Selfish Pleasure: A Homophobic Nightmare

Chapter 3: Boys Will Be Boys

The next morning, Marcus met with his friends in the locker room.
"Hey buddy, got something you wanna tell us?" One of his friends asked as they were changing.
"What do you mean" he asked, panicked.
"Well, come on, tell us about your little boyfriend. Did you make it to second base?" Jake asked before they all started laughing.
Marcus threw down his backpack before looking around the room. He rushed over to the bathroom stalls before catching up to Nathan.
"What did you do." He asked after shoving his hand on his chest forcing him against the wall.
"What? I didn't do anything.. what are you doing?" Nathan asked him.
Marcus saw the look in his eyes before letting go of him.
"It was me."
Marcus heard his friend mutter from the sink.
"Jeremy? Why would you.. how did you..."
"I saw you two kiss last night, he moved in next door to me."
"What were you doing spying on us?" Marcus asked him.
"I wasn't spying, my little sister asked me to help her kill a spider. I looked out the window, saw you two kiss. I knew it was you because of your car."
"Why would you tell everyone?"
"I didn't, okay. I just told Jake, he was the one who told everyone."
"Why would you tell Jake, man? You know how he is. God, why me." Marcus said before placing his hands on his head.
"Hey, at least now you two don't have to hide anymore." Jeremy told them with a hopeful smile.
"Nathan wasn't out, neither was I. But I guess we both are now.. God, what are we going to do?" Marcus asked Nathan.
"Don't worry, Marcus. It's alright."
"No it's not, have you seen our school? Have you seen this town? No one's gay here. Now everybody's going to talk about us."
"So let them talk. We don't have to listen. Everything will be okay, just trust me." Nathan told him reaching out to hold his hand.
"I do, I'm just..."
"Gay!" One of the guys interrupted Marcus as he ran through the bathroom before everyone laughed.
"Trust me, Marcus. It's okay, we're gay!" Another one of the guys mocked him causing another uproar of laughter.
"C'mon, let's get out of here." Marcus told Nathan as he grabbed him by the hand before they walked out to the blacktop.

After Nathan and Marcus got to their PE class, the other students stared as they spoke to each other.
"What do we do now" Nathan asked him.
"I'll handle this," Marcus said before heading to the front to face all of them.
"I know this is out of the ordinary, but if you just focused on our two hands holding one another you wouldn't be able to tell who's who, who's what. Would it really matter either way? People show affection all the time, someday this will be normal and you won't have to feel uncomfortable. In the meantime.. if you don't want to see it, don't. Stop seeming like you do." He told them before heading back.
Nathan smiled at him before the coach came out to start the class.

After class, Nathan and Marcus headed back to the locker room to change. Nathan went into the bathroom stall while Marcus changed by his locker.
"Look Marc, don't look at me funny. I'm not gay just so you know." One of the guys told him as he changed next to him.
"I'm dating someone, I'm not looking." He told them all.
"What happened Marc, I thought you wanted to go out with Sadie" Jake asked him.
"I don't know, I just..."
"Wanted to try it out." One guy interrupted.
Marcus looked around him before leaning in to tell them
"I mean, yeah. I just wanted something different. You know how girls are, I just thought the new kid might be interested. Good thing he was."
"Ohh, wow Marc. You're one brave man. And to still go through with this even after everyone on campus knows? He must really be worth it. You think it's better than with girls?" One guy asked him.
"It is so far. And I mean there's so much more we could do if you know what I mean."
"Whoa,"
"Yeah, it's great." Marcus told them before closing his locker and heading over to the bathroom.
"I gotta try that." One guy said after he left.
"Don't look at me, bro." The guy next to him replied covering his chest.
"No, not you. Unless... na not you. It'd have to be a girly dude so it would work out better if you know what I mean."
"Jeremy, you really gonna try this?"
"Why not, man? It sounds like heaven."
"More like hell if you know what I mean."
"We all get what you mean. If you guys are going to try it too I think it'd be best to be quieter about it." Jake told them closing his locker.
"Don't worry, I will. I'm gonna find me a whatever you call them. You think they're easier to find than girls?" Jeremy asked.
"If they're anything like us, I'm sure they're just as desperate to find someone."
"Perfect. This is gonna be great." He said smiling before closing his locker.
Most of the guys left before Jake walked up to Marcus.
"Man, are you really serious about this?" He asked him.
"Yeah, it's great, man."
"Isn't it a little.. disgusting though?" Jake asked.
"No, unless you think you're disgusting."
"I am," Jake replied before chuckling.
"Well you may be, but not every guy is.. if you..."
"I know what you mean, we all know what you mean." Jake interrupted.
"You don't have to try it if you don't want to, it's not for everyone."
"Na I'm not tryna turn here."
"What, you think once you touch or even think about another guy like that you'll magically turn gay?" Marcus asked him.
"Isn't that the definition of gay?"
"The definition you mean is happy." Marcus answered smiling before walking out to the blacktop.
Jake shook his head with a slight smile before looking down.

