anyway.
I began to draw, softly forming the shape of me in anime form. A flick of the pencil here and there. A darker line here. Out of my peripheral vision, I thought, I was nearly convinced that Sean was peeking at me. Maybe I'm just being mad. Sean is awesome, he's treating me really nice. So that marked all the boxes for initial contact success. So now I wanted to find out more about him. There has to be more to Sean than just a smiling, pretty face (and an adorable one at that). But how could I ask him? It would give me away if I said to him straight up that I wanted to get to know him. Perhaps I should just ask what he likes doing?
Hang on, Jordan. What do you think we're doing now, huh? Of course, the personality sketch. I wanted to know what he was drawing about himself. It really did make me wonder, and I glimpsed to the left of me, down at his work. Not a lot I could tell so far. It looked like he was perhaps sketching a field of some sort...interesting. There were some low conversational murmurs rippling softly throughout the class and I turned to talk to Sean some more. Unfortunately, he was engaged in conversation with his friends. I wasn't that disappointed though, at least I could still eavesdrop onto the sweet, adorable voice of Sean. Just to listen to him speak...you know? Him and a couple of his friends seemed to be discussing movies and things coming up soon in town.
"I can't wait for the new sci-Fi." His friend, Josh from what I heard, was saying. "It's coming out next week."
Another boy called Levi, who was cute within himself, spoke up. "Hasn't it got a gay actor playing the main character? I heard that somewhere."
"Yeah I think so." Sean said. "I think the movie will still be worth watching though."
"Unless there's a sex scene including him." Remarked Levi, sending a chuckle through them all.
Sean laughed didn't he? He laughed at the joke about the gay actor. What was I thinking, he's not gay!
But my thoughts changed when I heard Josh say: "Hey, isn't there a gay parade being held in town in a few weeks?"
"Yeah there is." Levi nodded, before mocking the boy. "Why, did you want to be part of the parade?"
"NO!" Josh squealed as Levi poked him in the ribs. I could imagine Sean's face looking amused. Even I thought it was funny, and I wasn't in the conversation! They talked a little more about the apparent parade, and how full the town would be as heaps were coming to see it even from afar. Mainly though, I was trying to find an opinion from Sean about homosexuals. He didn't really say anything about approving or not liking them. Maybe he was just neutral about it? I kind of expected him to not like gays though. I mean, what else could you expect when your parents thought strongly on how unnatural homosexuality is? About how practically everyone at my old school thought I was a monster for being gay? So, it wasn't like I was suddenly expecting him to accept them. Still...there is that possibility.
Ten minutes flew by quickly, so it surprised me when Mrs Pfeffer called out. "Right, hand in your work everyone."
Damn! I wasn't done yet! I hastily drew a final touch to my picture. It wasn't good, but it was something that reflected my personality, I thought. As the teacher went down the rows, collecting sketches, I glanced over at Sean's work. Omigod it was awesome! Sketched very well on the paper was a picture of him in the kitchen, making a cake. Behind him was a field, a football field, where another image of him was, well obviously, playing football. Someone was cheering for him in the background, what looked like we're his parents perhaps? The man I presumed was his Dad was smiling at him, waving a flag.
Which was the thing that got me.
It wasn't how well the drawing was. It wasn't the fact that his parents were supporting him better than my own could ever could. It was the colour, rather the symbolic colours, of the flag being waved. It was only for an instant, but I saw it.
The flag was waving the stripes of the rainbow.
Then the paper was taken into the hands of Mrs Pfeffer, just after Sean noticed me gaze at his sketching.
"Hey, you weren't supposed to look at mine!" He grinned, giving me a shove.
The shove alone was playful, and it sent a surge of shock through me, realising that he just touched me. It was a miracle I was still capable of speaking.
"Hehe, it was good though." I said.
"No it's not." Sean mumbled, looking down at the desk. "I didn't even finish it, yours was better."
Awwwwww!!!!! That was adorable!!! He's so cute when he does that.
Then while I was marveling at how cute he was, Sean suddenly stiffened. He fidgeted with his fingers a little. And then he asked: "Did you see all of what I drew?"
"Not quite, I saw most of it though. Do you like cooking?"
"Y-yeah I do. I love making cakes though, especially cheesecakes. They're the best. My mom taught me and I've always had a passion about it."
"That's so cool." I said.
For a brief second, I wondered if I should ask about the flag in his football picture. I seriously considered it. The way he stuttered a little and looked like he was caught in the act of crime...Hell, I should be the one in his position!
