Surviving Elite High (17 page)

As much as we wanted to stay, we left Atlantic City around nine. Nick had to work that night. When we arrived at St. Peter Town, we found the remains of the previous night’s celebrations. The team and the fans went all out and celebrated their first regional win.

“How do you think that this will affect us now?” I asked Nick as we drove home.

“I have no idea, but we'll face it together,” Nick answered as he held my hand.

I sighed, knowing that things were going to get much worse for us for two main reasons. One, we were the only openly gay couple in town. And two, we were not even eighteen. If you would have compared us, he looked ten times more mature than me since he always took care of his body by working out daily.

When we reached home, my mom welcomed us. She also congratulated Nick on his win and for standing up for love. She could not be more proud of him. Nick and my mom left for their shift that afternoon and I had to stay home alone. It was around nine that someone knocked at the front door. At first, I thought it was Nick, but his shift ended at ten and my mom's shift at eleven. I carefully made my way towards the front door.

“Who is it?”

“Is Nick home?” a woman replied.

I opened the door and came face to face with Mrs. Hawking. I recognized her from a few pictures that Nick showed me when I started tutoring him. I was in shock since I had no idea what she wanted with Nick at that hour.

“Is Nick home?” she asked again.

“Oh, no! His shift ends at ten,” I relayed as I examined her eyes. She was beautiful. Nick inherited her crystal blue eyes and perfectly tan skin. “Please come in.”

“Thank you,” she answered politely as she walked inside, scrutinizing every inch of my house. “I need to see him.”

“He'll be back by ten. You're welcome to wait for him.”

She nodded.

“Can I offer you anything to drink?” I asked her. She shook her head. “Please, have a sit then.”

Mrs. Hawking walked to the sofa. She looked around and gracefully sat down on the same spot where Nick sat to watch his sports channels. I didn’t know what to say since I was still in shock.

“Nick loves that spot,” I told her, whereupon she burst into tears. I was mortified. “I didn't mean to make you cry! I'm really sorry!”

I dashed across the room and returned with a box of Kleenex. She gently pushed the box aside and shook her head.

“I'm fine, thank you,” Mrs. Hawking answered. She took out a handkerchief from her expensive purse and blew her nose. “I just miss my baby.”

“And he misses you too, Mrs. Hawking,” I told her as I sat down facing her.

“I didn't want him to leave, but Edward lost his mind that day. He made me sign the emancipation papers. I love my son. He's perfect to me.”

“And Nick loves you too, Mrs. Hawking. He's mature beyond his years. You should be proud of him.”

“I am. He won regionals yesterday. We were there. I know Edward misses him too, but he is too stubborn.”

“Like Nick,” I answered with a smile.

“Yes,” she answered, smiling. “They're father and son. When they get something inside their heads, no one can make them change their minds. They take huge risks, even it if it means losing the ones they love.”

“Mrs. Hawking, Nick is a huge risk-taker, but he'd never risk losing the ones he loves.”

“He took a huge risk with you. He left us for you.”

“No, Mrs. Hawking, with all due respect, you kicked him out.”

Mrs. Hawking was baffled. She could not believe what I told her.

“How dare you!”

“I'm sorry, but that's the truth, Mrs. Hawking. Nick was just being honest with you. He wanted his parents to accept the real Nick and you turned your back on him. You kicked him out. You basically told him to choose between living a lie and being himself. He made his decision. Well, you made the decision for him.”

“I see that the gloves are off,” she said, smiling. “Looks like pity won't work with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you so interested in my son? Is it because of his great wealth?”

“I can't believe you just said that to me!”

“I know people like you. You're just after his money. Name your price. I'll pay you anything.”

I could not believe it. I jumped to my feet.

“Get out!” I ordered as I signaled her to the door. “I don't care if you're Nick's mom. I won't allow you to come into my house and insult me!”

Mrs. Hawking made her way to the front door. I opened it for her.

