The following story was originally written for a german website and later printed in my first book "Der Neuanfang". After I translated my story "Never saw a miracle" into english and getting lots of good feedback, I decided to translate this story, too. Some readers wrote me that I don't have to apologize for my English -- so I won't anymore g.
The story is set in Germany, so of course there are a few things unfamiliar to people from other countries. As example temperatures are given in degrees centigrade: 0 C are 32 F, minus 5 C are 23 F and so on. If there are any things you don't understand, please feel free to ask me about it. I love getting emails anyway, and I'd like to say my thankyous to all of you who already wrote me.
There are two other stories of mine published here on niftys:
"Never saw a miracle" in the gay/highschool section
and
"Different" in the gay/no-sex section
If someone is interested in reading the original german story, it's here:
http://www.nickstories.de
Look for "Peter's Stories". And if some is interested in buying my books (in german language, of course): they can be bought directly from me, even with my signature which will be worth millions when I'm a Nobel prize winner someday -- lol...
But now let's the play begin^Å
--*
A new beginning -- Part 8
© 2001-2006 by Peter Conrad, Peter_Co@web.de
The night from sunday to monday I slept very well and without any disturbances. As long as you don't call my mom coming quietly into the room and waking me up at an totally unholy hour to send me to school a disturbance. As much as I tried to get up quietly, my doings still woke up the sleeper in the other bed, who now grinned at me, very satisfied that he could stay in bed longer.
"You won't grin much longer, in a few days you'll be back at school again, too."
"I know. But for now I enjoy watching YOU go to school -- as you did last year when you were sick. When you're gone I'll turn on my other side and think of you full of pity."
"Don't be too glad too soon. While I'll sit comfortably at school, you'll play the dressman for hours! I know my mom, you'll have to try everything in the store! Maybe I'll think of you full of pity..."
"I don't mind shopping and trying things on. In fact I like it. But we shouldn't talk now, you have to go to SCHOOL!"
What a slave driver. But he was right, it wouldn't look good for me being late on the first day back at school. I did what I had to do in the bathroom, and when I came back in my (or better: our) room Tim already was asleep again. Carrying all my stuff with me I went down to the kitchen to have breakfast, where I had to listen to the usual first-day-back-at-school-and-how-to-behave-warnings from mom. Over the years I came to the conclusion, that my mom did this only to get me out of the house as quick as possible. And as always it worked just fine. I was still chewing on the last bite when I put on my shoes and jacket and left the house.
Because of this I was at school early. Too earlie, which means that I had to stand in the cold winter air much too long. I guess somebody thought it wasn't necessary to let the students in early, so the big doors were still locked. Just when I started to pity myself an unpleasently happy Thomas showed up.
"Hi Danny! Isn't it a great day?"
"A great day? Not in my book. Tim is still sleeping in his warm bed, you spray around uncalled happyness on the first school day after christmas, and I'm freezing my ass of. Care to tell me why you're so happy?"
"My parents like Christine very much -- and Christine likes my parents."
"And this is enough to make you happy on a school day morning?"
Thomas laughed.
"Hehe, at least I still can enjoy the small things in life."
If he thought so. Slowly the others from our little group showed up, and from afar I noticed Ralph giving me a small wave of his hand. Five minutes later we finally were let in, and I needed almost three hours to warm up again.
Thankfully this day went on much better than my last one at school. At least till lunch break! When I carried my tray to our usual table I looked into lots of grinning faces. I was waiting for someone to tell what they were so happy about, but nothing came. After a few moments I couldn't stand it anymore.
"Would someone please tell me why you are all grinning like the cat who ate the canary?"
The grins turned into open laughter. Finally Katja decided to speak out.
"You finally found someone to keep you warm in bed, that's great!"
Oops. Fear crawled up my spine when I started to realize that there was only one possible reason for her statement! And really, Jurgen gave Thomas a sheet of paper.
"Thanks for sharing this with us."
With a quick hand I grabbed Thomas the corpus delicti and identified it as one of the smaller prints of the picture with Tim and me cuddled up to each other in my bed on sunday morning.
"That's how you thank me for being your advisor for your love life! If I knew that you would do this I had scared Christine away from you yesterday!"
"Come on, don't be a spoilsport. It's a really great and unique picture."
