Cute, Cozy, Queer Stories

Part 36: Storm & Mr. Richardson (continued)

Storm slipped into the auditorium, following behind Chris, with Heather and Lee trailing behind. Technically, school board meetings were open to the public, but Storm couldn't suppress the feeling that he was doing something wrong, and about to get kicked out any second.

Storm was about to side-step into a row near the back, but Heather kept moving forward, towards the rows of parents already sitting.

"What are you doing?" Storm whispered.

"I wanna get close," Heather whispered back. She held up her phone. "I wanna get this on video."

Storm shook his head. "What for?"

Her eyes widened with a pointed look. "You saw the shit these bigots were posting on Facebook. If they're going to say that shit out loud, I'm going to get them on video." Her face was cold. "And then everyone can see what they really are."

Storm released a breath. If any of the parents saw them—a pansexual with poppy-red hair, a Black transgirl, an androgynous enby, and a goth lesbian—Storm was pretty sure they were going to get kicked out, regardless of whether the meetings were "open to the public" or not. But, he also knew Heather was right. He gave a tight nod. "Okay. But let's try to keep it low-key, okay?"

She nodded back. Continuing down the auditorium's sloping floor, they all found seats about two rows behind the last row of parents. One woman with light-blond highlights glanced back at them. Her eyes lingered across them and narrowed, her face contorting, like she smelled something bad. A man across the aisle eyed them all and scowled, shaking his head.

Storm bit the inside of his lip, feeling tension knotting between his shoulders. He felt the disdain in the room like a noxious cloud.

A tall figure shuffled down the row towards them. Turning, storm drew a breath, preparing to tell Principle Visser they had every right to be here, just like everyone else.

"Hey." Ari sat down at the end of the row, next to Storm. A knowing smile curled across their pink-painted lips as they looked across their kids. "No one was going to invite me to the fun?" they said quietly.

Storm gave a wry smile back. Some of the tension in his back untangled. He knew he was still about to hear a lot of pretty horrible things. But having Ari with them somehow made him feel better.

"Thanks for coming," Storm whispered to them. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you."

"My dear," Ari patted his hand "as if I didn't know?" Their smile faded and one eyebrow rose. "But, yes—all of my children in a room full of hateful assholes?—someone certainly should've told me."

"I'm sorry," Storm said again.

"Apology accepted." Ari's brown-green eyes scanned Storm's face. "Are you all right?"

Storm took a breath. "Yeah, I'm fine." It sounded unconvincing, even to himself. "I just... this is such bullshit. All of this because, why? 'Cause Oscar Wilde was fucking gay? This is so stupid."

"It is bullshit," Ari agreed. "But it's not because a Victorian dandy. It's because people in this town are hateful."

Storm was about to reply—he didn't want to let that statement stand—but the superintendent started the meeting. He wasn't sure what he would've replied with anyway; it seemed like Ari was exactly right, but he didn't really want to believe that about the town they lived in.

The first ten minutes were nothing special—talk about who was attending, something about a budget committee, something about meeting minutes and an open board seat. Maybe it won't be that bad, after all. Storm let the thought sneak into his mind, even though he knew better.