Belahrin [ON HOLD]

Chapter Three

                                                            Chapter Three

It turns out that Principal Peterson had come to the conclusion that I and Cory had sneaked into the closet to; as he put it – do inappropriate things. This would translate into making out, using the teenage language, and unable to come up with any other explanation, Cory and I simply agreed to this statement.

    We were in the principal’s office, seated at the two chairs in front of the mahogany desk, feeling like the smallest people alive under the scrutinizing stare of the middle-aged man.

    “I don’t understand why you kids insist on this constant PDA,” Peterson was saying, and I figured that by ‘you’, he was referring to the entire student population, “but you need to understand that this is a place of learning, not exploration of new territory. I’m going to have to call your parents.”

    “What? No!” I exclaimed, at the same time that Cory said, “Really?” in a very surprised, but pleased, tone.

    I looked at him. He seemed weirdly relived at this, like he would want Peterson to call his mom and dad. For the first time in a very, very long time, I actually focused on tapping in. Along with a feeling of relief, a single word appeared in my mind. Girl. Still not getting it, I tried harder.

    “Not a guy!” The words came out as one, long breath. Both Peterson and Cory stared at me. It was obvious from Cory’s irritated frown that he’d understood what I’d just done (though he probably thought I’d read his mind, not felt it), and from the way Peterson pressed his lips together, I figured he was just annoyed with me.

    But I didn’t care. I knew now why Cory felt this way. His parents didn’t know he was gay, and if the principal were to call them up and explain what’d happened, they wouldn’t have any reason to suspect he was.

    I still couldn’t know why this was something Cory wanted, and I made a mental note of asking him later. If he feared his parents wouldn’t be supportive, he should at least know that there was someone out there who would. Me.

    “Um,” I said, looking at Peterson, thinking I should probably explain myself. “What I mean is … My parents feel I should be focusing on school, not guys, and uh … Well, they’ll be super-pissed if they find out about Cory, and …” My mind froze, and I couldn’t find any more words.

    “Please don’t call them,” I blurted out, sounding a bit desperate. “I just …”

    I wanted to kick myself. Usually, I was quite good at this whole lying thing. But for some reason I just couldn’t do it. But as it turned out, Cory was apparently a master at lying.

    “Sir,” he said, getting the principal’s attention. “I was just trying to comfort her. Caddie was in a car accident yesterday, and she’s really shook up about it. She thought she was going to die, and she just needed someone to talk to. She started crying, so we went into the janitor’s closet to get some privacy. We weren’t doing anything bad … We were just being there for each other.”

    I gaped at him. Where’d that come from?

    “Yes, of course,” Peterson said. “I know she’s been through a lot, and I’m sorry for coming to the wrong conclusion.”

    This time, I gaped at Peterson instead.

    What if Cory’s ‘stuff’, as he’d put it before, was to persuade people? What if he could make anyone do anything he wanted? Like making Peterson completely change his mind, like he’d just had?