"Did this traitor at least tell you the circumstances which lead to this picture?"
Katja laughed.
"He did. You spent a hot night filled with love and sex with Tim -- and you forgot to lock the door. No wonder, you're not very experienced in such things."
"Thomas, you're sooooo dead! You jump out of the window voluntarily or do I need to help you?"
Again the whole table broke out in laughter. Especially about the fact that we were on the first floor. To be honest, even though I'd liked the picture kept a secret, I still was very glad about having such a great group of friends. But still I wanted them to know the true nature of the picture. Before Tim became their next "victim"!
"Okay, listen up, I'll make it short. While we were in Florida the apartment of my moms boyfriend burnt out, everthing was destroyed. That's why Reinhardt -- the boyfriend -- and Tim, his son and the one I'm in bed with, now live with us. After seeing all the destruction Tim couldn't fall asleep, and I couldn't either. After a while he crawled to me into my bed, and we hold each other. This way we finally could sleep. Nothing more happened, and as far as I know Tim there won't be happening more in the future. Not that I would have anything about something more happening. And now you are allowed to fight about who'll take the job of my best friend from now on -- after Thomas voluntarily gave it up."
Again anyone was laughing, and this time I managed to join in. Then Jurgen had an important information for my former best friend.
"Thomas, when I was talking with the principal this morning about the school paper I met a really cute girl! She's a year younger, and I guess today is her first day here. So she doesn't know your reputation yet, maybe you'll get lucky with her."
For the first time I noticed Thomas getting a red head! I have to call CNN! He even started to stammer, without getting any senseful words out. I had to jump in.
"Guys, I have an announcement to make. If someone has a calender: make a red dot on it to mark this day for the time being. Thomas is in loooooooove! He was hit really hard, I'm afraid this new girl has to survive without him."
I guess these news were more shocking to the audience than the picture of Tim and me. Katja gave me a doubtful look.
"Thomas? In love? Really serious in love?"
"Yes. He's together with his Christine for almost a month now."
The reactions went from whistles to applause, making Thomas' head even redder.
"Stop it! Am I not allowed to fall in love? Is it such a surprise to you?"
Wrong question. A dozen mouths answered synchronously:
"Yes!"
Everyone except Thomas laughed, and my best friend whispered into my ear.
"Do I really have such a bad reputation?"
I whispered back.
"Well, not exactly a bad reputation -- but at least an unique one."
"Ohoh, I guess I have to see that Christine never gets wind of it."
"Don't worry, she's totally in love with you, I don't think there is anything what could scare here away from you."
"I really hope so."
Our quiet talk was stopped by Jurgen.
"What is this whispering about? Since when do we have secrets? By the way, Danny, the new girl has a brother, I guess he'll be in our class. Julia says he's extremely cute -- not that I could judge this. So it looks like there will be fresh meat for you as well."
Thanks. Fresh meat. I was sooooo not looking for fresh meat but for someone to share my life with. And knowing my luck this "extremely cute fresh meat" is totally straight. Well, I guess at least I'll have something nice to look at.
"Jurgen, please don't promise things you can't hold. Or did this guy were a rainbow pin?"
"Sorry, I don't know. I don't watch boys so closely."
"Maybe you should. Even if you're not interested in them at least you could see if they're competition for you."
"Oh. You're right. Thanks for reminding me."
Soon lunch was over and we had to surrender again to our mostly boring teachers. Boring not only in their way of teaching but also in their looks -- not a single young male teacher we had. Having one would have done wonders for my performance at school, but no. My only consolation was that it was the same for the female teachers. The average age of our teachers had to be far over forty. Our history teacher didn't only teach history -- he already was more or less part of it!
Still the last few hours went by quickly -- even though the cutie Jurgen announced didn't show up. After a quick walk home I stepped into our house.
"I'm here!"
"Come to the kitchen!"
I took of my jacket and shoes, then I followed my masters (meaning: my mothers) voice. She was standing at the stove, cooking something, while Reinhardt put plates on the table.
"Hi old folks."
"Hi little kid."
I took a closer look at Reinhardt. Hm.
"I guess you weren't shopping yet? Reinhardt looks so awake -- if you were shopping already he should look at least half dead."
Reinhardt gave me a forced smile.
"Oh, we were shopping, and I AM half dead. But I'm a good actor. We just came back half an hour ago."
