Out of the Closet
by Victor Thomas
Chapter 26
Chris
From the other side of the classroom, I stared at my best friend, sitting at his desk with his eyes glued to the cover of his history book. Our last class was about to end and I had been avoiding him the whole day, but I was beginning to doubt whether my reason was that good.
The bell rang, and everybody stood up except Kenny, who froze like a statue, holding his head between his hands. I waited until the others had left before slowly approaching him.
"Can I sit here?" I asked.
"It's a free country," he muttered, keeping his eyes fixed on the book.
The teacher glanced at us, but collected his belongings and walked out of the classroom. For a long time, I tried to establish eye contact with him, but he refused to turn his head. Finally, I poked him on the shoulder.
"Aren't you afraid to touch me?" he asked sourly.
"Okay, I overreacted," I said. I continued in a quiet voice. "I just didn't want anyone to think that I'm gay."
He turned to look at me.
"Seriously?"
"I mean… shit, you know what I mean," I said.
He didn't reply, but stood up and took the book he hadn't even opened. I blocked his way out and closed the door. He had never been the most talkative of my friends, but now he was especially silent. It was almost scary how lifeless his eyes looked.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"I want my best friend back," I said.
"He's still gay."
"I'm so sorry," I said, quickly adding, "I mean, I'm sorry for avoiding you. And what I said about Javier."
A small smile appeared on his face, which I interpreted as a good sign. Perhaps he would forgive me. I pushed the door open and was about to leave, when I noticed him hesitating.
"Javier is waiting for me at my locker," he said, blushing.
I raised my hands.
"I promise to behave."
The smile on his face grew bigger.
"Thanks."
I followed him to the hallway and studied my friend. The kiss I had seen this morning had been gross, or at least weird, but when I put that aside, it was still the same Kenny I saw walking in front of me.
"I saw you two eating lunch together. Are you now dating or something?" I asked as we walked down the hallway.
He didn't have time to reply before a loud noise echoed down the hallway. It was like someone had slammed a locker shut really loud. It was followed by a heated discussion. I walked faster to see what was going on, and when I came around the corner, I saw Javier and Bryan fighting.
"It's because of you that our best player is no longer on the team," Bryan shouted, holding his fist in the air, ready to hit.
Javier had his arms protecting his head, and with his right knee, he kicked Bryan in his thigh. Bryan groaned out of pain and prepared to attack the smaller boy. Javier's nose was already bleeding, and there was blood on his hands too.
"Bryan, stop!" I shouted. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"I'm teaching this faggot a lesson," he replied, swinging.
Luckily, his fist missed Javier's face.
"Don't be an idiot," I snapped.
I pushed him away from Javier and set myself between them.
Bryan glared at me, clearly surprised. Then he looked at Javier and Kenny and a cocky smirk appeared on his face. For a moment, I wasn't sure whether he was about to attack me, but then we heard the sound of someone walking down the hallway from the direction of the principal's office.
That must be Mr. Haynes," I whispered. "Let's go. Quick!"
We rushed out through the front doors. Just before the doors closed, I looked over my shoulder and saw the principal coming to the hallway where the lockers were. I didn't stop to see if he would follow us, but continued running to the big bushes on the right.
"Just for the record, it wasn't Javier. It was you who got me kicked off the team," I shouted to Bryan, who didn't follow us, but turned left.
"Whatever," he replied.
I stayed hidden behind the bushes with Kenny and Javier a few minutes more, and after we assumed Principal Haynes had returned to his office, we stood up. Javier's nose was still bleeding a bit, and he glanced at me with a suspicious expression on his face.
"Should you visit the nurse?" I asked.
He wiped his face with his hand.
"Why are you suddenly acting like you're my friend?" he said, glaring at me.
"I thought maybe you could talk to the coach."
There was a moment of silence, and then he gave a laugh. Or was it more like a snort? Whatever it was, his face made it very clear he wasn't going to help. It had been stupid for me to believe this would work.
"What Chris means is that he's sorry for what he has said and done to you," Kenny said. He gave me a meaningful glance. "Right?"
I nodded quickly and took my most remorseful expression.
Unfortunately, it didn't melt Javier's heart. I tried to think what else I could say or do, but it began to be more and more likely that I would spend the next year fixing cars with my dad.
"Javier, please," Kenny said.
Javier stayed silent for a long time.
"Fine. But I'll only do it for you," he finally said.
There was something warm in the way he looked at Kenny. They didn't even have to touch each other for a goofy smile to appear on Kenny's face. I had learned only a few hours earlier that my best friend liked boys, and I could already tell that something had changed in him.
Maybe I'll get used to this one day, I thought, pushing my hands into my pockets.
We walked toward the gym where Coach Barrett's office was. Kenny offered to wait for us outside and we entered the building and soon found ourselves in front of the office. I knocked on the door, it was time to step into the lion's den.
"Come in!" came the familiar grunt.
With a nervous look at Javier, I opened the door.
"Hey, Coach."
Coach Barrett glanced at us and gestured for us to step in. He organized his papers a while before he raised his gaze.
"What can I do for you?"
"I was hoping you could take me back on the team," I said.
"I thought we had this discussion already," Coach Barrett said.
I looked at Javier with desperation in my eyes. He understood the hint. He cleared his throat and put his hand on my shoulder.
"We have resolved our… dispute," he said. "It was kind of a misunderstanding."
"My best friend is gay, and…" I added, but didn't know what else to say.
Coach leaned back in his chair and sighed. I forgot to breathe as I watched the him scratch the back of his neck and look out the window. Finally, he took off his reading glasses and laid them on the desk.
"Can I trust that you'll behave?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir," I replied immediately, nodding.
"I find it hard to believe the way you behaved at those practices was a misunderstanding."
I froze. I had been so close to getting back on the team, and now everything seemed to be changing again. We should have planned this better. I had never excelled in improvising things, and to be honest, Javier's explanation sucked.
"I would like to hear a sincere apology from you before I make my final decision," the coach said to me.
Hope returned. Out of the blue, I opened my arms and hugged Javier. It took a while for the surprised boy to realize what was happening, but then he patted me on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I really am," I said, looking him in the eyes.
I noticed the hint of a smile on the coach's face as I waited nervously for the verdict that would define the course of my life. I wasn't typically melodramatic, but I needed that scholarship badly.
"You better play well at practice tomorrow," the coach said. "And now, off you go. I have plenty of work to do before I go home."
"Thanks," I said.
I thought about hugging the coach as well, but quickly realized it wasn't necessarily the best way to think him. Instead, we left the office, and for the first time in several weeks, I was smiling, really smiling.
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