It's on Us

by Matthew Burkey-Gilchrist

  “That’s a very adult way to look at it. You know that if anyone threatens you or says anything to you, all you have to do is go to the principal, right?”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “I love you.”

  “Love you, too, mom.”

  I got out of the car. Rory and Tab came jogging over to me the moment I set foot on the pavement. They both wore concerned looks, which was especially disconcerting for me. Their faces were tense, something that I only saw right before a meet.

  “Anyone say anything?” I asked, as we started walking toward the building.

  “No one has said shit to me,” Rory replied. “Then again, they know that we’re best buddies, so I doubt that they’d be stupid enough to say anything to my face.”

  “Point there,” Tab said. “As soon as we’re sure that he’s gonna be okay, I’ll branch out and get back to work on your campaign.”

  “That’s really not important right now,” Rory said with a frown. “We aren’t leaving your side today, got it?”

  “Even when I have to pee?” I asked, somewhat sarcastically.

  “Then we’re there, too.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.”

  “But maybe we should think about posting it where everyone can see it.”

  I glanced over at Tab with a raised eyebrow.

  “What?” Tab asked. “I thought that you wanted people to know what you were doing? Putting it on your social media links might be a good way to do that.”

  “I mean, yeah, that’s the idea,” I replied, feeling myself blush. “But maybe starting slow isn’t such a bad thing.”

  “That’s also true,” Rory added. “You ready for this?”

  “As ready as I will ever be.”

  We stepped through the front doors, and I felt myself tense all over. I was prepared for the slew of insults and disgusted looks that I was sure were going to be flung my way. Ever so cautiously, we walked through the lobby, and began to make our way to our lockers. I got the occasional odd stare, but that wasn’t new. Rounding the corner that lead to our hall, I saw the first spot of trouble. Cody and Adam were standing near my locker, talking in hushed tones.

  “What do you guys want?” Rory asked.

  “Are you going to come out at school?” Cody asked, looking nervously around the hall.

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Adam asked.

  “We’ve been talking,” Cody said. “And we aren’t sure that’s what’s best for the team.”

  “Huh. And where were we during these discussions?” Rory asked. “Because I sure as hell don’t remember being involved in any of them.”

  “Yeah, funny that. I don’t remember being a part of that either,” Tab said, narrowing his gaze at Cody and Adam. “And I’m pretty sure that Danny wasn’t in on it.”

  “People already think we’re gay,” Cody said in a hushed voice. “But having an actual gay guy on the team, I mean, that’s probably only going to make things worse.”

  “And do you think that your parents will tell our parents?” Adam asked. He kept glancing around the hall nervously, like he expected some CIA assassin to leap out of a locker. “I mean, they really should tell them.”

  “What the fuck difference does that make?” Rory snapped.

  “I think what my esteemed colleague is trying to say–”

  “No. I said, what the fuck difference does that make, and that’s exactly what I meant,” Rory interrupted, shooting Tab an angry glare at the same time.

  “Or that,” Tab said.

  “I don’t know if my parents plan on telling them,” I said. “They told me it was up to me who I told and when I told them. Besides, what difference does it make? I’m still the same old Henry.”

  “Except now we know that you might be checking us out,” Cody said.

  “Oh, for the love of god!” I practically shouted. I lowered my voice as soon as I saw a good deal of the hallway glance in our direction. “I am not checking you guys out. I have never checked you out, nor will I ever. Get over yourselves.”

  “You don’t see Danny acting an insecure asshole,” Rory pointed out. “And he’s about the only one that has anything worth checking out.”

  Adam and Cody’s eyes went wide.

  “Wait… are you… you know, too?” Adam asked, jabbing a finger at Rory.

  “Gay,” Rory said while rolling his eyes. “No, I’m just demonstrating what an ass you’re being.”

  I realized that we were starting to make a scene, which was the exact opposite of what I really wanted to be doing. I nudged Rory’s shoulder with my own, hoping that he would get the hint and lower his voice.

  “Just forget that we said anything,” Adam said quickly. He grabbed Cody’s backpack and started to drag him backwards. “We’ll see you guys.”

  “Okay, well, that could have gone better,” I said, watching Cody and Adam disappear down the hall. “Do you think that they’ll tell anyone?”

  “I thought you wanted to be out?” Tab asked.

  “I do. I’m just still trying to figure how the best way to go about doing it is.”

  Tab held up his cell phone and waggled it in the air. “Well, we do have all these wonderful social media sites at our fingertips.”

  I laughed. “I’ll get back to you. Do you think that you could come over Saturday and help me make another video?”

  “Sure thing,” Rory said with a nod.

  “Shouldn’t be a problem,” Tab added.

  “Cool.”

  “I’ll see you guys later, I have something I gotta do,” Rory said, taking off toward the water fountain.

  Seconds later we saw why. Shawna was standing next to it alone, which was rare, given the fact that Hunter seemed to keep her glued to him at all times. She smiled when Rory came jogging over to her.

  “Do you think he’ll actually do it?” I asked.

