Liberty High School

12:00 pm

"You shouldn't have done that" Justin exclaimed shoving Ben on his shoulder as hard as he could, "Why did you do that?"

Ben shrugged not really knowing, once again his anger got the best of him, and he had acted totally out of character. All eyes settled to Michael to see what to do. Michael knew why. Brian was gay, he confessed it out loud. Now they all couldn't be seen to go after him. They couldn't help a queer without being thought queer themselves. Michael stood up making a loud noise as he scooted his chair back on the floor; he was the only one who knew exactly what Brian felt. Well not exactly, his family was nothing like Brian's, what a nightmare.

"Fine" Michael muttered letting the others know exactly what he thought, "You are all cowards! Let the gay boy handle the other gay boy. You know since being gay makes us all know exactly what to fucking do in this situation!"

"Michael" Ben protested reaching for his arm.

"Don't touch me" Michael cried as he jerked his arm away, "You don't know what it's like. You don't have a fucking clue how it feels to be on the outside"

"But I do" Ted admitted softly as he stood up. "I'll go"

Justin nodded, "Me too" standing up and walking bravely towards the door, "I'll go too" he confirmed figuring he was the most concerned about Brian's actual well-being at this point.

The three boys traipsed out of the library led by Justin followed by Ben who still thought it was a bad idea but didn't want to be left behind alone.

It didn't take them long to find Brian. He was sitting not far from the library entrance. He looked shaken but not upset. Kind of shell-shocked. Justin knelt first to his eye level while the other's happily hung back at a respectful but still supportive distance.

"Brian" Justin said softly placing a hand on Brian's shoulder, "Come back to the library before you get in trouble"

Brian stared at Justin. He just made the biggest confession of his life and that was what he had to say to him. "Fuck trouble, fuck the library and fuck you"

Justin somehow knew his words were inadequate but hated the viciousness in which Brian let him know. "I'm sorry about Ben" he tried again, "I'm sorry about your dad. My dad is an asshole too"

"Yeah, well don't be because sorry is bullshit" Brian grew stronger and the walls fortifying him shored up enough that he could stand without shaking. He rose to his feet and pulled Justin up with him. He didn't need anyone feeling sorry for him. He decided that rule one to being an out and proud gay man was never take anyone's fucking pity.

And rule two was if you want someone, take him. He grabbed Justin's hand and pulled him along behind him.

"Where are we going?" Justin said excitedly as they walked further from the library into the senior hallway.

"Being bad feels pretty good" he whispered loud enough that Ted and the gang could here.

Michael followed the boys quickly acting out his every "risk-taker" fantasy. Ben followed Michael still feeling consumed with a poorly understood need to protect him. Ted stood for a minute weighing the risk. He didn't want to get caught but yet he was dying to be part of the crowd for a change. To be accepted as one of the cool kids. He threw caution to the wind and hurried off to catch up to them.

Brian stopped at his locker and dialed the combination quickly while Justin and the rest of the boys looked on confused. Brian knew what they needed. He definitely knew what he needed but Justin's ass was clenched so tight there was going to be no way he could fuck him until he removed the stick years of pretending to be perfect had shoved up his ass.

The boys watched as Brian twisted his hand unnaturally along the top, front lip of his locker and heard the sound of tape being pulled away from the metal surface. When his hand emerged it was holding a baggie rolled up tight containing what was obviously marijuana.

"Drugs?" Ted protested, "You have drugs in your locker?"

"Shut up Theodore" Brian hissed, "…or I won't share"

Michael's eyes grew big at the thought. He was going to get high at school with friends. Well not friends exactly but kids who weren't going to beat the shit out of him. Brian was gay which meant he was no longer the only gay kid at this school. This was turning out to be the best day of his life.

He trailed after Brian and the rest soon followed. All eager in their own way and for their own reason to take a walk on the wild side. As soon as they crossed over from the senior hallway to the hallway that led back to the library, they froze. Mr. Horner was crossing in plain view clearly on his way back to check on them. He turned to get a drink of water and they ran down the sophomore hallway. They paused again as Horner walked in their view passed the teacher's lounge.

"We can cut through the cafeteria" Brian suggested.

"No, we have to go through the auditorium. It's faster" Ben insisted.

Brian and Ben stared each other down before Ben finally looked at the group to decide. His popularity was sure to persuade the others to his way of thinking.

"The auditorium is faster" Justin mentioned reservedly. Brian was gutted hearing Justin side with Ben but shrugged it off the best he could.

"C'mon" Ted took two steps in favor of Ben's route and the gang all followed Ben and Ted to the auditorium, only as they approached the doors they were gated and locked blocking the path to the hallway that would lead them to the back entrance of the library.

"We can still go back to the cafeteria" Justin suggested feeling stupid for having doubted Brian in the first place. The boys all looked at each other knowing it was too late. Horner would beat them back by a good few minutes and they were all going to spend an eternity in detention. Ted and Michael looked particularly horrified at the thought of getting in more trouble.

"Self-pity makes my dick soft" Brian insisted placing a hand over the small red handle on the fire alarm next to them on the wall and shoving the bag of drugs into the front of Ted's jeans. "Hold on to this for me" he whispered and laughed as Ted's dick responded to Brian's hand invading his pants.

