Confession is good for the soul GOCC GOCC 2 3 2001-10-16T15:30:00Z 2001-10-16T15:33:00Z 3 1770 10093 GOCC 84 20 12394 9.4402

Confession is good for the soul

The banquet was held over a tarp in the gymnasium, the legs of the tables encased in rubber stoppers to prevent them from marring the floor. Tai arrived before Davis, and was met at the door by Mark while is parents spoke with another couple.

"You guys can drop it now. Carl's here, and he and his father are going to make a scene about yesterday. It's best if you guys come clean, and we can drop it, and him. In case I don't see him, will you tell Davis that I'm sorry about yesterday? I feel responsible, since it was my game that got him into trouble."

"Not a problem, Mark. He's coming in now." It was only Davis and his father, a fact that didn't surprise Tai. His parents were legally separated, and often avoided attending the same function. Unfortunately, that meant that they both missed a lot of games simply because the other might show. "I'll talk with him."

He had only made it halfway across the room towards them when the coach called for everyone to take their seats. They ended up side by side, but with their fathers on either side, eliminating the chance at conversation. The coach welcomed everyone, and then announced that the food was ready.

Amidst the rush for the food tables, Davis avoided Tai easily, until he could return safely to the table with his father. Tai noticed that the other teen was hiding from him, and frowned threateningly, promising retribution. There was the general talk around the table, and Mr. Motomiya exchanged pleasantries with both Kamiya's, leaving Davis and Tai to their silence. When Tai tried to tell him what Mark had told him, he turned away on the pretense of talking to someone else.

By the time the coach called for silence again, Tai was fuming, clenching his fist under the table to keep them from Davis' neck. "I'd just like to welcome everyone again, before we get down to business.

"It has been brought to my attention that several parents, and their children from the sports teams, have expressed a concern with the recent admittance of homosexuality from several of the students. As public personnel for the school, the other coaches and I can do nothing to discriminate amongst students. However, I have been asked to let this meeting be open for discussion. The floor is open."

A woman raised her hand, and then stood up. "I don't think it's any of my business. My son is on the basketball team, and he says he doesn't mind. If he doesn't, why should I?"

She sat back down, and a man raised his hand. Carl's father stood up. "My son is being kicked off of the soccer team, of which he's been a member for three years. This is his last year of high school, and they won't let him play because some queer is scared of him."

Tai looked at Davis, and saw him close his eyes guiltily, turning his face away from his own father. When he opened his eyes again, light brown met dark, and he saw his friend swallow hard, with shame. He turned away, clenching his jaw in self-righteous anger as several other parents stood up and expressed concern about the well-being and safety of their sons with such dirty filth on the athletic teams.

After thirty minutes of gritting his teeth, the coach finally stood up, and Tai relaxed a little, hoping it was soon to be over. "I have also been asked to inform the parents that their children on the teams have the right to vote off any of their teammates, as long as the vote is unanimous and within reason. That decision is not to be taken lightly."

That was when the arguments broke out, with people yelling across tables about rights, each side growing louder as their opponents did the same. Tai put his head on the table; surprised and pleased when his parents remained silent. Several faculty members had to break up fights that began to turn physical.

He turned his face towards Davis and caught the sad look on his face. Despite the pandemonium going on around them, he wore a slight smile, a softer and sadder version of his old grin. Tai realized that he hadn't seen that grin in a long time.

He pushed away from the table, and then leaned down to whisper in his parents' ears. They looked at him for a moment, then stood up and made their way out of the gym as he walked up to the makeshift stage. He could feel dark irises on him as he took over the microphone, and asked for silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen, athletes. In the past two days, a game that was started over the weekend has been taken too far. I, along with a friend of mine, performed a dare in which we had to pretend for two days that he and I were dating." The silence was deafening as parents looked at each other, and then their children.

He continued. "Part of the dare was that we told no-one, leaving our classmates and teammates to think that we were gay. I would like to apologize to him, because our charade nearly got him beat up by Carl Flowers. He wasn't kicked off the team because of fear, but because he threatened the well-being of a teammate."

Davis met his eyes, his face serious and confused. Tai licked his lips before going on. "Some of the parents are demanding the right to know, believing that they have a right to know if their child could be hit on by another boy in the showers. I would like to set your minds at ease. Your children are safe. I resign my position as Captain, and remove myself from the team."

There was a collective gasp from the onlookers as he stepped away from the podium, and made his way quickly to the side exit. By the time he stepped outside into the cool evening air, he was shaking too hard to stand up.

Advice: Friendly or Physical

"I thought I'd meet you out here." Tai whipped around, looking down at an amused blonde rock star. "Nice performance. Almost as good as convincing the world that you were straight."

"Really, Matt? What gave me away? The hair? My willingness to where 'Property of' shirts?" He sat down in the grass beside his friend, leaning back against the brick wall of the school building.

"Actually, I think it was when you grabbed his ass. No sane, straight man will grab another guy's ass, ever." Tai tried to grin at his friend's joke, but it wobbled and disappeared as a silver tear ran down his brown cheek.

