I knew the day had started out too good to be true. I went through my morning classes and everything was normal until Drew showed up in science class. He said he had to be there. He had taken the bus to get to school because he knew I would never bring him. John didn't seem as shocked to see Drew as I was but he saved his commentary until class ended. We were walking to lunch when John spoke to Drew.
"How did I know I'd see your ugly face today?"
"Because you know me better than anybody."
I watched as the two of them smiled at each other and John put his arm around Drew. I wondered if something more than friendship was happening with them, but I knew I shouldn't ask about it at school. I heard sirens outside. I didn't think anything of it. We walked in the cafeteria and saw Kyle surrounded by football players. I watched as Eric pushed him and said, "Yep, he smells like pussy."
"Leave him alone!" Drew told him.
Everything was a blur after that, like I was standing outside of my body watching it happening. I didn't feel like myself until I was sitting in the detention room. The guy from the hockey team that I had talked to earlier came over to me and asked, "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine," I said. "Why did you guys block the teachers out?"
"Because Eric deserved it after what he did to Nick."
Before my brain could process the information, Kyle asked, "What did he do to Nick?"
He didn't receive an answer because the vice-principal walked in with two cops and shouted, "Everyone sit down and shut up!" There was no mistaking the anger in his voice. He stood in the front of the room, "Who wants to tell me what the hell is going on?"
"I will," the guy from the hockey team said.
"Okay Jeremy, tell me what happened."
`That's his name,' I thought. I couldn't remember his name before. My head was focused on other things.
"Eric and his little football flunkies did that shit to Nick earlier."
"Wait a minute son. Do you know what you're saying?"
"Yes!"
"Did you see it happen?"
"Well no, but I saw a group of football players blocking the locker room and then a few minutes later, Eric, Kelso and Aaron walked out and they all left."
"So you didn't see it happen?"
"Would you listen to me? I saw them walk out and I went in the bathroom and found Nick."
"So how do I know you didn't do it?"
"Why would I get help if I had done it? I thought you wanted to know what happened!"
"I do, but I want to know the truth."
"I'm telling you the truth!" Jeremy shouted, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Eric and his friends beat the shit out of Nick and stuck a fucking microphone up his ass!"
"No!" Kyle shouted as tears formed in his eyes. I didn't care about the punishment. I got out of my seat and knelt down next to Kyle. I pulled him in to a hug and let him cry on my shoulder. I couldn't believe that a guy I had once been friends with would do something so horrible.
"John beat the shit out of Eric because Eric was picking on Kyle and Drew, and my friends and I kept the teachers out because Eric deserved that and much worse for what he did to Nick! Nick is a really sweet guy. He didn't deserve what Eric and his goons did. And you guys are just going to let them get away with it!"
"We didn't do anything," said Aaron.
"I know," the vice-principal told him. "I just wanted to see how far Jeremy would go with his lies."
"What?" Jeremy shouted. "You're just like Principal Harvey! I told him Eric did it and he told me I must have been seeing things. I'm a fucking goalie! If I can see a small ass puck going across the ice and flying through the air, I sure as hell can see Eric and his friends when they're standing right in front of me!"
"That's enough," the vice principal told him.
"You're right! It's enough! Everyone acts like the football team is the shit, but they're not! They're a bunch of losers!" Jeremy turned and looked at Drew. "Except for Drew of course, he's a good guy. Always has been." He looked at one of the cops. "Are you going to let them get away with what they did? With raping another student?" The officer didn't say anything, he just looked away. "For what? For a stupid football championship!"
"Look Jeremy, just because your brother's friends raped you does not mean every football player at this school is a rapist," Aaron said. Jeremy looked like someone had punched him in the stomach. "Oh, I'm sorry did you think I forgot about that?" Aaron's tone was borderline sinister.
I let go of Kyle and we both looked at Jeremy. "How"
"How did I know? I was there! Remember?" Jeremy stood silent. Aaron got up from his seat and walked towards him. "I remember fourteen year old Jeremy Nivens wanting to hang out with his cool older brother and the rest of the football players after we won the state championship. I belonged there. I may have only been on the freshman team, but I was a football player. You, you were nobody, just Josh's little brother. You had long girly hair that reached your neck and you were tiny back then. You're much bigger now. I remember your skin used to look so soft and supple." Aaron reached for Jeremy and Jeremy started backing away from him. "Oh, no don't try to run away from it. Let's deal with it. A bunch of teenagers getting drunk and high around a bonfire in your backyard. A party meant for the team and the cheerleaders only and yet you were there. We're all drunk, high and horny."