Oh, that means that they were shopping for hours! I had to admire my future step father -- after such a day I'd be in my bed fast asleep. If my aching muscles and the racing images in my head would allow me to fall asleep.
"You want to have second lunch with us? I made spaghetti."
What a stupid question. As if I ever declined something to eat! I guess mom realized her mistake at the same moment.
"Forget my question, of course you'll have second lunch with us. Go to your room and get rid of your warm clothes. Lunch is in five minutes, bring your brother down with you. He's putting his new clothes in the closet."
I was curious how Tim survived the shopping tour. For me such events were terrible, and the nice new things I got were only sad compensations for the agony I had to survive. I left the kitchen and went up to our room. The door was half open and I could see a quite happy and satisfied looking Tim even before I stepped into the room.
"Hello little brother."
"Hello big brother. How was school?"
"The school was bearable. I mean the building. I'm not so sure about what happened IN the school."
I didn't mean the picture of Tim and me in bed showing up but the boring classes.
"And how was your day? For spending hours of shopping with my mom you look quite fit."
"I already told you that I like shopping."
Maybe he WAS gay!
"And, was it worth it? You know that you have to show me everything you got!"
"Okay, if you want it. And yes, it was worth it. A few pants, jackets, shirts, shoes and lots of other stuff."
"As I said, I want to see everything, so don't put your stuff to far away. But now I have to get rid of the warm clothes, and then we can go down for lunch."
"Great, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. We had some hot dogs at the shopping center, but that was it."
Twenty minutes and one tablecloth stained by Reinhardt later I sunk down on my computer chair, while Tim started to show me his new stuff. A pair of jeans dungarees, a few other jeans, fleece shirts, dress shirts, two warm jackets and shoes -- it took him more than 30 minutes to show me everything. I really enjoyed this time and noticed, that this little brother of mine really had good taste -- I guess I'd never have to be ashamed to be seen with him.
"Great stuff, Tim."
"Thanks. Can I still keep those?"
He pointed at the washed out dungarees I gave him the day before.
"Sure, they don't fit me anymore anyways. But looking at how tight they fit you I'd say they won't fit you much longer neither."
He grinned.
"Seems so. But as long as I can squeeze myself in them I'd still like to wear them once in a while."
"No problem, they're yours."
"Thanks. And ... by the way ..."
Now his smile was a little ... embarrassed?
"Yes?"
"I don't like it, but you were right."
"I'm always right. About what?"
"You still remember our first day together, here in this room?"
"What exactly do you mean?"
Instead of answering me he went to the closet and took something from one of the drawers, giving it to me. I unfolded it and broke out in laughter.
"Shit, don't laugh so dirty!"
I managed to calm down a bit.
"I told you so! But you'll get used to it."
I gave the dark blue pair of footed tights back to Tim.
"Didn't you say that you'll fight with all you have?"
"I tried, but your mom is very convincing. If dad wasn't so tall she would have bought some for him, too. He was soooo glad that she didn't find tights his size."
"The I guess you should start getting as tall as him."
"That's exactly what I plan to do. Well, at least she allowed me to wear my last pair of thermal underwear on days when I have to change infront of others."
"I'll give you one good advice: get used to it, don't think about it any longer, just forget what you're wearing. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about."
"I guess you're right. But now tell me about your day at school."
"Must I? It's a topic I really don't like to talk about. I'm always happy when school is out for the day and I can forget till next morning."
"I'm so sorry, but considering that I'll join you at your school no later than next monday I'd really like some information about this institution."
"Really? Next week already?"
"Yes, maybe even sooner. It doesn't make much sense to wait any longer."
That's what I call good news, so I told him about our dungeon of education, trying to not scare him too much. Okay, our school was renovated a few years ago and wasn't that bad anymore, but still it was school. When I told Tim about the missing cute young male teachers he laughed.
"That's the worst part about school for you, isn't it?"
"Absolutely! And don't laugh to early, there aren't any cute young FEMALE teachers either."
"They do it with intention, so the students aren't distracted by cute teachers of either sex."
"Maybe you're right. This way looking at the blackboard is much more enjoyable than looking at the teacher. At least at our school."
"This doesn't sound very promising. And what about the other students?"
