Ms. Richards walked into the auditorium in her usual attire. She was wearing a blue plaid tweed business suit and a white blouse. Her hair was pinned up in a heavily sprayed bun. Under her arms, she held a leatherette portfolio with a couple of manila folders. She walked up to the front letting her matching high heels clack on the tile floor.

  “Alright, let’s talk about the gay-straight alliance also known as the GSA,” she said placing her portfolio on a table in the front.

  There were about 10 students sitting in various spots of the auditorium. Joe was in the middle of the crowd sitting next to Tiffany. Mike and Rocco were towards the front. Raz and Meigs were front and center. Pete was in the back. Rocco was surprised to see him since Pete often did not participate in any school-supported extracurricular activities. There were three or four other kids that Rocco had seen but not met.

  “My intention of this group is to provide a safe space for gay and straight students at Miners Creek to interact and exchange ideas,” Ms. Richards continued. “I want to stress that no one--” she held up her pointer fingers on both hands, “I mean, no one, is to call anyone names. Bullying will not be tolerated, or you will be sent to detention. This is still school grounds, and you are expected and required to treat each other with civility and respect. Am I clear?” Half the kids nodded; the other half audibly mumbled a ‘yes’.

  “So, let’s start by going around the room. Tell us all your name and what your expectations are of this club,” Ms. Richards said and pointed to Meigs since he was first.

  “I’m Meigs. As a gay man, I am expecting a place where I can be gay,” Meigs replied.

  “I’m Raj, everyone calls me Raz. Meigs and I are boyfriends. I guess I expect a safe place,” Raz answered.

  Ms. Richards looks up at Rocco. “I’m Rocco. I’m expecting also expecting a place where I can feel safe from bullies.”

  “I’m Mike. I’m Rocco’s boyfriend. I want to be a part of a club that allows me to express who I am.”

  Ms. Richards pointed to Joe. “I’m Joe. I’m here to support my little brother down there, Mike.” Mike looked over his shoulder at Joe and smiled.

  “I’m Tiffany. I want this school to be a safer place for my friends.”

  The three other kids introduced themselves and said they expected the same things as what had been said. Finally, Ms. Richards got to Pete.

  “I’m Pete. I’m here to support my best friend, Rocco.” Rocco looked back at Pete. He waved at Rocco. Pete had never said Rocco was his best friend. That statement deeply touched Rocco.

  “Okay,” Ms. Richards said after the introductions. “It sounds like we all want a safe space to be ourselves, or we are here to support our friends. That’s a perfect starting point. Usually, a GSA is a place where gay and straight kids can come together and have a dialogue about what it means to be a member of a persecuted minority group. Hopefully, we will make the entire school a safer place for gay kids. A few of you have already expressed your sexual orientation. Does anyone wish to tell us whether you are gay or straight?”

  Mike rose his hand. Ms. Richards waved as if to give the floor to Mike. Mike stood up. “Well, I’m not really one or the other. I wouldn’t say I’m all straight or I’m all gay. I just started to fall for this guy right here,” Mike pointed to Rocco.

  “Okay, that’s a great share, Mike. You bring up a great point. There are many people who are neither one nor the other. You are more fluid in your sexuality. Many researchers think that sexuality, being gay, straight, bi, is on a spectrum. On one end is heterosexuality, one the other end is homosexuality. Most people, even those of us who appear straight, fall somewhere between the two ends,” Ms. Richards explained. “I bet those of us in this room that say we’re straight have at some point in their lives wondered what it was like to be gay, they may have even tried.”

  “Yeah, that’s me,” Joe said standing up. “I tried out gay stuff with another guy once. I didn’t like it.”

  “Great share,” Ms. Richards said. “You tried it out and it wasn’t for you. That’s how most people decide their sexuality…by trying either side out for themselves.”

  “What if you are attracted to both?” one of the other kids said.

  “Well, Phillip, that is very common. That’s called bisexuality. In fact, there is a school of thought that suggests that we are all bisexual,” Ms. Richards explained. “But even so, going along with the spectrum idea, some of us are more gay than straight and vice versa. Sometimes, our sexuality changes over the course of our lives.”

  The club elected Joe as its president. He declined. Joe stated he didn’t feel comfortable because he felt the GSA should be led by someone who was not straight. The club then elected Meigs as its president. This was the first time in Meigs’s life to be elected to a position. Mike volunteered his talents to design a poster campaign for the GSA. Pete and Rocco volunteered to do a concert to raise some funds.

  When the first meeting of the GSA ended, Mike went over to Meigs to congratulate him on his presidency. Rocco approached Pete. At that moment, David Wick walked into the auditorium. Rocco and Pete were the first to see David and stiffened up their postures in preparation of a conflict.

