Collins hadn't stopped moving since we got to the Life half an hour ago. It was Wednesday, and he had finally set up an appointment with Professor Michaels, the director of the teacher's board at MIT, or something like that. The actual name of his job had slipped my mind since Collins had told me what it was. No matter how much I tried to calm him, he kept looking to the door, turning back, spilling his tea.
I still didn't understand why this was as big a deal as he made it out to be. Of course I understood the dilemma, but still. This was causing him to toss at night.
I placed a hand on his arm, causing him to jump, but he looked me in the eye, and he could tell what I was thinking. "I'm sorry."
"I don't understand what the problem is. You tell him your demands, and if he can't deal with them, then he's out of luck. There are schools around here you could get a job at if he turns you down." He lowered his eyes, but I shook his arm and forced him to look back up. "Hey, he's the one who wanted you back. You didn't contact him, he contacted you, remember. There's gotta be a reason."
"Ya, but still…" He turned from me and began to stare into space. I shook him again and stared into his eyes expectantly. He face shifted from worried to ashamed. "They fired me three days after they found out I was gay."
"What! Isn't that against the law?"
"Well, they never told me that that was the reason. They blamed it on the actual reality incident, but that had happened four month before the fired me. Then they found out I was gay, and all of a sudden it was a problem. But since they blamed it on a legitimate problem, I could file a complaint against them."
I was about to say something comforting, when an older white man sat down at the table. Collins looked up, startled and sat straighter. He opened his mouth to speak, bur the man held him hand up to silence him. "I'll get straight to the point, Professor Collins. We have a very bright student in our school at the moment. Jeffery Chang, if you recall. Anyway, he has the potential to bring our school a lot of money, grants, and so forth. He even has the ability for a Nobel Prize if he keeps studying like he is. I know that we have had differences in the past, but for some reason, you touched this student, and he is threatening to leave out school and bring the support he has gained else where if we do not rehire you to our staff."
Both mine and Collins's jaw had dropped at that point. What a thing to hear. What a compliment! My face transformed to a smile as I looked at Collins, but he didn't smile. Actually, he sat up even straighter and looked rather smug. "Well, since it seems as though you really need me, it would be okay if I made a few demands?"
Mr. Michaels went pale for a moment, but he regained his composer quickly. "Nearly anything."
"Okay then." Now he smiled, at me in particular. "I want my own apartment off campus which the school will pay the rent for, and I want Angel to be allowed to come." He looked back at Mr. Michaels. "I have no doubt in my mind that you fired me for being gay. Not a thing has changed, except that now I have a boyfriend who I need to stay with me."
My smile grew even wider. I wanted to kiss him, but I though better of it, since the man offering Collins a job was clearly a homophobe. He turned to me, as if seeing me sitting there for the first time. And it wasn't a good look either. Kind of like when you see the best shoes ever, but there way too much money. Collins was the shoes he wanted, I was the money he didn't have, but would have to find if he wanted the shoes. I just smiled at him and snaked my hand into Collins's, who held it tight.
Mr. Michaels rolled his eyes, and turned back to Collins. "Ohh alright, under one condition." Collins leaned forward in his seat, not wanting to miss what ever it was Mr. Michaela was about to ask. "If and whenever Angel…" He said my name like he was swallowing poison. "enters campus property, he must follow the male dress code."
Collins looked at me with hurt in his eyes. I knew that he wanted his job so much, but I knew that he would never ask me to compromise who I was, so again, I did it for him. "Fine, I will."
Collins eyes went wide for a moment. "No, I can't ask you to do that for me."
I placed my hand on his cheek. "You didn't ask me. I offered." I dropped my hand and looked at Michaels. I could see the disgust all over his face, but I ignored it. "Is there anything that needs to be signed or something?"
Mr. Michaels stood up. "No, that's all. We expect to see you next Sunday, where will give you a class schedule and show you to your apartment. You will have one week to get settled in and plan your courses." He left the Life Café without another word or glance at us.
Collins looked at me with a frown. "You can't do this. You are the only person I know who knows exactly who they are."
I laughed and took Collins face in my hands. "I can still be me in pants without heels. Really. I did do it for the first eighteen years of my life, and I know how to walk in sneakers." Collins laughed. I'm not sure if it was at what I had said, or just the fact that I had said it, but he was now at ease, so it didn't really matter. "We should probably tell the others that we're moving to Massachusetts."
His smile faded again. "Ya, I guess."
