Apple of Her Eye Chapter 11 TV
(This section is written in the third person POV)
Shaun was walking down the hall with his arm wrapped around Melissa’s small waist. Students were walking past them, occasionally exchanging hellos or nodding their heads. He had been with Melissa for over four weeks. It was close to setting a record for him.
Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his arm. He turned around expecting to see a friend’s face; but instead, he was staring into the glaring eyes of Mrs. Carson, Gary’s mother.
He was fond of Mrs. Carson, or Mom, as she had insisted on him calling her on his second visit to Gary’s home when he was in the fifth grade. She had been a second mother to him, sometimes almost a first mom. His own mother worked all the time and rarely spent much time with him. She was a good mother; however, she wasn’t blessed with good maternal instincts.
Mom had filled that role, and he never once questioned her love for him. There had been many nights he had fallen asleep in her lap during his numerous sleepovers with Gary. He would be on one side of her, and Gary would be snuggled on the other. When it was bedtime, she would help them up to bed and kiss them goodnight.
When he broke his arm in the sixth grade while he and Gary climbed an oak tree in Gary’s backyard, it had been Mom who took him to the hospital and stayed with him in the emergency room. Mom had called his own mother, and after finding out he was all right, she said she would be there when he got home. It was Mom who held him and comforted a very scared little twelve-year-old boy.
Now he was looking directly into the eyes of the woman he most admired, and a wave of guilt overtook him. This was the one thing he had been trying to avoid. Since his fight with Gary, he had missed Mom. He knew that one day she would ask why he wasn’t coming around anymore. He was sure she had heard the rumors about what he had said to Gary in the cafeteria. By now, the whole school knew the story.
She held his arm gently and said, “Shaun, can I talk to you for a moment?” The look in her eye told him that it wasn’t a request.
“Sure, Mom,” he responded. He whispered goodbye to Melissa, and she gave him a peck on the cheek and walked away.
“In my room,” she directed. “This is my planning period. I’ll write you a pass for your next class when we are done.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Shaun replied sheepishly as he entered the room and took a seat in the front row. Mrs. Carson pulled up a seat and sat down facing him.
She asked, “Would you like to tell me why I haven’t seen you in over a week?”
“No, Mom. I can’t,” he replied. How could he tell her that he had outed Gary to the entire school? In doing so, he had destroyed their close friendship.
He realized that he didn’t hate Gary. He had been caught off guard by last week’s incident. Guys their age are taught to hate gay people. That had been the bantering in the gym classes since the fourth grade. When any guy innocently checked out another guy in the shower, the teasing would be endless.
So that night in his room, when he saw Gary staring sensuously into his eyes, he reacted instinctively. When he mentioned it to his friends the next day, it became a major issue. They had instigated his confrontation with Gary in the cafeteria. He had reacted childishly, and now he regretted it.
Since then, he had left Gary alone and he hadn’t said anything to him. On several occasions, he had even told his friends to shut up when they started talking about him. On the day he returned to school and Billy and Robert began to harass Gary, he was about to jump in when Josh suddenly shouted out.
“Why aren’t you Gary’s friend anymore?” Mom startled him from his thoughts when she questioned him.
“It’s complicated. I don’t think you’d understand,” he muttered softly.
“Is it because he’s gay?” Shaun raised his head and looked surprisingly into Mom’s eyes. She knows Gary is gay?
“Yeah,” he answered timidly. The guilt was coming in waves, and for the first time he felt embarrassed.
“He made a mistake, Honey,” she explained. “He never meant to hurt you. If he could take last week back, believe me he would.”
“He made a mistake?” Shaun asked incredulously. “I’m the one that screwed up.” He couldn’t believe it. He had ruined Gary’s life. He had outed him at school, resulting in him being beaten up. However, Gary was the one who was sorry!
Mrs. Carson smiled warmly at Shaun. “He loves you, Shaun. You’re his best friend. He misses you terribly.”
“I know,” Shaun stated. “But things are different now. We can’t be friends.”
“Why? What’s changed?”
“My friends would talk about me. They’d call me gay, too.” Shaun hung his head. As soon as he said it, he realized just how inane the comment was.
“That’s more important to you than his friendship? You would turn your back on a friend to keep other people from talking about you? How shallow are you? You are going to have hundreds, maybe thousands of friends in your lifetime. But you will be able to count on one hand your true friends- those who will stick by you no matter how bad, as you say, mess up.” She reached out and gently held Shaun’s hands.
Shaun looked up and met Mom’s eyes. He knew he had been wrong, but he didn’t know what to do about it. Things had gone too far. “I don’t know what to do. I outed him to the entire school. I don’t think he will ever forgive me. I know I wouldn’t.”
“Talk to him Shaun, he might surprise you,” she said assuredly. “Gary has a very forgiving heart.”
“I’ll try.” It was all he was able to say. He wanted Gary’s friendship again, but had too much happened? Was there any going back? Maybe going back wasn’t the answer, maybe they had to move forward.
* * * * * * * *
"Come here, you perv!” I shouted as I pushed Todd down onto his bed. “You pinched my butt in the hall today in front of everybody.”
We had returned to Todd’s house after school to do our homework; but since no one was home to monitor us, homework was the last thing on my mind. I was more interested in doing an assignment on kissing. I leaned in and began to kiss Todd passionately. It felt so good, so right.
“We have to stop,” I said breathlessly, pulling myself off him and lying down on my back.
“Why? It’s just getting fun,” Todd giggled.
“Because last night after we made out in my room, I had to take a shower and um, you know." My face began to turn a bright red. I held up my cast. "I'm right-handed."
“Then maybe I can help you," he giggled. "Let's take a shower together." We took off our clothes and ran laughing to the bathroom.
When we finished showering, we toweled each other off and ran back naked to his bedroom. As soon as we entered his room, we ran into Josh. He looked astonished. Then suddenly he began to smile. Soon, he erupted into laughter. “You Little Bros been naughty?” he asked with a wide grin.
“Yeah!” We both said at the same time. We looked at each other and began laughing.
Josh held out his arms, and we walked over to him still naked. He embraced us in a huge bear hug. He let us go, but not before smacking us both on our bare butts. We burst out laughing again.
Josh left the room, and Todd and I slowly dressed as we watched each other closely. He walked over and buttoned my shirt while giving me little kisses on my face. When he was done, I did the same to him.
He walked me to the door, and we embraced.
“I love you, Todd.” I said as I gave him a gentle kiss.
He returned the kiss and replied, “And I love you, Gary.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Call me tonight before you go to bed,” I told him.
“I will,” he replied. I kissed him one last time before I opened the door and left. I looked back when I was halfway down the block. He was standing on his porch watching me. When I waved at him, he waved back. He was still watching me when I turned the corner and headed for home.