A Delicate Situation

Chapter 10

I don’t know why I did it, but on Monday I promised Jade I would return for the second meeting of Campus Pride. She kept telling me that I could never ‘grow a pair’ unless I started standing up for myself. After the incident with Jerry, Travis and Raleigh, I decided things couldn’t get any worse. If my father found out and insisted that I return home, then perhaps he would be doing me a favor.

Jade smiled when she noticed me enter the room. She was holding Amanda’s hand while they talked to Sydney. Seth, I guess, still hadn’t arrived. I still wasn’t sure if I liked Amanda. I did when she and Jade first met, but I was worried they were moving too fast. It just didn’t seem right to me that they would jump into bed after only knowing each other for a few hours. Maybe Jade seemed comfortable with it, but I didn’t. However, seeing them holding hands, I knew they really liked each other. In fact, Jade had even mentioned that they were falling in love. So I guess I could put my moral feelings aside and feel happy for them.

“Hello, Dorian,” Jade said cheerfully as she pulled me into a tight hug. Sydney and Amanda wrapped their arms around me for a group hug. “I wasn’t sure you’d show up.”

“I told you I would,” I replied as I pulled away and fixed my hair. “Where’s Seth?” I looked around the room for Jerry. I wanted Seth to be nearby in case he tried to speak to me again.

Sydney looked at her watch. “I don’t know,” she said worriedly. “He should be here by now.”

We continued to talk while Sydney kept watching the door for Seth to arrive. I got nervous when Jerry walked through the door. Jade started to call him over, but I stopped her. Only Seth knew what had happened, so she didn’t see anything wrong with him joining us.

“Don’t Jade,” I said quickly as I grabbed her arm. “I don’t want him coming over.”

“Why?” She asked with a puzzled look.

I remarked, “I just don’t. Okay?” She nodded, but I knew she wanted to know more. She started to ask me something when Sydney suddenly let out a shriek. We turned to see Seth approaching. His right eye was swollen and bruised. The right side of his face was also lightly bruised.

“What happened?” she cried as she rushed over and wrapped her arms around him. He looked over at me and slightly shook his head.

“Nothing, Baby,” he assured her. “I just walked into a door. That’s all.” He gingerly rubbed the side of his face and laughed. “You should see the door.”

When he walked over and hugged me, he put his mouth to my ear and whispered, “Don’t say anything to Sydney.” I knew what he was talking about. Since Jerry had showed up and didn’t look like he had been in a fight, then Seth must have fought with someone in the dorm. Even though I despised Raleigh, I didn’t want to make Seth’s life miserable when he went back to his dorm room.

We walked over and got refreshments from the table. Numerous people from the first meeting came over to talk to us. I think many of them came because of Seth. They kept asking him what happened, and then they would put their hand gently on the side of his face. Seth seemed to be enjoying the attention. Jade and I laughed uproariously when Noah came over and got excited. “Oh you poor Dear,” he cooed. He took Seth’s hand and held it. “If there is anything I can do, just let me know.” He turned, rolled his eyes at Sydney and strutted off.

We were still laughing when an angry expression appeared on Seth’s face. We turned to see Jerry standing across the table looking at me. “Excuse me,” Seth remarked as he left. A second later, he was grabbing Jerry by the back of his shirt and pulling him from the room. Sydney started to follow, but I stopped her.

“Wait,” I said. “I’ll go see what is going on.” I hurried through the door and stopped when I saw them about 100 feet down the hall. Seth had Jerry pressed to the wall, and he was saying something to him. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I had a pretty good idea that he was threatening Jerry to leave me alone. Seth slammed him against the wall and stepped back. Jerry looked down the hall at me and then scurried away.

Seth approached me and proudly announced, “I don’t think you have to worry about that son of a bitch any more.” He put his arm around me and tried to lead me back into the meeting room.

“Wait,” I replied as I stopped and looked at his black eye. “Who did you get into a fight with?”

“Oh, yeah,” he smiled as he reached into his pocket and handed me a key. “I almost forgot to tell you.” I turned the key in my hand and looked back up at him. “Me and you are going to be roomies. I kind of had a talk with Raleigh, but he didn’t seem to want to listen. We moved your things into my room. He’ll be rooming with Travis. I hope you don’t mind?” He laughed, turned and headed through the door as I looked back down at the key in my hand.

