Dancing on a Star - 15. Chapter 15

When we arrived home, I didn’t see Stephanie’s car in the driveway. I remembered her telling me when we were eating pizza that she and Darren had to head back to the university. They both had classes early Monday morning. I wish they could have spent another night because I didn’t want to spend it alone with Mom and Dad.

Dad wasn’t going to be a problem. He seemed to accept that I was gay. He even embarrassed me about locking the door when Tracy and I make out. My face still turns red when I think about it. It’s going to be difficult to look him in the face for a while without blushing. I wonder what he would say if he knew that Tracy, Jeff and I were all three making out.

Mom was sitting in the family room reading a book when we entered. I stopped and told her I was going to my room, but she didn’t even bother to look up at me. Dad patted me on my back and told me he would come up later to see me.

Before closing my bedroom door, I could hear my father shouting at my mother. I felt like going downstairs and telling him it would be alright, but I decided not to. I didn’t want to cause more trouble between them. It was just going to be something we would have to work out slowly. Dad seems pretty confident that she will come around.

When I sat at my desk, my cellphone rang. It was Tracy. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly. “I’ve been waiting for you to get home.”

“Yeah,” I assured him. “I’m okay.”

He started giggling and then asked me to come to the window. When I looked over at this bedroom window, he was waving at me. I smiled and waved back. He asked, “You want me to dance for you?”

“You better not,” I replied. “Someone’s going to see us. Anyone on the street walking by can see you.”

“I know,” he giggled. “I think it’s exciting.”

“We still have to be careful,” I warned him. “Jimmy and the other guys saw you last week. That’s why they’ve been acting the way they have.”

“I don’t care,” he replied. “It’s a free world. If I want to dance in my bedroom, I can.”

I laughed and said, “Not when you do it naked. That’s indecent exposure or something like that.”

“They don’t have to look,” he laughed. “Seriously, Jack. I can dance for you if you want.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “But keep your clothes on.”

“Damn,” he muttered. We hung up and I watched as he stood in the middle of the room looking in the mirror. He looked over at me, took a deep breath and then started to dance. His movements were beautiful. Several times I held my breath as he twirled and danced around the room. I was sure he was dancing the part in the Nutcracker he had talked about. After about twenty minutes, he stopped and disappeared from the room. I walked away from the window and returned to my computer desk.

Minutes later, my phone rang. “How did you like it?” asked Tracy.

I replied, “It was beautiful. You’re going to kill it when you dance the Nutcracker.”

“You’ll be there?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course.”

“I gotta go,” he said. “I have some homework to do before I go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” Before he hung up, he muttered softly, “I love you, Jack.”

I looked at my phone and said, “Wow.” I couldn’t believe that Tracy had just told me he loved me. I thought we had a pact between the three of us that we wouldn’t get serious. It was supposed to just be friends with benefits, not love. Now I was confused. Did Tracy just say he loved me as a friend, or did it have a different meaning? One thing was for sure, I couldn’t think about love right now. Too much was happening too fast for me to even consider that. I liked Tracy, and Jeff, but I wasn’t ready to be in love with either of them.

I went to bed, and surprisingly I slept well. Dad came in to check on me, but I pretended to be asleep. When I awoke, I wasn’t sure what may happen during the day. It had been a life-changing weekend. I was now out to my parents and sister. I had sex with both Tracy and Jeff. However, things didn’t seem that much different. At least my parents hadn’t kicked me out of the house when they found out I am gay. But now I have to return to school, and there is no way I am going to avoid other students not knowing that. Jimmy, Brian and Tyler have abandoned me as friends. The only two students who will talk to me are Tracy and Jeff. Students are already beginning to label me gay because I am associating with them.

But my attitude now is- so what? It’s not like I’m anyone special at school. I’m not the quarterback of the football team or a star basketball player. I’m just me- Jack Woolery. I never had a lot of friends, so what if I do lose the only friends I had until last week. Jimmy and I have been best friends for years, but I am beginning to realize that was going to change soon anyway. It will only be a matter of time before he finds a girlfriend, and he will be spending all his time with her. Brian and Tyler will also begin dating. Then they would have tried to set me up with the friends of their girlfriends, and even try to get me to double date. I would have to do it, or they would wonder why I wasn’t interested. Then it probably wouldn’t take them long to put two and two together. There just isn’t anyway I would want to go on a date and spend the night with my lips locked to a girl’s lips. And what if she wanted more? What if she would try to get me to go all the way with her? If I refused, she would tell Jimmy and everyone in school about it. I suppose that sooner or later everyone would figure out my secret anyway.