"Well there are a few who are worth a second look. Both boys and girls. Just today Jurgen told us that there will be a new girl who looks really cute. And it looks like she'll be in your class, Tim."
"That's good, so I won't be the only new student."
"You're not really new anyway, many of our students you already met at Katjas party."
"You mean that I'm allowed to know you at school too?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, in my old school I had a friend who wasn't allowed to talk with his big brother. If he had spoke to him or worse sat down at his table at lunch the brother would have knocked him out. It's funny, at home they were best friends."
"Don't worry, it's not that way with us. You're still my little brother at school, and you're always welcome at our table."
"Thanks. And what will we do now?"
"I don't know what you'll do -- I have to do my homework."
"Shall your little brother help you?"
"Now don't get your head to high, swot. By the way, you were already a topic in our lunch conversations."
I told him about Thomas showing around the compromising picture. If you thought he'd be embarrassed -- think again. He started laughing wholeheartedly.
At this moment some knocked on the door, moments later Reinhardt came in.
"Boys, how about getting that new computer for Tim?"
My brother jumped up cheeringly.
"Great! I just have to dress up."
Quickly he jumped out of his jeans and looked around in our room.
"Where did I put my thermals? Oh shit. They're in the laundry basket. Oh what the hell..."
With these words he grabbed the tights he had just shown to me, looking at them questioningly.
"Hm... Danny? How do I put these things on?"
Of course I was happy to show him how to do it, while Reinhardt was watching us from the door with a big smile on his face. Then he had a question.
"Are you coming with us, Danny?"
Good question. I'd really like to go, but on the other hand I had a bunch of homework to do. No, I'll better stay home.
"No, I'll stay here and take care of my homework. I guess I'll be done when you're coming back, then we can install the computer together."
"You're so responsible. Your mom will be proud!"
"Well, I have to be a good example for my little brother."
"Exactly!"
Meanwhile Tim was dressed and ready to go, so father and son left the room. I started to do good on my word -- and within minutes I knew that it was a stupid idea not to go with them to the apple store. Thinking about all the things a poor student like I had to learn knowing to never ever need in the future life mad me mad.
Whatever. After two hours of continued punishment I was done and waiting for the computer shoppers to show up again. For the first time after weeks of being together with my old and new family I had the house to myself. At least I thought I did...
Imagine my shock when suddenly the door went open and my mother stepped into the room. I was sitting in my computer chair with my feet on the table -- a position my mother hated! I almost fell out of the chair trying to get into a less compromising position.
"What are you doing here? I didn't see the car coming!"
"What do you mean? Oh. No, Reinhardt and Tim went alone, I'm really not that interested in the computer stuff. I had enough to do here at home."
"You scared me a bit, I thought I was alone."
Having the hifi-set running I didn't hear anything from the other rooms.
"And what have you done?"
"Look at this jacket, looks like new, doesn't it?"
"One of Tims?"
"Yes. And these pants look good, too."
Two things out of ... how many? Well, Tim wouldn't need them anyway after the big shopping tour this morning. I grinned at my mom.
"I guess his thermal underwear didn't survive the fire?"
She laughed out loud, looking at me with a cheeky twinkle in her eyes.
"No, not a single piece of it. But he got lots of nice new stuff. He didn't complain to you, did he?"
"I wouldn't say he complained, but he didn't look very happy either."
"Well, I guess he'll have to live with it. It wouldn't be fair to you if I had bought him thermal underwear instead of the tights."
Yes, my little brother would have to live with it. Okay, it could have been worse. But I would have liked it more if mom had allowed not only Tim but also me to wear thermal underwear from now on. And it would have been fair, too. But I guess this won't happen before I move into a nursing home -- if ever.
At this moment a car honked, I looked out of the window and there was Reinhardts chrysler.
"Let's go down and help them unload the car."
We did so, and half an hour later I was sitting besides a happily smiling Tim, installing his new computer. We totally forgot the time, it felt as if only minutes went by before we were called for dinner. We inhaled the food in record time and again we were glued to the monitors. When our parents came into the room chasing us to bed we were totally surprised to see that it was 10pm already!
After doing the usual bathroom jobs we were in our beds, and another short night (at least for me) began.
