Freshman Year - 10. Back To School

Wesley And Seamus

By: Wesley Lewis

Chapter 10: Back to School

The most annoying sound in the world has got to be that of an alarm clock going off. After not having to hear it for close to a month I was awoken to an incessant noise that I can only describe as if someone was murdering the Penguin from Batman. I finally got tired of the noise and hit the stupid button resigning myself to the fact that life for me has officially resumed.

Today is the day I finally return to school. In all honesty though I’m kind of glad to be going back because, well I love the man to death, but he was smothering with attention. Every time I groaned Daddy was there. Now don’t get me wrong I loved that he was so doting on me but there is a thing as too much. Plus, I really wanted to see my friends. Well what few friends I had. Chloe came over every few days whereas her sister Lacy hadn’t come to see me once. From what I gathered though the twins aren’t speaking to each other right now because Chloe had really let Lacy have it for not even seeing me once to which lacy had said she got more important things to do. I’m not going to lie but that really hurt me! I figured that’s okay because I liked Chloe better anyway, as a matter of fact everyone liked her better. It wasn’t because Lacy was a bitch, well her and bitch are often used in the same sentence, but Chloe was more outgoing and more fun to be around. Lacy only hung around the jocks so that solved the problem of me not wanting to be around her.

The only other friends I had were Sidney, who preferred to be called Sid, who a little nerdier than I was. He wasn’t too bad to look at either. We’ve been friends since elementary school. He is the token straight boy of the group now. The only other guys were Kurt Williams and Will Robins. They were the first openly gay couple at school. Neither of them was campy, but they weren’t butch either. No one really messed with them because they were both trained in martial arts after they came out to their parents. They had accepted them and paid for self-defense classes for them so they would feel safer. The only other girl in the group was Samantha Martin, or as she preferred to be called Sam. The thing about Sam is she is the biggest tomboy in the school. She would rather play football than be a cheerleader. Everybody teased her and called her a lesbian until one day she snapped and broke a poor boys nose. This happened in middle school. No one else accused her of being a lesbian since. I honestly don’t think any of them would care if I came out to them. Kurt and Will had often hit on me and Sid but we just laughed it off.

The one thing I had to do though was ask Seamus what he thought about coming out to my friends. He and his mom are supposed pick me up because Daddy still doesn’t want me to ride the bus just yet until I get the last cast on my arm off. My leg casts were removed on Friday. It was important to me to be truthful with my friends about who I am. I know most won’t care either way if I was gay or not but I just couldn’t lie about myself anymore. It’s not like I was going to flaunt the fact all over school but if people asked I wasn’t going to deny it. I’ve done that for far too long as it is. I was even going to join the Gay straight Alliance we had at school. Even before all this mess happened Kurt and Will tried dragging me to a meeting. It only happened one time because I had a total panic attack and was scared someone would find out about me. Panic attacks aren’t that uncommon for me. I used to have to see a therapist about it but Mama had nixed that saying all I needed was prayer. Dr. Andrew Lee was a great guy. He was first person I told I was gay and it felt like a little bit of pressure was relieved when I told him. I haven’t had a panic attack since the incident but the thing about them was you never know when one could occur or what triggered them.

After getting dressed and eating a bowl of oatmeal I waited anxiously for Seamus and Mum to arrive. I thought when Seamus said he and his mom were picking me up it would just be the three of us but lo and behold his sisters were with them. They were grinning like little monkeys in the backseat while Seamus looked embarrassed. The ride to school was relatively quiet except every so often the girls would start giggling. When Seamus or I looked back they would stop. Thankfully the elementary school was the first stop on the way to the high school. Seamus looked relieved as Fenna and Brianna exited the car. The rest of the car ride was spent discussing coming out to my friends. Seamus said he would if I thought my friends would really accept us. After assuring him they would he agreed to come out to my friends and even join the GSA with me.

Finally we arrived at the high school. Mum parked in the faculty lot as she was the school nurse. Before we entered the school, Seamus took me by the hand and walked straight through the door. When we entered the building no one really paid that much attention to us. That was until we spotted the resident bully Melvin Chambers and his lackey Brandon Calhoun. Both were sophomores who were talented enough to be on the varsity football team. Although Brandon could also be on the team because his father was the principal. Both Brandon and his father both used to attend our church until a few months ago. No one knows why they had stopped coming but it didn’t really matter much to me now.

