Techno
Now that Ben and Bryce have called a truce I can rest easy knowing that my friends can start to get along. However, something must've happened because Bryce acts strange everytime I mention Ben.
"What's wrong with you?" I ask him.
"Nothing." he snaps back, "I don't want to talk about it."
"Did you have a fight with Ben?"
"No," he said, trying to sound convincing, "I'm just thinking about how I'm going to catch up on my classes."
"Are you sure?" I asked, trying to get the truth out of him. Before he could respond, someone had called out to me.
"Hey Techno," said a transgender woman, "How are you my little cutie?"
"Hey Mel," I said to her, "How are you?"
Mel is a very attractive woman but you can tell she was born a male. Her make up was stunning, fashion sense on point, and her hair was all hers, meaning she never used wigs. Accompanying her was her little sidekick, Ricky. Ricky was one of those gay guys that you can tell he's gay from a mile away. Even though Ricky dresses up as a male, a very effeminate one might I add, he tries to act more feminine than Mel. If one were to see these two, anyone can clearly see that Mel was the queen bee.
I knew these two would aggravate Bryce, so I did my best to keep the conversation as short as possible.
"I'm good, honey," said Mel, "Ricky and I are just taking pictures for the Beautiful People's page."
"Great," I replied, "I'd be happy to have you take my picture."
"Thanks for the offer," Mel said, "But we were thinking your friend here is a better choice."
"Him?" I asked, "He's not very photogenic."
"Nonsense," Mel snapped her fingers at me, "Look at him. Sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, he looks like a California surfer, build and all."
"You play any sports?" Ricky asked Bryce, who had already started fuming. Ricky started feeling Bryce up. Feeling his arm muscles, his chest and abs.
Bryce couldn't stand it anymore. These people had invaded his personal spaces and now my friend was ready to explode.
Bryce
This guy is really pissing me off. It's bad enough to have to deal with this from Ben and now these two are harassing me for my picture.
"Find someone else," I said as calmly as possible, "I'm not interested."
"Oh come on," Mel said with her sweet charming voice trying to convince me, "Once they see you on our page, girls and guys will be lining up for your number."
Mel cupped my face in her hands while that Ricky bastard put his arm around my waist like I was a girl. I finally had enough and blew up. "Get your filthy hands off me you fucking faggots!" Ricky immediately left my side and went back to Mel like some frightened baby crawling back to its mother.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" asked Mel as she put her arm around Ricky, "All we were asking was a photo."
"Well, I told you I was not interested," I said, "And I clearly didn't give you permission to grope me like some stripper."
"So what?" Mel shouted, "And who gave you permission to call us that word? You're nothing but a hateful homphobe."
"Guys," Techno jumped in, "Let's just calm down," he turned to those two and said, "Look guys, he didn't mean it. He's just having a bad day."
"Why the fuck are you making excuses to them, No?" I asked. "If anything, they owe me an apology."
"Like hell we do," said Mel, "You're the one who should apologize, not us."
"I get sexually harassed and you demand an apology because I called you out on it.?" I shot back.
"This isn't over, asshole," Mel said, taking Ricky with her like some entitled mom taking away her spoiled brat, "You'll see and you'll be sorry."
"Ooh," I mocked, "I'm shaking. Do your worst, bitch."
"You really shouldn't have done that." Techno said, looking worried.
"What's the worst those faggots can do?" I asked.
I asked and therefore, I received. A couple days later, I walked to my classes, but I felt eyes on me. I casually looked around and people were glaring at me like I was some serial killer that was let go because of a legal technicality.
I sat down with Techno and Champ who just looked at me like I knew some big secret. "What's up, guys?"
Champ was the first to speak up, "I guess you haven't heard."
"Heard what?" I asked.
Techno showed me his phone, on it was a post on the campus's public forum. The post was about me, even a picture of me was attached. The post mentions how some students who happened to be gay were looking for people to take pictures of for their page. They mentioned that they innocently asked a guy if they could take his picture and he attacked them. Funny how they mentioned my use of slurs but they conveniently left out how they were groping and harassing me as well as the fact I didn't consent to taking my picture let alone posting it online.
Throughout the day, some people were calling me names, telling me how I should be ashamed of myself, the whole nine yards. What made it the absolute worst was when the three of us went to practice.
We were getting ready when I heard the coach call me. "Thomas. A word in my office, please."
I went into the coach's office and he showed me the post, only this time it was on the football team's page.
"Care to explain this?" asked the coach.
"I'm being attacked and harassed by these people." I had told him.
"Be that as it may," the coach had said, "This story is going viral and the dean is trying to avoid any bad press from this. So, I'm sorry to tell you this, Bryce. You're suspended until further notice."
"But coach," I pleaded, "I'm on scholarship, I can't be suspended."
"You should've thought about that before calling those people names."
That was it. My life was now falling apart and it wasn't even my fault. I went back to the dorms and sat on my bed, preparing for the worst. Techno came over but he insisted that I apologize to those two. Which I told him I would never do. He yelled at me, saying how I was to blame for being homophobic and that my reputation has suffered because of it.
I saw the comments on these posts. Some people were really awful towards me, saying how I'm a terrible person. Others were just using me, painting me to be a victim of the insidious LGBTQ agenda. Those were mostly out to get some sort of political gain. Like they know what I went through.
After Techno had left, a short time later, Ben came home.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"I guess you heard," I answered, "So whose side are you on? The side that hates me, or the side that uses me to hate gay people. I guess I deserve this for always talking shit about your people. Today I became an outcast. Everyone was looking at me like they wanted to kill me or run me out. Maybe this is what I get for being like this."
Ben just looked at me while I talked. When I was finished, he walked towards me and put his hand on my shoulder like a friend would to comfort them. And that is what I felt when he did that. I felt comforted by him.
"Be careful," I warned him, "You might catch the asshole virus from me."
"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked me.
I looked him in the eye and asked him, "Can you make the whole world straight?"
"Sadly, I can't," he said, "We're born this way."
I didn't know how to feel. My friends have all abandoned me, and no one is on my side. No one but him. The only person on my side is the one person I don't want.