Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2000 23:11:01 -0500
From: Bryan Centers <bcenters@ga.prestige.net>
Subject: "Tyler's Dance" Chapter 7

Chapter 7

     The sun was beginning to go down as Pete started up the road towards
the school.  Just in case he decided to attend the dance afterwards, he
wore what used to be his standard attire; khaki pants and a button down
shirt.  He turned the corner of the driveway just in time to see traffic
starting to build on the main road to the school. There would be lots of
people there tonight, and the thought of the huge crowd made Pete seriously
consider turning right around and heading back home.  Still, it was a big
event for Tyler, and he felt that he should be there to support him at the
game.
     So, trying to forget his lost notebook, and what might happen if
someone found it, Pete started the walk towards the school.  Car after car
whirled by him as he trekked down the side of the road.  Finally, he
arrived at the gate to the football field.  It was just like he thought it
would be; filled to capacity on both sides.
     "Hey Pete." It was Mrs. Stanton, his English teacher, who was working
in the ticket booth.  "You feeling better?"
     Pete reached into his pocket and pulled out some money.  "Yes,
thanks," he said as he handed her two dollar bills.  He tried his best to
smile.
     Mrs. Stanton took the money and handed him a ticket.  "Good," she
said, but it was obvious that she wasn't buying it.  Looking around she
leaned over closer to Pete.  "Pete, if you ever need to talk about
anything, you know where I am, right?"  Her eyes showed a genuine concern.
     "Yes, sure," Pete answered, taken back a little bit by her unexpected
tone of voice.
     Mrs. Stanton smiled as Pete turned and walked towards the gate.
     "Ticket please," the man at the gate said.
     Pete handed him his ticket, then walked on in towards the crowded
bleachers.  It was as full as it could possibly get, with people not only
filling the bleachers but also the area between them and the fence that
surrounded the field.  Pete maneuvered his way towards the left side, so
that he could see the field house and the entrance to the football field
that was in front of it.  Soon Tyler and the rest of the team would come
running out of the door of the field house, and Pete wanted to be in a
position where he could see them.
     "Hey bro."  Pete looked over to see Ryan and a bunch of his friends
heading in his direction.
     "Hey," Pete answered.  "Where are mom and dad?"
     Ryan pointed towards the first set of bleachers. "Up there somewhere.
I saw them a minute ago."  Ryan had a whole crowd of boys with him, which
was typical for Ryan. Pete was by himself, which was also typical for him.
Ryan continued, "If you see them tell them I'm playing football, ok?"
Before Pete could answer Ryan and his friends were headed towards the back
part of the bleachers.
     As Pete watched Ryan and his friends run off, he wondered why he
couldn't be more like him.  Why was it that Ryan never had a problem
gathering friends?  In fact, he would receive so many phone calls at home
that most of the time his mother just told them he wasn't there.  And it
seemed that there was always at least two or three of them visiting and
staying the weekend with him.  Yet, it was all Pete could do to have only
one friend, which was Tyler.  Sure, since he had become Tyler's friend
other people had taken to him, but it was only because he was "Tyler's
friend".  It had nothing to do with Pete at all.
     As Pete stood there thinking, suddenly the left gate flew open and the
home football team came running onto the field, followed by a roar from the
crowd.  It was clear that there would be no lack of support tonight for the
home team.
     He searched among the players for Tyler.  Dressed in those uniforms
they all looked alike to him, and it was almost impossible to pick him out
from the rest.  But, after a few minutes of looking them over, he was able
to separate him from the crowd.  Pete's heart jumped.  Now he was really
smiling, and not just trying to act like it. He maneuvered his way through
the crowd until he was able to get to the fence.  "Tyler!" he shouted,
trying to be heard over the applause.  "Tyler!"
     Tyler spotted Pete and tried to get to the fence as quickly as he
could. Finally he was there.  "Hey dude," he said from behind his football
helmet.  "Kind of crowded tonight isn't it?"
     "Yeah, too crowded for me."  Pete grinned.
     "Ah, you'll be fine.  Where are the folks?"  Tyler looked around
through the crowd.
     "Oh, they're up there somewhere," Pete said, pointing toward the
bleachers.  "Ryan said he saw them a few minutes ago."
     "Well," Tyler said, his tone somewhat darker, "at least yours came."
He tried to crack a grin, but didn't quite pull it off.
     "Hey, you guys are going to kick butt tonight, right?" Pete said,
changing the subject.
     "You know it!" Tyler answered confidently.
     "Hey Lawson, get your tail over here now!" the coach yelled.
     "I better run dude," Tyler said as he put his helmet back on.  "You
going to the dance, right?"
     "Sure I am, wouldn't miss it," Pete said before he knew what he was
saying.
     Tyler was already running over the crowd of football players.  "Cool,"
he called back, I'll see you there."  Then he merged into the huddle of
players, and disappeared.


