Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2017 23:51:22 -0500
From: elisdy333@gmail.com
Subject: TJ Chapter 4

TJ

Chapter 4

"Josh, what's wrong?" I walked over to him. His face was red and streaked
with tears. I pulled him into a hug and turned to Robert. "What's going
on?"

"Mel called while y'all were out. She told me that wanted to see Josh. I
refused. I told her that she hurt him enough the first time she left; that
I wouldn't let her do that again. She told me to expect a call from her
lawyer, she's going for full custody."

Josh sobbed into my chest. "Why would she do this, Teej?"

"I don't know bub. But hey, don't worry. We made it through the summer she
left together, right? We've made it through this summer. And we'll make it
through this too."

Robert wrapped his arms around both of us. "Yeah, we will."

We broke the hug and Josh and I sat on the couch to watch TV before bed. He
turned to me and asked, "Teej, do you think a judge would make me see her?
I don't want to. I don't even want to talk to her."

"Honestly, I have no clue. I would hope that the judge would take
everything into account. Plus, you heard how she feels about gay
people. You might have to come out to the judge and let them know that you
wouldn't be comfortable seeing her because of that. Hopefully, the fact
that you don't want to see will affect the judge's decision."

He sighed. "It's not that I don't want to see her or talk to her ever. I
just don't want to be forced to. I want to do it when I'm ready. I don't
think it's fair."

I gave him small hug. "I know. Neither do I." I was desperate to change the
subject. "Anyway, I had fun today. You know you have two really good
friends in Jarrod and Mike."

"Yeah, I know. Plus, I have the best brother in the world. Are you nervous
about tomorrow?"

"You're right you do have the best brother in the world." That earned me a
hit on the arm. "I'm not really nervous. I mean I have Robert's and your
support and add Sean, Jenny, Alex, Jarrod, and Mike to that list, and I
feel pretty good. I'm more nervous for Sean. I know why he wants to tell
his teammates about us, I just don't want him to get to shit because of
it. I know it will happen from some. I just wish he didn't have to go
through it."

Robert walked into the room then. "Hey guys, it's time for bed. We have an
early day tomorrow. I have to be at the school by seven. Teej, do you mind
driving Josh?"

"Yeah, that's fine. If he doesn't mind getting there at 7:15. Sean wants me
to meet him so he can talk to Amber and then introduce me to her."

Josh said, "That's fine. I wanted to get there early anyway. I'd like to
see where my locker is."

"Okay, guys. Goodnight."

Josh stood up and walked to his room. While Robert double checked that
everything was locked up I asked, "Robert, can we talk for a second?"

"Sure, Teej. What's up?"

"I know I've been a pain in the ass to deal with lately. I guess I just
wanted to say thanks for putting up with me."

There was more that I wanted to say but was having a problem forming the
words. Robert must've picked up on that. "Teej, you know you can talk to me
about anything, right? What's really on your mind?"

"I guess I am a little nervous about tomorrow and I'm also worried about
Josh. What does Mel really want? Josh is strong. I don't want to see him
break, and that's what's going to happen if Mel hurts him again. Do you
think it would be a good idea for him to go see my therapist? He's really
helped me a lot."

"I think that might be a good idea. I won't force him to go; he has to
agree. About tomorrow, you'll be fine. Don't forget you have a free period
too. You can either spend it in the library, journalism room, drama room,
or in the office. If you have any problems, come to my office. I'm here for
you if you need me, alright?"

"Yeah, okay. Thanks, Robert." He got up to head to his room. Before he
disappeared down the hallway, I stopped him. "Hey, Robert. Remember
Thursday when you said you were worried about being a good parent? You have
nothing to worry about. You're doing a good job on your own." I got up and
walked over to him and hugged him briefly.

"Thank you, Teej. You know I love you, right?"

"I love you, too. Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."

