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Where Courage Ignites
18. Rediscovered
March 1, 2018
It was the night we had been waiting nearly two months for. All our practices went towards this one evening. It was the night of the state scholastic decathlon meet. Our team was gathered in a small break room just outside the lecture hall. Taylor was putting the final touches on our coats, pinning on little wildcats onto the breast pockets. "You all look sharp," she said. "Everyone get in a circle."
I approached Taylor's side with Martha on my other and the rest of the team followed. "We've been working on this for quite sometime," Taylor began. "Arriving to this place was no small task, as you all certainly know. I want to say that regardless of the outcome tonight, I am proud of each and every one of you for being a crucial part of this team. Now…Let's take state!"
We all applauded and cheered when an organizer came into the room and instructed us to follow them down the hallway to the lecture hall. I waited behind Taylor until the host announced our school, and we orderly filed into the room. We couldn't miss Troy and Chad in the audience, who were cheering loudly as though they were in a gymnasium. Perhaps it was their enthusiasm was just what we needed to secure our spot at Nationals!
The team slowly walked through the aisle towards the exit, receiving congratulations on the way out. "Good hustle!" Chad said before high-fiving Taylor. By the time we made it to the hallway, I still couldn't find my parents.
"Chad," I said, "did you see my parents leave?"
"Yeah, I think1 they and Troy already went out."
I felt my stomach drop. We quickly traced our steps back out the front door and finally found mom, dad, Isabella, and Troy. I would have been concerned given what happened last time dad and Troy spoke, but everyone seemed calm…at least for now.
I cautiously approached and asked, "What's going on?"
Troy slightly jumped when he heard me and said, "Hey! Congratulations. You earned it."
"Thanks, Wildcat. What were you all talking about?"
Mom answered, "We were just talking about where to go to celebrate for dinner."
Troy backed away and said, "Anyway, I don't want to intrude. Have a good night, Montez family." I watched him as he jogged over to Chad, still wondering why on Earth he'd want to talk to my parents again after last time.
March 2, 2018
"Take a specimen," the substitute teacher instructed, reaching his hand into the cooler and removing a packaged object. "You want to cut along the edges of the seal so you don't do damage to the specimen," he instructed, taking a scalpel and digging it into the packaging. "Carefully pull back the top layer," he said, ripping it open and causing some of the preservation juice to squirt out. "Then take out your specimen." He ended his demonstration by holding up the dead frog for all of us to see.
Even though our station was all the way in the back of the lab I still leaned away from the dead creature.
"Alright," he sat the frog down on his table with a splat! "One partner gets the specimen, one get the tray, gloves, and two scalpels."
Troy looked at me. "Which do you want to get?"
"The materials, definitely."
"You sure you don't want to pick out our little froggy victim?"
"No thanks, I'll leave that up to you." I left to grab the items and met up with Troy back at the table. "He said to cut along the edge of the seal," I told Troy, setting the scalpels down next to him.
"I know," Troy said with a smile. "I was listening too, you know."
I smirked. "I'm just making sure."
Troy put his gloves on, picked up a scalpel, and sliced into the packaging. He carefully pulled the top layer off to expose the frog.
I put on my gloves. "Poor little guy. He didn't ask to be dissected."
"I think if little Kermit were still alive, he'd tell you it's alright."
"No he wouldn't! I wouldn't tell someone it's okay to cut me up."
"Kermit would be honored to be part of an educational experience."
"That's nonsense."
Troy lifted opened the frog's mouth and spoke in an incredibly convincing Kermit voice, "Find my liver, Gabriella."
"Troy!" I playfully slapped him on the arm.
"Take out my liver, Gabriella. It hurts Kermit."
I bent over at the waist and held onto my stomach, leaning onto Troy's arm as I broke out into a fit of laughter.
A voice from the front of the room yelled out, "Will you two in the back stop kidding around and pay attention!"
Speaking like Kermit still, Troy began, "Sorr-" before clearing his voice and saying normally, "We're sorry."
