I slept soundly and woke without having had any bad dreams, maybe it was finally over, I thought.
I met up with Peter at the usual spot and we talked as we made our way to school.
"I talked to my dad last night Peej, I told him I was gay."
"What did he do? Was he mad or anything?"
"No, he held me and told me it was okay and that nothing had changed, he still felt exactly the same way. I really love my dad, he's so cool."
"I think my dad already knows about me; it came up when we were working through our problems, but I never actually said I was gay. He was pretty cool about it really. He's pretty socially liberal and he supports gay rights and stuff. So does my mom. I just don't know if he's ready for me to have a boyfriend."
"You have a boyfriend? Who is he? I'll kick his ass!"
"You are, really weird man."
"Well, I am under psychiatric care you know."
We both giggled. I remembered meeting Wyatt but I said nothing.
"I want to kiss you so bad I can't stand it."
"Me too Jules, but we've already passed the park and if we don't get moving, we'll be late for home room."
"The first person we met on campus was Wyatt, he gave me a nervous wave and said hello."
"Hi Wyatt, can I talk to you about the student council thing from yesterday?"
"Sure, Jules,"
Peter and I shared a Bro hug and he went to his locker to get a couple books.
"Hey Wyatt, you gotta chill man, I said I wouldn't tell anybody I met you there and I won't. Besides, I'd have to explain why I was there and I don't want to be doing that. So it's strictly between us."
"Thanks Jules, you're a cool guy. But I bet you wonder what I was there for though."
"Nope, none of my business, I have my own problems although Ray has really helped with them," I assured him.
"Look, I know we run around in different groups at school but I'd like to be friends with you, and Peter too. Do you think it's possible?" Wyatt said hopefully.
"I don't see why not; you might find my interests boring but you never know. There's no reason a popular kid can't be a nerd sometimes."
"My dad says everyone's a nerd about something. I'll put my geek hat on when we get together."
"That sounds cool. We better get moving, it won't look good for the SB Rep to be late to home room."
I sat next to Peter and nudged him. He gave me a shy grin and the bell rang. All that rushing and the teacher was late to class. We chuckled about that and then Sheri, the head of the student council, walked in.
"Hi people, Ms Wells will be a little late; she had to handle a crisis with a student. But I'm here to let you know that we are circulating a petition to stop bullying in our school and make this a harassment- free zone. We have enough on our hands with tons of homework and tests and grumpy teachers without having to worry about another student calling names or even hitting someone."
Several people agreed audibly with her statement.
"Okay, but it will require everybody to take part and report any kind of bullying when it happens. By "Bullying", I mean any sort of harassment either physical, emotional, sexual, racial or economic. We think we should be free to be who we are here without some bigot or thug calling us names or stealing our lunch money or other stuff."
"How do we tell the difference between bullying and just bad taste?" one boy asked.
"Okay, let's say Gordon here tells Mary she's got a nice body. If Mary finds that offensive and tells him not to speak to her like that, and then Gordon stops, he just had bad manners. But if Mary tells him to stop and he continues, then that would be harassment. Sorry Gordon, I know you have better manners than that," Sheri told a boy with very red ears and cheeks.
"Okay, I get that but will there be something to help us tell the difference?" a girl asked.
"Yes, there will be guidelines and everyone will go to a special class to explain how it will work. But the first step is the petition; we need that so that we can send a resolution to the school board to have the free zone enacted as a regulation."
"So, this is just a first step, do you think the school board will act on it?" another girl asked.
"Our advisor, Mr. Pelham thinks so. And now I would like to collect the first three signatures from the boys that brought this to the council's attention. Peter, Jules and Wyatt please come up front."
I looked at Peter who looked startled and we got up and walked to the desk. Wyatt joined us and Peter signed first; I signed and so did Wyatt. We put the last four digits of our student I.D. number after our signature and that made it official.
"There will be at least ten pages of this petition in each room so you don't have to sign it right away. And of course, you only sign the petition if you want to. We have two weeks before we have to collect them, then verify the signatures and match the I.D. numbers."
As we walked back to our desks, kids I didn't know smiled at me and the one's I did know gave me thumbs up gestures or something similar. It actually felt good.
"Hey, thanks everybody and thank you, Ms Wells for allowing us the time," Sheri told the teacher.
"I think it's a wonderful idea Sheri, and it will make things better here if everyone gets on board."
Ms. Wells read the announcements and answered questions about upcoming events. Home room was only a half hour class and it went by quickly.
"So what's with Wyatt, why was he so jumpy this morning?"
"Oh, you noticed too?"
"Well yeah, he had the same expression you did when I first tried to meet you."
"Well, I'm sorry I can't tell you why, but he had a good reason but it's cool now."
"Okay, that's good enough for me."
"I thought it would be, he did say he thinks we're cool and would like to hang out if you want to."
"Why not, I can always use more friends."
We parted ways for Math and Science, respectively.
At lunch, we met up and went out and sat on the berm by the hand ball courts. It was my favorite place to eat and read at lunch if I didn't want to play one of the games going on.
"I had a good session with Ray yesterday, we talked about you a little. But he said he couldn't discuss you or your sessions, not that I asked it of him. But I asked if we could come in together and talk to him and he said yes, if our parents would agree."