Later that day, Nathan and his new friend Frankie walked to the parking lot together after school had just ended.
"I'm sorry those guys were so disgusting to you in class. I couldn't believe what they were doing." Frankie told him.
"No it's alright, thanks for sticking up for me. I wouldn't have known how to handle it."
"Don't worry about it. I knew they wouldn't say a word to me." Frankie replied before they ran into Marcus.
"Hey baby," he told Nathan before kissing him on the cheek.
"Awh you guys are so cute. I wish I had a boyfriend like that. Well, like either one of you. You're both cute." Frankie told them with a big smile.
"And who's this lovely young lady?" Marcus asked them as he held Nathan's hand.
"This is Frankie, she stood up for me in class."
"Yep yep, I couldn't believe how horrible anyone could be; I just had to say something. Plus I knew Nathan was new and I didn't want him to feel unwelcome here." Frankie told them holding tight onto her books.
"Well thank you for being so nice to my boyfriend. Did you want to hang out with us after school? We could all see a movie or something." Marcus asked.
"Oh I'd love to but I have to get home, I'm babysitting the Sudder sisters at five. I'm free tomorrow though!" She told them.
"Cool, we could do it then." Nathan told her.
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow! Before the movie since we have school and class together." Frankie said before laughing.
"See you tomorrow," Nathan said waving as she walked to her mom's car.
Marcus waved before placing his arm around Nathan.
"So what did they say to you, baby?" Marcus asked him as they walked together.
"Nothing. They were just being dicks."
"And you like..."
"Shut the hell up," Nathan said shoving him.
"I'm sorry baby."
"It's fine."
"I mean about what happened. Everything."
"I know. Don't worry about it."
"You sure?" Marcus asked him holding both his hands.
"Yeah, it's fine. It is what it is, and it'll be okay." Nathan told him smiling.
"It will be okay, and you know why? 'Cause we're gay!" Marcus said surprisingly louder than normal.
A few people stared at them weirdly as one teacher watched from a window inside the front office.
"Look at them. I can barely watch this nonsense." The teacher said to the principal angrily.
"Mr. Vargas, they're just kids. What difference does it make which gender they are?" The principal asked him.
"I'll tell you the difference it makes; the fact that they are not only practicing sin but even promoting it as if it were some kind of normal everyday act. It's unacceptable."
"John, you may have your own opinions on this but you may not have the right to have any action toward it. This is about the students and what they are doing is simply no harm to anyone."
"But Carol, what they are doing is wrong. This is not the way God created us to be. This could influence the other children into going down such a dark and sinister road." John told her.
"Well if that may be the case so be it; it's out of our control. We aren't allowed to do anything about it other than ask them to tone it down while they are on school grounds." The Principal replied.
"More must be done, it has to be. I won't let them get away with this." Mr. Vargas told her as he watched the two getting into a car and driving off.