As we sat around in a circle for our meeting, I felt better than I had since I had arrived at school. I felt guilty because Seth had handled my problems for me, but at least they had been dealt with. Seth would be my new roommate, and I didn’t have to worry about Jerry anymore. When Jade noticed me grinning, she took my hand and said, “I’m not even going to ask now, but you better tell me later what’s going on.” I smiled and nodded my head.

We turned when Noah shouted out, “We’ll be starting the meeting soon. Make sure you’ve signed in.” We laughed when he looked over at Seth and sighed.

There appeared to be about twenty more people present than last week. I guess word had gotten out about the first meeting. I had noticed all week more posters on the bulletin boards announcing the formation of Campus Pride. Cameron was even interviewed on the school’s radio station on Monday night. I was in the library studying so I didn’t hear it. Jade told me he had promoted the group really well, and he encouraged all students and staff to participate. It appeared a few professors had showed up to support us. One seemed gay, and many of the students congregated around him as he stood off to the side.

Jade grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the registration table. “You’d better sign in. The rest of us already have.”

I pulled away and said, “Maybe I better not. Dr. Avery might look at the sign-in sheet and see my name.”

“Then use an alias,” she suggested. I looked down at the sign-in sheet. I was afraid to write my real name. Jade started giggling when I picked up the pen and signed in as Chase Cox.

“You’re an idiot,” she remarked as we made our way back to join the others in the circle of chairs in the center of the room. Jade and Amanda sat to my left. Seth and Sydney sat to my right. I felt safer with Seth beside me than Jerry.

Cameron called the meeting to order. He said he was very pleased with the attendance. There were eighteen more students present than the first meeting. He then introduced the staff who had attended. Two were professors, one was a graduate assistant and another was on the football athletic staff.

“Before we proceed any further, the first order of business should be to elect our officers,” he stated.

Noah stood and shouted, “I nominate Cameron Dillard for president!” He then looked over at Seth and remarked, “Unless you want to do it, Honey.” Everyone started laughing.

“That’s quite all right, Noah,” laughed Cameron. “However, I think we’ll do it a little more democratically.” He then suggested that members could nominate candidates, or individuals could nominate themselves. He asked a girl in the group to record those whose names were nominated.

Noah again nominated Cameron. Cameron insisted that someone else nominate another person, but it was unanimous that he was going to be president of Campus Pride. Seth objected when Noah nominated him to be vice president. Sydney and Jade quickly seconded the motion.

I jumped to my feet and shouted, “No!” when Jade nominated me for treasurer. Sydney and Seth instantly seconded the motion. When I sat down, I muttered to Jade, “I’ll get you for this.” She looked at me and smiled. I was going to nominate her for secretary, but before I could, three other names had been seconded.

Cameron announced that the girl who had taken names would create a ballot sheet, and we could officially vote at the conclusion of the meeting. He then moved on to other business. Everyone was surprised when he informed us that four gay students had already been harassed at school since classes began. He suggested that a committee should be formed to come up with a system for students to make complaints and have them investigated.

When he asked for volunteers, Jade and Amanda quickly raised their hands. Jade grabbed mine and held it up, even though I tried to resist. Eight other students also volunteered. Cameron thanked us, and he had someone record our names.

I leaned over and whispered in Jade’s ear, “Bitch.”

She smiled and remarked, “Isn’t this exciting!” She laughed when I rolled my eyes.

Cameron also suggested other committees that needed to be formed. Seth and Sydney volunteered to be on the committee that would attempt to recruit more straight students. Before the conclusion of the meeting, Cameron was handed the nomination ballots.

“There won’t be candidates for president,” he stated, “Even though there should be. It’s not very democratic when only my name is on the ballot.”

Everyone clapped when Noah hollered out, “Forget democracy, Honey. We don’t want anyone else!”

When I was handed the ballot, I instantly saw my name as the first nominee for treasurer. I hadn’t given it much thought before, but it suddenly occurred to me that Dr. Avery would see my name on the list of officers if I won. He would surely tell my father. I voted for a girl named Holly.

