Trick Me Once - 1. Flashback

The bell rang, marking the end of the break, and students slowly started returning to their classrooms. The halls were soon empty and after about a minute, biology teacher Mr. Wesley entered one of the classrooms, ready to start the class. All of the students were in their seats, except one. A couple of minutes later, there was a knock on the classroom door.

“Come on in,” Mr. Wesley called out. The door slowly opened and a shy face appeared. It was a young boy with black, curly hair and big brown eyes.

“Sorry I’m late, teacher. Can I come in?” Patrick Pierce said, shy and a bit scared. He’d never been late to a class before. He wasn’t a total nerd, but was still a very good student and didn’t like to break the rules.

“Of course, Patrick,” the teacher said with understanding.

The 14-year-old boy closed the door and headed to his seat, which was between his best friends Zoe and Brad. He hung his head as he walked through the classroom, avoiding making eye contact with other students. He was embarrassed and thought everyone was judging and laughing at him. He sat at his desk and pulled the biology book out of his backpack.

“Hey, Trick, you ok?” Zoe leaned over and whispered to him. She was his best friend and was concerned, knowing what he’s been going through lately.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you later,” Patrick (or Trick, as his friends called him) replied.

“Don’t worry, man, we just got in ourselves a minute ago,” Brad whispered, trying to comfort him. He knew Patrick didn’t like being late. Brad was always the most practical out of the three. He wasn’t always good at expressing his feelings, but he would go to great lengths to help his friends.

Zoe and Brad were Trick’s best friends, or more precisely, his only friends since a few months ago. That’s when the bullying started. Trick was a new target for the bullies in his class – specifically Mason, Logan and Cody. He had good grades and wasn’t good at sports. Oh, and he was gay.

Of course, his schoolmates didn’t know that last thing, only Brad and Zoe did. Trick came out to them because the three of them had been best friends for years. They would always confide in each other and spend time together whenever they could. They trusted each other and were always there to help when any of them had problems.

Still, a lot of people suspected about Trick being gay, and that was enough for some of them to tease him every day. Luckily, he was never beaten up, but the name-calling, teasing and the occasional shoving was getting worse and worse. The three guys from his class – Mason, Logan and Cody – would sometimes sit behind him in class, poke him in the back, throw stuff at him and whisper to him about how they would wait for him outside after classes to ‘deal with him’. Of course, they never acted on their threats. Whether they were afraid of getting punished, or just wanted to scare him, he didn’t know, but they made his life miserable nonetheless. Every day, when he thought about going to school, his stomach would twist in a knot and he’d feel sick, knowing he’d have to endure another day of harassment.

From a happy, carefree boy who had a lot of friends and always liked to joke around, Trick quickly turned into a withdrawn, quiet guy who only spoke when answering teachers’ questions and never went anywhere without Zoe or Brad. Other kids gradually stopped hanging around with him. They either didn’t want to be another target for the bullies, or they didn’t care enough about him in the first place to try and help. That left him with only his two best friends, who never turned their backs on him.

After the biology class had ended, the three of them went out for a break. They sat at a bench in the school yard where they would be away from other kids.

“So, what happened?” Zoe asked with concern in her voice.

“They waited for me outside and didn’t let me enter the school. I tried getting past them, but they pushed me out. I had to wait for the teachers to come and then I went in right after them,” Trick spoke, sad and embarrassed.

“You have to tell the teachers, man… We’ll tell them together,” Brad said, frustrated that this was happening to his best friend.

“You know I already told them once, there’s no point. They’d only warn them not to do it again, and that’s it. After a few days, they would start all over again.”

“Then tell your parents,” Zoe said.

“I know… I will. It’s just hard… and embarrassing,” Trick replied, trying his best not to start crying. He realized that the bullying was connected to him being gay, so how could he tell his parents what was happening at school without outing himself? He wasn’t sure how they would react, and he didn’t want to risk it, at least not yet.

“I know, but you have to. We’ll be there if you want,” Brad said and Zoe quickly nodded.

“I’m so sorry, Trick. I know how hard it is for you… Especially because of Cody,” Zoe said quietly. She was sensitive and always had the feelings of others in mind. She could easily tell how another person was feeling, and she knew very well about Trick, too.

“I just don’t want him to get punished,” Trick said.

“Trick, come on. I know you have a crush on him, but he’s an asshole. Almost as big as Mason and Logan,” Brad said adamantly. “If he gets punished, it’s his own fault.”

The three friends continued talking, unaware that their entire conversation was being listened to. Several feet behind them, Cody was standing dumbfounded, his eyes wide open in shock. He quietly moved away so that he wouldn’t be heard, and once he was far enough, he ran as fast as he could.

Although he wanted to stay and listen, he had to get away, find a place to sit and think. He had no idea what to do with the information he just got. That couldn’t be true, could it? How could Patrick have a crush on him? He’s been nothing but horrible to him these past few months. Besides, no one ever liked him. Sure, he hung out with Mason and Logan, he hung out with many kids at school, but they were not his friends, they were just kids he went to school with. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t have any real friends, let alone a crush or… something more. At least Patrick had Brad and Zoe. On the other hand, Cody had no one. Sure, he could talk to anyone and make them laugh, but when it came to real friendship, he was alone. He didn’t know how to do that, how to be a friend… but at times like these, he really wished he had one.