"I don't think we need to hear this" John said.
"We hear what I say we hear. Now shut up," the vice- principal told him.
"Yeah, shut up and listen," Aaron sneered. He turned his attention back to Jeremy, "Where was I? Oh yeah. A game of truth or dare starts. Your brother dares you to give his best friend a blowjob. You say no, but your brother tells you he'll send you in the house if you don't, so you do. His friend cums in your mouth and forces you to swallow. Everyone is hooking up. Unfortunately, there aren't enough cheerleaders for the guys. Your brother is making out with some girl so he's not really paying attention to you. His best friend grabs you and forces you to sit in his lap." Jeremy backed in to the wall behind him.
"Shut up," he whispered.
"You scream for your brother to help you and he tells you to shut up and stop being a brat. His friend picks you up and carries you in to the woods. Me and a few other players follow to see what will happen. He finds a small clearing and he slams you to the ground. A sigh comes out of you. You ask him what he's going to do. He says he's going to make you a man. You tell him you don't want to be a man, and you try to get up. He throws himself on top of you pinning you to the ground. I move to try to help you, but the other players hold me back and tell me to mind my own business. At first you try to fight him. He keeps telling you it will be over faster if you stop fighting. You finally give up and just lay there. He kisses you on the lip but you don't kiss him back so he slaps you across the face." Jeremy's lips started to quiver as a tear slid down his cheek. He turned towards the door.
"Stop him," the vice-principal told one of the cops. The cop grabbed Jeremy and pinned him against the wall.
"Get off of me!" Jeremy told him.
"Calm down, son," the vice-principal said.
I couldn't take anymore, so I stood up. "Leave him alone! We don't need to hear this."
"I decide what we need to hear," the vice-principal told me. "Now sit down or I will have you arrested." He turned to Aaron, "We heard Jeremy's story, the least we can do is hear yours, so go ahead and finish."
Aaron gave the vice-principal a strange smile and turned back to Jeremy. "He slapped you across the face and then he kissed you again and you opened your mouth and let him. He told you to take off your clothes, but you didn't move. He told you again in a tone that warned you not to refuse him. You took off your sweatshirt and your hands were trembling. Probably from the cold of being so far away from the fire and the fear you must have had about what was going to happen to you. You took off your shoes and then you pulled your pants down. He told you to take off your boxers and you started crying. You told him no, and he ripped them off of you. You started screaming and fighting again, begging him not to hurt you. He flipped you over and bit your ass. You screamed from the pain and he told you to shut up. He didn't even take off his clothes. He just pulled his jogging pants down a little and spread your legs. I'll never forget the sound you made when he pushed inside you. It made my blood curdle. He forced your face in to the ground. When he finished, he stood up and kicked you in the side, and warned you not to tell anyone. He walked past us on his way back to the party and he winked at me. A few of the guys with me took a turn with you. I just stood there and watched. You were getting dressed when your brother's best friend came back. He told you take your clothes back off and you did. He said he was going to do you like you were a girl. He started out with you on the ground with your legs in the air. You didn't even try to fight him. He got tired of that position so he stood up, bringing you with him so he was still inside you. You wrapped your legs around his waist. He put you against a tree and sucked on your neck as he did you again. The moon was shining on your face and you looked at me. I wanted to run, but the look in your eyes made me freeze. You almost didn't look human. He came inside you again, and then he dropped you to the ground. He fixed himself up and went back to the party. I helped you get dressed and walked you back to the bonfire. Everyone could tell something was wrong with you, but you told them you were okay and that you fell in the woods. Your brother screamed at you for disappearing and you kept apologizing to him. You came to school on Monday and you had shaved all your hair off." He reached over the cop and rubbed the stubble on Jeremy's head. I couldn't remember a time when Jeremy had hair. Jeremy squealed. "Nobody talked about that night, again, not even you. It was like it never happened. Now after all these years, you're trying to take me and my friends down for something we didn't even do. Deal with your issues man and move on! I'm not the one who raped you!"
Jeremy was a blubbering mess. A strange almost humming sound was coming from him. "That never happened," he whispered.
"Yes it did!" Aaron told him, "And I'm sorry it happened to you, but don't take it out on me. I'm not a faggot! I don't like boys. I like pussy. I didn't rape Nick, I didn't even touch him! Got it loser?" Aaron was poking his finger in to Jeremy's chest and the cop wasn't saying anything. "Eric and I would never rape anybody, especially not a fag like Nick. Besides why would we have to rape him? He'd probably jump on my dick if I said hello." Jeremy just looked at him.
