Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 17:28:25 +1000 (EST)
From: Dane Isaac <dane_isaac@yahoo.com.au>
Subject: Rian Chapter 1

Hey guys, dunno if u've read my other story What Happened in Highschool
but i'm on holiday and forgot to bring the latest chapter to finish so i
started writing this story...
i'm still not sure about it so let me know what you think!!! i love
emails and i will write back!!

Rian
Chapter One


It was a dark and stormy night....
That cheesy line ran through Rian's head as he sat in the dark and
watched the pouring rain outside his bedroom window. He reached out and
followed a rivulet running down the cold glass with a finger and ignored
the overwhelming painful knot in his stomach.
Everything had changed tonight.

He had finally gotten his nerve up to tell his parents that he was gay.
It had come out fairly badly and not at exactly the best moment, that is
when his father had just put a piece of steak in his mouth and his mother
a sip of wine.
It hadn't been a great timing at all, especially when his father began
to choke and his mother sprayed wine all over the dinner table. Rian
reflected sadly on the event. No, it hadn't gone well at all.

He had always thought his parents were open-minded; they had supported
the movement awhile back when gays and lesbians protested the right to
civil marriage. Rian had watched them carefully and had been extremely
proud of his parents and it had firmed his resolve to tell them. He was
sure that his parents might be shocked at first but would stick with him,
be those wonderful parents of gay children you read about sometimes who
love and support them happily. He had been wrong. Rian held his head in
his hands as tears leaked forth again. His parents seemed to be leaning
towards the other side of the spectrum. Rian again wished he had never
opened his mouth.

Obviously his parents were ok with being gay in practice but when faced
with reality they had freaked out. Rian closed his eyes and saw his
father's red face. He had finally swallowed his food and when Rian moved
to help him, had held up his hand.

"Stop!" He croaked.

"Dad, are you ok?" Rian asked in concern.

"No! No, I'm not bloody ok!" He was glaring furiously at his panicking
son.

"Rian, dear, you can't possibly be gay. That's just silly. Now finish
your dinner and go up to your room." Rian's mother was a picture of
calm as she began clearing the plates as if the meal had finished, not
just started. Rian stared at her for a moment.

"Did you even hear what I said? I'm gay mum."

"You are not gay!" She shrilled back at him, her face furious. Then she
took a deep breath and smiled. "Go up to your room and finish your
homework now dear."

"Mum! Why are you doing this! I just said I'm-" His father cut him off
standing and shouting.

"You are not a fucking poofter you understand? Get up to your room
now!"

So that's what had happened. It couldn't have been worse if he had
tried.

It had been a month now since the `misunderstanding' and his parents
had gone completely weird. First they had taken away his computer saying
it was distracting him from his studies. That computer had been his
lifeline. His only way to talk with other gay kids his age and now it was
gone.

His father kept introducing him to workmate's daughters and forcing him
on dates.
Then he had noticed that things in his room had been moved around, put
back in the wrong place or just looked different. Someone had been
through his room.

This was the worst thought for Rian; his parents had always respected his
privacy and would always knock before coming in. Rian decided to set a
trap. He set up a little card house in the way of his door and squeezed
through the narrow gap he left himself. If the cards were knocked over
then someone had come into the room. That afternoon after school the
cards were flat on the ground and Rian felt angry and sad. They had
broken the rules.

Things got worse. They took him to a councillor who specialised in
`gay' cases and who had promised to change Rian's way of thinking. He
wasn't even qualified as a councillor.

His father suddenly complained that he didn't do enough sport and pushed
him to join the rugby team or soccer. Rian had turned to him and
scathingly remarked that sport wasn't going to `cure' him. His father
wasn't put off until in exasperation Rian went and saw the soccer coach
about trying out. His father had already called and spoken to the coach
offering to make a large donation to the team in return for allowing him
on it so late in the season. That was the most humiliating thing Rian had
ever felt when the coach accepted the offer seeing as the team was so
under funded.

His friends at school had started to notice the changes in Rian. The
normally happy and laid back boy had turned overnight into a moody and
angry version, unpredictable and hostile.

Tristian, Rian's best friend since grade four when Rian had moved to
Melbourne, was deeply troubled by his behaviour. Rian usually told him
what was wrong if he was upset but he could get no answer from the boy
and when he pushed it Rian would shout at him and storm off. Tristian was
extremely worried and talked to the other guys in their group about it.
All were surprised at Rian's behaviour but could think of no reason for
it. Then Jackson said the shocker.

"Guys, don't you know. Rian's joined the soccer team. Nate told me."

"What?" Tristian demanded.

This was so wrong. Rian had never really cared about sport before and had
never even mentioned soccer as far as he remembered. Tristian decided to
corner Rian and demand answers that afternoon after school. Rian usually
caught the bus home and Tristian walked, so he decided to wait at the bus
stop for him.

The end of school found Tristian waiting near the bus stop looking
anxiously around for Rian. He only had two classes with his friend and
they had been at the start of the day. Finally he saw the curly black
head of his best friend heading towards him. Tristian had always thought
of Rian as the boy snow white... well except his skin was fairly tanned so
the white as snow part was wrong but the rest was true. His hair really
was as black as ebony and his lips as red as blood. Rian had a slender
frame, soft and trim, defiantly not a muscle man but not overweight or
really skinny in any way either. He was too pretty for a boy in some ways
and Tristian had always thought that if Rian's parents had had a girl
she would have been stunning. As it was Rian was fairly stunning too with
his brilliant emerald green eyes, Tristian mused. He knew he wasn't gay
but he was secure enough in his own sexuality to appreciate the
attraction of the same sex, a rare maturity for a seventeen year old.

Tristian stepped forward to call out to Rian when he saw Rian's dad
appear and grab the boy by his shoulder leading him towards the parked
car. Tristian frowned. Something felt wrong.

Rian sat in silence as they drove but looked up when his father parked
out the front of a barbers complete with a tacky red and white striped
pole. Rian's eyes widened as realization set in. He loved his curls!

"Dad! No! I like my hair as it is!"

His father glared at him. "You look like a girl!" He got out of the car
and Rian debated not following him but in the end gave a big sigh and got
out.

His father gave the barber a curt nod. "A number one please."

The man smiled at him and nodded at Rian. "My you're a looker! You sure
you want to get rid of those curls?"

Rian smiled at him. "Actually-"

His father cut him off. "Yes he does. Sit down boy."

Rian's shoulders sagged when he glanced at his fathers set face and sat
in the chair. The barber didn't say much more during the hair cut
feeling the incredible tension in the air. Rian refused to look into the
mirror as his hair was basically shaved off. What were people going to
say?

His father paid the man fifteen bucks and Rian kept his eyes on the
ground, hurrying out to the car. He knew he had to look terrible and he
really didn't want to face his friends tomorrow at school. If they were
still his friends, Rian frowned; he had been acting like a complete arse
towards them and knew they must be getting fed up.

His father broke the silence. "It doesn't look too bad and it'll be
better for when you are playing sports."

Rian's jaw twitched. "I don't see how making me look like some
neo-nazi is going to stop me being gay! Why are you being like this? I
always thought you were open minded about those things!"

"YOU ARE NOT GAY!" His father shouted loudly, the car swerving a bit.

Rian shut up. They had been repeating this daily like a mantra and
nothing he said seemed to have any impact what's so ever.
At home he stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom and ran his hand
back and forward over this shorn head. He hated it.

I look like a convict.