Coffee

24

As Thomas and I entered the building Monday morning, we received more stares than when I came back in after the Jaz stand-off. We'd been talking about my weekend with Jordan, which ended well. I drove her home after taking her out to breakfast on Sunday and we determined that we weren't going to be single anymore. I was happy. I stopped talking slowly, as I realized everyone's eyes. I wasn't wearing anything out of the ordinary – jeans and a plain black t-shirt – and neither was Thomas, who had on khaki pants and a red plaid button up. It had been weeks since his last haircut, so that wasn't it either. My braids were in their usual place in a bun on top of my head. We looked like the rest of the students walking the halls.

"Why are they staring at us?" Thomas asked me.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," I responded.

"Did you do something?"

"No, what did you do?" I fired back.

"Nothing, nothing."

We took the usual route to our lockers, and to my surprise Chris was standing there.

"Chris what are you doing?" Thomas asked, coming to a stop a few feet away.

Chris was holding a few flowers and looked as nervous as when he came to Thomas's house to officially meet me. He also had on jeans and a black t-shirt that showed a band I'd never heard of. This was the part that was out of the ordinary. He normally sported school gear, or something that had to do with the universities he got into, or even a preppy outfit. This was a side of Chris I was sure no one has seen. A few spectators caught eye of something big happening and it looked like he wasn't going to speak until the crowd continued to pile up.

"Chris I'm not sure you really want to do this," Thomas said quietly.

Chris ignored him and began speaking. The first few words out of his mouth after his hello shocked everyone in hearing range.

"Hi everyone. I'm gay," he started. "Yes that's right, report to all your friends and social media that Chris Taylor is gay and is dating the wonderful Thomas Adams."

Chris had another genuine smile on his face, no doubt because of Thomas. He handed over the flowers and kissed him on the cheek. Thomas didn't like being in the public eye but he didn't run as I expected him to. So much attention had never been on him. As well as I know Thomas, I thought he would've already warned Chris against doing something like this. It probably shouldn't have, but it reminded me of myself and Rebecca and how she prohibited me from basically looking at her the wrong way in public. I mean, Chris didn't want to hide and keep Thomas a secret at least.

Thomas stood still, not reacting to anything going on. His grip on the flowers was tight.

"You're not gonna run or hit me, are you?" Chris asked, stepping closer. "If so, that would be very embarrassing."

"No, I'm not going to run but that was incredibly stupid," Thomas responded with a small smile playing on his lips.

I opened my locker and took binders out, and organized while they talked. The crowd dispersed, all on their phones tapping and spreading the news. It was the topic that would be talked about for the rest of the day, maybe even the week. Coming out in high school shouldn't be that big of a deal, but it was, especially for someone like Chris. Football players here had a fear of 'the gay' – like it was a disease. Chris wouldn't be kicked off the team but his friends would probably stop associating with him. He'd done a good job convincing me about how serious he was taking his relationship with Thomas; he was willing to sacrifice pretty much everything for Thomas.

Their voices faded as they waked away together. I wouldn't see Thomas again until lunch. I would, however, have to see Becca sooner than I would like. She no longer sat next to me in class and even Jaz moved her seat closer to Rebecca's new seat. Today, when she stormed into class she dropped her stuff a few rows to the right and came over to me. She slammed her manicured hand down on the desk.