"What's that going to do?"
"I thought he might be able to help us deal with the whole being gay thing and maybe what we could expect."
"Can I think about it?"
"Sure, you would have to be happy with it or I wouldn't do it."
"Thanks," Peter murmured.
I reached out and squeezed his hand, "I love you."
We finished eating and walked over to join a volleyball game.
"Where you two fags been? Off kissin' and blowin' each other?"
It was Kenny Dawes, not really a bully but a tremendous annoyance. He didn't appear very bright either.
"I'm not in the mood for you right now, Dawes," Peter said.
"Awww, did I hurt your faggy feelings?"
"You know Dawes, Peter gets really good grades in chemistry. How would you like to be walking down a hallway, and you feel a little spray like from a Windex bottle and five minutes later your clothes all melt and the girls get to eyeball that tiny little penis of yours. Would you like that?"
"Hey, you know I'm just bustin' yer balls man, no need to get all freaky geeky."
Dawes walked away quickly and we continued.
"I don't know of a compound that would do that, and I doubt one exists."
"But Dawes doesn't know that."
"You are evil aren't you?" Peter remarked.
"Not really, evil would be for him to feel a little moisture on his face in the hallway."
"He'd freak! Not exactly in line with the petition we signed though, is it?"
"Probably not, but it would be fun. And he'd think twice about harassing anybody else."
"Hmmmm, Peter responded.
We repeated our walk home after school including a stop at the park to have a kiss.
"I decided that I'll talk to my dad when he gets home. This is supposed to be our night out. What are you doing?"
"Hanging around the house, teasing the cat, getting scratched. The usual Tuesday routine, why?"
"If I know my Dad, he'll want to talk to your Dad about us and then if they agree we can see Ray together."
"Well, I have zero homework tonight so I was just going to play online or something. My dad usually doesn't do anything early in the week. Thursday's he plays cards and he and Mom go out Fridays usually. We're real socialites as you can see."
"Okay Jules, I'll call you if I find out anything."
One more long kiss and we left the shelter of the park. We passed two older men about sixty, I'd guess. Behind me I heard one say, "Ah young love, is there anything more romantic on this earth, Elliott?"
I didn't hear the reply and I didn't turn around but I looked at Peter.
"How did he know, Jules?"
"I don't know, maybe he thought you were a girl, you are awfully pretty."
"I got a girl for you right here," he laughed and grabbed his crotch.
We reached his turnoff and I watched him cross and walked on myself.
When I arrived home, Mom said she had something to tell me.
"I found the place where Mitchell and his mother and father are buried."
"His father? But he wasn't there, was he?"
"No honey, he couldn't adjust emotionally and he was so devastated that he took his own life."
"That's so sad, it doesn't seem right that one idiot with a car can ruin or even end so many lives."
"No Jules, it doesn't. If you'd like, we can go up to the cemetery and put some flowers on their graves."
"I'd like that Mom, thank you."
When we arrived, there were only a few people in the cemetery. Mom had the location of the plot on a map that she had printed at home.
We found the grave quickly but there was a lady with a broom and a dustpan removing dead flowers.
"Hello, can I help you find someone?"
"Oh, do you work here?" my mom asked.
"No dear, I spend so much time here that I know the place very well."
"Then you knew the Hardings?"
"Well yes, I'm Laura Harding. Lucas is my son and Mitchell is his son. Monica was his second wife. He lost his first wife to an auto accident and the horror of losing Monica and Mitchell crushed him. I'm afraid he hanged himself a year after he lost them."
"I'm so sorry; it must have been absolutely unbearable for you," Mom speculated.
"How did you know them, I've been the only one bringing flowers here since they died?"
"Well Ma'am, we were there; Mitchell had just walked past me when he was hit, I had turned to look at him and it happened. I've had nightmares ever since."
"I'm so sorry dear; It must have been a horrible sight for one so young," she said dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. "You must have been very close in age to my little Mitchell."
I told her how the nightmares had tormented me, and my reaction to others with Mitchell's eyes. And then about the dream where he told me his name and told me to let go and move forward. It seemed to give her some small amount of peace.
"Thank you for telling me that young man, I can't imagine how you managed to carry such a burden all that time."
"There were times when it didn't go so well, but I have a new therapist and I've made a lot of progress."
"That's wonderful dear, I'm very happy for you. My Mitchell was a sweet boy and he wouldn't want you suffering over him."
"May we add our flowers to yours?"
"That would be wonderful dear, please feel free."
We placed the flowers and I stood, contemplating the graves. I repeated my remark about the driver of the car that caused it all.
Mrs. Harding told us that she had never hated anybody before that day; but she would hate the man that caused all this until she was buried right next to her family in the same plot.
Once we were back in the car, Mom broke down and cried. I slid over and hugged her and sobbed along with her. I felt so bad for that lady. We eventually cried ourselves out and dried our eyes. A boy my age walked by and looked at us, he did the oddest thing. He raised two fingers to his chest and then his lips and kissed them and then pointed them at us. His expression was gentle and I guess he was showing sympathy.