     The game's score went back and forth, with both teams putting up a
good fight.  Pete sat in the bleachers next to his mom, and from there he
had a great view of the whole field.  To Pete it didn't matter so much who
won, except that for Tyler's sake he hoped it would be them. Instead, what
mattered to Pete was seeing the expression on Tyler's face if they did win.
Now that was worth something to him.
     The score was actually even right up until the last few minutes of the
game.  The exhausted crowd was somehow able to come up with wave after wave
of enthusiasm, spurring the team on until the final seconds of the
game. Finally, in the last minute, the winning touchdown was scored, giving
Pete's school their first ever chance at the state playoffs. The crowd went
wild, renewed into a sudden burst of applause.  As the team exited the
field, each player was given a standing ovation, and never before in the
history of the school had there been such excitement about a Friday night
football game.
     Pete was, of course, happy that the school had won, but the most
important thing to him was that Tyler was happy.  This was what Tyler had
wanted all year long, to be a part of a winning season.
     "You going to the dance?" Pete's mom said as they stepped down the
bleachers.
     "Yeah, I guess so," Pete answered, as they reached the bottom row and
stepped onto the ground.
    "Ok then.  Don't be too late ok?"
    Pete all of a sudden felt a lot better than he did earlier that day.
"Oh, I'll probably stay over at Tyler's anyway," he answered.
    His mom stopped along side him, her expression changing to one of
concern. "Pete, don't you think maybe you should develop some other
friendships?"
     "I will," Pete answered, trying to brush her off.  "It's not that easy
you know?  Well, I'll see you tomorrow."  Then he ran into the crowd that
was headed toward the gate.


     The inside of the school gym was decorated in bright streamers of
every color.  Victory signs hung from the ceiling, and pictures of every
player on the team hung on the walls.  It was a good thing that they had
won.
     Music started as the students began to filter into the gym from the
game.  Some had changed clothes; others just came as they were at the game.
Pete looked around as he entered the front door, noticing what everyone
else was wearing.  "I'm dressed ok," he thought to himself.  He even had
the tie on that Tyler had given him a while back.  He felt of its soft
silk-like texture as he walked into the gym.
     Inside the gym, people had already begun to dance, some of them
noticeably better than others.  Pete navigated over towards the right wall,
where there was less of a crowd.  He noticed Kurt and some of his jock
friends huddled in a group as he passed, laughing at some dumb joke that he
had no doubt just said.
     As he at last reached the far wall, Pete could now relax a little bit.
He would stand there and wait until Tyler got there.  From where he was he
could see the front door, and soon Tyler would come walking though it, and
they would spend the rest of the evening together celebrating the teams
victory.  "It's going to be a good night after all," Pete thought to
himself.
     "What's up?" It was the Myers kid, the one who had taken a beating in
the cafeteria earlier.  He was still having a difficult time speaking. His
left eye was surrounded by a deep black color, and there was a deep gash
just above his eyebrow.
     "Hey," Pete answered, still watching the gym door with one eye.
     "Quite a game huh?" the boy asked.
     "What?  Oh, yeah it was." Pete didn't want to be rude, but his
attention was obviously elsewhere.
     "It's Pete, isn't it?" the boy asked.
     Pete took his attention away from the door of the gym, and looked at
his distracter. "Well, yes it is.  Actually, it's Peter, buy everyone calls
me Pete." He looked back over at the door again, but this conversation was
starting to attract more of his attention. "And you are…?"
     "… Preston.  Preston Myers," the boy interrupted. He was about
Pete's size, but with bright flame colored hair.  When he smiled Pete
noticed that one of his front teeth was missing.  "I'm in your English
class."
     "Yeah, I know," Pete answered.  "You sit in the front."
     "Yeah.  It's my eyes.  I have to sit…"
     Hearing about bad eyes made Pete think of Tyler, and again he looked
away to the gym door.  Preston was saying something, but Pete wasn't
hearing it.
     "… but it's not true you know?"  Preston's voice was defensive,
almost angry.
     The tone brought Pete's attention back to the conversation.  "What?"
     "I said it's not true, what everyone is saying about me," Preston had
a frustrated expression on his face as he spoke.
     "I haven't heard anyone say anything about you," Pete said, trying to
sound convincing.  At any other time he might have probed deeper, to find
out what was the truth about what he had heard Kurt say. But now wasn't the
time, and the last thing he wanted to be doing when Tyler got there was to
be in a conversation about someone being gay.
     "Yeah, right," Preston replied sarcastically. "I'm sure you haven't"
     "No really, I haven't," Pete tried to sound sincere.
     "Well," Preston continued, "if you do hear anything it's not true ok?
Just remember that!"