Cody wanted to talk to someone about this startling revelation, but didn’t have any one he could confide in. His parents were not an option – he was too embarrassed to even think about talking to them about stuff like that. His sister was too young to understand, and his so-called friends were also out of the question. If he told Logan and Mason, or anyone else really, the word would immediately get out that Patrick was indeed gay.

“If they knew, they would literally destroy him,” Cody was scared at the thought. He teased Patrick a lot, but he never meant him any real harm. Now, he was suddenly regretting his behavior.

“Why would he even like me?” he honestly wondered. He couldn’t fathom that anyone could see anything special in him. All he knew was that he couldn’t tell anyone about this.

--

Days and weeks were passing by, and the situation at school didn’t get any better for Trick. Mason and Logan were after him every day, along with a few other kids from other classes. However, Trick couldn’t help but notice that Cody didn’t take part in the bullying anymore. Zoe and Brad also noticed this change, so he knew he wasn’t just imagining things. At first he thought that maybe Mason and Logan cut Cody out of their little group, but they still acted friendly with him, so that wasn’t it. He didn’t seem that interested in hanging out with them, though. Sometimes, Trick would notice Cody looking at him strangely, as if he was studying him, but he always kept his distance. He couldn’t figure out Cody’s change of behavior for the life of him, but he didn’t really pay much attention to it because he had bigger problems to deal with: the bullies, as well as the news he had to break to his friends.

Having arrived to school, Trick stood near the entrance to the school yard, afraid to go in any deeper. He waited for Zoe or Brad to come because he didn’t feel safe without them. As students from Mason’s and Logan’s group of friends would pass him by, they would yell ‘fag’, ‘pussy,’ or any other word that sounded like an insult to them, and then just laugh, looking at his sad and ashamed face. Maybe even worse were the looks of pity in the eyes of other students who just watched him from a distance, but did nothing to help.

After what seemed like hours, Brad and Zoe finally showed up and the three of them entered the school building. The first class was chemistry and everyone was flustered because they had a test. Trick didn’t mind it because it meant that everyone will be focused on taking the test instead of teasing him.

The entire day went without major problems, although the name-calling and the ever increasing range of insults were inevitable, as always. After the last class, the three friends headed home. Trick waited for that moment to finally break the big news, and he was getting increasingly more nervous.

“Guys, I’ve got something to tell you,” he started, feeling even more insecure than usual.

“What’s up?” Brad asked innocently, not expecting anything serious.

“I talked to my mom and dad… Told them about what was going on at school.”

“Oh, Trick… Did you… tell them all?” Zoe asked, reaching her hand to grab Trick’s.

“Yeah… I came out to them. They don’t mind,” he said with a shy smile.

“I knew they would be fine with it,” Zoe also smiled.

“Although, they were upset that I didn’t tell them about the bullying sooner… But they understood.”

“I’m glad, buddy,” Brad added. “Have they come to the school?”

“Yes, but not because of what you think… I asked them to move me to another school.”

“What?!” Zoe and Brad shouted almost in unison.

“Are you sure about this?” Zoe quickly asked.

“I don’t know… I can’t stay here anymore. I’m afraid to go to school every day. The only time I have a moment of peace is during classes, and sometimes not even then. I can’t go on like that every single day…”

“I know, bud. I wish things were different…” Brad patted him on the back. He was gutted about losing a friend, but he knew it was for the best.

“Which school will you be going to?” Zoe asked. She was concerned and scared, but she wanted the best for her friend. She knew Trick was unhappy here and that this was probably the right move.

“The Lake Heights, it’s close to home. I’m moving there as of next week.”

“We’ll still see each other,” Brad added, trying to put on a little smile.

“I know. It won’t be the same, though…” Trick replied sadly. “Wanna go to my place and hang out for a while? We can play some Mario Kart?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course! As long as you don’t make us play Rainbow Road,” Brad teased.

“I’m not that gay!” Trick chuckled. He already felt a bit better.

“And we’ll keep doing this even after you change schools, ok?” Brad said. “Next weekend, you guys are coming to my place.”

“You got it,” Trick and Zoe confirmed, smiling.

--

Next week was unusual to say the least for Brad and Zoe. Other than the two of them and the teachers, no one else knew why Trick wasn’t showing up for classes. Some thought he might be sick, others didn’t really pay attention to his absence. Except one person – Cody. He noticed Patrick was gone already on the first day, but he didn’t say anything. As Patrick didn’t show up the entire week, Cody’s curiosity grew even bigger. Next Monday, he saw Zoe alone in the hallway after the second class and decided to approach her. He was anxious, but he needed to know. He slowly came to her and cleared his throat.

“Hey… uh, I don’t see Patrick around,” he said nervously, standing a few feet away from her. “Is he sick?”

“None of your business,” Zoe replied coldly, not even bothering to look at him. She never forgave him for how he treated Trick.

“That’s fair… Ok, bye,” he said quietly and turned to walk away.

Suddenly, Zoe thought that making Cody feel guilty would be a great idea, if he could even feel guilt, that is. She wanted to make him feel horrible for what he did.

“If you must know,” she quickly added before he went away, “he moved to another school because of how you and other assholes have been treating him. He couldn’t take the bullying anymore. I know this must be so hard for you, but you won’t be seeing him anymore,” she added venomously, closed her locker and left.

Cody stood there for a few seconds before turning to go to the toilet, his eyes welling up with tears.

Thank you to everyone who read the 1st chapter, please let me know what you think I really appreciated everyone's thoughts on Strictly Business, and I hope you'll enjoy this story as well.