I checked my phone when I got to my room and saw that it was ten after
ten. I started wondering if Sean was going to call or not. As I entered the
bathroom to get ready for bed, it started vibrating. "Hey babe, I was
beginning to wonder if you were going to call."

"Hey, sorry it's so late. I called Amber on the way home and she agreed to
meet me before school. Then, when I got home my dad wanted to talk to
me. We just finished talking about ten minutes ago."

"Everything okay?" I asked, even though his voice sounded happy.

"Everything's great. He just wanted to know about you and to make sure I
was happy. I let him know that I was. Are you still going to meet me at
7:15?"

"If you're sure you want me to, yeah."

"Amber's meeting me about seven and that will give me time to tell her and
let her know that I've met someone that you're coming. I didn't think it
would be fair to either of you to just drop everything on her at once. This
will give her the choice to meet you now or when she's ready."

"Good idea. Will you be able to show me around before class?"

"Sure thing, babe. Is everything okay on your end?"

I took a deep breath and sighed. I then told him what Robert told me when I
came inside. My boyfriend then surprised me. "Do you mind if I talk to Josh
for a sec?"

"Yeah, let me get him for you."

I went and knocked on Josh's door. When he answered, his eyes were red and
he was sniffling. "You doing alright? Sean wanted to talk to you for a
minute." I handed him the phone and stood there and watched my boyfriend
work magic cheering up my brother.

About two minutes later, Josh handed me my phone and give me a big
hug. "Goodnight, Teej. You have an amazing boyfriend. I'm really happy
y'all are together."

I told Josh goodnight and went back to talk to Sean. "What did you say to
him?"

"I just said that he wouldn't go through this alone, that I would be there
to help y'all through because that's what friends do."

I couldn't stop myself from saying what came out of my mouth. "Babe, you're
amazing. I love you so much."

There was silence for about twenty seconds and finally, Sean said, "I love
you too. I wish I could hold you tonight."

"Me too, babe. Go get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

"Will you tell me one last time before I hang up?"

"I love you, Sean."

"I love you too, TJ. Goodnight."

I didn't sleep well that night. I missed Sean holding me tight. It had only
been two nights and I was already used to him sleeping next to me. The
alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning. I got up, did my morning routine
and was in the kitchen by 6:50. Robert had already left and Josh was
sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal, so I joined him.

We left the house at about five after seven. Ten minutes later, I pulled
into the parking lot of the high school feeling anxious as hell. I noticed
Sean and a pretty auburn-haired girl sitting on the tailgate of his
truck. I pulled in next to him and before I even had the car in park, he
had jumped down and was waiting by my door with a huge smile on his face. I
looked over at Josh and said, "Wish me luck. I'm going to meet the ex now."

He laughed. "Don't worry about it. Amber is one of sweetest girls in
school. If she's still waiting with him, she wants to meet you. I'll see
you inside." He then leaned over and gave me a hug.

As soon as I had my backpack out of the car, Sean wrapped his arms around
me. I didn't care if anyone saw us as I placed a small kiss on his lips. "I
missed you last night. I'm a little nervous."

"Relax, Amber is anxious to meet you. As soon as she saw me this morning
she told me she hadn't seen me smiling like that since before my mom
died. I told her I had met someone and wanted her to meet him. The only
reaction was her eyebrows going up and she said she couldn't wait."

"So, it's cool? I'm not going to end up with scratches all over my face?"

The laugh from behind us startled me. I turned around and saw the girl from
the tailgate standing there. "Only if you hurt him. I'm Amber Thompson, you
must be TJ."

"Hey, I'm TJ Kennedy. Umm, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm happy that Sean finally found someone to make him happy. Sean is still
one of my best friends; nothing's going to change that."

I extended my hand but she slapped it away. I was pleasantly surprised when
she wrapped her arms around me and whispered in my ear, "Please keep that
smile on his face. I haven't seen him this happy in years. Thank you."

