Republican Phenoms

What Happens in the Closet...

June

After drill on Monday, I pull Daniel aside. "We need to talk."

"Okay." He follows me into an empty classroom. He looks at me and crosses his arms. "What about?"

"What happened on Friday..." I say, looking down at my shoes, "needs to stay in the closet."

"Too late," he says to me. "I already told my brother John. He saw me when I got home."

"No, that's not what I meant," I reply. "Although I would prefer if the whole school didn't find out. What I meant was, what happened on Friday, that's it. It was something stupid I did when I was drunk."

"Don't worry," he says to me, frowning. "I'm not under any delusion that you feel anything but disdain for me."

I frown. "Disdain is a really strong word..."

"Well, so is telling someone to fuck off when he tells you how beautiful you are." His voice is raised in anger. I see a look of hurt flash across his face.

I feel like I've been punched in the stomach. I had almost forgotten my response to him when he told me that I was attractive on the day we met. "I didn't say that," I say quietly.

"You might as well." His voice was quiet again.

He puts his hands in his pockets. "Look, I'm sorry. I never wanted to kiss you that way."

That way? So evidently, he had wanted to kiss me, just not drunk on a dare. "You don't have to apologize."

"I don't have to, but I should. I should have been more insistent, I should have told you no, telling you that you were in no state to make decisions like that, but I was too selfish. It was wrong of me."

I look at the floor for a moment. He doesn't need to feel bad about it. "You did tell me no. More than once. Tried to make sure that that was what I wanted."

"You could barely stand up. It didn't matter what you wanted."

"Well, don't feel bad about it. I don't." I hate to admit it, but I thought it was nice. "We just can't let it happen again." I feel him watching me as I walk out of the room.