But I guess it’s not a secret anymore. And I’m sure that within a few days, everyone will begin to know. Especially if I hang around Tracy and Jeff at school. But I’m determined I won’t make the mistake I made earlier. I won’t avoid them just so I can protect my image. If I’m branded gay, then so what? It’s not like I care anymore. What can they do but talk about me behind my back?

When I went downstairs for breakfast, my father was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the morning paper. My mother had her back turned as she cooked eggs in a skillet. My father looked up and spoke, “Good morning, Jack. Did you sleep well? I came in to check on you, but you were out like a light.”

“Yeah, Dad,” I replied. “I slept pretty good.”

My mother turned and placed a plate of eggs and sausage in front of my father. She glanced quickly at me before turning her back. I wasn’t sure she was even going to give me anything to eat. I could tell by the expression on my father’s face, he was also confused. She did, however, fix a plate and place it on the table. She then turned and left the kitchen.

I looked at my father and asked, “Is she still mad?”

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I guess.” He smiled slightly and said, “She’ll get over it.”

“I hope,” I replied skeptically. We stopped talking when she reentered the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. She left again without saying a word.

I looked up at the clock, and it was time for me to head out to school. My father asked if I would like him to take me, but I told him I would walk with Tracy.

Tracy was waiting for me when I headed down the stairs. He was smiling at me as I approached. “Hey, Sexy!” he giggled.

Again, I was confused by his sudden change. Last night he said he loved me when he hung up the phone, and now he seemed to be flirting more than he had in the past.

“Shut up,” I laughed as I headed down the sidewalk with Tracy by my side.

He remarked, “It looks like you survived the weekend.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Now I just have to survive the week.”

“If anyone give you any problems,” he responded, “Just tell them to fuck off.”

“And get the shit beat out of me?”

He surprised me when he replied, “It will happen someday anyway.”

I stopped and stared at him. “Has it happened to you?”

He started walking briskly. I grabbed his arm and stopped him. “It has, hasn’t it?”

He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’ve had some problems.”

“What happened?” He continued to walk without giving me an answer.

“Tracy!” I stopped him again, only this time his eyes were tearing up. “What happened?”

He begged, “Can we talk about this another time?”

“Sure,” I said, “but you have to promise me you’ll tell me what happened.”

He turned and walked away. We walked silently to school without saying anything more. I was worried that something bad had happened to him, and he might not tell me what it was.

I followed him to his locker as he got out his books. As I waited on him, Jeff approached with a smile on his face. “Hey, Guys.” He threw up his hand and waved at us. We asked him how things were going, and he said he spent Sunday afternoon fishing with his father. I rolled my eyes when he invited us to join them sometime.

“I have better things to do than stand on a bank and wait for a fish to bite,” I informed him. He laughed and told me that he and his father go fly fishing. I wasn’t sure what that meant. I guess they use flies for bait or something.

As we were heading to my locker, I noticed Jimmy and Tyler heading our way. I tried to avoid eye contact with them, but Jimmy approached and stood in front of us.

“Well, well, well,” he grinned as he looked over at Tyler. “Now we have three poofs in the school.”

I sneered at him and said, “Just shut the fuck up, Jimmy. We ain’t bothering you.”

He shoved his finger in my chest. “Yes, you are, Jack.” He laughed and added smugly, “Or should I call you Jackie.”

Tracy moved closer to me, stood before Jimmy and muttered, “Why don’t you go crawl back under the rock you were under.”

“Oh!” replied Jimmy with a laugh. “Poofie wants to act all big and bad.” Tyler started laughing.

I grabbed Tracy by the arm and pulled him away. “Let’s get out of here,” I said. I looked over at Jeff and shook my head. “It ain’t worth it.”

As we walked away, Jimmy hollered out loud enough for anyone around to hear. “You’re a fag, Jack! Don’t come around my house no more!” I started to flip him off, but Jeff held my arm down.

I looked over and Tracy was visibly shaken. “Are you okay?” I asked him.

He sadly shook his head and said sadly, “Not again.” He turned and hurried away.

Jeff asked, “What is wrong with him?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied, “but I think something bad happened at his old school. That’s the reason he’s here.”

“I know he got outed,” said Jeff. “He never talked about anything else happening to him.”

