Family + Camp (working title)

Chapter 13: Brutally Heckled

Nell considered herself a cute girl. She was in decent shape from swimming and generally doing a lot of things outdoors like hiking and ropes course and biking. (After all, her home was a summer camp. Duh!) Maybe her "baby fat," as Mom called it, still hadn't melted off, especially in her cheeks, arms, and belly. But she could rock a two-piece swimsuit. Not a bikini—a two-piece. There was a difference. The point was, Nell had experience being ogled, and it gave her the ick. She was not into anyone, especially older dad-aged men, checking her out. Okay, maybe if a cute boy of her own generation gave her an up and down of appreciation, she could live with that. 

She could even live with other girls if their looks lingered a little longer, although she couldn't tell anyone that. 

There were two gay kids at Collins High—two who were out—and their lives were not easy. At least Courtney Smith was an all-around athlete, so no one gave her shit for liking girls. And Alex Dutton came from money and always threw blowout pool parties. That protected him. But he got called all the names: fag, fairy, queer, fruit. Both behind his back and to his face. To his face, there might be an add-on of, "Naw, I'm just playin'" and Alex was expected to say, "No problem." But all the names were delivered with a sneer. With danger like the crust of a pie, holding the hate in place. It could crumble with just the right poke.

Last year, there had been a school assembly just before Thanksgiving, with special guests from the Portland LBG Alliance, a man and a woman. The man was young and Asian, with amazing, Spandau Ballet hair and cheekbones that made him look like an anime character, like Vampire Hunter D. The woman called herself a dyke—she was African American, probably in her thirties with shorn, bleached hair. She wore John Lennon glasses, jeans, a long-sleeve waffle tee, and a denim vest. It looked like she had torn the sleeves off of it herself.

Nell listened to their words respectfully, her thoughts a jumble of: They are so brave and I hope they aren't in danger and Am I gay? For that last one, she looked around...There weren't any girls she wanted to kiss, and since Corey White, no boys either. Was there a word for what she felt or did not feel? Androgynous? No, that didn't feel right. Asexual? Maybe. But she hoped she'd feel it some day. She definitely liked romance. Her bookshelves were full of teen Harlequin romances from the used bookstores in town.

The speakers talked about how they were just like everyone else—just like the students of Collins High! They had jobs, they had friends. They were not looking to "recruit" anyone, nor were they looking to start a fight. They were just there to answer questions.

One freshman girl raised her hand. "Like, do either of you have AIDS?"

Some kids guffawed. Others gasped in horror at the cheek of this girl. The man and woman on the auditorium stage smiled tight, painful smiles. They glanced at each other. Maybe this isn't the first time they'd been brutally heckled, Nell thought.

"Fuck," Len had muttered, sitting next to her. Nell knew he had an uncle people talked about as probably being in the closet, even though he did manly things like work on cars. He was just a little too flashy, a little too colorful. Nell had turned and glared at the little brat a few rows back, who smirked at the kid next to her, accepting his low five. Nell craned her neck looking for the principals. They were to the side of the stage, their eyes lasering in on the shit-for-brains child. She was going to get it, Nell hoped.

The woman stepped up to the mic. "We're not here to talk about safe sex. That's what your health class is for."

The audience of asshole high schoolers laughed in approval. 

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Hi Wattpad Readers: Okay, this interior flashback continues in the next installment. It's an example of one of those moments when I'm writing a scene and then want to touch briefly on a character's past, but something big or important comes up! I think it's fine.