Before Justin could formulate the protest Brian had sounded the alarm and made himself the sacrificial lamb. He took off towards the gym singing loudly and drew Mr. Horner away from the group now frantically taking his originally suggested route through the cafeteria.

By the time Horner caught up to Brian he was already in the gym and dribbling a basketball loudly so it echoed through the empty gymnasium into the hallway.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing Kinney?" Horner yelled as he grabbed the basketball that bounced his direction.

"I needed to stretch my legs" Brian responded dripping with sarcasm. "You know how much I enjoy gym class sir"

"Yes" Horner hissed reading the unspoken subtext, "It seems the last time you pulled the fire alarm was what landed you in this particular detention"

Brian smirked. It was the same reason. Not the same reason Horner thought it was of course. He hadn't randomly pulled the fire alarm then either. He did it to save Jake, his gym teacher, after he blew him in the showers and almost got caught by Mr. Horner. He did it to give Jake time to dry off, get dressed and leave the building unscathed.

He liked Jake and he liked having someone to fool around with at school that wasn't about to gossip about it. They had been doing it off and on since freshman year. It had never progressed beyond blow jobs or hand jobs after school. Jake was too afraid to have anal sex. He was married and AIDS was fucking scaring the shit out of the closet cases.

Horner was saddened by Brian's latest antic. This was not part of the plan. Brian had all the potential of being a successful leader he just didn't have any real confidence in himself yet. All this false cockiness was so counterproductive; it hid a scared little boy who, without intervention, would be a loser like that worthless father. He needed to grow up and get his fucking act together soon or it would be too late.

"You're a bum Brian" Horner stated plainly, "You want to be a bum like your old man?" Goading Brian seemed to be a successful strategy in the past. He knew the old-man card was a powerful motivator.

Brian threw the basketball hard at the wall and considered his options as it bounced back against the bleachers and ricocheted a few more times. He didn't want to be like his father. He quickly decided rule three was finishing school. You can't have "fuck them all" money without an education so he would play the game his way so long as it didn't get him expelled from high school.

"Fine" Brian lied, "I'm sorry. I will go back to the library" He picked up the ball and rolled it over to Horner gently.

Horner didn't know what to make of the new contrite Brian but knew the library wasn't any longer an option. Brian was just too disruptive to the plan. He told them that Brian was a wildcard but they insisted he be included in the plan and now look at what happened.

"Come with me" Horner commanded leading his way to a large janitorial closet pulling Brian by the ear behind him.

"Here" he said shoving Brian into the closet. "You need some time alone I think"

Brian looked incensed, "You're literally putting me back in the closet?" he asked amazed, "You hate fags that much?"

Horner's eyes grew wide at Brian's accusation which Brian misinterpreted as shock at the cavalier way he admitted to being gay. "Listen here Kinney. You don't have a fucking clue what's going on here so don't think you know me or presume to understand why I do what I do. You need to worry about yourself. Worry about the path you're on and the decisions you're making. You think your little fire alarm stunts are cute? You think sacrificing yourself, forgoing what's best for you to save others like Jake Hall is a recipe for success in life?"

Brian's face crunched at the mention of Jake. Was that a threat? Horner had to know that couldn't be a coincidence. Brian considered Horner's words but before he could speak, he was alone and locked in the closet.

Ben, Michael, Ted and Justin took their seats in the library blown away by their respective luck. Brian had taken the fall and they were home-free. It took over ten additional minutes before the teacher even came to look in on them which was good since everyone but Ben had been out of breath after the mad dash back to the library.

Brian slumped down on the floor in the closet and closed his eyes. Worry about himself? It wasn't terrible advice. He did need to stop giving a shit about what others thought and concentrate on his wants and needs. He closed his eyes and imagined the life he wanted. In it was a successful job, one that paid him plenty of money and where he wore a suit to work every day and never came home with dirty fingernails like his dad. Make that a designer suit and manicured nails. He wanted an elegant space filled with Italian fixtures and furniture; one that everyone who entered knew exactly how successful he was and felt compelled to comment on it. He wanted a hot car. He wanted hot men; lots of hot men but one in particular blonde was at the top of the list. He wanted a group a friends who envied him and his life but loved him for who he really was and not what he had acquired. He wanted a mom who didn't care he was gay and he wanted a real family not this fucked up version of one he was born in.

There it was: his life checklist.

-Beautiful boy(s)

-True friend(s)

-Real family

-Hot car

-Designer clothes

-Killer apartment

Since there was no time like the present to start working on it Brian shimmied his way into the duct above the closet and crawled on his hands and knees towards the library.

Justin was sitting quietly when he first heard the banging from the ceiling. His thoughts were consumed by Brian; his face, his hands, his body but in particular his lips. God he wanted those lips on him, exploring his naked body. He palmed his growing erection under the table and considered asking for a pass to the bathroom just to see if he could find out where Brian had disappeared to, well that, and to jack off in private.

The banging was getting louder and growing closer until a loud crack, followed by a scream and loud thud on the second floor shook the library. Brian came crashing through the ceiling and landed exactly where he intended close to the first two items on his checklist.