     Pete wondered why this stranger was standing there defending himself
to him, and he didn't know what he should say.  "Uh, sure, ok," he answered
clumsily.




     Just then there was a noise at the gym door, and Pete saw Tyler and a
couple of other guys come walking through the gym door, flanked by more
than a few well wishers who shook each boys hand as they entered the gym.
Tyler smiled widely, and shook them all.
     Pete waited anxiously by the wall.  He hoped that it was light enough
inside for Tyler to see him, because he didn't want to have to yell his
name to get his attention.  He watched as Tyler made his way through the
crowd across the dance floor, stepping between the dance partners as he
crossed the gym floor. Finally, Tyler was close enough for Pete to get his
attention.  "Hey, Tyler," he said, just loud enough to be heard over the
music.
      Tyler was shaking yet another pair of hands.  When he heard his name
he turned to see Pete waving at him from the wall.  He said a few words to
the owners of the hands, and then started across the floor, followed by a
couple of other players from the team.
     Pete's heart raced!  He hadn't seen Tyler since lunch that day, and
here he came.  He tried to be calm, to resist the urge he had to give him a
big hug right there in front of everyone. Such a display of emotion would
no doubt embarrass Tyler if they were in private, much less in a crowd of
their peers.
     "Hey dude," Tyler said, grinning as he approached Pete.  His hair was
still wet from the shower he had taken after the game.
     Pete reached out his hand.  "Congratulations."
     Tyler took his hand in a firm shake.  "Thanks," he said.  "Was there
ever any doubt?" he added facetiously. He looked over at Preston, who was
standing beside Pete.  "Hey," he said, extending his hand, "I'm Tyler."
     Preston smiled and firmly gripped Tyler's hand.  "I'm Preston. Great
game Tyler!"
     "Thanks," Tyler answered.  He surveyed Preston's face.  "That's quite
a shiner you got there."
     Preston reached up to touch the area surrounding his eye.  "Yeah, well
it's not as bad as it looks. It doesn't really even hurt anymore."
     "It'll go away soon. I had one last year from where a football hit me
in the face and it…"
     Pete interrupted.  "Tyler, that was some game man! I thought you guys
were great." He looked over at Preston.  Was it competition he was feeling?
     "Well," Tyler continued, switching from one face to the other.  "It
was a hard one though.  I thought for a minute we had lost until the end."
     "Nah," Preston broke in.  "I knew you guys had it whipped the whole
time."
     Pete shot a look over at Preston.  "I think it's time you moved on,"
he thought to himself.
     "Hey," Tyler said, looking at Preston, "you into football?"
     "Well yeah," Preston answered hesitantly.  "I mean, I don't play or
anything, but I like to watch the games."
     "Cool," Tyler answered, smiling broadly as he swooshed the still damp
hair out of his eyes. "You'll have to come to the playoff game then in a
couple of weeks."
     "You know I will," Preston said, looking over at Pete with a grin; one
of "those" grins.
     Pete grinned back, trying not to let his mounting frustration show.
     "That's good," Tyler continued, unaware of the tension that was
developing between Preston and Pete.  "Because we'll need all the support
we can get."
     "Well," Preston replied matter-of-factly, "you know you have mine."
     "Mine too!" Pete blurted out, with a lot more emotion than he had
intended.  "I mean," he continued, trying to recover his composure, "you
know I wouldn't miss it for anything".  He felt himself starting to turn
red from embarrassment.
     Preston grinned again.
     Tyler looked at Pete with a somewhat confused expression on his
face. "Yeah," he said slowly. "I know."
     "Attention!  Attention everyone!"  The voice boomed from the twin
speakers that were placed at both sides of the gym.  It was Mr. Spokes, the
principal.  The music suddenly stopped and everyone directed his or her
gaze toward the stage where he was standing behind the mic stand. Tyler,
Pete and Preston all turned toward the stage.
     Mr. Spokes cleared his throat, the way he always did before saying
anything.  It was a recurring sound on the school intercom system.  "Now
everyone, give me your attention please." When he was sure he had
everyone's attention he continued.  "Tonight our football team has made
history.  For the first time in the history of our school, our varsity
football team will be going to the state playoffs!"
    Applause erupted from the entire gym floor, and continued to grow as
Mr. Stokes allowed everyone to express themselves to the their fullest.
All of the football players who were at the dance got numerous pats on the
back from anyone who was close by.  Pete couldn't resist placing his hand
on Tyler's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.  Tyler looked over at
Pete and smiled broadly, almost bashfully.
     Mr. Spokes waved down the crowd, and continued.  "All right, all
right.  Now, I'd like to have every football player who is here come up on
the stage for minute please."
     Tyler turned to Pete and Preston.  "Well, guess I better get up
there," he said, walking toward the stage.