Sean cleared his throat and then said, "Y'all want to go inside and then we
can show TJ around?"

"I'm supposed to meet Jenny this morning. What time does she normally get
here?" I asked looking at Amber.

She smiled. "Are you the person that called her a bitch yesterday?"

"Yep, that was me. How do you know about it?"

"She called me yesterday on her way home from the mall and told me about a
person she met at the mall. She said, `This person actually called me a
bitch and got away with it, you're going to love them. I promise.' I
thought she was joking at first."

"We didn't get off on the right foot yesterday. But, by the time left the
mall, we were finishing each other's sentences."

Sean spoke up then. "There's her car pulling in now."

Jenny pulled in on the other side of me and she and Alex got out. She
walked over to Amber and asked, "So, what do you honestly think? Sean did
pretty good, huh?"

Amber looked me up and down. "Eh, he's alright I guess. As long as he makes
Sean happy and doesn't hurt him, we'll be fine." She finished with a wink
in my direction.

Sean said he wasn't afraid to walk through the front doors of the school
holding my hand, and that's exactly what we did. We went and picked up my
schedule from Robert's office. I looked it over and saw that I had Honors
English first period. As we left the office, Sean and Jenny both grabbed
for my schedule at the same time. Sean was the winner, though. "Hey, we
have English together. Then we won't see each other till lunch. Then we
have Honors Physics together last period. How did you manage to get a free
period?"

"Robert did that for me. I mean Mr. Kennedy. What am I supposed to call him
here?"

Robert's voice spoke from behind us. "Mr. Kennedy if someone else is
around. In my office, I guess Robert will work. Are y'all ready for this
year? Alex, are you going to stay out of trouble and listen to your
girlfriend and best friend?"

Alex smiled. "I always listen to Jenny. That's why I don't tell her half of
the things I plan on doing until I've done them." That earned him a punch
in the stomach from Jenny and got a laugh from everyone.

Jenny took my schedule and looked at it. "You're on yearbook staff with
me. Great! I guess I'll see you third period." She then grabbed Alex's hand
and they walked down the hallway.

Amber told us she would see us later and started off down another hall. I
looked at Sean and asked, "Can you help me find my locker and then we'll
head to class."

After showing me where my locker was, we went to English class. We found
two desks near the front next to each other. We were quietly talking to
each other when a blonde-haired girl came over to us. "Hey, Sean. There's
an empty seat next to me over there." She then glanced at me and rolled her
eyes before continuing, "Or maybe this guy will switch with me."

Sean said in a strained voice, "Hi, Rachel. I think I'm good here. This is
TJ, and I want to sit next to him."

Rachel glared at me. "Oh, okay. Whatever. I'll save a seat for you at
lunch, Sean." She stressed his name, making it obvious that I wasn't
invited.

"That's alright. TJ and I are going to sit with Alex, Jenny, Amber, and
TJ's brother and his friends."

I could tell she was starting to get frustrated. She was standing there
with her arms crossed and huffed, "Well, do you want to go out this
Friday?"

Finally, I had enough and spoke up. "Rachel, is it? Take a hint. He's not
interested."

"And how would you know? Who are you anyways?"

I glanced at Sean and nodded. I took a deep breath. "I'm TJ, his
boyfriend."

She looked from me to Sean, then back to me. "Sean, did you hear what this
fag just said?"

"If I were you, I would leave now. Do not ever call him that again. I heard
him. If you have a problem with it, oh well. I don't care. I told you last
year I wasn't interested in being anything other than friends, if we were
even that."

"I can't believe you just talked to me that way. Wait till I tell my
dad. You're going to regret this." She turned and headed back to her seat.

"Who's her dad, Sean?"

He lowered his head and mumbled, "The coach. I'm going to have to talk to
him next period before she gets a chance to."

"I'm so sorry, Sean. I wouldn't have said anything if I had known. I
thought you wanted me to when you nodded at me."

"I did. You have nothing to be sorry for."