I began the subtle approach. "So you like football too, huh?"
That question seemed to make Sean tremble just a little bit more. His eyes darted randomly in multiple directions. Aww, I don't want to make him scared! He'll be packing himself next! I just wanna look at that face forever, it's so beautiful...
"Yeah I do. It's my favorite sport. I'm thinking of playing for the school team this year." He replied, an edge of nervousness in his voice.
It wasn't too obvious. You had to look and listen too him quite closely to see that he was covering up a fear, whatever that was. But the cracks were there.
"My parents go to nearly every game I go to." He continued. "They encourage me heaps and say that I should work hard at what I love. So that's what I do."
The first thing I thought was how different his parents were to mine. They sounded awesome, like the best motivators ever. My parents however didn't understand the meaning of supporting a passion. All they ever told me was to work hard at school and obeying them. It makes them sound like monsters, I know, but in comparison to Sean's parents, those harsh words truly aren't unfounded.
The next thing I thought was the fact that Sean's parents were actually in the picture too. It was the Dad waving the rainbow flag, looking at his son, wasn't it? I opened my mouth to ask him about that exact thing, daring myself to just do it...
And then very conveniently, the bell rang. Home time.
Everyone surged for the door at once, apart from a mildly startled me and a polite Sean.
"Geez!" I exclaimed. "Are these people out of their minds?"
Sean laughed at that comment. "They're so glad to be set free from this enslavement."
We had a chuckle about that as we headed out after the others.
"Have a good afternoon, boys!" Mrs Pfeffer smiled.
"Bye, Miss." We chorused before we were out the door.
"Jinx." Sean said quickly to me.
"What? NO, you don't play that dumb game, do you?"
We had a laugh over that as we headed down the hallway toward the main doors. Then an awkward silence hung over us, like we didn't know what to say next. I could've said many things right now, but for some reason, my mind was blanking out completely. Say something, Jordan!
"Um...Jordan?" Sean said.
Panicked, I first thought I was being awkward and not talking. But as I looked up at him, I soon realized he actually wanted to ask me something. Something he looked nervous about.
"Yeah?"
I was looking intently at Sean now, who was staring hard at the ground as we walked, avoiding to look at me. I think this was the most nervous I'd seen him, he was even shaking! It was so cute and sympathetic to look at, both at once. As if someone had internally shook him out, he suddenly stopped and turned to me. When his luscious brown eyes pored into mine, I could tell that what he was about to say was important. He took a breath and opened his mouth.
"SEAN!" A voice called up ahead. I spotted Josh and Levi feet away, waiting for him. "Are you coming or not?"
Sean looked at them quickly, before shaking his head a little and saying to me. "Can you sit where you were again tomorrow in art? I liked having you there by me."
My face must've been plastered with stunned disbelief, because he then backed up and hastily said. "Unless you don't want to, of course..."
"No...no, it's fine. That'll be good." I assured him, with the guts I had.
He seemed quite relieved by that. "Sweet. See you tomorrow then, k?"
"K." I smiled giving a small wave.
Sean turned away from me and caught up with his friends, while I stood there in the hallway. Before doing that however, I thought I saw his cheeks redden only slightly, but that could've been my imagination.
As I watched him walk down the hallway, I had to marvel at what happened in just that one last period. I can't believe that happened. I guess that means I have some friends.
••••
The dopiest grin must've been smeared like butter on my face, but I didn't care as I walked out the back gates of school.
Today I have talked to three really hot boys! Who'd have imagined that would happen? When I started out, I was in a shambles to say the least. Now? Now...I feel awesome! Somehow, someway, I actually had the courage to converse with not one, not two but three extremely cute boys. Sure, one of them ended up being a douche, but the other two I've become friends with. And I think both Malachi and Sean like me too. God, if only they were gay...
My fantasy abruptly ended when I spotted the familiar SUV growl to a stop on the side of the road only feet away. A little late, but not by much, the eagle had landed. Dad's here.
I approached the beastly yet pure white Chevrolet, opening the passenger door.
"Hi Dad." I said.
Victor Brooks barely looked up from his smartphone. "Hey son. How was your first day?"
"Yeah it was great. Better than I expected. Made a few friends." I replied with enthusiasm. Not that Dad was sharing in my positivity.
"Glad to hear it." He murmured flatly, focusing most of his attention on typing out a message.
A minute of silence followed after that, which was a bit awkward for me as Dad was enwrapped in his own little world.