Cameron dismissed the meeting, but he informed us that if we wanted to wait about a half hour, he’d be announcing the results of the vote. Naturally, we wanted to stay to see if Seth or I won. I kept my fingers crossed that Holly would win.

Cameron and two other students counted and recorded the ballots. I paced nervously around the room and would occasionally look over. Sydney kept saying that she hoped Seth and I would win. After twenty minutes, Cameron walked to the center of the room to announce the results. About half of the group still remained.

He looked over at Seth and announced, “Our vice president will be Seth Gorman.” Sydney shrieked and kissed him while students applauded.

My heart sunk when he looked at me and said, “Dorian Gale will be the treasurer.” Jade and Amanda instantly hugged me. Seth reached out to high five me, but I turned away. Even though they were happy that I won, I knew it could possibly be the end of our friendship. Cameron announced the remaining candidates, but I was too upset to listen.

After everyone was congratulated, he asked that officers stay to meet with him for a minute. Seth grabbed my arm and led me to the center of the room. “I want to personally thank you for volunteering to be officers for Campus Pride.” He looked around at us. “I think we have an excellent staff.” He then informed us that he would like us to meet at 7 pm in a small conference room next door on Thursday. After thanking us again, he exited the room.

“Isn’t this wonderful!” Sydney exclaimed excitedly as she hugged Seth. She then turned and gave me a hug. “Mr. Vice President and Mr. Treasurer.” She laughed when I rolled my eyes and frowned.

“It’s not going to be so funny when my father finds out,” I responded. Seth looked worried because only he knew about Dr. Avery’s visit to my room.

Jade exclaimed, “We need to go out and celebrate!” She took Amanda by the hand. “Let’s go someplace special for a late night snack.”

Amanda suggested, “How about Luigi’s?” It was a popular Italian restaurant located near the campus. “We can gorge on their cannoli.”

“Only if I can treat,” I said. Since it might be the last time I’d be with them, I wanted to make it enjoyable.

“Do you know how much a cannoli costs?” Jade asked.

I laughed, “It’s my father’s money. He won’t miss it.”

Sydney grasped my hand and said, “Let’s go.”

We had an enjoyable time. Amanda was the only one at the table who was old enough to drink, so she ordered a couple of margaritas. She asked me if I would like to take a sip, but I refused. Jade, however, didn’t.

“I’m so excited I could pee my pants,” Jade remarked as she took a bite of her cannoli. “Our two favorite guys are on the board of Campus Pride.”

“You won’t be too excited when my father finds out,” I replied. Everyone spent the next half hour assuring me that my involvement wouldn’t upset my father.

“Besides,” volunteered Amanda. “He’s a politician. He should be happy you’re involved.”

“Duh,” I responded as everyone laughed. “We’re talking gay group here. He might be happy if I was a member of some Tea Party organization.”

Jade was really excited about joining Campus Pride. She shared with us some of the issues that the group should address. Bullying and hazing were top issues. She even suggested that I should use Travis and Raleigh as examples, and perhaps I should file charges against them.

They were surprised when Seth informed them that the issue had been handled. Sydney gave him a worried look when he told her how he had convinced Raleigh to change rooms, and that we would now be roommates. I think she realized how he had gotten a black eye.

When the waiter brought the check, I inadvertently placed it face up on the table. Sydney shrieked when she saw it. “A hundred and sixteen dollars!” Seth grabbed it and examined it.

“Jesus, Dorian,” he exclaimed. “Your father will kill you. We’ll pay for our portion.” I grabbed his hand when he reached for his wallet.

“Dad won’t even notice,” I assured him as I added a generous tip to the receipt. “Besides, I wanted to show you how much your friendship means to me.”

“You don’t have to buy our friendship, Dorian,” Jade replied as she took my hand and squeezed it.

“I know,” I said as tears appeared in my eyes. “I’m not.” I didn’t want to tell her that it might be the last time we would spend together once my father found out I was now the treasurer of Campus Pride.