  “Hey, guys, is this the GSA startup group?” David asked.

  “It is,” Pete said coldly. “We’ve just wrapped it up.”

  “Oh, okay,” David said nervously. “I was hoping to say something to the group but, I guess it will have to wait.”

  “No, everyone is still here. If you have something to say, I’m sure we will listen,” Pete said in a suspicious tone.

  Ms. Richards looked up from her conversation with Meigs. Meigs caught sight of David and crossed his arms. Ms. Richards whispered something to Meigs and walked towards David.

  “Hello, we are just finishing up. Is there something I can help you with, David?” Ms. Richards was fully aware of his bullying activity as well as the restrictions he had placed upon him by the principal.

  “I was hoping I could say something to the group,” David said looking down at the floor.

  “I see,” Ms. Richards responded doubting his intentions. “This is really a closed group, and you are not supposed to be here. I don’t think this will be the time or place for any opposition.”

  David looked up. “Oh, it’s not that at all. I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately, and I’d like to be a part of the group.”

  “Oh really?” Ms. Richards was still skeptical. Joe spotted David and started to clench his fist. His face started to turn red. Ms. Richards thought a moment and decided to see where this was going to go. “Attention everyone, Mr. Wick would like to address the group. He says he wants to be a part of the group. What does everyone think of this?”

  Several people including Joe, Tiffany, and Meigs looked at David suspiciously.

  “I wanted to apologize---” David started but was interrupted by Ms. Richards.

  “David, the group must be okay with you first. Hands up if you want Mr. Wick to continue.” Ms. Richards said and faced the scattered teenagers. After a few moments, hands reluctantly went up into the air. It was almost unanimous except for Meigs.

  “Meigs, what do you think?” Ms. Richards said. Meigs stood in the front with a grimace on his face and then waved David to the front to give him the floor.

  “If you insist, the floor is yours,” Meigs said and walked away from the front. David slowly walked up to the front. The scattered teenagers reconvened towards the center and front of the auditorium to hear what David had to say.

  David got to the front and looked at the crowd. “My name is David Wick, and I would like to apologize to everyone. I’ve been such a dick---” David stopped himself, “I mean, I’ve been such a bully to most of you in this group.” He looked over at Meigs. “Meigs, I’ve been especially brutal to you. I’ve beaten you up, called you names, everything because I was too scared to admit how much I admired you for being yourself. From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry.”

  Meigs uncrossed his arms and faced David, giving him all his attention. David looked over at Mike and Rocco. “Mike and Rocco, I’m deeply sorry for my behavior at the dance and for the entire year so far. It’s been an embarrassment how I treated you.” Mike and Rocco looked at each other not sure how to take this apology.

  David looked over at Joe who was still standing defensively. “Joe, I’m sorry for treating your little brother badly. But, most of all, I’m sorry for not being a friend. I’ve been such a horrible person. It’s no wonder you stopped hanging out with me.” Joe unclenched his fists. His face turned its normal color.

  “I am sorry for all my past behavior. I want to make it right if you let me. Part of my punishment for my behavior at the dance is to apologize but it’s not a punishment. This is how I really feel. I want to be better. I want to be a part of the group because---” David stopped himself. He started to visibly get nervous and upset. When he had tears well up in his eyes, the tension from the crowd started to dissipate. David took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, “I want to be a part of this group because—because I’m gay.”

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  Meigs put his hands to his mouth. Mike and Rocco looked at each other with their jaws opened. Joe sat down.

  “I’ve hated gay people because I, myself, am gay. Imagine that.” David said and chuckled nervously.

  Ms. Richards walked up to the front next to David. “David, it’s not uncommon for a bully to be the very thing he or she hates.”

  Pete started to clap slowly. The rest of the crowd joined in the applause. There were a couple of “bravos” here and there. A tear fell from David’s cheek. He wiped it away and smiled. Joe got up from his seat and started towards where David was standing. When he got to David, Joe gave him a hug as the crowd continued to clap and shout.

  “Do you really mean that? Are you gay?” Joe asked.

  “Yes, yes,” David said definitively. “I’m gay.” Joe gave him another hug.

  “I vote you in,” Joe said and looked at the crowd. There were nods followed by “I vote you in too”s from different spots. Ms. Richards looked over at Meigs. He was clapping and gave her a nod.

  “Well, David, it looks like the group wants you in, but I’ll have to clear this with the principal,” Ms. Richards said. David smiled widely and looked over at Meigs. Meigs approached him.

  “Welcome to the GSA,” Meigs said and extended his hand for a shake. He was still apprehensive about anything more than a handshake. David accepted the handshake.

  “If it would make you feel better, you can beat me up each day until I graduate,” David said giving him a coy grin.