Seamus could feel me as I tensed up expecting to be hit or teased about something coming from those two. In the past, me and Sid were always being called fairies just because we hung out with Kurt and Will. I don’t think it bothered Sid half as much as it did me, of course every time I heard someone call me that I’d think that someone knew my secret. Truthfully Brandon always looked like it made him sick every time he said something derogatory towards me whereas Melvin just sneered as he said it.

Before they got to us though Melvin said something to Brandon and turned to leave. Melvin was the one who had always instigated the teasing so I wasn’t as worried about Brandon as I was Melvin. He stopped a few feet in front of us and looked around before closing the distance between us.

When he got to us and saw how tensed I was he put his hands up saying “relax Wesley, I’m not going to harass you or Seamus. I just wanted to apologize and tell you no one is going to bother you about being gay or even limping. I really would like to talk to you and Seamus about something but it can wait until later. Just remember right now you’re under my protection I promise, Melvin won’t bother you either.”

He extended his hand so I could shake it. Sensing that he was telling the truth I took his hand and told him that I appreciated it and would see him later. After talking to Brandon and shaking his hand everybody staring at us went back to what they were doing and we proceeded to our lockers.

After giving Seamus a quick peck on the cheek I made my way to my first class which was my favorite, Language arts. Mr. Lee was the teacher for that class and he was in my opinion one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. He was the younger brother of my former psychiatrist. Since Seamus had been bringing home my homework I was caught up with the class and was able to participate in the discussion. We were currently discussing Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Mr. Lee was also the faculty advisor for the GSA at school. After class ended I talked with Mr. Lee for a few minutes about the GSA which he encouraged me to join.

My next class was Social Studies. This was by far my least favorite class for more than one reason. The first being I couldn’t remember important dates even if my life depended on it. The second reason was the teacher, Ms. Hardin, was so boring. She could drone on about any topic and rarely left room for discussion for the class. I usually tuned out her voice during this class but for some reason today I didn’t. today was about the civil rights movement. I guess it spoke to me because I could see the fight for rights. During the sixties, it had been for racial equality whereas today it was about LGBT rights. This was probably the only class during the entire semester that I had given one hundred percent of my attention to.

After Social Studies, it was time for lunch. I hadn’t seen Seamus since this morning so I was eager to see him again. As I made my way to the cafeteria I was bumped into the wall dropping all my books and notes. After picking them up I saw that it was Melvin that had shoved me and I could see a look of anger on Brandon’s face. I watched as he pulled Melvin into an empty room and looked at me apologetically. When I finally made it to the lunchroom I could see that Chloe had dragged Seamus to our usual table. Since I didn’t have any classes with anyone else before lunch this was the first time I had seen any of my friends since the incident. Sitting down beside Seamus I leaned over and kissed his cheek to test the waters.

Kurt was the first one to speak “Well first off, I know three people who owe me some money, next what took you so long to come out Wesley.”

“I was just scared to Kurt. I didn’t want to be treated differently. The only person that really knew was Chloe. And now of course Seamus, who is my boyfriend.”

Sid then looked at me with a hurt expression in his eyes “Wes we have been friends since elementary don’t you think I would have still been your friend? I would have stood with you no matter what. I’m pretty sure everybody at this table would not have turned their backs on you.”

As I looked around the table I started to feel ashamed that I couldn’t trust my friends with my secret. I apologized to all of them and they just got up and hugged me. When lunch was half over with Brandon came up asking if he could talk to me and Seamus.

As we got up the others looked at us perplexed and I simply shrugged at them not knowing what Brandon wanted either. We followed him to the same room he had pulled Melvin into earlier. Seamus looked around making sure we were alone, which we were.

Brandon started out by apologizing for everything he had put us through he really did look like he was sorry. He looked embarrassed and ashamed.

When he got finished apologizing I asked him what was going on with him and why he was apologizing.

“Well, Wesley, after hearing what you went through with your mother made me think about how I had been treating you. It also made me realize why I treated you that way. I’ve been so worried about people would think of me. You may have noticed that me and dad had left your church. Well the reason was because of your mother Wesley. She had ranted about how evil this is or how bad it was to do that. Well my dad kept noticing how I would react and finally asked what was up. I had to tell him because it was eating me up on the inside, I couldn’t stand it so I finally admitted that I was gay. I also know that I’ve been a hypocrite about the way I’ve been treating Kurt and Will. What changed how I acted was when I heard about what your mother did. I couldn’t do that to you anymore and I know I don’t deserve it but I’d like to try and be friends.”

We sat there stunned for a few minutes before Seamus asked him why he still hung out with Melvin if he was trying to be a better person.

