Part 5.
"Oh. Wow." Connie looked up at Julie's exclamation. She turned, following Julie's stare and found herself echoing her statement.
Charlie and Adam were walking down the hallway towards them, together, shoulders brushing and down between them their hands were clasped tightly. Charlie was nervous, they could tell. His posture was tight, his face a mixture of fear and defiance. Adams' face was positively glowing. He wore a barely contained smile and although there was a nervousness around his eyes, he looked as if at any moment he wanted to burst out and start skipping down the hall.
"Okay, that is *so* cute." Julie sighed.
Connie nodded, mirroring the same dreamy expression Julie wore. Both girls sighed.
Charlie and Adam smiled in greeting as they walked past and the girls grinned back. Julie gazed about her and realised that not that many people had actually noticed the two boys hand in hand walking down the hall together. For those that had there was a mixed reaction. Some were looking openly shocked, some were more nonchalant, one or two looked downright disgusted, some were looking curious and some of the girls like themselves were looking on with more interest. Behind them she could hear some whispered comments.
//"Hey isn't that those two hockey players?
"Yup."
"Whoa. Are they out then?"
"They are now."
"Very brave."
"Uh huh."//
//"How's *that* gonna go down?"
"What?"
"JV Captain and the star hockey player, you know; an item."
"Huh, where?"
"Over there."
"Oh my. Wait till Varsity get a wind of that."//
//"Okay, that is disgusting."
"What? Your Mum pack pickle again?"
"No. Those two. Over there."
"Ewww."
"Exactly. They're those two hockey jocks aren't they?"
"Yeah."
"Gross."//
Charlie and Adam wandered on, oblivious. Well, oblivious to the words anyway. From the set of their shoulders, they both knew the wake they were leaving behind them.
By the end of the day, most of the school knew. The grapevine at Eden Hall was second to none and those who hadn't actually seen the two boys hand in hand were being filled in across the dorms. Some took it in their stride, having already friends or family that were gay. Some were not all that surprised, not being able to think back and remember ever seeing the two hockey players not together. Some were shocked, some disgusted and some were plain angry.
Portman had already put a couple of freshman boys right when he'd overheard them whispering derogatory remarks in the corner of the lunch hall and Fulton's glare had halted in mid flow some of the catty remarks from some of the cheerleaders.
****
Two days later, it was a pale looking Charlie that Guy stumbled across down by the pigeon-holes. All boarding students had one for official school correspondence and notes from teachers and other student bodies.
As Guy stepped up and said his name, Charlie jumped and pushed something into his bag quickly.
"Hey, Guy." He sounded normal, but Guy couldn't help but notice an underlying tremor in his voice.
"Charlie, you okay?"
"Um yeah. Sorry, bit distracted. What did you want?"
"Nothing, just saying hi. You ready for practice tonight?"
"Oh yeah."
"Okay, see you later then. I've got to run, I'm meeting Connie in a bit."
"Okay, see you later Guy."
As soon as Guy had left, Charlie eyes flickered back to his bag and he froze for a moment. Taking a breath, he swung it on his shoulder and hurried down the hall.
****
The locker room was the usual hub-bub of noise as the Ducks got changed for their first practice of the term. Coach Orion had been away for the first week so consequently official practice had been cancelled until today.
Charlie was quiet during changing and Adam sensing something was wrong, kept close, but didn't push. He waited behind for Charlie, as all the others filed out to head out onto the ice.
"I found this in my pigeon-hole today." Adam turned to where Charlie was still sat on the bench. He sat down next to him and took the slip of paper from Charlie.
YOU DISGUST US. YOU DON'T BELONG AT EDEN HALL AND WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU LEAVE. YOU ARE UNNATURAL FREAKS.
The colour drained from Adam's face. "Oh jeez," he breathed.
"Conway! Banks! On the ice now!" Coach Orion's voice boomed down into the locker room and both boys jumped. Adam gave the paper back to Charlie who quickly shoved it back into his bag. Both made their way out of the locker room quickly.