     Almost the entire football team was there, and they made their way up
the steps to the stage, amidst the fervent applause of the entire crowd in
the gym.  As they gathered around the stage they formed a semicircle behind
Mr. Stokes.
     Pete watched his hero find his place in the circle on the stage.  It
was where he belonged, above everyone else, at least in Pete's mind.  He
clapped as hard as he could clap.  He glanced over at Preston, who was also
clapping every bit as hard as Pete was.
     Pete increased his volume.
     Again Mr. Stokes waved down the applause.  "Ok, ok.  Now, I'd like to
have the team captain step up and say a few words." Mr. Stokes looked down
the line of players on the stage.  "Come on up here Kurt."
     Kurt made his way to the center of the stage and stood beside
Mr. Stokes.  Pete tried to look around the heads of everyone to see the
stage.
    "What's that in Kurt's hand?" he thought to himself.
    "Thank you Mr. Stokes," Kurt said as he took the mic from its stand.
"Now, all of you know that I am not very good at public speaking, right?"
Numerous catcalls came from the dance floor.  "So," Kurt continued, "I
thought I would borrow someone else's words for the occasion.
     Pete peaked between the heads of the crowd, still trying to see what
it was that Kurt had in his hand.
     Kurt looked down and opened up the book.  Finding the place he had
marked, he started to read.  "Today is the happiest day of my life…"
     The words hit Pete like a ton, knocking the breath from him.
     Those where his words!
     Kurt had his journal!
     "… but the bad part is that I can't tell anyone."  Kurt looked up
from the green notebook, scanning the crowd like he was looking for
someone.  Mr. Spokes started to get a confused expression on his face, but
let Kurt continue anyway.
     Kurt looked back down at the notebook and started to read again.  "I
realize now that I have been like this forever, and it took one person to
make me see it.  Today I realized that I am in love, really in love,
with… Tyler Lawson."  The crowd grew totally silent.  Kurt knew that he
didn't have much time left, so he read quickly.  "And I am going to tell
him today, I swear it to myself!"  Mr. Stokes started for the mic. "Hey
Pete," Kurt said louder as he surveyed the crowd, "I think you just did!"
     Mr. Stokes tried to grab the mic from Kurt's clenched fist.  "You hear
me Pete!  You faggot!  You queer son of a bitch!  It's out on you!
Everyone knows now!"  The rest of the team rushed in to help Mr. Stokes
wrestle the mic from Kurt's hand.  A couple of the football players grabbed
Kurt and tried to hold him down, but Kurt just kept screaming into the
crowd.  "I know you're out there fag boy!  I know you hear me!"
     Everyone in the gym was stunned.  It was pandemonium on the stage.
Mr. Stokes directed the two guys who had control over Kurt to take him to
his office, that he would be there soon.  Even as he was being taken down
the steps Kurt continued to scream at the top of his lungs.  "I got you fag
boy!  I knew it all along!  You're never going to forget this night!  Just
wait till I see you around!  You just wait!"  He flung the green notebook
into the crowd.
     For Pete it was like the world had suddenly stopped spinning, and
everything was in slow motion. He watched as his journal flew through the
air in slow motion, finally landing half-open and face up on the gym
floor.He watched as Kurt was dragged across the gym floor, still screaming
as loud as he could.  He looked at the crowd, still silent and not knowing
how to react.  He looked at Preston, who had taken a few steps away from
him by now.
     Pete could also sense that others were slowly moving away from him,
and he could feel the stares cutting into his soul.  The weight of the
silence in the gym was like a ton of bricks resting on his chest.  Finally
he was standing alone, against the wall of the gym.
     Then someone hollered from inside the crowd.
     "Faggot!"
     The gym erupted in laughter.  Mr. Stokes tried to wave down the crowd.
"Attention, attention everyone…" But it was no use.  Everyone was
laughing and pointing at Pete.
     Pete tried to melt into the wall behind him.  He felt weak, like he
was about to faint.  And still everyone laughed.  Words like "faggot",
"queer", and "gay" rung through the crowd. He could feel the sweat dripping
from his face, and his clothes were soaking.
     He took it all he could.  He could feel the desperation rising in his
soul.  He couldn't breathe.  He had to get out now!
     Looking around, he saw the side door of the open gym about twenty feet
to his right.
     He was panicking now.
     Got to get out of here!
     He ran towards the open door, past the laughing faces of everyone in
the gym.  It was only twenty feet to the door, but it seemed to Pete to
take forever.  Everything was in slow motion. Finally he reached the
opening.
     There was Preston standing beside it.
     Grinning!
     Pete noticed but didn't care.  He kept on running until he was
outside.
     As he ran away from the gym he could still hear the laughter in the
night air.  So he ran faster and faster, until he couldn't hear it any
longer, into the night, as fast as he could go.
     He didn't look back or even think about where he was going.
     He just ran as fast as he could.