Before he could continue, the bell rang and class began. Fifty minutes
later, class was over. Sean watched which direction Rachel went. "Hey, I
have to go talk to the coach. I don't know what she was up to this
morning. She started trying to get me to go out with her less than a week
after Amber and I broke up. She thinks she can get away with anything just
because her dad is the football coach."

I sighed and nodded. "I understand. I'll see you at lunch. I'm sorry
again."

"Stop that, please. You have nothing to be sorry for. I told her no in the
nicest way possible three times. Bye, babe. I love you." He then gave me a
hug and a kiss on the cheek right in the middle of the hall.

"I love you too. Good luck with your coach."

I pulled out my schedule, next-Drama. I made my way through the hallways
and entered the auditorium. There were about fifteen people standing by the
stage. I made my way towards them. I was shocked when I saw Josh among
them.

He smiled at me. "Surprise! Dad told me that you were going to be in this
class with me. I asked him to not tell you."

"Hey bub, this is a surprise. I didn't think we would have any classes
together since you're a junior."

"Anyone who has taken Intro to Theatre can audition for this class. Dad
talked to Ms. Simmons, who spoke with the Drama Director at your old school
and let you in. We'll be working together all year."

A woman then walked over to us. She appeared to be maybe thirty years
old. She looked at Josh. "So, is this the famous TJ I've heard so much
about?"

"Hey Ms. Simmons. Yeah, this is my brother TJ."

She smiled at me. "I'm sorry about your parents. Robert, Mr. Kennedy, told
me about their accident. I figured you had enough drama this summer, so I
just went with a referral from your old director."

When the bell rang, I told Josh I would see him at lunch and started
towards the journalism room for yearbook staff. As I was walking upstairs,
I noticed Sean standing at the top. I ran up the remaining steps. "How did
your talk with your coach go?"

He took a deep breath and smiled. "It went really well. I explained to him
everything that happened during English. He said that he didn't care about
me being gay, but it was up to me to tell the team. He said that once I
did, he would let them know that nothing was going to change. I was still
captain and quarterback. If they couldn't follow me, they needed to rethink
playing. He also said that he told Rachel at the beginning of summer to
leave me alone. He was pissed when he heard what she called you and said he
was going to talk to her about it."

Hearing that lifted a huge weight off me. "He was really that
understanding?"

"Yeah. He said that he didn't care who I dated, as long as I threw the ball
well and led the team. Rachel has started telling people. By lunch, most of
the school will know. I'm going to have a team meeting before practice this
afternoon. I hate to run, but I have to get to my next class. I'll see you
at lunch."

Before Sean walked away, Jenny came over to us. "If I see that bitch,
Rachel, I'm going to kick her fucking ass. She's on the warpath, but you
know Alex and I have y'alls back."

Sean pulled her into a hug. "Y'all are the best friends in the
world. Thanks. I'll see y'all at lunch. Love you, babe."

"Love you, too. Bye."

He gave me a kiss on the cheek and went downstairs. When I turned to Jenny,
she was smirking. "Love? Y'all aren't wasting any time, are you?"

"Do not give me shit about that. I do love him and he loves me. We're
happy. Deal with it."

She snaked her arm through mine and dragged me towards our classroom. "I
wasn't going to give you shit. I promise. I'm happy for y'all. Now, if you
hurt him, I'll kill you and I do know where to hide a body."

"Why do I not find that surprising? Come on, let's go before we're late."

For the next hour, Jenny and I signed up for the spreads we were going to
do that year and talked. A lot. I swear, sometimes it's like having a
conversation with myself. I love it.

After yearbook was my free period. I went to Robert's office. I was sure he
had probably heard something about what happened before English class. I
knocked on his open office door and said, "Hey, can we talk for a bit?"

"Come in and close the door." I did and sat in the chair opposite his
desk. "Tell me what happened this morning."