Coach Orion, of course, noticed Charlie's bruised face immediately. "Conway! What the hell happened to you?"
Charlie skated to a halt as Adam glided past to join the others doing laps. "Wrong time, wrong place, that's all. Sorry Coach."
"You okay to play?" Orion's face creased with concern.
"Yes."
"Okay, go join the others."
After practice, Charlie and Adam disappeared quickly back to their dorm while the rest of the Ducks dispersed to tackle the evenings homework.
Coach Orion walked into the locker room, pleased to note the relative tidiness of it and strode over to pin something on the notice board. On the way back something on the floor caught his eye.
****
"Where is it?" Charlie's frantic voice filled the air as the contents of his bag were flung onto his bed. "I put it back in here!"
"Are you sure? What about your pockets, did you put it back in your jeans or something?" Adam was looking worried. If someone else found that note....
"No, I put it back into my bag when Orion shouted for us." he turned wild eyes to Adam.
"The locker room," they both breathed.
****
Leaning down, he snagged the bit of paper that had wedged itself between the floor and the leg of the bench and unfolded it. He wasn't sure what made him open it, it was such a tiny scrap of paper and if it belonged to one of the Ducks he shouldn't be looking at it, but curiosity got the better of him and besides how would he know who it belonged to if he didn't look? As his eyes scanned over the words written in capital letters across the paper his eyebrows drew together in a deep scowl. Turning it over he read the name on the outside.
****
"It's going to be locked up by now." Charlie felt his stomach drop at the thought of the note ending up in Orion's hands. He and the Ducks got on better with Orion now and there had developed a bond of trust and respect. But Charlie had no idea how the Coach would react to the knowledge that he and Adam were together. His Captain and star player, both gay and in a relationship together. He chuckled nervously and earned a strange look from Adam who was walking quietly beside him. "Just cracking up here, don't mind me."
Adam smiled despite the situation and ruffled Charlie's hair, something he knew Charlie hated.
"Hey." Charlie muttered as he swotted at Adam's hand and then, "hey," as the rink door opened under his hand. With raised eyebrows, both boys looked at each other before walking through towards the locker room.
Once inside Charlie headed straight for his section and began scouring the bench and the floor underneath. Adam knelt next to him.
A noise behind made them both whirl round. Orion was stood in the doorway, an unreadable expression on his face. Charlie's eye flickered down to Orion's hand and what he was holding.
"Conway, Banks; lost something?"
"Erm, no....I mean, we.....couldn't find something and we..thought..it, you know, we might have dropped it in here earlier. When we were changing." Adam managed to stumble out. Charlie stayed quiet, but Orion had already seen the look on his face when he'd seen the piece of paper he was holding. That was all the evidence he needed.
"Something like this?" He held out the paper and noticed both boys pale.
"No," Adam managed to say, but he could see by the look on Orion's face that he didn't believe them.
"I found it under the bench, with your name on the outside, Charlie. Was this sent to you?"
Charlie and Adam stayed silent.
"Charlie, was this sent to you?" Orion's voice was gentle now, his expression had softened.
"Yes." Charlie admitted quietly.
"Us." Adam corrected, looking at Charlie who met his eye and then turned to look defiantly at Orion.
"Why?"
Charlie bit his lip. He couldn't seem to find the words to explain it to the man in front of them. He sensed Adam was about to say something and reached over to grasp his hand. He looked up at Orion and straightened his back.
"We're together."
There was silence.
"Together?"
"Together." Adam gazed at Charlie, a small smile on his face before turned to look grimly at Orion. "Some people don't like the idea."
Orion stood and stared before uttering one word. "Wow." Neither boy could read the Coach's reaction though and they stood close together hand tightly clasped.
"I'm stunned." His eyebrows lifted and then he smiled, scratching his eyebrow. Adam and Charlie seeing this relaxed slightly. Orion stopped suddenly, his brow furrowing again. "Is that what this was all about?" He gestured to Charlie's face.
Charlie ducked his head. He nodded.
"Who?"
"Doesn't matter," Charlie said quietly.
"Who?" Orion's voice was firm.