"That's it!" Kyle shouted. "This whole thing is a bunch of bullshit!" He stood up. "Nick isn't gay! I'm gay! Okay, I'm the fucking gay one, not him!" He stared at Jeremy. "What happened to Jeremy four years ago has nothing to do with what's going on here and he wouldn't lie about Eric hurting Nick." Kyle's eyes left Jeremy and started shooting daggers at the vice-principal. "You should be ashamed of yourself! I wish I had the time to tell you what a sick motherfucker you are, but I have other shit to do right now. If you're going to suspend me, just do it. Nick needs me and I need to go be with him. All this other shit is a twisted waste of time!" Kyle started walking towards the door and I was right behind him. He got in Aaron's face and spit on him. "You're sick! You probably raped Jeremy, too, you pervert! If the cops weren't here I would kill you! Do you hear me? I would fucking kill you! But first I would stuff a microphone up your ass so you could know what it felt like!" Kyle then shocked the cop when he grabbed Jeremy by the arm and pulled him away. "He's coming with me! He doesn't need to deal with this shit! This whole thing is a goddamn charade."
"If you don't stop, I will expel you!" the vice-principal threatened.
Kyle turned around in the doorway and yelled, "Do whatever the fuck you need to do, you sick bastard! Maybe somebody needs to rape you so you can learn to have some sensitivity!"
"Mr. Masters!"
"Fuck you and this fucking school! And fuck the football team and the fucking people here and the fucking teachers and the fucking" I grabbed him and started pushing him out the door, catching him off guard. "I'm not finished with him," he said to me.
"Yes you are. Let's go."
"I hope you burn in Hell!" Kyle yelled over my shoulder at the vice-principal.
"Consider yourself expelled!" the vice-principal yelled back.
"Kiss my ass!" Kyle told him. Kyle was trying to push through me to get to him, but I was stronger than him. I pushed Kyle down the hallway and Jeremy helped me pull him up the stairs.
"We have to go get John and Drew!" Kyle said in a last ditch effort to get us to let go.
I looked around and realized they weren't with us. I just assumed they would follow. "They'll be fine," I told him.
I got in my car with Kyle in the passenger seat and Jeremy crawled up in to a ball in the backseat. Before I pulled out the parking lot I asked Jeremy where he wanted me to take him. "It doesn't matter," he replied in a monotone voice, his eyes were empty. "You know it's true, don't you?"
"Huh?" I asked as I drove down the street.
"What Aaron said? You know it's true? I'm disgusting. I'm so disgusting."
"No you're not," I told him. "It's not your fault."
"Yes it is. Ask my brother, he'll tell you. I was so stupid. Always walking around the house in a towel or boxers. I was always in his room, bothering them. Talking to them, trying to wrestle with them, trying to be like them. Why didn't I wear more clothes? God, I was so stupid back then! I asked for it!"
"I don't care if you walked around naked, his friend had no right to do what he did to you."
"I just wanted to be cool like them. I didn't know what that meant."
It took everything in me not to cry while I was driving. I pulled in to a spot at the local hospital and neither of them was talking. Kyle was staring blankly ahead and he looked like he was barely breathing. Jeremy was still curled up on the backseat, he was shaking and his eyes had a far away look in them. I decided to deal with Kyle first. I rubbed his hand and he looked over at me, "I'm scared to go in."
"There's nothing to be scared about."
"I think we really outdid ourselves," Kyle said.
"With what?"
"Packing too much drama in to Monday. What are we going to do for the rest of the week?" A quick smile danced across his lips and I knew he was trying to make a joke.
I managed to smile back. I looked in his eyes and I could almost hear his thoughts. "It will be okay," I assured him. I leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Jeremy started hyperventilating in the backseat.
"Maybe the kiss wasn't such a good idea," Kyle said. We both turned and looked at Jeremy. "Let's help him get out."
We got out the car and I opened the backdoor and reached for Jeremy. "Don't hurt me," he begged.
"It's me Jeremy, Pat from the hockey team. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to get you some help." He took a few minutes to calm down a little. He was still hyperventilating as I helped him in the hospital. We took him to the emergency room and told the nurse he was having some kind of panic attack.
"Of course he is," she said. She disappeared from the booth and came out some side door. She walked up to Jeremy and put her arms around him. "Jeremy, what happened to you baby? You haven't had an attack in over a year. What happened?" He clung to her like she was his saving grace. "Thanks for bringing him in. I'm his mother. I'll take care of him from here, just tell me what happened."