I nodded my head. “He told me the same thing. He mentioned something happening in a play, but he didn’t go into a lot of detail.” Just then the bell rang, and Jeff hurried off to class. After class, Tracy was waiting outside my door.

“Hey,” he smiled. “I thought we could walk to class.” Jeff soon joined us. Jeff was excited because he thought a boy in his first period seemed to be eyeing him. Tracy looked at me and winked. He was thinking the same thing I was.

When we arrived, Jimmy and Tyler were in their seats. We sat two rows in front of them. When the bell rang, Mr. Glicker told us to get our geometry homework out. He went around the room to make sure that we had completed it. I was glad that I had done it even though the weekend had been busy.

He went to the front of the room and began to go over several of the problems. Suddenly, I was hit in the back of the head with a spitball. I turned and Jimmy was giving me a smug look. I then continued to listen to Mr. Glicker. Then, I was hit again with another spitball. I looked over at Tracy just as he was hit in the side of his face.

He turned and shouted at Jimmy, “Why don’t you fucking stop!”

Jimmy stood and responded menacingly, “Why don’t you come back here and make me fucking stop!”

“Gentlemen!” shouted Mr. Glicker as he headed toward Jimmy and Tracy. By then it was too late. Tracy and Jimmy were standing in the aisle face to face. Tyler positioned himself so that Mr. Glicker couldn’t get past.

Jimmy threw up his hands and challenged Tracy. “Come on, Fag Boy! Let me see what you got.”

I shouted, “Tracy, don’t!” Just then, Tyler shoved Tracy into Jimmy. Jimmy threw a fist into the Tracy’s right jaw. I pushed Tracy aside and Jimmy hit me in the face.

“Fucker!” I shouted as I charged at Jimmy, and we both fell to the ground. Like a mad man, I began to pummel Jimmy’s face. Suddenly, Mr. Glicker, Jeff and Tracy reached down and pulled me off Jimmy. Several other students grabbed me and helped Tracy pull me from the room. I looked back and saw Mr. Glicker kneeling beside Jimmy.

Two teachers and a security officer came running down the hall. Mr. Hall, a math teacher, grabbed my arm and started to lead me away. Tracy held my other arm as we headed for the office. I could hear Jimmy cursing behind me as the security officer and another teacher held his arms. Jeff started following us down the hall, but the teacher told him to go back to class.

“I’ll fuck both those faggots up!” Jimmy screamed. The security officer warned him not to say anything else.

I looked over at Tracy. The right side of his face was red and swollen. “Are you alright?” I asked worriedly.

He replied, “I think so. How about you?”

For the first time, I became aware that I had been injured. I felt the side of my face, and it hurt like hell. Jimmy must have landed some punch. I looked for blood, but fortunately there was none.

Mrs. Alexander came from the office and rushed toward us. “What is going on?”

Mr. Hall informed her that we had been fighting in Mr. Glicker’s class. He told her it took him, another teacher and the security officer to break us up. I wanted to call him a liar because I was already in the hall when he arrived, but I figured I was already in enough trouble. She told Mr. Hall to take me to the office while she went to see Jimmy and the security officer behind us.

We were waiting in the office lobby when Jimmy arrived. Mr. Hall and Tracy still had a tight grip on my arms. When Jimmy saw me, he tried to pull away from the security officer. “Let me go!” he screamed. I tried to hit him, but Mr. Hall pushed me against a wall and blocked me from moving.

Mrs. Alexander told the security officer to take Jimmy to her office. She headed to a conference room nearby and asked Mr. Hall to bring me to that room. Tracy followed behind us.

“Sit down!” she ordered as she pointed to a chair. I sat at a large conference table, and Tracy pulled out a chair and sat beside me. Mr. Hall folded his arms and leaned against the door. I guess he was going to block it in case I decided to leave.

She looked at Tracy and asked, “Tracy, what is going on? You just enrolled the other day and you’re already in trouble.”

I insisted, “He didn’t do anything, Mrs. Alexander. It was me and Jimmy who was fighting.”

She asked, “And you are? I don’t recall seeing you before.” Her remark hurt my feelings. I had been in school for two years, and she didn’t know me.

“I’m Jack Woolery,” I replied.

“Jack Woolery?” She gave me a puzzled look. “Is Stephanie Woolery your sister?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“She was a very nice young lady,” she stated. “I never had to deal with her getting in trouble.”