  Tab shrugged. “Ask her out?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You know Rory. Once he sets his mind to something, he has a tendency to go all tunnel vision.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  “Come on,” Tab said, draping an arm over my shoulders. “Let’s get to class. You need anything all, you gotta do is text us 911 and we’ll come running.”

  I blushed. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Luckily, the rest of the day passed entirely without incident. I got the occasional odd look, though that was relatively normal for me. Rory and Tab insisted they walk everywhere with me, which was incredibly sweet. I’d say it was almost annoying, except I could practically feel the tension coming off them. By the end of the day, though, we were satisfied that no one had seen the video yet.

  All three of us had checked on the video throughout the day. There didn’t appear to be any more comments, and only a handful of additional views. That really wasn’t surprising, although I knew that would likely change when I displayed the link on the rest of my social media.

  “Are you sure you don’t want one of us to go with you?” Rory asked as we walked to my mom’s car. “I don’t mind watching you practice.”

  “I’m good. Plus, Ryan will be there.”

  “Yeah, fucking with that guy would not end well for, well, anyone,” Tab said.

  I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but thanks.”

  “Text us when you get home,” Rory added.

  “Will do.”

  “So, how was it?” my mom asked as I climbed into the car.

  “Better than I thought it would be,” I said, shutting the door.

  “Anyone say anything?”

  “Not that I heard, although if I’m honest, it’s not like I put it out there. I mean, not all the way out there yet.”

  “But you did put it out there,” she said.

  “And I guess we just wait and see what happens,” I said. “Can you drop me by the gym?”

  “Going to see if anyone shows up?”

 
; “Yeah,” I said with a nod. “And I’d like to get some practice first.”

  “Sure, I can do that, provided you come home afterwards and get to work on homework.”

  “I will. Can I ask you something, mom?”

  “Anything, honey.”

  “Are you going to tell the other parents?”

  She shook her head. “We agreed, you get to tell who you want when you want. It’s not my story to tell. Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t embarrassed by it or anything, but you get to be the one that tells your story.”

  “Thanks, mom.”

  “Anytime, honey.”

  I was more nervous than I thought by the time I arrived at the gym. I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen. After all, I couldn’t actually imagine anyone showing up. Despite Rory and Tab’s encouraging words, I was pretty sure that the whole video thing fell on deaf ears. Maybe I was the only one stupid enough to actually be himself..

  Hell, anyone that saw the way Noah had been treated wouldn’t be stupid enough to put themselves out there like that. Unless, of course they were gluttons for punishment. But if my words were encouraging enough for one person, that was enough. At least, I hoped that would be enough when I was being harassed and made fun of.

  The workout would do me good, and hopefully allow me to shake those jitters from my system. I pulled my weapon from its case and thumbed on the activation switch. Taking a steadying breath, I went through several attack patterns, then a series of blocks. After that, I practiced my flipping, diving, and somersaulting away from phantom attackers.

  “I still can’t believe how good you are at all that shit.”

  I jumped and twisted around. Cole was standing against the wall, smiling broadly. He wore athletic shorts and a grey sleeveless tee-shirt that showed off his tanned and toned upper arms. He had his weapons out, although they were deactivated.

  “Thanks,” I said. “What brings you down here?”

  “Practice,” Cole said, indicating his sabers. “Want to spar some?”

  “You sure you want to get your ass kicked?”

  “Arrogance isn’t a good look on you,” Cole said as he walked toward me.

  “What about confidence?”

  “Confidence is a good look on anyone,” Cole replied. “So, what do you say?”

  I checked my watch. I had plenty of time before people were due to show up. Well, that was assuming that anyone was going to show up. If I was totally honest with myself, I wouldn’t mind looking at Cole a little while longer. Plus, he could probably use the practice.

  “Alright,” I said with a shrug. “But don’t expect me to hold back.”

  “I’d never expect you to do that,” Cole said. He gave me a lopsided grin and switched on his weapons. “But your arrogance will be your undoing.”

  “I thought we agreed that it was confidence,” I replied, thumbing on my weapon.

  “I think the jury’s still out on that.”

  I took a defensive posture: legs wide and body ready to dodge the incoming attack. To his credit, Cole didn’t rush in. However, when he did attack, it was with an explosion of speed and movement that I barely had time to counter. This was not the same Cole that I had spared with a few weeks ago. He had me backing up on the mat, losing ground within the first few seconds of our encounter.

  I jabbed forward and then fainted left, catching the edge of his shorter saber and forcing him backwards some.

  “You got better,” I said.

  “Had a pretty good teacher,” Cole said. He tilted his head at me. “You wanna stop or something? Because I would totally understand if you wanted to chicken out.”

  “I’m just getting warmed up.”

  “Then bring it.”

  Cole came at me again, his attacks measured, precise, and direct. They flowed from one pattern to another, seeking a way around my defenses. Our blades flashed and hissed as we dueled across the mat, our tempo increasing in just the first few minutes. I wasn’t full on pushing myself. I wanted to know just how good Cole had become over the course of a few weeks, and so far, I had determined that he upped his game by a lot.

  I unleashed a series of sweeping horizontal slashes, but Cole managed to avoid each one. He wasn’t so nimble on his feet with the way that he twisted and threw his body around, but he managed to get out of the way and with a lot more grace than his previous attempts. I blocked an overhead slash and flipped backwards, avoiding a series of quick stabs.

