Chapter 2

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

I woke up and took a shower. For some reason I always take a while in the shower the morning after I have a client. I just feel really dirty for some reason and scrubbing really hard makes me feel a little better. I could hear David's mom working in the other room. I don't know who the hell wants her services at 5:00 am, but it wasn't the first time. When I finished in the shower I got dressed and got breakfast. I remembered to pack a towel, washcloth, shampoo, and soap in my backpack. I went back to my bedroom to get my shoes. David still wasn't there, but we both don't go home some nights, so I didn't think anything of it.

I made my way through the living room, where Mom was passed out, and started on the road to school. The sun was just coming up. I know it sounds gay, but the upside to my schedule is getting to see both sunrise and sunset. I made it to school and stripped off at the entrance. I'd specifically worn a t-shirt and gym shorts to make the process as easy as possible. I headed immediately to homeroom, and took a seat at the very back. Connor came in to talk to me.

"What happened to your face, man?" I felt my face. Sure enough, there was a scab where Ray'd hit me. I looked down, and my ribs were bruised too.

I looked back at Connor. "Nothing."

"You wanna hang out for a bit?"

"Nah, I'd rather stay here, no one's staring at me."

"Alright, see you later."

I sat through another one of Mr. Chenault's lectures. He was boring as hell, but he was nice, and I could tell he was trying to keep the attention off me. He stopped me on the way out of class.

"Brian, where did you get those bruises?"

"Oh, I fell on the way home."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah"

"Is everything ok at home?"

"Yeah. Look, I'm gonna get a lot of requests in the halls, so I really need to go."

He let me go. Actually, I didn't get any requests. Maybe it was the bruises, or people were still afraid of me, or maybe I'm just ugly.

I got to gym and hung out in the locker room while the girls got dressed. I decided to go to the bathroom while I was there. We're supposed to use the bathrooms of the opposite sex, and I figured to kill two birds with one stone. While I was in the stall, I accidentally overheard a bunch of girls talking about me.

"What's up with that kid's bruises?" one asked.

"Maybe his dad beats him," her friend replied, "that would explain why he's so moody."

A third voice spoke up. "I heard that he and David Ginsberg were secretly gay lovers, and the real reason David ran out of school is that he was jealous. They must have gotten in a fight afterwards."

I stayed in the stall until the coach blew the whistle for us to get out. We played dodgeball. I did my best to get out early, and sat down on the bleachers. I put my hands in my lap and tried to cover myself as much as possible without getting in trouble. A bunch of girls also got out early, they always do that. Fortunately, they talked about clothes and boys and Lindsay Lohan, and pretty much ignored me. I only caught a few passing references to David or me, most suggesting that he had either murdered the resource officer or been shot.

I got a wide berth in the showers, and in the hallway on my way to history. I sat in the back of class with Connor. He invited me to spend the night at his house. I thought for a minute, and then said yes. I always liked spending time with Connor's family. They were so friendly and nice to one another and to me, like one of those families you see on old sitcoms. Really, they were nicer to me than anyone else except David, and I had no idea when I'd see him again.

History class didn't seem as long this time, and we headed over to lunch. I noticed people staring at me; I couldn't tell if it was at my dick or my bruises. We sat down with Katie, Rick, and Sherry. Brenda sat with us too. They'd transferred her into our lunch because there wasn't a Program freshman in hers.

"You wouldn't believe the questions I've been getting asked about you," she said.

"I just wish the people asking didn't believe them either," I responded.

"What really..." Sherry started to ask, before stopping. I think Connor gave her a look. He knew that I got a little weird when people started asking questions about my personal life.

I changed the subject. "They nice part is I haven't gotten anymore requests."

"What about you?" Rick asked Sherry.

"I had another problem yesterday between third and fourth bells, but Justin Korn told the guys off." Justin's one of the seniors in The Program, and a linebacker. I guess Eileen was right about people watching out for each other. Apparently everyone but me was having a great time in The Program. Even Katie had made several new friends and had some eye-opening sexual experiences.

The last half of third bell went by even more quickly. I walked to biology class. For the first time this week, I didn't hurry. I figured nobody would make any requests, and if I kept my head down, I didn't notice them staring.

My heart sank when I saw the stool back in place in the front of the classroom. Mrs. Geis had me take off my shoes and socks again and announced that she would have the class draw pictures of me and label all the parts we had discussed yesterday. Fortunately, I got called down to the office before the class could get their pencils out. I could hear her announcing that the lesson would be postponed to tomorrow as I left.