I hid behind Troy as I struggled to contain my laughter.
The teacher continued, "Now that you have your frog out, pin back his appendages on the tray."
The teacher's instructions quickly faded to white noise as I slowly turned my head to look at Troy. The moment he glanced over and saw me smirking at him, a cackle escaped his lips. He gently pinched me in the elbow until I batted him away and redirected my eyes towards the substitute teacher. The large smile plastered on my face wouldn't crack even once the teacher ripped open the poor demonstration frog's chest. The door opened and an aid from the office went over to whisper something into the substitute's ear. I had already thrown away my gloves and was gathering my things when he said my name. The room fell silent as I made my way out to follow the aid to Mr. Reynolds' office.
"Gabriella," he said, standing to greet me.
"Hey," I dropped my bag onto the armchair and asked, "what's going on?"
"I just received word from Superintendent Smith. Anthony has officially been expelled. He is not allowed back at East High."
"Good. That's good. Thank you Mr. Reynolds."
"Has your family decided whether or not you want to take them to civil court?"
"I know my parents want them to pay, but I don't want to face him in court. It was one thing talking to investigators about what happened, but I don't think I could talk about it in front of him."
"There are many ways you could prepare to testify if you choose that route, but if it makes you too uncomfortable, don't let your parents push you. I understand why they'd want to push this further since lawyers can be extremely expensive, but it should be your choice. If they need to be gently reminded of that, let me know. If there's anything more I could do, please let me know."
"Thank you Mr. Reynolds."
March 3, 2018
Tonight there was an away game at North High. I convinced my mom to drive Taylor and me all the way out to their campus to watch the Wildcats play. After we filled our arms with popcorn, nachos, and pops, we found some seats in the far end of the bleachers.
Taylor said as we waited, "I still can't believe we're going to nationals." It's been all she's been talking about lately.
"Why not? We have such a strong team."
"It's been sixteen years since East High last appeared at a national competition for anything academic. It's an unbelievable feeling to be a part of something so monumental."
"You think any other Wildcat in this gym knows about our scholastic decathlon victory besides us?"
"Honey, I'm guessing none of them know we even have a team. They're all too busy counting baskets and touchdowns."
The exciting drums from Kanye West's Black Skinhead suddenly erupted over the sound system. As everyone rose to their feet and started cheering, I yelled over her to, "It's the adrenaline!" We looked towards the cheerleaders lined up on either side of the doors to the locker room. They raised their pom-poms in the air to make a tunnel for the athletes running through with Troy leading the group. They gathered on the court and began taking practice shots as the team in green flooded onto the court from the other side. I watched Troy as he slowly dribbled his ball and scanned the crowd on our side. He kept looking around until his eyes finally connected with mine and I felt myself instinctively suck in a breath as my heart skipped a beat. He smiled to me and waved, taking a shot from the three-point line and effortlessly making it swish. He looked back to me for a moment before his dad called him over to the side of the court.
The first half of the game was tough to watch. North High gained a healthy lead of twenty points. After the coaches ushered their players to the locker rooms, the crowd loosened. As Taylor and I waited in line to refill our pops, I thought about what had happened before the start of the game. When Troy found me in the crowd, it literally took my breath away. After the way I felt with him when we dissected the frog and now this, I couldn't deny it to myself anymore. Something I thought I lost had been found – my attraction for Troy.
"Hello? Earth to Gabriella!" Taylor said.
"Sorry, what?"
"What were you thinking about?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course."
I whispered my discovery into her ear.
"Aw," she cooed. "That's great, Gabby! Are you going to tell him?"
"No way."
"It's okay if you're nervous. Most people are for that kind of stuff."
"No, I mean I'm not sure if I even want to date him. I don't think I'd want a relationship or anything. I like him a lot, but I'm just not sure about jumping into boyfriend-girlfriend territory. That probably doesn't make any sense, but it's how I feel."