  “New trick,” I said as our blades clashed again.

  “I’m pretty good at learning new things,” Cole said.

  He was sweating and breathing heavy, but he charged right back at me, closing the gap between us with an impressive amount of speed. Our weapons flashed as they crashed together, making a rather impressive noise in the large room. We continued dancing back and forth across the space, weapons flashing and clashing off each other. Sweat ran down both our faces and before I even knew it, the front of my tee-shirt was soaked.

  “Give up yet?”

  Cole was panting heavily, but still on his feet and showing no signs of stopping. Despite his red and sweat-streaked face, he was smiling. It might have been one of the sexiest smiles that I have ever seen.

  And here you go, lusting after the straight guy again. You really are a horrible gay man.

  I couldn’t help but grin at him as he threw himself at me again. We spent the next twenty minutes sparring with each other, and finally called it quits when both of us started to lose our grips on our sabers due to our sweaty palms. We headed over to where we had dropped our bags and scooped up our respective water bottles. I grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from my face. When I tossed it back to the ground, Cole was standing next to me in all his shirtless glory.

  Damn! He’s even hotter half naked! Oh, god, you’re staring. Stop it, quick look away, do not look at his ass. Fuck, too late. That is one amazing ass!

  My eyes went right to the perfectly formed, muscled globes that made up Cole’s backside. His pecs weren’t as big as mine, but they were nicely defined. And his abs, maybe not a whole six-pack, but he had the sexy as fuck V leading down into his athletic shorts, along with a faint happy trail. I pretended not to notice, hoping that the blush was covered by the sweat that was all over my face.

  “I still don’t know how you are this good,” Cole said after taking a large drink of water.

  I shrugged. “It’s one of those talents that’s going to be pretty much useless. Plus, it’s a pretty good way to let loose some aggression.”

  “Yeah, but the way that you go about using that thing,” Cole said pointing at my saber. “It’s like a fucking artform. Really, you should post your competition videos.”

  “I’m pretty sure that no one wants to see that,” I replied. I grabbed my water bottle and gulped down another drink. “So, is that what brought you down here? To practice?”

  “And maybe something else.”

  There was a slight twinkle in his eye when he said that, along with the beginnings of a various mischievous smile that tugged at the corner of his lips.

  “Something else?” I asked.

  I instantly grew nervous and had to remind myself that I was in a safe space. Cole wasn’t an asshole. After all, he had sought me out to spar. And I was getting nothing but good vibes from him and, of course, sexy vibes he probably wasn’t aware he was throwing off, but mostly good vibes. I swallowed hard, not sure what to say. Truth be told, I hadn’t really expected anyone to show up, and if they did, I really had no idea what I was going to say to them. Cole quirked an eyebrow at me after he put a new shirt on.

  “I saw your video,” Cole said with a smile. “That was one of the bravest things that I have ever seen anyone do.”

  I blushed. “Um, it was nothing.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short. It wasn’t nothing.”

  “So, I guess that means that you know I’m… well, you know.”

  “Gay?” Cole asked.

  “Yeah.”<
br />
  “It’s cool.”

  “It is?”

  “Way you were made, dude,” Cole answered. “You can’t control who you are attracted to.”

  “So…”

  “We’re still friends,” Cole said.

  “Thanks, but I think it might have been a mistake. I doubt that anyone will even show up.”

  “But you gave them a place to show up. That’s pretty awesome.”

  “Did you know Ryan was bi?” I asked as we started gathering our things.

  “Cool,” Cole said.

  “Is that the only reason that you came down here?” I asked.

  “And to be supportive,” Cole said as we walked down the hall. “I mean, I’m that geeky kid at my school that really doesn’t have that many friends, and the ones that I do have aren’t exactly thrilled that my free time is spent playing with plastic swords.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, Tab isn’t happy about it either. Rory comes to all the stuff, though.”

  “I’ve seen him. That’s a good friend.”

  “Yeah. They’re both pretty awesome, actually.”

  We made it to the end of the hall and I slowly pushed open the door. I poked my head inside, and a part of me hoped that there would be no one in there and that I might be able to dial back everything that I had done over the past few days. However, I knew as nervous as I was about all this, it was still the right thing to do. If I didn’t take a stand, I’d regret it the rest of my life. Well, probably. A part of me thought that I would.

  We stepped into an empty room. Chairs and tables had been set out, but there wasn’t another soul around, aside from the two of us.

  “No luck, huh?”

  We turned around to find Ryan standing in the doorway.

  I sighed. “Maybe it was a dumb idea.”

  “Just give it some time,” Ryan said. “I’ll be back in a bit to check on you.”

  “Cool,” I said as I tossed my bag onto one of the tables. “You don’t have to say, you know.”

  “I got nothing else to do,” Cole replied. “So, now that you’re out, find yourself a boyfriend yet?”

  I laughed. I was used to discussing this subject with Rory and Tab, but the ease at which Cole brought it up threw me off a little.

  “Why is that funny?” Cole asked.