"I don't know." Charlie's voice rose in turn.
"Where?"
"In the park. Why?"
"Because if it happened in school, I want to know, that's why!"
"Why? There nothing you can do!"
"Charlie. If you've been attacked, these people need to be punished."
"I don't know who they were and I don't want to. I just want to forget it."
"You can't Charlie. Not if these are the same people who sent you this note."
Charlie averted his eyes. Orion looked at Adam who was also looking at Charlie with expression that told Orion that he wanted Charlie to do something about it too. "You can't avoid this." He looked at the paper in his hand and sighed softly.
"Are you okay with this? With us?"
Orion looked at Adam, at his tight hold on Charlie's hand and Charlie's face as both boys looked at him somewhat nervously. "I can't say I'm not shocked, because I am. But I have nothing against it and if you boys are happy and this is who you are, then I have no problem with it. As long as you both keep skating and playing good hockey, understand? Make sure it doesn't interfere with the team and I'll be happy." He looked at them evenly and saw the tension drain from both their shoulders.
"Thanks Coach." Charlie said quietly.
He smiled warmly, then remembering the piece of paper when serious again. "How many people know about you?"
"We told the Ducks a few months back and our families," Adam said, "We decided not to hide it a while ago. We haven't publicly come out and told anyone but we've held hands around school. People know about us now."
"You need to be careful." Orion quickly continued, "and that's a stupid statement because I know you are already aware of that, but if these are linked," he waved the paper," there are people out there who won't flinch away from a physical solution to their supposed problem. You." He looked at the note before handing it back to them. "Listen, I can't officially report anything unless you do but if anything else happens and I mean anything, you tell me. Got it?"
"Yes, Coach," they both answered in unison.
"Thanks." Adam added.
Orion watched as they walked out of the locker room and then sighed. They had hard times in front of them, he knew. Society was not kind to kids who came out, particularly in schools such as Eden Hall. With Charlie and Adams difficult history already at Eden Hall, with the Ducks and the Varsity it could well work out to be even more hard.
13
"Oh. Wow." Connie looked up at Julie's exclamation. She turned, following Julie's stare and found herself echoing her statement.
Charlie and Adam were walking down the hallway towards them, together, shoulders brushing and down between them their hands were clasped tightly. Charlie was nervous, they could tell. His posture was tight, his face a mixture of fear and defiance. Adams' face was positively glowing. He wore a barely contained smile and although there was a nervousness around his eyes, he looked as if at any moment he wanted to burst out and start skipping down the hall.
"Okay, that is *so* cute." Julie sighed.
Connie nodded, mirroring the same dreamy expression Julie wore. Both girls sighed.
Charlie and Adam smiled in greeting as they walked past and the girls grinned back. Julie gazed about her and realised that not that many people had actually noticed the two boys hand in hand walking down the hall together. For those that had there was a mixed reaction. Some were looking openly shocked, some were more nonchalant, one or two looked downright disgusted, some were looking curious and some of the girls like themselves were looking on with more interest. Behind them she could hear some whispered comments.
//"Hey isn't that those two hockey players?
"Yup."
"Whoa. Are they out then?"
"They are now."
"Very brave."
"Uh huh."//
//"How's *that* gonna go down?"
"What?"
"JV Captain and the star hockey player, you know; an item."
"Huh, where?"
"Over there."
"Oh my. Wait till Varsity get a wind of that."//
//"Okay, that is disgusting."
"What? Your Mum pack pickle again?"
"No. Those two. Over there."
"Ewww."
"Exactly. They're those two hockey jocks aren't they?"
"Yeah."
"Gross."//
Charlie and Adam wandered on, oblivious. Well, oblivious to the words anyway. From the set of their shoulders, they both knew the wake they were leaving behind them.
By the end of the day, most of the school knew. The grapevine at Eden Hall was second to none and those who hadn't actually seen the two boys hand in hand were being filled in across the dorms. Some took it in their stride, having already friends or family that were gay. Some were not all that surprised, not being able to think back and remember ever seeing the two hockey players not together. Some were shocked, some disgusted and some were plain angry.