"I am such an idiot. There has to have been a better way of doing it than that." He wiped at the moisture on his face roughly, drawing in deep, shaky breaths. "Announcing it in the middle of a banquet. That's pretty rash, even for me."

"I don't know. I think coming out to a gym full of homophobic Neolithic idiots was rather fitting. Not to mention your parents, and the guy that made you realize your gayness."

Tai shot him an exasperated look. "Thanks for sympathizing with me, but 'gayness' isn't word, and my parents left shortly before I jumped up there. Hopefully, it will take them a few hours at least before they know what I did."

"And Davis?" Blue eyes regarded him in gentle understanding, and he shrugged. "I thought he would follow you out here, at least. Especially the way he was watching you as you walked up to give your grand speech."

"Were you watching the entire thing?" Matt smiled. "Why didn't you go with TK and your mom?"

"Because the athletes are only allowed to take two guests, and my little brother wanted Cody there, instead. I told him that I understood. I knew that you would take both your parents, so I couldn't go with you, so I hid back here, where I could hear what's going on without anyone knowing that I'm present."

"There are days that you scare me, Ishida Yamato. Then there are days when you simply surprise the hell out of me." He laughed softly, shaking his head. Matt chuckled, then looked up as the door was pushed open a little farther. "What's up, Mark?"

The goalie had his head sticking around the door, and looked at them with a broad grin. "You can come back inside now. Everyone's either calmed down, or left. Your parents came back, and your mother fainted. Your father and Davis are in deep discussion about something, and Carl has a black eye."

"What did I miss?" Tai stood up, and Matt followed, standing behind his friend. "It sounds like I missed a lot in five minutes."

Mark laughed. "You did. After you left, Carl stood up, and made a big scene. Davis jumped two tables and started beating the crap out of him. Then your parents came back in, and asked what had happened. Mr. Flowers said something to the point of 'your gay bastard won't be playing soccer this year', which caused your mother to swoon. At that point in time, everyone on the team stood up and said that they'd quit if you did."

"I am not going back in there." Tai could hear the quiet murmur of conversation through the open doorway. "No way. It's bad enough that I have to go to school with all those people tomorrow. I'll stay on the team if you guys are sure, but I'm not walking back in there."

"Coward." He looked at Matt with a surprised expression. "It's your choice. You came out, but you're obviously too scared to face the outcome."

Tai glared at him. "You are a manipulative bastard."

"I know." The blonde smiled pleasantly, and then started to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Tai. Have fun, don't get mauled."

"Shut up, Ishida. Your day will come. I'll see to it." He turned back to Mark, who was hanging patiently onto the door. "I guess this means I'm going back inside." The brunette grinned, and held the door as his orange-haired teammate passed.

"I guess this means that the dare is over, right?" Tai looked at him. "You and Davis don't have to pretend to be together, and most of the school will know that it was a dare. The other half will speculate, since you admit that it wasn't a complete lie for you, but they'll probably realize that he isn't."

That stopped Tai in his tracks. He could see the parents, mostly those of the soccer players, sitting at tables around the gym. Davis was back in his seat, talking to his father. Tai's parents were also reseated, his mother with her head resting on the table, his father rubbing her back.

Dark brown eyes looked up to meet his, and he saw apprehension. His eyes were guarded, unreadable from the distance between them, and Tai felt his heart skip a beat. It was one thing to announce to the school his preference, another to lay his heart bare to a single person.

There wasn't affection in the gaze that met his, or joy, or happiness. He looked away, moving past Davis to his parents again. His father met his gaze, his face red, his eyes glittering angrily. Tai wished that Davis had left. It would have saved him the embarrassment of being pulled away in front of him. Heavens only knew what Mr. Motomiya though about his son hanging out with a gay boy.

"Are you going to stand here all day, or are you going to get your parents, and go home?" He looked at Mark.

"I'm going home. Thank you, Mark." He extended his hand, and the goalie shook it with a smile.

"I don't know for what, but you're welcome. I'll see you at school tomorrow." He walked away, and Tai started towards his table hesitantly, wishing he knew how much his father was going to freak out.

As he came abreast of the table, he opened his mouth to speak, but his father held up his hand for silence. "We're going home. We have some things to talk about." He watched as his mother stood up slowly, and made her way to the door without looking at him. His father stopped to say goodbye to Davis and his father, before leaving. Mr. Motomiya looked at him oddly, as if waiting for him to say something.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Tai." Davis met his gaze squarely, defiantly. His father put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it threateningly. "It's been a fun two days." He grimaced as the grip on his shoulder tightened again, but ignored the warning. "I'll be ready on time, like always."

Tai smiled, then moved past them to leave. He made it safely outside, where his mother and father were walking slowly to the car. His grin faded, and he watched their backs sadly. In less than a year, he would be living on his own, and they would be unable to say anything about the way he lived his life. He might have to wait a little longer for Davis, but it could definitely be worth the wait. He'd already decided as much.