Once I finished telling him, he sighed. "Coach Wilson already came and
spoke to me. He's going to talk to Rachel tonight and let her know to
change her attitude."

Talking about those events sparked an idea. "Is there a Gay-Straight
Alliance here?"

Robert shook his head. "No, unfortunately not. Nobody's asked to form one
before. Why?"

"There needs to be one. It would create a safe environment for anyone that
wanted to join. The purpose of the GSA is to educate and hopefully
eventually prevent situations like this morning from happening."

For the next forty-five minutes, Robert and I researched and decided to
start a GSA. He agreed to be the faculty advisor and I was going to the
president since I was starting the organization. I needed to find people
who would act as my executive officers and who would be interested in
joining. I decided to pitch the idea to everyone during lunch.

I was waiting by the entrance to the cafeteria waiting for everyone. Jarrod
and Josh were the first to find me, followed shortly by Alex and
Jenny. Amber, along with Mike, found us next. I then felt a pair of arms
hug me from behind and someone kissed my cheek.

"You better quit that. I think my boyfriend is the jealous type."

"If I ever see anyone else do that to you, you better start digging a
hole. We would have to bury the body somewhere."

"Don't worry babe. You're the only one I want doing that to me. Come on,
I'm starving."

We walked into the cafeteria. I knew that Rachel had already started
running her mouth about Sean and me. So, I wasn't too surprised about the
people who were suddenly staring at us whispering to the people sitting
around them.

Once we had our food and were sitting, I brought up the GSA idea, and
everyone was eager to help. Apart from the stares and whispers we got when
we walked in, we made it through lunch without any problems. Until we went
to leave.

Sean had gathered our trash and walked to the garbage with Alex, Jarrod,
and Mike; while Jenny, Amber, Josh, and I headed to the cafeteria
entrance. We were minding our business just talking and laughing.

Then I heard someone behind us say, "Watch out y'all, there's the fag I was
telling you about."

Before I could respond, Jenny spun around. "You better shut your mouth,
Rachel, if you know what's good for you."

"What's the matter fag-boy? Can't fight your own battles?" Rachel sneered
at me.

"What is your problem, Rachel? So, Sean's not interested in you. Get over
it."

Ignoring my comment, she turned to Amber. "How can you hang out with him
knowing he's with Sean?"

Amber shook her head. "Because Sean is happier than I've ever seen him. And
he cares for TJ a lot. We're friends."

"Rachel, I don't know what I did to you, but get over it. The way you're
acting is pitiful."

"I wouldn't talk to me that way if you want your boyfriend playing this
year at all."

"Sean's already talked to your dad. Sounds like he's too happy with you
right now. He and my dad have already talked about your attitude." I heard
Josh gasp next to me; when I looked at him, my brother was wearing the
biggest smile in the world; his dimples were showing big time.

She smirked at me. "What'd you do? Call Daddy crying after I called you a
fag this morning?"

That comment made me realize what I did. Holy-fucking-shit! I just called
Robert dad.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard Jenny laugh loudly. "Hey dumb
bitch, TJ's last name is Kennedy. This is his brother, Josh."

The expressions on Rachel's face were comical to watch as they went from
confusion to realization and settling on fear. I looked her dead in the
eye. "Call me that name one more time, please. Especially in front of all
of these witnesses." I smiled to myself, this school has a zero-tolerance
on bullying.

"Is there a problem here?" A booming voice interrupted us. I turned and saw
a guy a few years older than Robert wearing sweat pants and a polo
shirt. "Rachel, what's going on?"

"Nothing Daddy. I was just welcoming TJ."

Coach Wilson turned to me. "TJ? Is that true?"

"No sir, I'm sorry. That's not true. I read in the student handbook about
the zero-tolerance bullying policy here. I'm starting a Gay-Straight
Alliance here at the school and I was going to let her know that calling a
person a derogatory name does count as bullying."