Portman had already put a couple of freshman boys right when he'd overheard them whispering derogatory remarks in the corner of the lunch hall and Fulton's glare had halted in mid flow some of the catty remarks from some of the cheerleaders.
****
Two days later, it was a pale looking Charlie that Guy stumbled across down by the pigeon-holes. All boarding students had one for official school correspondence and notes from teachers and other student bodies.
As Guy stepped up and said his name, Charlie jumped and pushed something into his bag quickly.
"Hey, Guy." He sounded normal, but Guy couldn't help but notice an underlying tremor in his voice.
"Charlie, you okay?"
"Um yeah. Sorry, bit distracted. What did you want?"
"Nothing, just saying hi. You ready for practice tonight?"
"Oh yeah."
"Okay, see you later then. I've got to run, I'm meeting Connie in a bit."
"Okay, see you later Guy."
As soon as Guy had left, Charlie eyes flickered back to his bag and he froze for a moment. Taking a breath, he swung it on his shoulder and hurried down the hall.
****
The locker room was the usual hub-bub of noise as the Ducks got changed for their first practice of the term. Coach Orion had been away for the first week so consequently official practice had been cancelled until today.
Charlie was quiet during changing and Adam sensing something was wrong, kept close, but didn't push. He waited behind for Charlie, as all the others filed out to head out onto the ice.
"I found this in my pigeon-hole today." Adam turned to where Charlie was still sat on the bench. He sat down next to him and took the slip of paper from Charlie.
YOU DISGUST US. YOU DON'T BELONG AT EDEN HALL AND WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU LEAVE. YOU ARE UNNATURAL FREAKS.
The colour drained from Adam's face. "Oh jeez," he breathed.
"Conway! Banks! On the ice now!" Coach Orion's voice boomed down into the locker room and both boys jumped. Adam gave the paper back to Charlie who quickly shoved it back into his bag. Both made their way out of the locker room quickly.
Coach Orion, of course, noticed Charlie's bruised face immediately. "Conway! What the hell happened to you?"
Charlie skated to a halt as Adam glided past to join the others doing laps. "Wrong time, wrong place, that's all. Sorry Coach."
"You okay to play?" Orion's face creased with concern.
"Yes."
"Okay, go join the others."
After practice, Charlie and Adam disappeared quickly back to their dorm while the rest of the Ducks dispersed to tackle the evenings homework.
Coach Orion walked into the locker room, pleased to note the relative tidiness of it and strode over to pin something on the notice board. On the way back something on the floor caught his eye.
****
"Where is it?" Charlie's frantic voice filled the air as the contents of his bag were flung onto his bed. "I put it back in here!"
"Are you sure? What about your pockets, did you put it back in your jeans or something?" Adam was looking worried. If someone else found that note....
"No, I put it back into my bag when Orion shouted for us." he turned wild eyes to Adam.
"The locker room," they both breathed.
****
Leaning down, he snagged the bit of paper that had wedged itself between the floor and the leg of the bench and unfolded it. He wasn't sure what made him open it, it was such a tiny scrap of paper and if it belonged to one of the Ducks he shouldn't be looking at it, but curiosity got the better of him and besides how would he know who it belonged to if he didn't look? As his eyes scanned over the words written in capital letters across the paper his eyebrows drew together in a deep scowl. Turning it over he read the name on the outside.
****
"It's going to be locked up by now." Charlie felt his stomach drop at the thought of the note ending up in Orion's hands. He and the Ducks got on better with Orion now and there had developed a bond of trust and respect. But Charlie had no idea how the Coach would react to the knowledge that he and Adam were together. His Captain and star player, both gay and in a relationship together. He chuckled nervously and earned a strange look from Adam who was walking quietly beside him. "Just cracking up here, don't mind me."
Adam smiled despite the situation and ruffled Charlie's hair, something he knew Charlie hated.
"Hey." Charlie muttered as he swotted at Adam's hand and then, "hey," as the rink door opened under his hand. With raised eyebrows, both boys looked at each other before walking through towards the locker room.