Brandon looked away before answering “He’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember and I love him. He doesn’t know that I love him because it would hurt too much for me to be pushed away from him if I told him.”

Not knowing what to say I got up and hugged him, Seamus followed suit and did it to. When we were hugging him, Brandon started crying and we stayed there in that room until lunch ended.

After the bell rang me and Seamus went to our next class which is the only one we shared, math. Our teacher was Miss Jones. She was a great teacher and one of the few who took an interest in her students’ lives. The weird thing though is that when I walked into the room her usually charming self pretty much disappeared. Even when I said good afternoon to her she just ignored me and sat at her desk. Before beginning the class, she announced there would be a pop quiz and we would have the results by the end of the class. Since Seamus had helped me catch up in the class I felt I did good. When we finished the quizzes, we turned them in and she started the lesson about the Cartesian Plane. After twenty minutes of rise over run she assigned us some pages in the workbook and began grading papers. As we walked out the door she gave our quizzes back and I was stunned to see that I had an F on the test.

When I asked her why I got an F she said because I had cheated and didn’t deserve the passing grade. She also sad if I had a problem with it to take it up with the principal. Apparently, she didn’t think I had the stones to go over her head but she found out I did. After getting to the office and explaining what had transpired with Miss Jones to Dr. Calhoun he called her into the office.

He started off by asking why I was given an F, to which she said “He cheated on it. There is no way he could have passed that test and ace it without cheating. He has been out of school for an extended amount of time but that doesn’t exempt him from being graded as he should be.”

Dr. Calhoun then asked her “If he didn’t cheat would he have passed the exam?”

“Yes, he would have, but there is no way he didn’t cheat, he’s been out of school for weeks and there is no way possible for him to have learned everything we had went over.”

At this point I was getting a little pissed and finally spoke up “For your information I have been studying every night for the past week to get caught up, Seamus and Chloe have been helping me since I have got out the hospital and I passed your test!”

At this point she was seething and started to get red “Listen here you little faggot you cheated on this test and I’m not going to change it just because your little pansy ass runs to the principal.”

“Miss Jones, you don’t have to worry about changing his grade or anyone else’s for that matter you are on suspension right now pending a vote from the board. You apparently have forgotten your place as an educator is to encourage children not disrespect them like you just did!” I had never heard Dr. Calhoun so angry before. I’m also sure his secretary had heard every word and was probably already spreading the word to the other teachers.

After old lady jones left in a huff Dr. Calhoun turned to me. “Wesley I’m sorry for the way she treated you. You didn’t need to have that happen to you. The truth is we’ve had complaints about her but never could get proof. Thankfully I recorded the entire affair today. I’m aware that Brandon has also spoke to you and I’d like to apologize for his behavior as well. The good thing about him coming out to me is that he has felt like he should stop being the insufferable ass he was. He really is sorry about how he treated you.”

“Sir he has apologized and I accepted his apology. I understand why he did it. I want to be his friend but he hangs out with Melvin so much. He told me and Seamus the reason for that also. I can’t blame him for wanting to try and change Melvin. I’d like to be his friend too but I don’t see that happening.”

“Well Wesley, believe it or not Melvin has actually begun to change a little. There is something going on with him but not even Brandon can find out what it is, maybe somebody else could find out, by the way Wesley could you have your father call me later?”

“I’ll have him call you as soon as I get home could I have a pass for being late to my next class?”

After getting the pass I headed for my last class for the day, Biology. Mr. Stephens was the teacher for that class. He was one of my favorite teachers. While in the coma I was told that he and Mr. Lee were the only ones who had come to see me. Today we happened to be covering genetics and the cross-pollination process. That pretty much took the whole class period. After giving us our homework he dismissed us and I waited at my locker for Seamus. He appeared about five minutes later and we were on the way home in Mum's car.

Daddy was home when I got so I passed on the message for him to call the principal. At first, he joked with me about being in trouble. After coming back from the phone call, he told me that he would be filling in math class until they could find a replacement. he told me he was thinking about going back to school to get a teaching degree. I’m glad he was thinking about his future. I called Seamus and told him about the rest of my day. After talking for a few minutes, we told each other I love you and went to sleep.

Somewhere Across Town……

“Son you’re going to do it and I don’t care if you like it or not. You live under my roof and will obey my rules.”

“Please daddy I don’t want to anymore it hurts too much. I’m sorry daddy please don’t make me do it again.”

The screams from the basement went unheard from the surrounding houses.