Coach Wilson looked at his daughter and sighed. "Come on Rachel, let's go
to the office. TJ, you need to come too. Did any of y'all hear what
happened?"

Everyone said yes. The coach shook his head. When he continued, he sounded
defeated. "Alright, you three come on too."

So, Josh, Amber, Jenny, and I followed Coach Wilson and Rachel to the front
office. Robert was standing behind the Welcome Desk talking to the
receptionist and looked up when we came in. "Hey Ronnie, what's going on?"

Coach Wilson shook his head and said, "Mr. Kennedy, I think we need to have
a meeting in your office. We have a situation involving possible bullying."

Once we were in the office, I decided it had gone far enough. I looked at
Robert and smiled. "Actually, Dad, I think it was more of a case of
ignorance regarding the school's policy on bullying. Yes, Rachel called me
a derogatory name; so, I told her about the school policy and to think
about using different language next time."

I could tell Jenny was not liking how things were going. She was staring at
me hard. I shook my head and continued, "Things were said on both sides, so
I think it's best if we just move on from here."

Amber finally spoke up. "Mr. Kennedy, TJ's right. If we're going to start a
Gay-Straight Alliance, we need to focus on educating people about
tolerance."

Robert looked at us. "Ms. Wilson, we're not trying to force people to be
friends with everyone. We just want our students to realize that there are
people in the world who have different lifestyles. You might not like their
way of life, but you need to learn to tolerate it. You have a choice
now. You can either continue talking about Sean and TJ and calling them
names and get suspended; or you can learn to tolerate their lifestyle and
move on. It's up to you. Do you understand?"

When she didn't speak up after a few moments, Coach Wilson said in a stern
voice, "Rachel, did you hear what Mr. Kennedy asked you?"

I swear this girl was a work of art. She tried to turn on the charm and
looked up at Coach Wilson. "Yes Daddy. Sorry Mr. Kennedy. I was only joking
around with TJ. I just didn't think it through. I didn't mean to be
insulting."

Josh finally lost it then. "Cut the bs Rachel. Nobody's buying it."

Robert quickly cut him off. "Okay Rachel. Consider this a warning. You
won't get another. Y'all go on to class now. Josh and Teej, can y'all stay
for a second?"

Coach Wilson gently grabbed his daughter's arm and led her out of the
office. I stopped Amber and Jenny from leaving. "Hey. Thanks for having my
back. It meant a lot to know that y'all really consider me a friend."

Jenny crossed her arms and said, "You could've at least let him suspend her
for two or three days."

Amber looked at her best friend. "What would that have accomplished? She
would've gotten a two or three-day vacation from school. Now, she knows
that we all are watching her and listening to everything she says. While it
might not change her thinking, it will change her behavior. Which means
less hate."

Jenny glared at Amber. "Stop being so rational. I wanted to see her go
down. At least I can make her an alternate cheerleader instead of
varsity. Perks of being head-cheerleader."

Amber chuckled. "Co-head-cheerleader. I still have to agree to that."

Robert walked over to us. "Jenny, let it go for now. Doing something like
that to her might make her react badly." He turned to Amber. "That speech
is proof of why you are the top of the class. So, Teej told y'all about the
GSA?"

"Yes, and everyone is excited to help him get it started," Amber turned to
me. "So, which is it? I've heard you address him as Robert and Dad."

Before I could answer, Robert cleared his throat. Jenny took the clue and
grabbed Amber's arm. "If TJ is okay with it, I'll explain on way to
class. Come on, let's go."

They left and I then heard Sean's voice coming from the Welcome Desk
area. "Is TJ back in Mr. Kennedy's office? I saw him leaving with Coach,
Rachel, and everyone else. But I couldn't catch up to them."

He must have spotted Amber and Jenny. "Where is TJ? Is everything okay?"

I took pity on my boyfriend and walked out to him. "I'm back here in Dad's
office. Come on."

