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Chapter 3: Public Execution

Back at school the next day, that being Friday, it was the regular routine with Sky. I had to act like there was nothing between us even though we shared a number of classes together. It’s a punch in the gut having to hide our feelings on an average day. I wish that there was that we could be together in an average setting. During fourth period, I was lounging on the couch, staring at the ceiling when I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, Skylar walk in with his head glued to the floor. I furrowed my brow and twisted to his direction.

“Everything alright?”

“No.” Sky said holding up a yellow slip of paper. “Mr. Shaughnessy wants to see us in his office now.” His voice was weak and fear latched itself to every word. I hopped off of the couch and walked over to him taking the slip out of his hand and scanned every word written on it.

“How…. what? Why are we getting called down to his office? What have we done wrong?” I asked no one in a rage. I paced around the room for a moment furious at what we could’ve done. “Let’s get this over with.” I steamed.

The walk down the hall was silent and nerve-wracking. Sky was scared out of his wits with the fear of having his secret revealed and having to leave all he had done here. I, on the other hand, was furious at what we were getting called down for. I reached the door and lo and behold, guess who opens the door. Brittany Smith. The head cheerleader of the Blue River Sharks. She was sitting across from Mr. Shaughnes with a handful of her fellow squad members standing behind her. I felt the rage and hate boil up inside of me. Her presence infuriated me and knowing how she can be, I was skeptical at what we were here for.

“Mr. Heferton, Mr. Walsh. Have a seat.” Mr. Shaughnessy said in an oddly calm demeanor. He was a very sporadic man, never usually able to stay in one place for too long. “Miss Smith here has raised some concern over the two of you. You seem to be spending a lot of time in the media room. Together. And it’s been brought to my attention that you’ve been seen alone in there on multiple occasions.” He said.

“So? It’s a media room. Is it that a bad thing? Is it bad that I like to leave the classroom for a quiet place where I can do work?” I steamed. I could read his accusatory tone and I wasn’t going to stand for it. If he thought he can accuse me to something he has no proof of I will defend myself, and my boyfriend, until my final breath.

“Jayce, you’re a good student.” He said, he tone becoming more caring. “But we, by law, are forced to investigate claims of a f** either in or trying to enter the public school system. And it’s been brought to my attention by Ms. Smith that… well… you two are the ones we should be investigating.”

I fumed with rage and fear. I knew the rules of what happened when a gay was found in society. It was on the news frequently, the stories of people being filmed while they were being escorted out of the city to the nearest gay town, in my case Greyhill. It seemed like a good idea to me a while ago, to just run away to Greyhill when I didn’t want to be found. That same feeling came back when Mr. Shaughnessy said Sky and I were to be investigated. Neither he nor I wanted to be outed. We didn’t want to leave and lose everything we had here. I was just starting to gain some friends and be recognized by people, who only a year prior, considered me less than dirt on the bottom of their boots. For Sky, I knew why he wouldn’t want to be outed. Quarterback of the football team, star athlete of Blue River High. He had a life here. He wouldn’t want to have all his hard work thrown out the window because he liked guys, and I didn’t want to lose him. It was the world’s most twisted game of dominoes ever. Each piece that fell caused some part of my life to crumble with it.

“Mr. Shaughnessy,” I said as calmly as I could muster up. “Sky and I aren’t gay. We’re just good friends that like to hang out together. We do a lot of work together since we have a lot of the same classes, just in different periods.” I said lying through my teeth. I prayed that my act would pass. I wouldn’t be able to live if either one of us was forced to leave the other. There was no way in this world that I was going to leave, forced or not, to leave Sky. I love that man more than anything.

“Don’t lie to him. I saw you two making out the other day.”

“Thank you, Ms. Smith. Now Jayce,”

“You really believe this crap!” I yelled. “What’s your proof?!” I directed my rage to Brittany who looked at me wide-eyed. The room fell silent. I turned to Sky and his face was red from the tears but his eyes were told me more. Guess he hasn’t seen the anger I hold inside me every day of my life.

“Against my… better… interests,” Mr. Shaughnessy said breaking the silence. “I am required by law to investigate these claims.” He turned to Brittany. “AND gather all evidence of a claim from both accuser and defendant. I will… investigate.. these claims and interview each of you individually throughout the week. Now, all of you back to class.”

The rest of the day sped by in a breeze. Fourth period was here and gone with the wind. I vaguely remember Sky speaking to me after going to the office. I was completely absolved into my own thoughts I never realized that class was just breezing by. No one talked to me much, making everything blur into a mess that I didn’t know how to clean. I was oblivious to most people and anyone who managed to get my attention for that moment lost it very fast. I wasn’t going to talk to those people if they wouldn’t be open to actually listening to me. If Shaughnessy was going to investigate us, and knowing Brittany, he’ll get what he wants and kick us out.  

The end of the day finally came around. The last minute until the bell rang was as painful as waiting for the blade of a guillotine to fall. There was little to keep me excited about going home today. The bright side was that I was going to hang out with Sky later. The9 bus ride home that followed the end of the day wasn’t very fulfilling. Same boring people going to the same boring stops leading to my own eventual departure.

My home life was quite similar to my school life, both were hell.  Along with that, both my mother and my father were very religious in their own way and they constantly drilled me on joining a religion, especially their own. It was a hassle that I had to deal with every day of my life. I didn’t have the willpower to argue with them today, so I let them say what they wanted. That night, I had no intention to eat that night. The combined stress of school and home killed my appetite. Not even Sky could cure that. Later that same night, as the cool September wind blew into my room, I laid on bed restless as usual. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been having terrible dreams involving Sky that hindered my sleep. I tried going back to sleep on numerous occasions, I had little success with numerous failed attempts. Looks like it’ll be a long day tomorrow.