"It's a long story," I told her. "Do you know what happened to him at the bonfire?" I realized it was a dumb question, we had bonfire parties year round.
She looked in to my eyes and I knew she was asking if I knew. "He told you?"
"Not exactly, but I know."
"Well, yes, I know, too. I just wish there was something I could have done. Jeremy used to lock himself in his room because he was so afraid that it might happen again. He had bad dreams about it for months. He still has them from time to time when something triggers a memory." She squeezed him tighter.
"If you knew, why didn't you do anything?" I asked.
"How could I? My husband and my son still deny the whole thing ever happened, and Don's father is the goddamn mayor. He never would have spent a day in jail anyway. It was best to just pretend nothing happened. Now why is Jeremy so upset?"
"Someone at school confronted him about it."
"Why?"
"He was defending us."
"Oh. Well I don't need to hear all the details. I'm fairly certain I have the picture. You boys can go back to school now. I'll take care of my son."
"Actually, we're here about another patient."
"Really?"
"Yes. Um his name is Nick Johnson and"
"The first young man from the high school?" she interrupted.
"I guess."
"He's in room 218. Shame what they did to him."
"Thank you," I told her.
"No, thank you for bringing my boy to me."
Kyle was not himself. I grabbed his arm and literally pulled him down the hallway with me. He was so silent that I kept looking at him to make sure he remembered to breathe. We reached room 218 and I walked in, dragging Kyle behind me. I walked to the side of the bed and Nick looked over at us.
"Hi," I whispered. "How are you feeling?"
"My day was a pain in the ass," he said in a raspy voice. He tried to laugh, but he winced instead, "but other than that, not too bad." My eyes found the bruise next to his left eye. They had worked him over pretty good. "Don't worry, I'm still prettier than you," he told me and I looked at him in disbelief. I was expecting a sad person, but he didn't seem sad at all. "It's not as bad as it looks."
"Oh."
"Hey Kyle," he said.
Hi," Kyle told him, but Kyle wouldn't look at him.
"There's nothing you could have done," Nick told him. "It looks like the whole football team is a bunch of closet homosexuals," again he tried to laugh.
"Would you stop it?" Kyle yelled.
"Stop what?"
"Stop acting like this is some big joke! It's not! There is nothing funny about what they did to you! Nothing at all."
"Come here," Nick told him. He shook his head. "I need you Kyle, now come here." Kyle walked towards Nick and Nick reached out his hand. They held hands and Nick told him, "I'll be fine. Besides those idiots didn't even realize that they would do more damage if they used the big part of the microphone, so it really wasn't that bad. And somebody was making a huge commotion outside so they didn't get to stick it in very far." Kyle looked away and Nick squeezed his hand, causing Kyle to look back at him. "I'm fine, really."
"But they raped you," Kyle said.
"With a microphone, its fine, I'll be okay. That was the easy part."
"Aren't you traumatized? Don't you feel violated?" Kyle asked.
"Traumatized, no. Violated, yes, but all I can do is move on."
"I should have been there."
"Why so they could rape you too? You're not like me Kyle, you would need a lifetime of counseling to deal with this."
"And you don't?"
"Hey, better a microphone than one of their nasty ass dicks. Who knows what type of diseases I might have caught."
Kyle let out a light chuckle. "I'm sorry," he said.
"Nothing to forgive," Nick told him. "But you could be a doll and get me some water please."
"Okay," Kyle told him as he let go of his hand.
Kyle grabbed the water pitcher and went to the nurse's station to find out where to fill the pitcher. As soon as Kyle left the room, the smile faded from Nick's lips. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked Nick.
"No, but if I don't grin and bear it, Kyle will flip out. Hell, he'll kill Eric, Kelso and Aaron before the night is over if he thinks I'm not okay. It's best that he thinks everything is fine. He needs time to calm down." Nick was looking at me. "Promise you won't say anything."
I wasn't sure what there was to say so I agreed, "Okay."
"It's not his fault and I don't want him to ever think that it is. It's fucked up and maybe now I'm fucked up, but I can deal with this on my own."
"I thought Kyle was the strong one," I remarked.
"Ssh, don't tell anyone." Nick said with a smile on his face. I followed his eyes and saw Kyle walking through the door.
I glanced back at Nick and for a second, I couldn't help but think, `He's going to be just as screwed up as Jeremy.'
Copyright Lustyville 2006 Please send comments to lustyville@yahoo.com and check out my yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lustyville.