Catch Me When I Fall

The Opposite-of-Quiet Librarian

After selecting various supplies from the PE storage room, Ms. Bozzelli takes us on a little walk to the nearest forest by our school. We arrive about ten minutes later, and Ms. Bozzelli asks a few students to mark the boundaries for the separate teams. 

One team's flag is placed close to the halfway mark, while the other is placed further away, in a hidden area where the other team can't even find it. The privileged team has a jail where they can contain the opposing team, but that team doesn't have a jail where they can put the privileged in. The only equal thing is the amount of players on each team. 

And that isn't entirely equal, because Ms. Bozzelli decides to join the privileged.

I, as my luck would have it, get chosen to be on the team with a really low chance of winning. And Scarlette, for the first time today it seems, is separated from me, being on the lucky team. Ms. Bozzelli blows her whistle, and the game commences.

It's painful. But, after a short, chaotic period of time in which my team is ultimately destroyed, Ms. Bozzelli gets us to switch teams. The lucky team has a chance to experience the misfortunes that our team previously had, and we get the luxury of an increased chance to win. 

Ms. Bozzelli just experiences it all over again, because she stays on the privileged team. So lucky of her that she can just choose... that's social injustice if anything, in my opinion. 

But maybe that's just part of her lesson.

Since the games barely last more than five minutes, we play multiple times, but each time, Ms. Bozzelli divides us into different groups base on something we share in common, like boys against girls. Of course, those who don't identify as male or female, or identify as both get the chance to sit out or pic a team of their choice. Then we play queers against straight, but I don't participate because I'm exhausted and in pain. 

Noting that Scarlette is on the straight side, I begin to wonder if that's the reason she's constantly hanging around me. However, there is the slight chance that she's still closeted. I'm not going to assume anything, though.

By the time PE rolls around, I'm still in pain and in no mood to test how well my body can function despite what it's been through. I find Mr. Burns and approach him timidly. He catches me stalking up on him, and greets me happily.

"Hey, Khai! Got your gym clothes today?"

"Uhm... I do but... well... I'm not feeling very well. I don't think I can... move. Very much." I tell him.

"Oh Khai, you're just nervous that you're going to trip if you have to run again and-" Mr. Burns pauses as he studies the scrapes and bruises on my face.

"Wait, is this because you got beat up? Hold on, when did that happen? What happened? Is everything okay at home?" 

He fires his questions at me so fast that I need a few seconds to understand what he's even asking me.

"Everything is fine... I just got beat up by these guys yesterday when I left school." I tell him.

"Were they guys from this school? You should report that, Khai. And don't worry. It would anonymous." Mr. Burns looks more serious than he ever has before. 

Probably because he never has looked serious in front of me before.

"They'll... they'll still know. Unless there's other people they're being homophobic to." I realize. I don't know these guys well enough to know if I'm the only one they're picking on.

"That's what it was about? Khai, please know that you did not deserve any of that and you have nothing to be ashamed of." Mr. Burns assures me.

"You're starting to sound like Tyrone." I tell him.