Obsession

Secret: Chapter 20

There had not been much to say following the revelation of Gabriel's locker.

It struck the friends into silence that lasted only mere moments before Josh was the first to break that silence, turning his fury onto the by-standers and those who continued to speculate and whisper – among them, a few condemnations. He threatened to report them all to the principal for vandalism, not caring whether they had anything to do with it or not, and if they wanted to be spared, they'd remain silent and go about their own business.

Rebecca was rooted in shock, her mind whirring but she quickly snapped out of it and turned to her best friend, putting a hand on his shoulder to draw him out of the daze he'd been caught in. Gabriel remained unmoving, staring at the vandalized locker that had been scribbled all over with permanent markers. Slurs, insults, and obscene depictions of male anatomy had been drawn onto every inch of the locker.

SLUT

PATHETIC

FAGGOT

LIAR

HOMO

DISGUSTING

COCKSUCKER

FAIRY

SINNER

WHORE

Six different slurs mixed in with four different insults that drew his attention more than the obscene depictions, but of all the slurs, his gaze focused on one. 'Whore,' and he couldn't dismiss the coincidence that it had been in S.A.'s text message and now, it had made its way onto his locker, written in black permanent marker.

Gabriel felt sick, disgusted even, and part of him wanted more than anything to find out S.A.'s identity and engage them. In a fit of rage as the one consuming him at that moment, he did not care about anything other than getting revenge. S.A. had upset the balance in his life, and while this seemed to be the only proof of his sexuality – nothing concrete – he knew there would be consequences to pay. People would speculate, and the truly depraved would spin tall tales for gossip in a boring town like Shaw.

Beside him, Chris had already compartmentalized that S.A. could no longer be treated as an insignificant bump in the road. S.A. was a real threat. And without thinking too much on it, Chris got his mobile and snapped a picture of it, turning to Rebecca who seemed to understand his unspoken request.

She went to Josh and tugged at his shirt, drawing his attention and she whispered something into his ear as the crowd had finally dissipated, a few stragglers pulling to corners and to some distance to continue their speculation. And then, the two friends turned and moved down the corridor, heading off to find the school's janitors to get cleaning equipment. Chris guided Gabriel away from the locker, and the corridor altogether. His friend was numbed, going with the flow and his mind whirring from such a thing that Gabriel couldn't find it in himself to lash out.

They were headed to the principal's office, and the secretary made them wait a few minutes while she spoke with the principal. Chris had given the lady his phone and explained the problem to her, and upon seeing the damage done to Gabriel's locker, she made haste in relaying the incident to the principal.

While they sat on cushioned chairs lined against the wall adjacent to the principal's office, Gabriel leaned forward and wiped at his face. He balled his fists and took shaky deep breaths, and then held his hands out, flipping them over time and again.

Chris took note of the visible tremble in his friend's hands, and he wondered what truly bothered Gabriel more. The vandalism, or that S.A. was turning out to be more of a threat.

"Gabe?" he called.

"S.A. warned us, Chris. They said they would...not so many words...but, you know. They warned Julian to stay away, and they warned me –" Gabriel suddenly sat up straighter as he thought of something. If S.A. had gone this far to vandalize his locker, he wondered if Julian was alright. S.A.'s letter to Julian had been much more threatening.