Boy in Pink

Chapter 3

When class ended, I quickly grabbed my stuff and walked out of the classroom, thankful class was over. If I had to hear one more kid talk bad about LGBTQ+, all the time I spent trying to control my anger issues would be wasted, and some kid would have a bruise on their face. I looked at my schedule. Next, ELA. As I was walking, Aria walked out beside me.

“Hey,” she said to me.

”Hey,” I said back. Just then, we heard a group of guys talking about Spirit Week next week. One boy was talking about the Pride Day coming up, while the other guys looked at him in disgust.

”You actually like that stuff?” One guy asked, and the boy looked embarrassed.

“Well, yeah...” the boy mumbled and the guys laughed.
“Oh, Braedon,” the same guy said, ”grow up.” His tone became colder. “Pride day is just a day to celebrate freaks,” I couldn’t tell who it was… but who would say just a thing? Then, one name ran through my mind. 

“Billy, leave him alone.” Billy looked over at us, and I looked at Aria. She was confident to say that. So I decided to be confident too.

“So what if he likes Pride? It’s not your business,” I said as the boy ran to us and hugged Aria. Billy just scoffed.
“Today couldn’t get any worse. It’s just one gay freak after another, ain’t it?” His friends laughed alongside him before they all left. 

“You okay?” I asked, and the boy nodded.

“Mhm… thanks, Ari. And thanks…” He trailed off.

“He won’t say his name, so I just call him Newbie. You okay with that?” She looked up at me and I nodded.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” The boy looked confused.

“Why don’t you say your name?” He asked, and my face flushed. I’ve never had to tell someone why I don’t like saying my name… but I decided to anyway.

“Well, at my old school, people would make fun of my name…” I sighed.

”Oh, that sucks… people are really mean sometimes.” I nodded.

“Agreed.”

“So, is that why you stood up for me?” He asked, “because you don’t like seeing others get bullied?”

I just shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. I mean, us gays need to stick together, am i right or am i right?” I asked and wriggled my eyebrows playfully, making the two of them laugh.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He then looked down at his books in his arms, and I did the same, noticing his rainbow colored nails.

“Who painted your nails?” He looked up at me.

"Oh, yeah. Ari did.” He told me, and Aria looked proud.

“Yep, I did.”

"Well, I like ‘em,” I told Braedon, and he blushed, looking away. Was he, interested in me…?

Just then, the minute bell rang, and I jumped. “What was that!?”

“Calm down, Newbie. It was the minute bell, meaning we have a minute until the actual bell rings,” Aria assured me. ”Which means we should get to class.” She let go of Braedon and started walking in the opposite direction of us, waving and calling back, “Bye, boys!”

“Bye, Ari,” Braedon whispered as he started walking the other way, towards our other classes.

“So, what class do you have next?” I asked curiously as I walked beside him. Kids whispered and glanced at us, but one look at me and they stopped.

“ELA,” he told me.

”Oh, same here! Wanna walk to class together?”

”Sure.” He was being a little shy with me… maybe he didn’t trust me as much as he trusted Aria.