"How was your day?" I asked, as Dad finally put down his phone.
"Busy." He grumbled, pulling off from the curb side. "I really had no time to pick you up today. I had to shift a meeting with my client to tomorrow because of this. It was fun explaining that to him. Sorry, I'll have to move my appointment with you till tomorrow, I have to pick my son up from school."
It hurt me a little. I was expecting Dad to be more interested in my day, rather than complain about giving me a ride home. I guess it was understandable. But his job was demanding. He was a big-time lawyer back in New York. He could wrangle the most notorious and shady criminals out of the life sentence, but that was only for two clients of his I knew back in New York. He was very good at being a lawyer, and so he was paid big bucks. Along with Mom, who founded a charity destined to make the American environment better, you could say they were quite wealthy. We had moved to Nebraska because Dad was burning out from the constantly increasing clients. Mom's charity wasn't succeeding well in the city. Plus, they never really liked the city as such, hating the transport more. And they wanted to pull me out from school because I was being bullied at the time. So far, life in Nebraska here was working out great for them. Mom's charity was getting more donations, and Dad was picking up important clients, even the mayor of Omaha, the town in which we lived on the outskirts of.
"Why couldn't your mother Isabel pick you up, huh?" Dad was saying as we drove along. "I'm sure she could do without one of her silly press conferences."
He muttered a bit more about that for a minute before he flicked on the radio. My favorite station was playing a pop song about 'painting the town green' or something like that. A pop/rock which I liked. I turned the volume up a bit, and soon, even though he was grumpy, Victor and I were both singing along with it. That was the cool side to Dad. He enjoyed a whole range of music and didn't mind listening to my preferred station, even though it wasn't for his genre. I grinned a little at this, and also to the fact at what a fantastic day I had at school.
As much fun as the moment was however, it soon ended to another song which I liked as well, but wasn't a favorite of Dads. So as the female singer sung about needing someone to lean on and firing a gun repeatedly, Dad changed the station.
"Turn off that garbage." He said, switching it to an older style station.
I especially didn't like that particular station he just tuned to. The music was so...boring. But as we tuned in, I heard a song end and the news headlines begin.
The formally speaking woman read out the news, but I wasn't really listening now. I drifted back off into my own fantasy world again, thinking about how cool it was that Sean Chrystal had asked me to sit with him tomorrow again. Nobody had ever asked me something like that before. It was unusual, but it felt good. That someone actually liked me. As a friend anyway.
Something brought my fantasy to a halt when the news woman said the word 'gay' in a sentence. What was that?
"...being held in Omaha in a few weeks will be a success. The parade is being held to celebrate the increasing tolerance of gay rights, and how anyone of the LGBT community should be respected and treated the same as everyone else. Thousands are expected to attend on June the 24th next month."
Interesting. So the discussion Sean had with his friends Josh and Levi were true. Then I stiffened as I remembered how strongly Dad viewed homosexuals. I slowly swiveled my face to him in uncomfortable anticipation. My heart lurched a little as I watched my father give the most filthiest disapproving face I had ever seen. And I saw one like those quite regularly.
"Absolutely repulsive." Dad spat. "A parade for queers who should be locked up for their disgusting man raping? What new level of low will this goddamn country fall down to next?"
Now that was very opinionated. To say the least, Dad was strongly against this. Mom wasn't much different either. It made me shrink in my seat as Dad shared his opinion on what he thought of the parade. This was why I would never come out to my parents ever. I would actually like somewhere to live and be loved.
"I'm gonna talk to the mayor about this." Dad said. "Ask him to cancel the parade and approve and fund more useful things."
"You're only his lawyer though, not his advisor." I said.
"Still, it really gets under my nerves."
A silence followed. I watched my Dad warily as he gripped the steering wheel, with a sharp, merciless stare out onto the road. Victor scared me sometimes, and now I was feeling uneasy around him. It frightened me to think that the only thing separating Dad from not knowing I'm gay to knowing I am are two small words: "I'm gay."
And that's it. I hated to think what my parents would do to me if they knew. It really made me nervous because I knew that if they knew, I might get seriously hurt emotionally and even physically. So I kept my mouth shut and just looked out the car window away from Dad.
"It's like the Gardener." Victor said unexpectedly.
Ah yes, the Gardener. That was a debacle and a half within itself. Before the Gardener, I already had known the negative view my parents had of homosexuals. I had no true idea though about how far they would go to stand by their intolerance until the Gardener came along.