"It doesn't have to make sense. You don't need to explain yourself. I'm just excited that you have feelings again and there's some potential for more between you."
The five-minute warning bell rang and while everyone else swarmed the concessions stand, Taylor and I squeezed back into the gym.
March 5, 2018
This morning, my parents finally brought up the possibility of taking him to civil court. It started with my mother gently nudging us into the topic. "The bill for the lawyer came today."
I looked up to my father who appeared frozen.
She folded her hands together on top of the table and said, "We'll have to dip into your college fund to pay for it."
When I didn't respond, I saw my parents exchange blank glances. My father finally cleared his throat and said, "Gabriella, we could really use the money from winning a civil case."
I argued, "That's assuming we'll win. What happens if we lose the civil case? Would we have to take all the money out of my entire college fund and sell the house?"
Mom said, "The lawyer sounded optimistic about our chance."
"That's because he gets paid no matter what happens to us."
"Gabriella, your father and I have talked about this. We think it'd be best to take him to civil court. You'd have to testify, but the lawyer can help you prepare so that it won't b-"
"I'm not going to testify."
"Gabr-"
"I won't testify! It's my choice whether or not I want to face him and I've decided that I never want to see that monster again. End of conversation." With my appetite completely ruined, I cleared my plate and went to wait in the van for my mom.
…
I had just sat down with my tray of food at the lunch table when Taylor came running up and said, "I have something to show you."
"What is it?" I asked.
Taylor threw her rolling back pack onto the table and removed her phone from it. She handed it off to me, "Read."
Chad Danforth
Tag(s): Ryan Evans
Status: I have something important to announce to everyone. Many of my close friends and family already know about this and with their support, I am comfortable enough to officially come out to everyone else as gay. I never thought this day would come. I used to suppress my feelings and attractions because I wanted to be "normal". I am not ashamed of what I am anymore. I am out and I am proud.
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Comments: 103
"Whoa! Did you know?"
"Yep!" She sat down into her chair. "He explained that he and Ryan were in a secret relationship when I asked him out. He asked me not to tell anyone, which is why I didn't tell you about this. Now that he's decided to come out, you can know why it didn't happen between the two of us."
"I'm so happy that he came out to everyone. I hope no one gives him any trouble for it." I put my hands around my turkey sandwich when a paper airplane suddenly crash-landed on it, burying its nose deep in the bread. I stared at it in shock before glancing up to the balcony and briefly caught a glimpse of Troy ducking away. I opened the airplane and read the two words: Rooftop garden. "Excuse me," I gathered my things.
"Where are you going?" Taylor asked me.
"I have a secret meeting to attend," I handed her the opened airplane to show her the note.
"Don't get caught," Taylor warned me.
"No promises." I ran up to the science wing and lightly knocked on the door. Troy let me in and said, "Hey."
"So, secret agent Troy, what's this secret meeting about?"
He laughed before rubbing the back of his neck. "You remember back in late January when I went over to your house and your dad and I talked for awhile?"
"And that mysterious 'I'm not' phrase you couldn't explain? How could I forget?"
"Yes, that," he chuckled. "Basically, I told him that I wasn't going to pursue anything romantic with you. At that time, he thought that I was only coming over to get something more out of you, so that's why I kept telling him, 'I'm not'. I didn't want to tell you about it because I didn't want you to think that I wasn't interested in you at all. He and I have discussed some compromises since then and with his permission, I wanted to ask you out on a date. Before you say yes or no, I want to say that regardless of your answer, I will still be there for you. If you want to stay friends, I will still support you and hang out with you. I will be there for you either way. It's entirely up to what you want to do."
I stared at him blankly as he became increasingly restless.
Finally, he begged, "Can you just say something?"
"Sorry," I said with a smile. "I'm just not sure that I'm ready to jump into a relationship. Can we agree to one date for now?"
"Absolutely!"
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! What did you think of Chad's announcement and Troy's explanation for the "I'm not"? The next chapter will be out on Wednesday, June 20th.