Once inside Charlie headed straight for his section and began scouring the bench and the floor underneath. Adam knelt next to him.
A noise behind made them both whirl round. Orion was stood in the doorway, an unreadable expression on his face. Charlie's eye flickered down to Orion's hand and what he was holding.
"Conway, Banks; lost something?"
"Erm, no....I mean, we.....couldn't find something and we..thought..it, you know, we might have dropped it in here earlier. When we were changing." Adam managed to stumble out. Charlie stayed quiet, but Orion had already seen the look on his face when he'd seen the piece of paper he was holding. That was all the evidence he needed.
"Something like this?" He held out the paper and noticed both boys pale.
"No," Adam managed to say, but he could see by the look on Orion's face that he didn't believe them.
"I found it under the bench, with your name on the outside, Charlie. Was this sent to you?"
Charlie and Adam stayed silent.
"Charlie, was this sent to you?" Orion's voice was gentle now, his expression had softened.
"Yes." Charlie admitted quietly.
"Us." Adam corrected, looking at Charlie who met his eye and then turned to look defiantly at Orion.
"Why?"
Charlie bit his lip. He couldn't seem to find the words to explain it to the man in front of them. He sensed Adam was about to say something and reached over to grasp his hand. He looked up at Orion and straightened his back.
"We're together."
There was silence.
"Together?"
"Together." Adam gazed at Charlie, a small smile on his face before turned to look grimly at Orion. "Some people don't like the idea."
Orion stood and stared before uttering one word. "Wow." Neither boy could read the Coach's reaction though and they stood close together hand tightly clasped.
"I'm stunned." His eyebrows lifted and then he smiled, scratching his eyebrow. Adam and Charlie seeing this relaxed slightly. Orion stopped suddenly, his brow furrowing again. "Is that what this was all about?" He gestured to Charlie's face.
Charlie ducked his head. He nodded.
"Who?"
"Doesn't matter," Charlie said quietly.
"Who?" Orion's voice was firm.
"I don't know." Charlie's voice rose in turn.
"Where?"
"In the park. Why?"
"Because if it happened in school, I want to know, that's why!"
"Why? There nothing you can do!"
"Charlie. If you've been attacked, these people need to be punished."
"I don't know who they were and I don't want to. I just want to forget it."
"You can't Charlie. Not if these are the same people who sent you this note."
Charlie averted his eyes. Orion looked at Adam who was also looking at Charlie with expression that told Orion that he wanted Charlie to do something about it too. "You can't avoid this." He looked at the paper in his hand and sighed softly.
"Are you okay with this? With us?"
Orion looked at Adam, at his tight hold on Charlie's hand and Charlie's face as both boys looked at him somewhat nervously. "I can't say I'm not shocked, because I am. But I have nothing against it and if you boys are happy and this is who you are, then I have no problem with it. As long as you both keep skating and playing good hockey, understand? Make sure it doesn't interfere with the team and I'll be happy." He looked at them evenly and saw the tension drain from both their shoulders.
"Thanks Coach." Charlie said quietly.
He smiled warmly, then remembering the piece of paper when serious again. "How many people know about you?"
"We told the Ducks a few months back and our families," Adam said, "We decided not to hide it a while ago. We haven't publicly come out and told anyone but we've held hands around school. People know about us now."
"You need to be careful." Orion quickly continued, "and that's a stupid statement because I know you are already aware of that, but if these are linked," he waved the paper," there are people out there who won't flinch away from a physical solution to their supposed problem. You." He looked at the note before handing it back to them. "Listen, I can't officially report anything unless you do but if anything else happens and I mean anything, you tell me. Got it?"
"Yes, Coach," they both answered in unison.
"Thanks." Adam added.
Orion watched as they walked out of the locker room and then sighed. They had hard times in front of them, he knew. Society was not kind to kids who came out, particularly in schools such as Eden Hall. With Charlie and Adams difficult history already at Eden Hall, with the Ducks and the Varsity it could well work out to be even more hard.
13