..*
The next morning was a repeat performance of the morning before, meaning Tim stayed in his warm bed and I had to face the cold life outside. If you want to call what happens at school "life". Again it had snowed for hours, and to my utter surprise we were let into the school building early! When I came into the classroom most of my friends were already there, waiting for the terrible things to come. Which this day meant chemistry. Definitely one of the classes I could live without. I sat down and noticed that Thomas looked extremely tired.
"Good morning. What's wrong? You look so tired -- a long night with Christine?"
"Just don't ask..."
Okay, if he didn't want to talk. Even if my curiosity was killing me -- I wouldn't ask him again! I turned to the other side and greeted Jurgen and Lisa. Seconds later Thomas dragged on my left arm.
"Now do you want to know it or not?"
"I thought you don't want me to ask."
"Idiot. I spent half of the night at the hospital."
"What? What happened?"
"Caren fell when she was ice skating, and an other skater hit her right with his skates. She bleed like a pig."
"Shit! How is she now?"
"Much better, but she needed stitches. Thankfully there won't be a big scar."
"Thank god. Give her my best wishes, okay?"
"Okay."
"By the way... Why were YOU with her at the hospital? What about your parents?"
"They were at a concert, and of course their cell phone was turned off. I didn't know where they were exactly, so I went to the hospital with Caren and waited till our parents came back home and heard what had happened from my sisters. I was home around midnight, but I couldn't sleep for a few more hours."
"Maybe you should have stayed at home today."
"Oh yes, tell this my parents, please! I tried -- but no luck."
That sounded like my own mother. Before she let me stay at home hell had to freeze over. According to the biblical teachings I as a gay frostbite would land in hell anyways -- and I wouldn't like it freezing over! No, I'd rather have a well heated hell.
At this moment we had to end our conversations, because our chemistry teacher walked into the room. A small, older woman -- and we always suspected that she used the chemicals not only during her lessons but also as selfmade cosmetics on her face. At least she was one of the few teachers who had a sense of humour, always making jokes and seldom torturing the students more than absolutely necessary. As always she was almost late, she had just put her bag on her table when the bell rang.
The first few minutes she spent chatting with us about how we spent the holidays, but when she tried to start up the overhead projector her smile faded away. That stupid projector didn't work.
"Shit."
I knew no other teacher who would use as many four letter words like she was.
"What now? Oh. I get it. Danny? Please run to the physics cabinet and ask the teacher if you can borrow their projector."
That's what I get for always being nice and polite. As usual I was the one who was sent to get something. I stood up and walked out of the room.
"Please run" she had said. Well, I wouldn't do this! We were always told that there was no running allowed, so I took my time to get to the physics cabinet. It was on the same floor, but at the opposing end of the school. I reached the door of the room everyone only called the "sleep lab" -- the teachers name was Mr. Troeger, and it was a well matching name! Every lesson was droeger ((more boring)) than the one before. I just had raised my hand to knock, when the door sprung open. Only with a quick jump I was able to save myself from getting the door into my face. At the next moment I looked into the stunned face of our vice principal.
"Daniel! What are you doing behind this door? Shouldn't you be in your class?"
I decided to not answer her question with another one: why she pushed open doors during a lesson.
"Mrs. Kraus sent me to borrow the overhead projector from Mr. Troeger."
"Oh. Okay. Then don't let me keep you, go in and ask Mr. Troeger."
I would really liked to do so, but therefore she needed to get out of my way. When she realized this she stepped aside, I started to walk into the room -- and almost had my next collision. This time it wasn't the door putting me in danger -- it was a boy I've never seen before. And believe me, if I had ever seen him before I would remember him! I'm not blind, you know? Especially not when it comes to notice cute boys.
Lean, maybe a little taller than I, light blond hair, no facial hair and no spots, deep blue eyes, full red lips which showed a small smile.
"Sorry, I didn't want to stay in your way."
"No problem, I guess today I run into everything."
We only had a few moments to look at each other, but these few moments were enough to get my blood boiling. Sadly Mrs. Moeller broke the mood.
"Come on, Philipp."
Philipp. What a nice name for this heavenly creature.
"Sorry, I have to run."
With these words he passed me on his way out of the room, and I wished our vice principal to vanish to the most terrible place I could imagine: the north pole. Okay, the south pole would be fine, too. I'm not that choosy.
I only could hope that I'll run into Philipp again. And I mean it literally! That Jurgen had announced an new student for our class only a day before never came to my mind. I guess this shows again that school isn't good for your memory!