“Let me tell you something, Mrs. Hawking. We may be poor, but at least we've got class. Don't come back until you've learned some manners or you're ready to welcome Nick back into your life. I won't let you hurt him again. It's such a pity that his own mother behaves like a malicious old woman. And for your information, I love Nick more than my very own life! Good night!”

I slammed the door in her face. Did everyone think that I wanted Nick for his money? Why would they think that? I ran to my bedroom. I dropped on my bed and cried into my pillow. It was there where Nick found me a few minutes later.

“What happened, baby? Why are you crying?”

I wiped my tears as he sat on my bedside.

“Nothing. I'm just too emotional, love.”

Nick was unconvinced.

“I know you too well. You're lying to me and I don't like it. Tell me what happened, Jaan. Don't you trust me?”

I sighed.

“Please don't be angry at me, love. I didn't want to tell you anything because I don't know if you're going to believe me.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

I told him everything. I didn’t hold back any detail of his mother's strange visit to our house. Nick got really upset, but he believed me. After I told him everything, he let out a loud sigh.

“I know my parents are capable of many things, but offering you money? They've reached the lowest of lows! I can't believe that they’d put a price on my happiness.”

“Love, please don't be angry,” I told Nick as he lay down beside me.

“I'm not angry at her. I'm upset at her behavior,” Nick answered as he wrapped his arms around me. “She acted like a major…I don't even want to say that the word.”

“Then don't say it! At the end of the day, she's your mom.”

Nick smiled.

“You see why I love you, Jaan? You've got an amazing heart. Anyone else would have cursed at her and kicked her out of the house, but you politely asked her to leave. I love that you did that for me.”

I smiled and changed the topic since I did not want to talk about an issue that would hurt him.

“How was your shift? I bet that you didn't sell as many pizzas as before.”

“Believe it or not, I delivered twice as much.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, girls love the whole “I'm not available” idea. They flirted with me even more. In a twisted kind of way, some even told me that they found my sexuality hot and sexy.”

“I can't believe it! You're lying, right?”

“Nope. I also got tons of male customers now. I'm telling you, some of them made me really uncomfortable.”

“Is there anything that'll make people hate you?”

“We'll see tomorrow,” Nick answered with a worried look.

My heart sank. Tomorrow we were going to face the backlash of Elite High.

* * *

My knees were shaking. I was a nervous wreck. I stood looking down at the main hallway, studying every face in the crowd. Suddenly, Nick stepped up beside me while everyone stared at us. After he grabbed my hand, we made our way through the crowd. I saw Allison and Jacob smiling. Yes, Allison was happy for me! Even Jessica had the same expression on her face. I honestly thought the world was coming to an end. Yes, there were a few that stared at us, yet no one said anything to us. I thought the guys would be talking shit to us, but they were still afraid of Nick. At the end of the day, he would still kick their asses. Many students congratulated Nick for his victory; however, no one congratulated him for his new love interest. I guessed that ignoring the fact was ten times better than accepting it.

It was after our third period that we experienced the first backlash of Elite High. We were having a snack in the cafeteria with Madison and Kitty when Coach Jordan took Nick away for a short talk. We patiently waited for him since something was definitely up. The look on Coach Jordan's face said it all. A few minutes later, Nick burst through the door and exploded in front of everyone.

“Can you believe that after I took them all the way to regionals, they want to remove me from the football team!?”

“What? Who? Coach Jordan?” I asked him.

“No! The fucking president of the PTA! Accordingly to her, my promiscuous nature is sending a bad message!”

“That's bullshit!” Madison shouted.

“Exactly! I've been fucking around since I got my first boner and they come with this shit now!?”

“But they can't do that.”

“John's right, Nick took us to regionals and we won!” Kitty shouted. “We've never been to regionals. They're doing this because Nick is…”

“Bisexual, Kitty! I'm no longer afraid to say it!”

We looked at one another for a couple of minutes while Nick calmed down. We sat down after realizing that the entire school was staring at us.

“Now what?” I asked Nick.

“Coach wants to have an emergency meeting with the team in twenty minutes. We'll see what happens then.”

