Hey gang! Sorry it's been a while: Uni was bloody hectic and my mental health took a REALLY bad turn recently so I had little motivation to do stuff I otherwise loved doing, namely this and drumming. Hopefully this is an okay redemption for yet another period of radio silence. One bit of advice: Be careful who you can truly trust in your group of friends, and those you do trust, hold them EXTREMELY close, or do what I did and hold someone you love very close only for them to crush your heart into tiny pieces...sorry... Ta, love you all.
The class' focus broke when the door opened and in came Astrid, followed by Will. I shot them a smile and and they returned the gesture. Our teacher, Mr Ericsson, a handsome man in his mid thirties, stopped going over what he'd written on the whiteboard and addressed Will and Astrid. He'd lost a little bit of weight since the holidays started and his brown hair had gotten a little shorter. Must've had it cut recently.
"Ah, Miss Hofferson," Mr Ericcson greeted in a low voice as he took a step towards them. "I take it this is the new student?" Will smiled and nodded confidently.
"Yes, sir, that's me."
"Great," Mr Ericsson smiled. "Astrid, you may take your seat." Astrid nodded in confirmation and walked to her desk at the back of the class, squeezing my shoulder on the way. "And you, Mr...?" Mr Ericsson continued.
"Stanley; William Stanley," Will greeted with an outstretched hand. Mr Ericsson enthusiastically shook it.
"Glad to meet you. If you'll just take a seat next to Mr Haddock over there..." Will's eyes scanned to his left and caught mine. He raised his eyebrows and smiled at me as if to say 'what are the odds?' He walked over to the desk to my right, placed his books down and dropped into his seat. I leaned across to him.
"Doing okay so far?" I asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, I'm doing good. It's funny how we keep running into each other...it's like the planets are aligning or something," he chuckled. I nodded in mock agreement.
"Okay, class," Mr Ericcson began. "As I'm sure you're aware, we have a new student joining us for this year. Would you like to introduce yourself?" All eyes fell on Will and without missing a beat he stood up and humbly smiled.
"Hey everyone," Will started as he looked around the room and gave everyone a small wave. "Uh, my name's Will Stanley. I'm originally from Melbourne, Australia." A few whispers floated about the classroom. An obnoxious blonde a few rows behind me flashed her brilliant teeth and raised a dainty hand.
"Is it true everyone says g'day mate and gets around on kangaroos?" Her gaggle of friends giggled at the silly question. Will loudly exhaled through his nose but smiled nonetheless.
"You're not the first person to ask me this, and I'll answer the question once and for all: No to both, but, if you like, I'd be happy to oblige the g'day part."
"Really?" the girl piped up.
"No." Will sharply deadpanned. A chuckle rang out from everyone in the room, Even Mr Ericcson who badly tried to cover it up by placing his hand over his mouth.
"It's nice to be in an environment where we can remove all stereotypes, so thank you for that, Will," Mr Ericcson smiled. I glanced behind me and the gaggle looked both shocked and appalled at their proverbial burns. "So, what do you like about Berk so far?"
"I like that everything is close by, and I've already made really good friends here in Hiccup and Astrid." He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a small shake. I looked up at him with a smile.
"Wonderful," Mr Ericcson said. "Thank you Will, you may take your seat." Will sat down and made himself comfortable.
"Funny that you should mention your nationality, Will, because that ties into our first text for the semester. Now, the school board was very reluctant for me to teach this book to you guys because of some mature content, but since we're all adults here, and it is 2017, they finally caved, and I'm really excited to get started on this. So, given how the state of things are with the LGBT+ community in regards to marriage equality being on the chopping block, I felt this would be perfect for us to explore in our overall theme of "Identity and Belonging" for your final year of school. Fair warning though, I will not tolerate any homophobic or offensive behaviour-slash-comments towards the LGBT community in this classroom. Is that clear?" The class let out a hum of agreement. I nodded enthusiastically. Will nudged my arm and leaned across to me.
"I know what book this is," he whispered excitedly. "I've read it twice." Mr Ericcson grabbed a copy off his desk and held it up for everyone to see.
"Holding The Man, by Timothy Conigrave," Mr Ericcson continued. "It's an autobiography about Conigrave's 15 year long relationship with his partner, John Caleo, who he met while going to...it's not called Middle School in Australia, is it Will?" Will smiled and shook his head.
"No, sir, just High School, seventh grade through to twelfth," Will politely answered.
"Right, so they met when they were in high school, and this book tells the story of their relationship with themselves and others around them during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's. Little fun fact, Conigrave finished writing this book only 10 days before he succumbed to AIDS related illness." I softly gasped at this revelation, along with a few others in the class. Imagine if he never got to finish it...
"So, despite the fact that there are still a few groups of people out there who view the LGBT community as immoral, would any of you say that there has been any progress or regress in society relating to their social stance?" The classroom was silent in thought. "Anyone?" Will slowly raised his hand. "Mr Stanley?" He stood up once again.
"Well, um...I have read the book and given the hardships that John and Tim and their friends faced back then, I'd say that there has definitely been progress, what with America granting marriage equality, but there's still a ways to go. It's still outlawed in Australia which is really annoying for someone such as myself-not that I wanna get married or anything, but just for the fact that this is a basic human right that isn't being given to people in a community that I happen to be a part of. And not only that, but its not just gay and lesbian people who cop all the flack...I've had my own sexuality denied by people a few times, even by my own mother, and I try not to think about it too much but when it does happen, it really hurts. Being bi isn't a stepping stone to being gay or whatever bullshit people come up with; I know what I am and I'm proud. And if there's anyone in this room right now, if you're feeling ashamed for who you are, you don't have to be. Just be certain of who you are, stand up for what you believe in, or if you have a friend that's going through tough times because of who they are, stand up for who you believe in, because all it is at the end of the day is unconditional love, and if you love your friends that weren't born straight or in the right body, then that's another step forward for all of us."
You could hear a pin drop. The class was deathly silent. Then, all of a sudden, I heard clapping coming from the back of the room. Out of everyone in the class, Snotlout was sitting up straight, nodding and slowly clapping. Astrid looked at me in surprise. My reflection mirrored hers as everyone else joined in. Eventually, her and I stopped and we joined in with what resulted in thunderous applause from everyone. Will blushed and raised his hand in thanks and sat back down. Mr Ericcson was the last to finish clapping and grinned at Will.
"I think you've made the greatest, bravest first impression out of any new student ever Mr Stanley."
Little more character development for Will. Like I say in my bio, He's practically me so what he said was true. I have experienced erasure and it ain't pretty. Felt like I had to put in there. Hopefully I won't take as long next time with writing a new chapter. Peace out, and stay alive.