Black Star Cross - 30. Shunned

Black Star Cross

Chapter 30: Shunned

When I got there, Anthony was already in his car. He didn’t look too thrilled about recent events, particularly the rumors. Then again, neither would I. The car was already running and he looked ready to shift into third gear at a moment’s notice. He looked at me and released the break. ‘Oh God, he’s going to run me over.’ I honestly didn’t know if he was going to just leave me there or not. After a moment’s hesitation, I walked faster to his car, praying that he wouldn’t turn homicidal on me at the last second. As soon as I had gotten into the car, he sped right out of the parking lot and onto the streets. I turned to face him; I was walking on a mine field right now. One wrong step and I’d be blown to pieces.

“So...” I began.

I drifted off, leaving Anthony to finish off the sentence. He didn’t take the bait.

“Did you at least say that the rumors aren’t true?” I offered.

“Do you know what the rumors were?” he shot back.

I thought about them. I had never really heard them outright in their entirety. Just the words “Peter and Anthony.”

“Not really. I only know that it involves you and that Peter guy.”

He started to speed up.

“They say that Peter and I have been fucking around! That we fuck practically every night! And not only fucking, but sucking, stroking, kissing, and anything else you could think of! Me!! With that fag!! Of all the people to group together, it had to be US two! I mean, I know that the guy just came out today, and THAT is good gossip enough, but did they have to include me in it as well?” he vented.

Oh. So that’s what the rumors were. Now I understand why Anthony was so mad earlier today. If I was involved in the rumors instead of him, I’d be mad too. How ironic, though. Picking out Anthony of all people to include in the rumor. Why him, though? I heard Anthony sigh.

“I’m sorry I ignored you today and stuff, dude. But I had to. Don’t you get why I’d be part of a rumor like this?”

“Because someone overheard you moaning my name while you were sleeping in class?” I joked.

Anthony shot daggers at me.

“Not funny! In case you forgot, there was that rumor a month ago about us two being fuck buddies. Apparently, somebody remembered that and brought it up, claiming that I must be sleeping around with the residential school fag. I mean, I already did it once; why not again?!”

“Please Anthony, don’t try and kill us before we get to my stop,” I begged.

He slowed down some.

“I remember that rumor,” I continued. “You made a big commotion about it then, and it eventually died down. You’re making a big commotion about it now, and it will eventually die down as well.”

“Back then, all I had to worry about was you talking. And I know how much you love talking to people. Now I have to deal with this Pete guy, and I don’t know what he’s going to do with this rumor. He could either break it or ride with it. Hell, he could even build onto it.”

We were reaching my house in record time. I knew Anthony needed some consoling; I just didn’t know how to go about it.

“Even if he does talk, who are they going to believe? Him, the newly gay guy, or you, Mr. Jock of the Millennium?”

“I wouldn’t say millennium,” I heard him mutter.

“Century? Decade? The Next Fifteen Minutes?” I supplied.

He surprisingly smirked, trying to suppress a smile, I’m sure.

“I’m not THAT bad, dude. I can catch a football and make the perfect throw. I know how to sink a three-pointer. I bet you can’t even do any of these three.”

“I don’t NEED to do any of these three. I won’t be needing an athletic scholarship to get into college, unlike SOME people I know,” I said, purposely not looking at him.

“My grades are better than Brett’s!” he defended.

“Brett probably takes the easiest classes! Some of which I’m sure are taught by the athletic coaches.”

He had no comeback for that one.

“Not all of them...” I heard him mutter again.

We were silent for a bit before I continued talking.

“So, what are you going to do?” I asked plainly.

“Dude, I don’t know. Play it cool, I guess. Keep on telling people that it isn’t true. Try to get my fucking friends to believe me.”

“Keith seems to be on your side,” I offered.

“Yeah, he seemed to believe me right off the bat. He’s cool.”

“He’s smart. Which is something I wouldn’t believe at first sight,” I replied back.

“He and I have been close buds forever, dude. It makes sense that he’d take my side on something like this.”

“Now if only Liz and the others thought the same way.”

“I swear that Liz gets off on tormenting me. She’s sick in the head, you know. Brett should know better, too. I mean, we spent a whole lot of time together during winter break. He should know that I wouldn’t have time to have a fling with someone, especially since I was also living with Aunt Emmy at the time as well.”

I looked at him. By now, we were parked in my driveway.

“Um, Anthony? You kinda were. Think back to what you were doing with me during winter break. It wasn’t exactly a ‘fling,’ but...”

I saw him think back to winter break, then watched as his eyes opened a bit more as the realization hit him.

“Oh fuck. I had a gay fling during winter break!”

“Well gee, thanks. Makes me feel SO much better to hear that our relationship was nothing more than a ‘gay fling’,” I said sarcastically.

“You know what I mean,” was his brilliant reply.

“I’m afraid not. Please, elaborate.”

He seemed to think for a second.

“Fuck, I don’t know. I know it wasn’t a ‘fling,’ but...” He seemed at a loss for words. “Look, just don’t tell Liz, Brett, or Wes about us sleeping together, okay? I’m begging you here, dude.”

“Wes?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Tall guy, football jersey, attempted buzzcut?”

Oh. Darryl/Darren. Well, I guess his name was Wes then, huh? Shows how much I pay attention to social hierarchy. Man, I wasn’t even close.

“Oh, him. Yeah, yeah. I won’t tell anybody about your scandalous secret.”

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“I think you should get going. Your mom might start to wonder.”

“Yeah, I probably should. You want to come inside for a bit?”

“Can’t. I have work tonight. And I really need to do some of this homework or else I’ll really get behind.”

