Something About Us

Monsieur Dubois et Monsieur Tramblay, Part One

Part One

February 2011

Enter: Sebastian Dubois

    "He's looking at you again," Ed Chapman said to me. We walked from our shared third-period class; college math and headed toward the main building of St. Vladimir of Kiev Catholic Secondary school.
      "Who?" I asked. I reached into my pocket and fingered the cigarette that lay there. Technically I had five minutes until religion class was set to start. Not enough time to smoke the cigarette in its entirety but I wasn't trying to be early anyway. Who cares if I was late?
      Ed's laugh was a low noise in his throat. "What do you mean who? That f&ggot-ass cracker," Ed nudged his head toward the "f&ggot-ass cracker" in question, like he was afraid of him. Don't know why he didn't point.
       The "cracker" was blonde with light-coloured eyes; blue or green but I couldn't be sure. I'd never looked straight at him before. Tall and thin, but not taller than me. He walked back to the main building and clutched a binder to his chest. Every few steps he could turn his face back at us and look for only the briefest of moments.
      "You oughta confront him," Ed growled.
      I put the cigarette between my lips, flicked my lighter on, put the end of the cigarette to the flame and I inhaled the smoke. I felt the tenseness in my shoulders ebb away. "For what? Who cares if he stares at me. I don't have time to be messing with him."
      "He probably has a crush on you."
      "So?"
       Ed looked at me like I had suddenly transformed into the gay kid. "Bruh, how are you gonna be okay with a f&ggot liking you? Doesn't it make you uncomfortable? What if he tells people y'all are dating?"
       I snickered. "We aren't. It's as simple as that. And he ain't that stupid to be running around telling people we're dating. Besides, I don't need to be wasting my time on f&ggots." Ed shut up and we turned to the building. The gay kid was outside the doors, his face pressed against the door, one of his hands pounding the glass.
     He shot a look at us; his eyes were stuck halfway between blue and green. "The door is locked," He said. His voice wasn't all feminine and lispy like I thought it would be. I would have talked to him on the phone and thought he was any other guy.
      Ed surged forward and wrapped his fingers around the handle and gave it a good tug. He didn't believe or trust this kid. The boy with the half-way eyes cocked a blonde brow and his mouth pursed like he was about to mouth-off. I couldn't help but grin.
     "Didn't believe me?" the boy asked with a smug grin.
     Ed didn't honour him with a smile but curled his upper lip at him.
     The boy sighed and shook his blonde hair out of his face. I didn't know his name but I knew his status as a homosexual. Everyone in the school knew thanks to the gossips. Last year one Monday he gave brains to a sophomore on the football team and by Wednesday everyone knew. They laughed at him in the hallways but never to his face. Nate Richardson did that once and he punched him really good. He may have been gay (and a brainer!) but he could fight.
      "I don't like the way you've been looking at me," Ed snarled.
       The kid laughed. "God knows I haven't been looking at you," he said with a wave of his hand.
      Ed's eyes widened. He looked back at me as if to say "Can you believe he's talking to me like this?" and honestly I could. It was known that he was gay and it was also known that he was fearless. "Who then? My boy Sebastian?"
      The kid grinned mischievously and the door opened. It was Chuck Anderson the nerdy kid who had no friends. At the sight of us he turned whiter then milk. He opened the door for us and ran off to calculus as fast as his twig legs could carry him.
      The boy with the half-way eyes never replied to Ed. Once the doors were open he walked off into the calculus classroom. He glanced back at me and had to turn his head away.
      "Eh, Bastian, you coming or what?" Ed asked, holding the door open for me.
      "I'll be late. I'll catch you around," I said. I inhaled the smoke deeply until it set fire to my lungs then I breathed out. The door slammed shut behind me. I walked around the outside of the building looking at the Teacher's cars and the portables and the church.
      I passed the window of the calculus class. The boy with the half-way eyes was sitting in the back of the class near the window. His fingers interlaced under his chin. Ed didn't lie then, the boy really was looking at me.
      I glanced back and he kept looking at me, completely shameless. Slowly, his lips turned up into a smile. My heart started to pound. Why was he smiling at me? I threw my cigarette onto the asphalt and ground it to nothing. I walked away as fast as I could.