I examined his sad face. The one thing that Nick was good at was sports. They wanted to take away one of the most important things in his life. He lost his parents, his opportunity to attend Princeton, and now he might lose the game that he loves. Things were going from bad to worse every day.

“We'll face this together,” I told Nick as I held his hand.

Nick smiled.

“Together,” Madison agreed as she placed her hand on top of ours.

“Like friends do,” Kitty added as she placed her hand on top of Madison's.

Nick answered us with a warm smile. I was so proud of my friends. As long as we had each other, we could accomplish anything.

* * *

We attended the meeting that was held inside the boy's locker room. The entire team was there. Some were sitting on the benches or standing around the room. Coach Jordan called for everyone's attention.

“Welcome everyone! I wish we were here to be celebrating our recent victory, but I'm afraid I've got bad news. The PTA's president contacted me this morning and asked that Nick be removed from the team due to his personal lifestyle.”

The room exploded with angry remarks towards the PTA's president while Madison and Kitty smiled happily. They were really upset at the fact that they wanted to remove Nick from his spot and the team itself. The team supported Nick Wild Hawk! I did my best to hold back my happy tears. Nick's face was beaming with excitement and happiness.

“That crazy bitch could suck my cock!” Jacob shouted.

“Mr. Ashmore! You're not even a member of this team!”

Everyone laughed as they turned to him.

“That doesn't mean that I can't give my opinion! Last time I checked, this was a free country!”

“Very well then,” Coach Jordan answered. “Now, Nick is the best quarterback that this school has ever seen. He took us all the way to regionals this year and we definitely have a second shot next year.”

Everyone cheered, but Coach Jordan quickly shushed them.

“The PTA can't do anything without your support so let's put this to a vote. All those in favor of Nick staying as the team's captain and quarterback, raise your hand.”

Everyone lifted their hands including Madison, Kitty, Jacob and me. Nick was so proud of his team. Nick Wild Hawk was holding back his tears.

“Great job, gentleman. I'll call the president of the PTA and inform her of the team's decision.”

With that said, Coach Jordan walked to his office and called the PTA's president. While he talked to her, Nick's teammates thanked him for leading them to the first regional championship title. They even asked him about us. Finally, someone asked about us! He happily answered them while Madison flirted around with a few guys. Coach Jordan returned with a huge smile on his face. He gave us two thumbs up and everyone burst into happy chants. Nick remained as captain of the Elite Hawks. That was our first victory as an official couple in Elite High.

* * *

“I can't believe that the guys all backed me up!” Nick told me as we walked home.

“I know! For a minute there, I thought they were going to kick you off the team.”

“Yeah, everything—”

Nick froze when he saw a vintage car riding beside us. The back window slowly rolled down.

“Dad,” Nick murmured.

“I had to see it for myself,” Mr. Hawking said in a strong British accent as his car stopped in front of us. “My son is a fairy.”

“Why can't you just be happy for me for once?”

“I’ll be happy for you the day you become a man again”

“I emancipated myself from you so I don't have to listen to your bullshit anymore,” Nick retorted as he held my hand and pulled me away. “Come on, Jaan.”

Mr. Hawking did not follow us that day. Enough was said with those few lines. He watched as his only son walked away from him. I knew moving on with our lives would be tough. We reached home and Nick headed to his job. We continued with our routine like nothing had ever happened.

* * *

Things were bearable at school. Yes, there were a few who saw us as weird bugs, but we stood tall and strong. They never said anything to us after Nick kicked the shit out of two seniors after they’d called him a fag. I have no idea where Nick learned to fight. Whenever he was extremely angry, he turned into a powerful killing death machine. He pounded the two seniors to the ground all by himself. He got one or two bruises, but nothing major. The guys on the team looked out for me whenever Nick wasn’t around. I didn’t know it then, but Nick asked them to keep an eye on me. I heard a few remarks as I walked down the hallways, but I never told Nick. He had gotten away with Matthew and the two seniors. I knew he may not be as lucky the third time.