He looked at me for a minute without speaking. Finally, a smile spread
across his face. "Dad? Huh? What happened?"

"I'm not sure," I smiled. "It sorta slipped out." I told him what Rachel
had said and how Coach Wilson caught her.

We walked into the office and Robert said, "Thank you, Sean. I know you
don't think you've done anything, but TJ is happier than I've ever seen
him, and you're the reason." He then turned to me. "So, did you mean to
call me Dad?"

"Yeah, when I was talking to Rachel, she tried to pull the `If you want
your boyfriend to play football this year' blah blah blah card. I'd heard
enough and told her so." I finished telling them the story and kept
mentioning multiple times that it had just slipped out.

Robert looked at me with pride, then he smirked.  "So, what about when we
were in here and you called me Dad? Did that just slip out too?"

"No, that one was intentional. It felt right at the time; just don't get
used to it."

"I'll take what I can." He then turned to Sean. "How is everything going
for you? Anyone giving you a hard time in any way?"

Sean shook his head. "I've gotten some looks from some of the guys on the
team, but no one has said anything to me. It's like they don't know what to
believe. I'm going to tell them today before practice and Coach said that I
have his support. Hopefully it will go alright."

Robert placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it will go fine.  Now,
y'all need to get to class. Let me write out a hall pass for y'all." He
handed us our passes before he continued. "Josh, Teej, I need to speak with
y'all tonight. I hired a lawyer and I need to go over what we discussed."

I could tell there was something he wasn't saying, but decided not to bring
it up right then. He walked the three of us to the main office doors. Josh
took off for his English class while Sean wrapped me up in a huge hug.

"Babe, we gotta get to class."

He sighed. "I know. I just want to hold you a little bit longer." He pulled
back a little and smiled down at me. "I love you so fucking much. I'll see
you in physics next period."

"I love you too. Thank you for...well everything. You are the best thing
that has ever happened to me. I'm so lucky I got that flat tire."

"I'm lucky I happen to be driving by right then. I still can't believe you
can't change a tire," he smirked while responding.

Before I could get too mad, we heard from behind us, "I thought I told
y'all to get to class. Now go. You're late enough already. Sean, you're
welcomed to come to the house when you get out of practice."

"Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. I'll see you then." He then placed a kiss on my
cheek and took off down the hall.

"Thanks, Robert. Ummm..."

"Robert's fine, Teej. You don't have to start calling me Dad if you're not
ready. I understand. But, thank you for making my day earlier. I love
you. Now, scram."

"Okay, okay. I'm going. I'll see you after school."

I was only five minutes late for my next class, which was Honors
Government. I handed the teacher my pass. I turned to look for a spot and
the only empty desk was right next to Rachel. Thankfully, Amber was on the
other side. She took one look at me and then at Rachel, and she switched to
the empty desk. I mouthed a thank you her way and took a seat.

Our government teacher asked us if there was anything that we wished to
discuss. As long as it had to do with government, anything was fair
game. Nobody said anything for a bit. Finally, I raised my hand and asked,
"How about we discuss the Supreme Court's decision on gay marriage?"

The teacher smiled, but before she could say anything, Rachel gave a
dramatic sigh. "You would want to talk about that."

I wasn't going to let her bait me. I looked at the teacher, smiled, and
continued. "If I remember correctly, the Court decided that any law against
same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. They ruled that same-sex marriage
should never had been illegal to begin with. By ruling that way, they can
technically avoid being known as the Court that legalized gay marriage;
instead, they put the blame on the states that originally made gay marriage
illegal."

Ms. Powers smiled at me. "Does anyone else have anything to say on this
topic? Yes, Kevin, go ahead."

I turned to see who she had called on. Kevin sat towards the back of the
room. He was easily a good three or four inches taller than my 5'11"
height, and weighed a good fifty pounds heavier. All of that weight was
pure muscle. This guy was fucking huge. I couldn't tell by his face what he
was about to say. Great, now let's hear from the jock-meathead how wrong
being gay is.