Since it was late, and we had early classes the next morning, we decided to call it a night. Jade said she was spending the night with Amanda. I looked over at Sydney. She seemed upset that she was losing her roommate. Even though Jade couldn’t officially room with Amanda, it was obvious she would be spending many nights at her apartment. Amanda had told us earlier that her roommate had a boyfriend, so she was also gone most nights.

When we arrived at the dorm, I waited about five minutes while Seth escorted Sydney to her room. I didn’t feel safe going up to his room without him. I didn’t want to confront Travis or Raleigh alone.

Minutes later, I was standing outside my new room. Seth opened the door and stopped me before I could enter. “Wait a minute,” he laughed as he reached down and picked me up as if I were as light as a pillow.

“What are you doing!” I screamed as he carried me into the room.

He put me down and continued to laugh. “Carrying you over the threshold.”

“You’re crazy,” I laughed as I looked around the room. Everything looked the same as it did in my former room, except everything was neat. Seth had even made my bed.

He stretched and yawned, “I’m tired.” He removed his shirt and neatly folded it. “I’m going to take a shower before I go to bed.” I watched as he removed his pants and underwear in one quick move. I understood why Sydney liked him. He had a huge cock. He wrapped a towel around himself and headed toward the door. Before exiting, he said, “Why don’t you grab a towel and join me?”

I stood in the middle of the room, unable to move. I couldn’t believe Seth let me see him naked, and he didn’t say anything when he saw me staring at him. He had played football in high school, so I guess it wasn’t unusual for him to strip naked in front of another guy.

I thought about his invitation to join him. It seemed like a sincere request. Being naked in front of Travis had elicited a homophobic response. “You got the body of a fucking teenage girl,” he had sneered. I was sure Seth would never make such a comment. He might think it, but he would never embarrass me by saying so.

After much inner struggle, I removed my clothing and wrapped a towel around my naked body. If Seth and I were going to be roommates, then I wanted us to share it freely. Hiding my body from him would only make us both uncomfortable. Besides, he was bound to see me naked sometime. I decided that it was best to drop my inhibitions quickly.

I held my breath when I entered the shower. I could hear him humming a song as he showered. I hesitantly walked to the shower entrance and stood. He looked over and smiled as he leaned down to soap his legs. “About time,” he smiled. “I thought for a while I was going to shrivel up like a prune.”

I took a deep breath as I watched his face. I slowly removed the towel, exposing my frail, small body to him. He acted as if he didn’t even notice as he turned and put shampoo into his hair. I walked over, turned on the shower and let the water cascade over my naked body.

A feeling of freedom surged through me. I was standing naked in a shower with a good friend, and I felt liberated. When Seth started humming a tune, I joyfully joined in. He turned and scanned my body quickly before he started talking about what had happened earlier at Campus Pride.

“We’re going to make a good team,” he smiled. “I never really thought about joining a gay group before, but I’m glad I did.” His eyes started to tear up, but he quickly washed them away with water. “I’m going to call Adam when I get back to the room. He’ll be excited.”

He reached down and lathered his cock. I watched, but he didn’t seem to mind. I panicked when I felt mine begin to harden. I turned and let the water rinse the soap off my body. I covered my erection as I reached for my towel.

Suddenly, Seth laughed and said, “It’s okay, Dorian.” I turned to see him playing with himself as his cock hardened. “It happens all the time.”

I hung my head and muttered, “Mine’s not as big as yours.”

He leaned against the wall and laughed. “Jesus, Dorian. It doesn’t matter how big your dick is. Don’t be ashamed of what God gave you.” My face reddened as his cock expanded to about seven inches. “Come on,” he pleaded. “Get back in the shower. Besides, I have an older brother who is smaller than you, so it’s not something I haven’t seen before.”

I hesitantly removed my towel. My cock jutted out to its five-inch length. I was embarrassed as I stepped back under the shower and lathered my body again. Seth started humming again, and I joined him. We both had erections. He didn’t look at mine again, but I occasionally took a glance at his when he wasn’t looking.

We toweled ourselves off, and then returned to the room. Seth slipped on a pair of boxers and stretched out on the bed. “I’m tired,” he said with a yawn. I put on a pair of tighty whities and climbed onto my bed. It felt so strange to be sharing a room with Seth. It was nothing like being in the room with Travis. I felt safe.