Not long after moving into the house in Nebraska, Mom complained about how untidy the garden looked. It wasn't unfounded - there was overgrown trees and bushes, with weeds growing everywhere. Both Mom and Dad didn't have the time or energy to do it themselves, and there were many things I couldn't do myself. So we advertised for a gardener to come every week keep our garden looking nice. Several people applied. But one of them stood out to us. A guy in his twenties sent us an email, saying that he would be interested in the job. His name was Kent Edmonds. Kent said in his email that he actually worked as a gardener for a living, so he could do all sorts of things around the house. Compared to the rest of them, Kent seemed to be the best pick. And if that wasn't a sure sign that we should have hired him, one of Dad's clients recommended him to us as the client had Kent as a gardener too. Mom and Dad were pretty happy about it, until Kent showed up at our front door so that he could meet us. Instantly, we knew that Kent was gay. He had an earring, even a bracelet and half black, half blonde dyed hair. I remember when he said hello to us, his voice was totally not masculine. Dad's welcoming smile dissolved into a nasty scowl, and when Mom first saw him, she'd turned and walked away. I also remember Dad's words to him as well.
"You're not getting the job. Get the hell off my property." He said before slamming the door in his face.
I never heard from Kent again.
In the end, we hired an alternative gardener who although wasn't as great as Kent, cared for our garden well. Mom and Dad referred to Kent as the Gardener, and whenever it was raised in discussion, they always had a look of distaste, as if saying his name was like sipping a cup of small pox. That was the expression Dad had on his face even now as we were driving home. Pure distaste.
"What about him?" I asked Dad.
In my opinion, felt sorry for Kent. He was totally treated unfairly. He didn't get the job because he was gay. I'm sure in big businesses in America, the company would be sued if they refused an applicant a job because he was gay. But this wasn't big business at all, it was only a small, private job that was being advertised. Still, it felt so wrong and I wish I could apologise for my parent's actions to Kent. If I ever saw him that is.
Dad sighed. "Exactly, Jordan. Exactly."
I didn't really know what his point was there, but I let it go. There's no point getting all frustrated over something my Dad says. I want today to continue to be awesome, not go downhill.
Then Dad's smartphone rang and he picked it up. "Victor speaking....oh, hi Mark, good...."
Probably on the phone to another one of his clients. I couldn't remember if talking on a cellphone while driving was illegal or not, but even if it was, Dad could come up with the best legal defences and he'd come out with no charges. Victor was good like that.
The rest of the trip lasted a few minutes, until we pulled up outside the house.
"Bye Jordan. See you tonight." He said, while still on the phone.
"Bye Dad." I said, and I got out of the car and closed the door behind me. Dad took off as I came up to the front door and opened it.
"Hi Mom." I called, walking in.
At first there was no one in the entrance way, then in an instant, Isabel was there.
"How was your day at school? Was it good? Did you make some friends?"
Geez, I'd only been in the house for two seconds and already Mom was peppering me with questions.
"Yes it was good. I'd made some friends."
"We're you bullied at all?"
"No I wasn't...well, a few guys were a bit rude to me but that's it."
Mom sharply asked. "What are there names?"
"I only know one. It's fine, it's no so bad, I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all."
I was a bit relieved when Mom dropped the discussion and turned towards the living room. "Okay, well you've got a snack in the kitchen. Then go do your homework."
I followed her out and spotted a donut and a milkshake on the kitchen counter. "Thanks Mom."
I guess it's one advantage of having rich parents. You get to enjoy the smaller luxuries of life more often. As I began to eat, Mom appeared again.
"How's Victor?" She asked.
"A bit grumpy. He's been quite busy today. He said he didn't have time to drop me off and thought you were at a press conference."
Mom rolled her eyes. "Well I'm not am I? The conference is tomorrow. I had my pedicure today."
And with that, she turned and left again. And that right there ladies and gentlemen, is Isabel Brooks, my mother.
After slurping down the milkshake and finishing off my donut, I headed off to my room with my backpack upstairs. I plonked myself on my desk chair and began getting out my stuff. I remembered I had History to do and got out my books for that. The drawing of Malachi staring out the window met my eyes. For a moment I just gazed at the book, a small smile on my face. He was so adorable that guy...and Sean was even cuter! Despite the nastiness of my parents, I had something that they couldn't take away from me.
My adoration for the both of them.
I couldn't wait to see them tomorrow.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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