  “I don’t resort to such brutish techniques,” Meigs said. “But I won’t rule it out.”

  David laughed and nodded.

  “Can I watch you draw?” Rocco asked Mike.

  “You’ve seen me draw many times,” Mike said with a confused look on his face.

  “I know, but I’ve never really watched. I’ve never seen you in the depths of inspiration,” Rocco replied.

  Mike continued to give Rocco a look of confusion but shrugged and unrolled the sheets of poster paper Ms. Richards allowed him to take for the GSA posters. Rocco intently watched Mike as he took his supplies out from under his bed. Ms. Richards let Mike take some large markers home, but the color palette was limited to basic colors. Mike had a whole box of water-based markers he could use that had a greater array of colors. He looked over at Rocco watching him and felt a little like he was under a microscope. He gave Rocco a little smile which Rocco returned.

  “Do you need silence to work, or do you want to talk?” Rocco asked.

  “We can talk,” Mike said.

  “I hope you don’t feel uncomfortable with this,” Rocco asked.

  Mike looked at the blank poster paper and started imagining the layout. “It’s a little weird being watched but I’ll get over it.” He started moving his hands around the paper as if to put imaginary pieces together of a puzzle.

  “Well, talk me through what you are doing. Maybe that will make it a little less weird,” Rocco said sitting back on Mike’s bed.

  “Okay…” Mike said. “I’m imagining how the poster should be laid out first. What do you think should go on a poster for a gay-straight alliance?”

  “Well, a rainbow,” Rocco replied. “And, of course, the day and time.”

  “Right…right,” Mike thought. “Maybe some people holding hands in one of them.”

  “That’s good,” Rocco said. “How about you and me on another one?”

  Mike looked up from the paper at Rocco. “Aw, that’s so sweet. Yeah, I’ll do that for another one.”

  “How many do you need to do?” Rocco asked.

  “Three,” Mike replied. “I’ll do those two first and maybe an idea will come for the third one later.”

  Mike started to write out the information of the meeting first on the paper. In the center of the paper, he sketched out “First GSA Meeting” on one line. Under that line, he wrote the date and time. On the last line, he wrote “Auditorium”. He then started to fatten out the letters to make them look like bubble print. He colored in the letters in a rainbow pallet. However, he rethought that idea. Instead, he thought about making the background a large rainbow flag. He outlined the letters in black so that he could come back and fill them in with black. Rainbow in back; black letters in front. Simple.

  Rocco watched as Mike pondered and corrected his poster. The sight of Mike working on his art gave Rocco a sense of pride in his boyfriend. He watched as Mike intently outlined the colors. The attention Mike was giving the letters fascinated Rocco. He wondered if Mike looked at him in the same way when he played his guitar. One artist admiring the craft of another artist. He watched Mike take a pencil and trace a series of lines across the background where the flag colors would be. He drew them in such a way as to appear as if the flag were waving in the wind.

  Mike’s dad and Joe walked by as Mike was finishing up the first poster. Rocco immediately stood up from Mike’s bed. Even though Rocco did not know the details of Mike’s dad walking in on them, he knew they had been caught. Dan laughed.

  “Keep this door open, guys. I don’t want any messing around going on,” Dan said. Joe tried to keep his laughter hidden.

  “We’re not doing anything, Dad,” Mike said. “I’m just working on some posters.”

  “Is that for the GSA?” Joe asked stepping inside Mike’s room.

  “Yeah,” Mike said showing Joe what he had done. Joe gave a look of total approval.

  “GSA?” Dan asked.

  “It’s the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance we are starting. All three of us are on the forming committee,” Joe explained. “I’m the vice-president, Mike is public relations, and Rocco is fundraising.”

  “I was just going to play a show to raise money. I didn’t realize that meant a title,” Rocco pondered.

  “Well, it sounds more official that way,” Joe said and smiled at Rocco.

  “Wow! You guys are really doing something awesome!” Dan said. “That’s super impressive! I’m proud of all of you.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Mike said going back to his poster.

  “I’ll leave you to it,” Dan said and walked back downstairs.

  “So, it’s been quite a whirlwind lately,” Joe said.

  “What do you mean?” Mike said.

  “I mean the tide has turned at our school. Everyone is either out, experimenting, or totally supportive of gay students,” Joe said.

  “You think that’s the case?” Rocco asked and laughed.

  “I wouldn’t say everyone is on board,” Mike said. “I think we are in our own bubble.”

  Joe gave Mike a confused looked. “What do you mean?”

  “We all hang around supportive people so that’s all we see. I’m sure that outside of our group, there’s plenty of opposition,” Mike explained.

  “That’s probably true,” Joe thought. “At least the bullying is not tolerated. People are more comfortable calling out the bad behavior.”

