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- 10/15/2015
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Timothy’s Terrible Prompt Stories - 39. Prompt 452 So, tell me all the details.
Rob pokes his nose into matters and sets a few things straight.
A Rob chapter from Eric’s POV.
“So, tell me all the details.”
Eric sighed and wished he didn’t love his brother too much to strangle him. After they had said goodbye to Nelson, his parents and Jasper, Rob had more or less dragged Eric upstairs, saying ‘we need to talk.’ Once they got to Eric’s room, Rob had back-flopped on the end of the bed as usual, and demanded to be updated.
“Rob, even though you’re welcome to take credit for getting Nelson and me together – and I admit being grateful, even if I don’t approve of your methods – this does not entitle you to be told the details of my sex life.”
“Relax, bro, the fact you have a sex life is detail enough for me. I was talking about the prom issue. What was it all about, and did you get it resolved?”
Eric stared at Rob, who managed a look of wounded innocence, but it quickly degenerated into a small satisfied smirk.
“I’m not sure why Nelson got upset, but I simply told him I wasn’t having second thoughts. Problem solved.”
“Just like that?”
“Sure.”
Eric could see Rob wasn’t completely convinced, but he didn’t care. Nelson’s last words, before they’d gone downstairs, had proven everything was fine.
“Jasper told me Nelson has always dreamed of taking his boyfriend to the prom,” said Rob, obviously wanting to probe deeper into the matter.
“Yeah, I know. He told me.” Eric added ‘Great dreams, too’ in his own head.
“Why are you blushing, bro?”
“I’m not,” Eric insisted.
“Dude, you are sooo getting all hot and bothered. Spill.”
“Absolutely not!”
“Fine, it’s about sex, then.” Rob grinned and then sat up, pretending to be shocked. “Oh ho, cherry time? Wicked!”
Eric refused to answer, and luckily Rob seemed to realize he’d pushed the topic to the limit.
“Anyway, I wanted to talk with you about the GSA. Have you made up your mind?”
“Yeah, I think we should both join the GSA tomorrow.”
“Cool.” Rob held up his hand, and Eric leaned forward to slap it. “I talked with Dad and I think he’s right. Joining the GSA at college will be a good learning experience for me, and I may actually be able to make a difference.”
“You don’t mind him putting pressure on you?”
“Nah, he never does unless it’s important, and anyway the rents are going to sweeten the deal by giving me a higher allowance.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was worried about having time for baseball, GSA, studying and working. Not to mention all the other stuff going on at college.” Rob winked, and Eric rolled his eyes. “A higher allowance means I can devote more time to the GSA, instead of earning money.”
“Do you even know whether your top three college choices have a GSA or LGBT club?”
“No, I don’t, actually. Huh, wouldn’t that be a joke on Dad? Let’s look it up.”
“Not now, because then you’d have to tell Dad before you join the West Hill GSA.” Eric was surprised at how eager he was for Rob to join their high school GSA after all.
“Hmm, good point.”
“So what are you going to do, if they don’t have anything like that?”
“I don’t know; I’ll figure something out. I’m not gonna worry about it now.”
“I guess we should worry about tomorrow instead.” Eric still wasn’t sure about Rob’s coffee shop plan.
“What’s to worry about? Jazz will bring Nelson, and we’ll meet them in the parking lot at 7.30. After we’ve joined the GSA, we’ll go over to the coffee shop.”
“Rob, please could—” he didn’t get any further before Rob shook his head.
“No way, bro. You and Nelson are going to stroll into that place, heads high and holding hands. You’re gonna walk up and order for all of us – I’ll pay – and then you’ll bring the drinks over for me, Jazz and Carolyn. After that you and Nelson can decide where you want to sit. I hope you’ll feel comfortable with us, but I’m also fine with you finding somewhere quiet to cuddle.”
“Cut it out, Rob.” Eric threw a pillow at his brother, who caught it with a grin and stuffed it under his head.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to do if anyone says anything insulting?” Eric wanted to know whether Rob had considered every angle of his plan.
“Have you asked Nelson the same question? And what about yourself? Are you just gonna accept their nonsense?”
“I’m not the one who plans to provoke the entire baseball team.” Eric did his best not to snarl at Rob.
“Why would they be provoked by the presence of my brother and his boyfriend? You were at the match yesterday, and no one said anything.”
“I doubt most of them noticed, and the coach was there to enforce the school rules.”
“The rules banning bullying and hazing shouldn’t only apply on school grounds, and in any case, normal decent behavior should make people oppose bigotry whether it’s based on color, creed or orientation.”