He cleared his throat. "I think that was the smartest decision they
could've made. If they had ruled that gay marriage should be legal now,
they would have turned a state matter into a federal one. That would have
left the decision open to being overturned by the Tenth Amendment. Making
any law against gay marriage unconstitutional leaves the states no wiggle
room. They can try all they want to appeal the ruling, but it will stand."

I sat there in shock. Not only was his response positive, it was well
informed. He noticed me staring at him and winked at me. I quickly turned
around, feeling very uncomfortable suddenly. The rest of class passed
discussing the topic of gay marriage, the Tenth Amendment, state's rights,
and related topics.

When the bell rang, Rachel quickly gathered her things, glared at me, and
pushed past me. I turned to Amber. "I really wish I knew what her problem
was. If she keeps this up, she's going to get herself in trouble."

Before Amber could respond, there was a voice that answered from behind
me. "She's a spoiled bitch who thinks just because her dad is head coach,
she can get away with anything. She's not used to not getting what or who
she wants. When Sean turned her down before summer, she thought he was just
playing hard-to-get. After her failed try this morning and you calling her
out in front of everyone, she was determined to get Sean kicked off the
team and destroy you socially."

I looked at Kevin. "How do you know all of this?"

Amber spoke up. "TJ, this is Kevin Wilson, Rachel's cousin."

"Yeah, look, I just wanted you to know that Sean has some support on the
team."

I guess was a little skeptical. "Thank you for that, but why are you doing
this? Won't it piss off your cousin?"

His answer confused me, but only for a second. "Because, family needs to
stick together." I looked at him with confusion written all over my
face. Then, he winked at me and I clued in.

"You mean to tell me that you're..."

He whispered, "I'm not out to anyone at all, and I don't plan on coming out
to the team. I plan on being the first person to stand up next to Sean
after he talks to the team."

My therapist's voice spoke up in my head, reminding me that I needed to
start trusting people again. So, I decided to trust Kevin. "Thanks, this
means a lot to me and I know it will mean a lot to Sean. Oh yeah, I'm
starting a GSA here, would you be interested in joining? Just because
you're a member doesn't make you gay. Amber's joining, so are Jenny and
Alex and Jarrod and Mike, my brother Josh's best friends, and Josh."

He looked a little nervous for a moment, then he gathered himself. "I'll be
there. But hey, I gotta go, my physics class is starting in a bit."

I smiled. "You have physics last period with Mr. Peters?" He nodded and I
continued, "Well, come on, let's go. We'll meet Sean outside of the class."
I turned to Amber, gave her a hug, and she said she would see us
later. Then Kevin and I walked towards our class.

Sean was standing outside the classroom looking sexy as hell. He was
leaning back against the wall with his right foot propped up. A smile lit
up his face when he noticed me. When I got close, he hugged me and
whispered, "I missed you."

"I missed you too, babe."

We were brought out of our blissful world when Kevin loudly cleared his
throat. We both turned and Sean tensed up. Kevin leaned in and whispered,
"As hot as it is to watch you two, we should get in class."

I looked at my new friend and chuckled. "We need to find you a boyfriend."

Sean took all of this in with a slightly confused look on his face. "Huh?
What did you just say to Wilson?"

I shushed my boyfriend. "He's not out, he's not ready to come out either.
But, he is willing to support you when you talk to the team this afternoon.
Come on, the bell's about..."  I was cut off by the bell ringing.

After class, I told Kevin I would see him the next day. I wished Sean luck
and told him I would see him at my place after practice. Josh was waiting
for me by my car. We got in and started driving home. Josh asked, "What do
you think Dad wants to talk to us about?"

"I'm not sure, bub. Hopefully, everything's okay though."

When I pulled into the driveway I noticed a black sedan parked on the
street. "Come on Josh, let's go find out who's here."