Tracy interrupted, “You have this wrong, Mrs. Alexander.” He looked over at me. “Jack didn’t do anything. We were doing our assignment and Jimmy kept tossing spit balls at us.”

She gave him a skeptical look. “Then why did Jack and Jimmy have to be escorted by staff to the office if all that happened was a few spit wads being thrown.”

Tracy replied adamantly, “You wouldn’t want someone throwing their spit at you, would you?”

“Of course not, but…”

Tracy continued, “All we did was turn and tell him to stop it.”

Her eyes narrowed as she asked, “And how did you tell him to stop it?”

Tracy’s face reddened slightly as he replied, “We may have used a couple of bad words.” His voice grew angrier when he stated, “But he called us faggots!”

She seemed surprised by Tracy’s comment. She looked at Mr. Hall and asked him if he could remain a few more minutes while she went to talk to Mr. Glicker. He nodded his head. When she had left the room, he said, “I’m going to wait outside. Don’t you guys get into any more trouble.” We nodded as he closed the door.

Tracy immediately leaned over, hugged me and kissed me on my lips. I pulled away and squealed, “Tracy! We’re in enough trouble!”

“But I’m worried about you,” he replied as he felt the side of my face. “Does it hurt?”

Talking to Mrs. Armstrong, I had almost forgotten that Jimmy hit me. I raised my hand to my face and felt where it was swollen. I then reached over and touched Tracy’s face.

Tears filled my eyes as I gently touched the bruise and swelling on his face. “That bastard hurt you, too.” He smiled and then leaned in and gave me a quick kiss.

“I’m okay, Baby,” he insisted. I was surprised because it was the first time he had ever said anything like that. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I had never thought about another boy calling me words like that.

I asked worriedly, “What do you think is going to happen?”

“If it’s like the past,” he replied worriedly, “then we’ll probably get suspended.”

“Like the past?”

He gave me a worried look and said, “I used to get in a lot of fights at my old school.” He shook his head. “I got tired of being called a fag all the time.”

“So, you fought with them?”

“Yeah,” explained Tracy. “After a while I got used to it and started to ignore them.”

“That’s hard to do,” I replied.

“You have to,” he said as he looked around the room, “or you’ll be sitting here every day.”

“Dad’s going to kill me when I get suspended,” I groaned. “After everything that happened this weekend, and now this.”

Tracy reached down and grabbed my hand. “It’s not going to get any better, at least for a while. You might as well get used to it.”

He was still holding my hand when the door opened, and Mrs. Armstrong entered. Tracy let go of my hand, but not before Mrs. Armstrong noticed. She sat across from us at the conference table.

“I’ve talked to Mr. Glicker,” she began, “and it appears that Jimmy started this whole incident. However…” her eyes narrowed in anger, “you two are still not entirely without responsibility.” We looked at each other as she continued, “Cursing in a classroom and jumping up and hitting someone warrants discipline.”

Tracy angrily stated, “But he hit us with spitballs and called us faggots!”

“Yes, he did,” responded Mrs. Armstrong. “And he will likewise be punished.”

Tracy asked angrily, “What are you going to do to us?”

“The first thing I’m going to do is have the nurse come in and look at your faces.” She looked worriedly at us. “Both of you were hit rather severely.” She rose from her seat and approached us. She examined us carefully. “Do you hurt?”

“Of course, we hurt,” replied Tracy sarcastically. “Wouldn’t you if someone as big as Jimmy knocked the shit out of you?”

Mrs. Armstrong’s eyes narrowed as she warned Tracy, “Language, Young Man.”

Tracy stood and looked challenging at the principal. I saw a look of anger I had never seen before. I was beginning to understand why he had trouble at his former school. “We get spitballs thrown at us, get called fags and then get the shit knocked out of us…” Tears started to fill his eyes. “And we are going to get into trouble?”

Mrs. Armstrong pointed to a seat and shouted, “Sit down, Tracy!” I reached up and grabbed his arm, pulling him into his seat.

“You’re making this difficult,” she stated angrily. “I’m trying to be fair. I have to get all the facts, and then I’ll decide what to do.” She spoke a little more softly. “At the moment, I just think that everyone had a part in what happened.” She looked sympathetically at Tracy and asked, “Don’t you think so, Dear?”

Tracy looked at me and muttered, “It still isn’t fair.”

I asked worriedly, “What is going to happen?”

Before she could respond, the door opened, and my father entered.