Seth turned and asked if I was ready to go to sleep. I nodded and he turned out the light. A minute later, he turned the light on and looked over at me. “If you have to take care of things,” he laughed as he pretended to jack off, “Just do it quietly. That fucking Raleigh did it every night. When he came, he let out a horrible growl. He sounded like some sick animal.” He laughed and turned out the light. “Just do it quiet, okay?” I wasn’t sure, but it appeared he was masturbating. I turned my back to him. An hour later, after I was sure he had fallen asleep, I jerked off. I was careful not to make any noise when I came.

“How did you sleep?” Seth was standing in the middle of the room pulling a tight blue tee shirt over his head. He was still in his boxers, and an obvious erection was straining against the thin material.

“Good,” I yawned. It was actually the first night I had slept well since arriving at school. Fortunately, Seth didn’t snore, or at least I didn’t hear him because I was in a sound sleep. My cock was hard, and I was afraid to pull the covers back and get out of bed. When Seth sat on his bed to put on his shoes and socks, I went for it. I stood and let my morning wood show through my white underwear. He noticed, but he didn’t say anything.

He asked cheerfully, “Ready to meet the girls for breakfast?” I looked at my alarm clock. It was a little after seven.

“Sure,” I replied. “Give me a couple of minutes.” I went to the closet to get something to wear. Once dressed, we headed downstairs to meet Sydney. I assumed Jade and Amanda would join us.

Sydney’s face lit up when we got off the elevator. “There are my two favorite guys,” she said as she kissed Seth on the lips. She then gave me a hug. “How was your first night together?” She looked over and attempted to give me an angry look. “You kept your hands off my guy, didn’t you?”

I giggled and replied, “Before or after he carried me over the threshold?”

She gave Seth a puzzled look. “What?”

Seth shrugged his shoulders and said, “He was easy. What can I say?”

I slapped him on his arm. “Bitch,” I laughed. “You didn’t say that last night.”

Jade and Amanda were in the student cafeteria when we arrived. They were drinking coffee, and by the looks on their tired faces, they must not have gotten much sleep.

Seth hollered out, “Morning Sunshines!” when we approached. Jade looked up and flipped him off. We ordered a light meal since we planned to meet for lunch at the Pizzeria. After eating, Jade, Sydney and I headed to our English 101 class.

“You look happy today,” Jade commented as we walked along the sidewalk.

“He has a new boyfriend,” Sydney remarked.

Jade turned and surprisingly asked, “Who?” She then turned to me.

Sydney giggled and then said, “Mine.” We laughed all the way to class as Sydney kidded me about rooming with her boyfriend.

Her face reddened when I told Jade I knew why she dated Seth. “He’s..., how should I say this?” I then started braying like a horse. Jade laughed and high-fived Sydney.

Class, as usual, was boring. We had to endure an hour-long lecture on subordinate and insubordinate clauses. I thought high school was bad. At least there, someone was always cutting up in class to take away the monotony. In college, you just had to sit attentively, take notes and pretend to understand what the professor was discussing. I was just glad we weren’t given a quiz at the end of the class.

Jade looked at her watch when we exited the classroom. “What are you guys doing until lunch?”

Sydney replied, “I’m going to the library to research that report we’re doing in world civ.”

Jade turned to me and asked, “How about you, Dorian.”

“Since I’m not rooming with Travis anymore,” I replied, “I think I’m going back to my room and play a video game. I haven’t played since I got here.” Jade said she’d join Sydney and go to the library. After a hug, I headed toward the dorm.

The halls were quiet when I got off the elevator. I headed to the bathroom to relieve myself. When I opened the door, Travis and Raleigh were inside with towels wrapped around their bodies. Before I could get out, Travis held the door shut and glared down at me.

“Well, well,” he sneered. “What do we have here?”

Raleigh stepped up and snarled, “I think we got us a fag boy who thinks he’s too fucking good to be with us.”

Travis turned to Raleigh and asked, “What do you think we should do with this homo?”

“I know,” Raleigh replied as he gripped his pudgy hand around my neck.