Teachers USUK

Chapter 9

Alfred's POV

Leaving the school the same afternoon of Peter's risque performance in the auditorium, I find myself lost in thought. How am I supposed to make Arthur fall for me and help out with Peter's relationship? A sudden realizatoin makes me stop in the middle of my tracks, and I grin to myself. I can use helping out with Peter as a way to get the Brit to fall in love with me! This is totally genius! He'll love me for helping out with his son's pain, and he'll be totally grateful! Now, I just have to figure out how to help Peter.

Frowning and stroking my chin thoughtfully, I make my way towards my car. This sun is lowering in the sky already, and it's probably due to the chagne in time. Why do we even do that? It's pretty stupid, if you ask me. I remember my dad telling me that it's due to work hours or something, but some states don't even do it.

Peter is a sweet kid, so is Eric. But, going from what Peter said, Eric is having problems with coming out. Does that mean that he has homophobic parents or something? I try to recall the couple from parent-teacher conferences, but it comes up blank. Did they ever come? Now that I think about it, they've never been to any meetings or games either. Are they the kind that are always at work? My mom was like that, so I can sort of understand that, but I don't understand why he wouldn't want to come out as gay. Maybe he's just scared of ridicule from his peers? That's a thing, right?

God, this internal monologue is making me feel like a main character in a book. Deciding to sleep on it, I switch the car on, shifting the gears before pulling smoothly out of the parking lot. I have some shows to catch up on, so I don't waste any time getting out of the parking lot. God, I didn't realize how many students drive to and from school. This place is crowded. Plus, high school students smell bad. Gross.

As I'm driving, I get stuck in a long line of traffic. I bet some idiot got into an accident. That's the problem with people nowadays, they think they can multitask while driving. If you ask me, that's a death wish.

Next to me is an old park that some students hang out at sometimes. It's mostly used by little kids and their parents, though. I glance over and I happen to see the very kid I need to talk to, Eric. Looking between his sad form, hunched over on a slowly swaying swing, and the long line of traffic ahead of me, I decide to pull into the parking lot of the park, when the cars ahead of me finally inches close enough for me to legally do so.

The poor kid doesn't even look up when I step into the gravel that the swingset is placed in. I sit in the swing beside him, looking at the line of traffic I was just in. God, I'm glad I got out of that. Finally, he looks at me before his head returns to pointing at the ground.

"You and Peter, huh?" I ask, and his gaze immediately snaps to me, eyes wide and panicked. "Relax, kiddo. I'm not telling anyone," I add, placing my index finger over my lips.

His face grows solemn, and he stares at the ground, looking heartbroken. He still says nothing, and I sigh.

"He came into the auditorium crying," I say, starting to swing back and forth lazily. This still elicites no reaction from him. "He was sobbing, because the guy he likes isn't willing to go public." 

His brow clenches, and he slowly naws on his lower lip. "He was crying?" he asks softly, sounding even worse than he looks.

I nod. "Yeah. He was heartbroken." His brows clench further, and I sigh in response. "Why don't you want to go public, Eric?" I ask, staring off at someone in a Honda trying to get around the traffic, only to be honked at by everyone else in the lane.

"I don't know." He finally looks at me, meeting my gaze with glossy eyes. "I like him a lot, but I'm scared. I don't want to be thought of differently. What if some of the other players start to think that I check them out or something?" he asks, voice shaking and panicked.