I apologized to Mr. Troeger for disturbing his lesson and asked for the projector. He gave it to me and I started my way back to my own room. At the door of the chemics lab it happened. Holding the projector with my left hand I started to grab the door-handle -- I mean Mrs. Kraus was waiting for me, why should I knock? But I guess not everyone was waiting for me. To make a long story short: again a door in front of me sprung open, and this time I wasn't as lucky as before. I lost my balance, and the next second I landed hard on my butt. During the fall I (as a responsible student, always looking out for the school property) held the projector safely in my hand, so it didn't land on the hard floor breaking into a thousand pieces. Well, I guess it would have been better to let it fall down and saving myself from the hard impact! But the worst was still to come. Again it was our vice principal who had pushed open the door forcefully! And her reaction was quite similar to the one from our first run in.
"Oh my god, Daniel! Not you again! Do you want to give me a heart attack?"
Okay, that was it. Not only did she attack me twice and called me twice by my full name -- now I was the one responsible?
"Oh my god, Mrs. Moeller! Not you again! Do you want me to land in the hospital and not being able to enjoy school?"
I guess she didn't expect this answer. She looked at me laying at her feet a few seconds longer, then she started to laugh. How nice, at least one person found this funny!
"I'm sorry, Danny. I guess I'm a little too hectic today. Principal Schloder broke his leg and is in the hospital, and now I have to do all the work alone."
Schlodderchen broke his leg? Maybe he also was run over by Mrs. Moeller.
"How are you, Danny? Nothing broken?"
At least she asked how I felt -- and not how the projector was.
"Is the projector okay?"
Hmpf. Meanwhile Mrs. Kraus had joined us and freed me from the projector and I could finally get up again. Thankfully I survived my crash without any battle wounds.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking."
"Good. Now I have to run, I have a date with some guys from the fire department in like ... five minutes ago!"
Without giving Mrs. Kraus, the projector or me another look she ran away -- I guess to push open a few more doors. Mrs. Kraus shook her head.
"Are you really okay, Danny?"
"Yes. But I think it would be a good idea to put warning signs on every door. Like ^ÛDanger, free running vice principal!^Ë. Next time someone could be really hurd."
I wouldn't have said this with any other teacher, but Mrs. Kraus only laughed and said that it really sounded like a good idea.
Because of all these disturbances we had already lost a good part of the lesson, and Mrs. Kraus was in a hurry now. She started the projector I had defended with my life and went on with the lesson, while I turned to go back to my place. And almost landed on my poor behind again! There, only a row in front of my own seat, was this breathtaking door blocker from the physics lab! Oh my... I don't now how I made it back to my seat without slipping on my own drool! One thing I knew already: with him in the seat directly before my eyes it would be almost impossible for me to follow the teacher anymore. There was only one thing to be happy about: he couldn't see me almost undressing him with my eyes. Others of course could see me just fine, and Jurgen whispered grinning in my ear.
"Did I promise too much?"
What a nosy guy! I put my tongue out at him and turned to Thomas -- only to find him grinning even more. Resignidly I turned my eyes to the cute blond head infront of me and was saved from further questions through Mrs. Kraus' cheering because the projector finally worked. The remainder of the lesson went by very slowly, even though it wasn't that much left of it. I mean, Mrs. Kraus is one of my favourite teachers, but still, it's chemistry...
Finally our torture was over. At the sound of the bell Philipp jumped up and ran out of the room. What was that now? He was out of the room, and the next moment my so-called friends attacked me.
"He, Danny, isn't he cute?"
"Did you see his eyes?"
"That smile!"
Of course I had noticed all of this! And I guess I wasn't the only one who was impressed by our new student. 10 out of the 12 girls in our class had this ecstatic sparkle in their eyes. I guess the other two were lesbians. And I had lots of competitors! But I shouldn't give myself to much hope, anyway. I'd never have a chance with Philipp, it would go totally against all my life experience. He being gay AND falling for me would be like being run over by our vice principal for a third time in one day. Hm. On the other hand... Knowing our vice principal... Maybe everything was possible!