“In principle yes, but you know real life isn’t like that. There’s a reason there are no out baseball, football or basketball players. At least not while they play in the professional leagues.”
“I know, but let’s focus on what we can influence. I want West Hill High students to adopt the stance that bigots are bad, boring and so last century. Nobody likes to be uncool.” Rob said the last sentence with the confidence of the utterly cool, popular jock.
“Do you really believe you can make that happen? You graduate two months from now.”
“Hey, the majority of them are already there, including most of the baseball team. I have trust in my teammates, and so does Jasper. Almost all will be fine with you, and the rest will bow to peer pressure. But we need a reason for the pressure to be applied, and you and Nelson hand-in-hand will provide that.”
Eric knew it was hopeless to object; Rob was on a mission – or maybe Quest was a better word. They might as well get it over with, and extract a promise of non-interference afterwards.
“OK, I’ll let Nelson know that I’ve accepted your plan. But in return, I want you to promise that you’ll leave us alone afterwards. No pushing us into the limelight or using us to promote your own agenda. It’s gonna be bad enough at the prom.”
“I promise, bro.”
Eric hoped Rob would get up and leave, but his brother didn't. He sighed and dug out his cell phone to send Nelson a text, then went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, hoping Rob would get the hint. But his brother was still lounging at the end of the bed, when he got back.
“I’m done in the bathroom, Rob.” No reaction.
“Rob, I have to get up an hour earlier than normal tomorrow,” Eric tried again.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go soon. But first I want to know, why you were making a fuss about the number of gay couples at the prom.”
“I wasn’t making a fuss.”
“You know what I mean.” Rob punched his leg to emphasize his words.
Eric sighed. “Nelson told me how much attention he and Trevor got last year. He hated it, and I’m not keen to get the same treatment.”
“Come on, bro, it wasn’t that bad. OK, people looked and commented, when they arrived, and when two guys danced together, but most of the time they were hanging around with people from the GSA or the drama club, and nobody gave a shit.”
“What sort of things did people say?”
“Well, there was speculation about them being a couple or not, and Trevor got some grief from his friends for keeping his prom date a secret. Nelson being gay wasn’t too much of a surprise, after he flattened Clayton, but still it got quite a few comments. Some of them from girls moaning about the waste; ‘What a shame’ and so on. I’m sure there will be even more saying the same about you, bro.”
“Whatever. Anything negative?”
“Not openly, no. But some people kept their distance or walked away if the topic came up.”
“How did Melanie react?” Eric almost regretted asking when Rob scowled at him, but he wanted to know.
“She shook her head and said something I found odd at the time, but perhaps now I know why.” Rob paused for a moment, then went on. “She said, ‘Poor Nelson, he is much too young and innocent to be dragged into this. Trevor should be ashamed of himself.’ I thought she meant Nelson was shy and insecure, since he did look sort of uncomfortable walking up the stairs on Trevor’s arm. Now I think she thought Trevor was ‘corrupting’ him.” Rob rolled his eyes and managed to look pissed off too.
“Fuck, this is just the sort of reaction I’d hate to get. And this time it’s gonna be a junior and a freshman. And we’re both shy, or at least not interested in any attention.” Eric was about to jump up and pace, but Rob grabbed his arm and shook him.
“Will you calm down, for fuck’s sake! The situation is completely different for you and Nelson.”
“What do you mean? How’s it different?”
“Well, first of all, when you go to the prom, you’ll be an established couple. Hell, people would be more shocked if Nelson didn’t take you to the junior prom. Secondly, you’ll hang out with other couples who are your friends. Tony and Maria, Jasper and Carolyn, perhaps people from the drama club. Thirdly, we have at least a month to persuade some of the other GSA members to invite who they would really like to take to the prom.”
“Oh,” was all Eric said, as he saw Rob’s point.
“Duh, you two will be old news by then, and in any case Trevor broke trail for everyone last year. It’s never easy to be first, and I got a lot more respect for him after that. Even more so, because it was pretty low key, apart from their entrance together. He didn’t flaunt himself or Nelson, but that might be because they were friends and not boyfriends.”
Rob punched Eric’s arm again, and a smirk slowly developed on his face. Eric braced himself for a typical Rob remark.
“But you’re going with your hot boyfriend, so I expect you to kiss on the dance floor and get some action later. I’ll even pick you up and let you sit in my car, while I go for a walk. And you can tell me all the details if you want.”
“Fuck off, Rob!”
Eric made sure to lock the door to the bathroom after his annoying brother laughed his way in there. But perhaps getting Rob’s help with arranging some after-prom activities might be a good idea…
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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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