“Alright then. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

“‘Kay. See you later, dude.”

I got out of the car and walked into the house, waving back to Anthony as he pulled out of the driveway. It was only after I had entered the house that I remembered the original topic of discussion: what he’s going to do with these rumors spreading around. Damn him. While he answered it somewhat, he still knew about that question and purposely got out of it AND successfully got rid of me as well before I could remember to bring it back up. I think. Nah. He’s not that smart.

I did as I always did. I went upstairs to my room and did homework or listened to music until it was time for dinner. Ate dinner, then retreated to my room for the rest of the night. No fights; no drama.

~~~

I had to ride the bus the next day to school, which is something I really don’t like. But at least it’s better than riding home on one, since most of the kids are too tired to be screaming at each other anyways. It wasn’t until the warning bell rang once there that I realized that Anthony hadn’t shown up at my locker like he usually does. I walked to class, hoping that he was there and NOT in one of his irritating “I’m so straight, I’m not sitting next to the fag that I’ve been sitting next to for the past couple of weeks” moods. Surprisingly, he was in class, and was sitting in his normal spot, next to where I usually sit.

“So why the no show at my locker today?” I asked, sitting down next to him.

He visibly flinched and shot me a quick death glare, which I think was unwarranted. What did I do?

“Would you keep it down?” he whispered. The confused look on my face prompted him to continue. “I don’t need people thinking that I stop by your locker everyday with this rumor going on.”

“Haven’t you been telling people that it’s not true?”

“That’s the thing! Nobody ever comes up to me and asks. I don’t get a chance to defend myself! I can’t just go up to random people and say ‘Hey, it’s not true!’ and then walk off to the next person.”

I had to fight off the urge to laugh at the image of him doing so coming into my head.

“So I don’t know what to do here. I can’t talk to them. I can only talk to my friends, whom seem to be swaying towards the general public’s view on this, except for Keith. Who knows what that Peter guy is doing. He’s probably spreading more rumors about our “gay sexual fling.” By now, according to him, I’ve probably been elevated to ‘kinky BDSM’ status.”

This time I did laugh. It reminded me of my BDSM suspicion of him a few weeks back, after he tried to seduce me. And imaging Anthony in a leather bondage suit was just too hilarious to bear.

“Something about that strike you funny?!” he demanded, angrily.

“N-no,” I gasped, trying to catch my breath. “N-nothing at all. Ha ha.”

He growled at me.

“I don’t see what’s so funny. My reputation is at stake here. Oh, I forgot. You never had one. Or at least, one to uphold.”

“If that was meant to be insulting, you have failed. I DON’T care about my rep. How does what others think of me affect my life outside of school? Or after I graduate?”

Before he had a chance to reply back, the teacher came in and we began class. Nothing too exciting happened then, so I’ll skip to after class. Did I mention that Anthony’s quick when he wants to be? As soon as class ended, he was up and out of there like a bullet. I hadn’t exactly cornered him in an argument, so I was surprised by this action. It’s too late to chase after him now. He’s long gone. I’ll just have to wait for him at lunch. Doubt he’ll sit next to me though.

Throughout the rest of my classes before lunch, I tried to pay attention to the whisperings of the other students. It seemed that the rumor wasn’t quite dead yet. In fact, it seemed to be growing more. Words like “suck” and “fuck” were now being thrown into the mix. I even heard a “backwoods outhouse” once. Now I REALLY doubt he’ll sit next to me at lunch.

Sure enough, he didn’t even acknowledge my presence when lunchtime came around. He went directly towards the jock table again with Keith, who seemed less fazed by his behavior than yesterday. I ate silently, expecting him to shield himself with his buds and hurry out of there at the end of the period, which is what happened. Something I did notice though: there seemed to be less guys sitting with Anthony today than yesterday, and less guys got up and walked with him after lunch as well. By chance, I managed to meet up with him before the next class began. He was alone with Keith, and didn’t look too happy.

“Yo,” Keith said, before I could say anything and before Anthony noticed me coming up to them.

“Hey,” I replied back.

“Hey dude,” Anthony sighed. This seemed to be finally taking its toll on him. He sounded exhausted.

“You manage to convince the school population that you’re not a kinky gay slut yet?” I asked.

Death glares were shot as usual. Anthony raised a fist, ready to strike me, but Keith, for some reason or another, grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“Not wise, Anthony. Not here with witnesses,” he said.

“Fuck. I still can’t believe how you can think that any of this is funny!” he semi-yelled at me, angered, but not wanting to attract attention.

“Calm down, bro,” said Keith.

“Just because this shit isn’t happening to you, you think that you can just poke fun of me while I’m trying with all my might not to make myself look worse to everybody?!” continued Anthony.

“Hey, I’m just as worried about this as you are,” I defended. “I know that you’re not like that. Just because it ain’t happening to me, doesn’t mean that I don’t care.”

“I don’t see why you two are getting so worked up about this. It’s not like people are talking about you two again,” interjected Keith.

We both turned to look at him.

“You still remember that?” I asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anthony demanded at the same time.

Keith looked at us both, looking slightly confused.

“Um, to answer the first question, yes. Those who actually pay attention to the things said around here in school remember these kinds of juicy gossip.”

I was kinda ticked that he thought of something like me being Anthony’s sex bitch as “juicy gossip.” I could tell that Anthony had the same thought running through his mind.

“And to answer the second, wouldn’t you guys be more afraid of gossip pertaining to the two of you?”

We stared at him blankly, more confused than he appeared to be.

“You guys ARE a couple, right?” Keith queried.

And that’s when I saw Anthony stagger to the ground, face white as chalk.