At least over the break I learned a bit about Philipp, I mean, I had missed his introduction to the class while I was busy carrying the projector. His name was Philipp Stein, he had a younger sister who would go to our school, too, and his family had moved to Leipzig from Munich. Oh no! I was falling for a ^ÛWessi^Ë! ((After the re-unification of Germany there are still resentments between the former West Germans, the ^ÛWessis^Ë, and the former East Germans, the ^ÛOssis^Ë.)) Well, he didn't look like the typical, arrogant Wessi. I guess I have to give him a chance g.
The next hours went by not very differently from the one before. I stared at the back of Philipps head, our new student didn't say one single word, and as soon as the bell rang he stormed out of the room, coming back only seconds before the next lesson started. Did he already have a secret girlfriend? The best explaining reason that he always went to meet his sister didn't reach my overactive brain.
The same happened at lunch break, he ran out of the room, leaving his admirers in the dust. Hm.
We went to the cafeteria, and a few minutes later my usual group of friends sat on the usual table, playing our usual game of trying to find out what this stuff on our plates was. I decided that it was a meatball -- even though the cook had done everything to avoid that anybody would ever be able to prove it. Out of the corner of my left eye I noticed a blond head passing our table. No, not one but two blond heads! I looked up. One of the heads was Philipps, the other one belonged to a girl a little younger than him. The family resemblance was evident -- jippie, no girlfriend, only a sister! That made my day. Both went to the counter to get their lunch, followd by my greedy looks at the male part of the couple. At the next moment I felt a hard jab at my rips.
"Ouch! Are you nuts, Thomas?"
"Don't stare that much, you're almost drooling."
"I'm not!"
"Oh yes, you are. I mean, I can understand you, but you're just a little too obvious."
Shit. I guess he was right. But it was such a cute picture! I felt a little ashamed because over Philipp I almost forgot Tim, but... Tim was cute, sweet, perfect to fall in love with -- but if I would wait for him I guess I would have to wait forever. At this point I was quite sure that my little brother was straight. I mean, if he wasn't he would have started something with me already, wouldn't he? So I guess I had to look elsewhere, and Philipp ... well, he was definitely worth a second look! And even a third... And much more.
To distract myself from Philipp I started to eat my lunch. That worked quite well, until ... until someone asked if those two seats at the table were empty!
My head snapped up, and really, Philipp and his sister stood at our table, asking if they could sit down! The cafeteria was crowded now, so they had to give up their self choosen isolation.
Thankfully I didn't need to answer because a few of our girls were eager to invite them at our table. The same girls started to attack Philipp with questions, keeping him from eating his lunch. Well, I guess they did him a favour. I was sitting there, memorizing everything he said and was really happy that my curiosity was satisfied without having to be nosy myself. He was seventeen like the most of us, his sister Veronika was a year younger and they had a little brother in the kindergarten. Hearing Philipp talking about his little brother I realized that he was totally devoted to him. Now I was already jealous of a little kid! The table was filled with happy chatter, but this was suddenly broken by a shouting voice from another table two rows away.
"He, Vroni, come over here and bring your brother. With this faggot Danny Thom sitting there every mens ass is in danger. If I was in his class I'd find myself a seat at the far back of the room, just to be safe."
Deadly silence. Not only at our table but in the whole cafeteria. I felt as if I was hit by baseball bat. Okay, I was out to many people, but not everyone at our school. There still where more students who didn't know about me than those who did, especially in the lower years. Know about me in the sense of ^Ûbeing sure^Ë in contrast to ^Ûsuspect it^Ë. At least I thought so. And except a few small verbal bashings I never before had a real problem. Until now. Now the whole school, including Philipp, knew about me. The one who spread the good news was Matthias, a rugby player, who got additional training from throwing around younger students. Hm. I guess I'll have to watch out for my little brother. But back to the current situation.
Everyone was staring at me, waiting for my reaction. At least I felt that way. Bullshit. Of course everyone was staring at me! Matthias had shouted loud enough to drown out all the other noises in the cafeteria. How would quite, calm, friendly Danny react? I guess at this moment many bets were made about how this situation would end. Nobody had an idea about how this COULD end. Nobody but my best friend. Thomas tugged on my arm and whispered into my ear.
"Hold back, Danny. He isn't worth it."
My best friend knew well enought that there was a very different side to the usual calm and friendly Danny. A side which seldom showed up -- and it was better this way. But today I just couldn't hold back. It was like at StarWars, the dark side turning up, Anakin Skywalker becomming Darth Vader. I stood up, turning to my enemy. How I did I don't know, but I stayed totally calm, my voice was clear and free of any shivering.
"Don't worry, Matthias, I'm no danger to you. First you are far away from being a man, so you also don't have a mans ass which could be in danger because of me. You're not even worth a pimple on a real mans ass. And second: you're face already is so ugly, that I don't even want to see how your ass looks like. As you might know, we faggots are very choosy."
Was there a word to raise "deadly silence". If there was, now was the right time to use it. But not for long.
"Now I'll kill you, you fucking queer!"
In true rugby manner Matthias stormed in my direction, surely to try to run me over and stomp me to death. With the emphasis on "try". With a smooth move I stepped aside, letting him run into a now empty spot. Empty for only three meters, than came a solid brick wall. And Matthias ran into this wall in full force. Maybe he was used to hard crashes from his rugby, but this brick wall was much harder than his usual opponents. With a crackling sound, followed by a loud howl, he slid down the wall and came to a rest on the floor, wailing loudly. At this moment the show was over for me, and with the lowering of my adrenaline level I realized what had happened. I knew that I was only seconds away from losing my composure and getting hysteric, and to avoid that (or at least have it happen without hundreds of spectators) I fled the cafeteria. I didn't even know where I was running, and after a while I found myself infront of the school, standing in the cold. For the first time in my life this cold was very welcome, making my head a bit clearer. This and being alone was exactly what I needed now.
But I wasn't lucky to be alone for a longer time, suddenly I felt a hand on my left shoulder. Luckily for Thomas I was able to stop myself in time before I could hurt him. He instantly realized that it wasn't a good idea to surprise in such a situation.
"Hoh, Danny, calm down, it's only me."
"Sorry."
"No problem. That was hard, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
We stould beside each other in silence for a while, and I used the quiet time to think about what would happen next.
"Danny, we should go in again. It's fucking cold, and I don't want you to get sick again. And me too."
But I wasn't ready for it yet.
"What happened after I left?"
"Not much, I soon followed you anyway. Matthias was crying and said that you broke his shoulder -- but everybody who was there knows that you didn't."
Everybody who was there. Meaning the whole school.
"When I went out Mr. Troeger showed up, sending someone to get Mrs. Moeller."
Just great. Mrs. Moeller I had already met two times to often this day. I sighed.
"Come on, don't worry. Everybody has seen how this stupid shit provoced you. You don't have to worry about anything. It was his own fault."
"I'm not worried about Matthias' broken shoulder. I can live with that without having sleepless nights. I'm just not happy that now everybody knows about me, about who this Danny Thom really is."
"Who you really are? Let me think about it. One of the most well-balanced, friendly and helpful guy at this whole school? The best friend I could dream of?"
"You know exactly what I mean!"
"I don't know why you're so worried, you didn't think much about what others thought about you before."
"As if. You don't really know what goes on in my head. Shit, I was terribly afraid when I told you that I'm gay! And there is a big difference: I told you that MYSELF! And I only told those of you who I was quite sure would still accept me. And even then I lost a few friends. And now I have to live with the fact, that hundreds of others from one moment to the next know about me! And I don't know shit about how those hundreds of people will react to this news!"
"I'm sorry, Danny, you're right, I really don't know exactly what's running around in your head. But still I think that you worry too much. Of course, there will always be a few idiots like Matthias, but they are in a minority. A very small minority."
"I only can hope that you're right."
"Just trust me with this. By the way: Philipp didn't seem shoked or even disgusted by the news. Only by Matthias' performance."
I looked into the smiling face of my best friend.
"Shithead."
"Nice to meet you, Kupfer."
Okay, he again made it, I laughed. Not a big, loud laughter, but still. He seemed to be happy about my reaction.
"Now let's go in again, before we turn into ice blocks."
This time I allowed him to drag me back into the building. We went directly to our class room. On our way we passed a few students from different years, and everyone of them stared at me. I more or less only felt their eyes on my, I looked at the floor myself so I couldn't really see if they were staring. When I looked up for a moment I noticed, that their looks weren't disgusted, they were more like interested or assessing. Hm. But I'd better not be glad to early, I guess I was facing exciting days and weeks.
..*
To be continued in part 9