  “Yeah, that’s true. I guess that’s the point of all of this,” Rocco said. “Meigs is not bloodied up every day. That’s something positive.”

  Joe nodded in agreement. “I’ve talked with David. He seems like a new person. It’s like he’s pleasant to be around these past few days.”

  “Yeah, he’s got a smile on his face,” Rocco noted.

  “How are the guys on the team?” Mike asked.

  “Now that you’ve mentioned it, most of the guys are on his side, but I can tell that some guys are better with his coming out than other guys,” Joe thought. “I guess I do pay more attention to the supporters.”

  “Yeah, it’s gotta be a little tough for him,” Mike said. “For as much misery as he’s caused, I still feel for him.”

  “All of us seniors on the team are just biding our time anyway. We only have a few games left and then, after that, we’re done with high school football,” Joe said. “I guess, David has a certain air of not giving a shit anymore.”

  “I can understand that,” Rocco said.

  “What are your plans after high school, Rocco?” Joe asked. “Where are you going to college?”

  Mike looked over at Rocco and then down at his poster. “Well, I initially was going to go to UCLA, but I doubt that’s going to happen.”

  “Like as in California?” Joe asked.

  “Yeah,” Rocco said. Joe raised his eyebrows and looked at Mike. “But I just don’t think I’ll be able to afford it.”

  “Is that the only place you are considering?” Joe asked in disbelief.

  “Kind of a stupid move, right?” Rocco said looking at the ground.

  “I don’t know about stupid but no plan B?” Joe asked. Rocco shook his head. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m not really sure at this point,” Rocco said.

  “Have you talked to Ms. Richards? She’s good at being a guidance counselor. She got me into art class and talked to me about careers,” Mike said picking back up on his drawing.

  “I haven’t. I should—see what my options are,” Rocco said. “What kind of careers did she tell you about?”

  “Well, she said I could get into graphic design as a career. She even put a note in my file to sign me up for more art next year,” Mike said.

  “Yeah, next year…” Rocco said trailing off in thought. Next year. What was going to happen next year? Rocco would likely not be in Miners Creek next year even if he wouldn’t make it out to Los Angeles. He and Mike would have to make a difficult decision before the next year. He thought for a moment and then shook out of his doom thinking. Here and now is what he needed to focus on. This moment with Mike is all he needed—watching Mike finish the poster.

  Rocco and Pete walked up to O’Malley’s office to talk to him about fundraising for the GSA. They were scheduled for a show that weekend which would bring in at least 200 people at $10 per person—not including concessions that were sure to be sold. The members of Fred would end up getting $200 for playing which they would give half of their fee to the GSA. O’Malley was not known for being especially charitable, although no one really knew if he had ever been asked to give. Everyone assumed by his brusque demeanor that he would say no. Pete and Rocco knocked on his office door.

  “Who is it?” O’Malley’s gravelly voice emanated from behind the door.

  “Pete and Rocco,” Pete said.

  “Come in,” O’Malley huffed. They opened the door. The office reeked of stale cigarettes and weed. There was one desk lamp which made the office look like something from a gangster movie. “What’s up guys?”

  “O’Malley, we are members of the school’s GSA club and wanted to know if you’d be interested in contributing any of our show’s proceeds to it,” Pete said. Rocco stood silently intimidated by the way O’Malley blankly stared at them.

  “What’s the GSA club?” O’Malley asked stubbing his cigarette out in an overflowing ashtray.

  “It stands for the gay-straight alliance,” Pete explained.

  “Oh, no shit? Your school has one of those?” O’Malley said in a louder, more excited voice.

  “We do, yes. We’re just starting out and this would help with the cashflow,” Pete said. Rocco started to feel a little more at ease.

  “How much do you need?” O’Malley said.

  “We don’t really have an amount,” Rocco answered.

  “That’s no way to fundraise. You’ve got to have a number to present if you are going to be successful. Otherwise, people will try to lowball you,” O’Malley said. “Ask me again but with a number this time.”

  Pete and Rocco looked at each other. Pete cleared his voice. “We would like to ask you for $500.” Rocco looked over at Pete in disbelief. Five hundred dollars was a steep ask.

  “Well, that’s high. How about 10% of the proceeds from the show and concessions for the night. I’d estimate that to be between $250 and $300?” O’Malley said.

  “You’d really do that?” Rocco asked further in disbelief.

  “Of course. It’s for a good cause. But I want our name on the poster…you know, for advertising,” O’Malley proposed.

  “You got it,” Pete said.

  “And you’ll want to pass around a bucket for people who want to give some more. All of that will go to your club,” O’Malley suggested.

  “Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Rocco said.

  “I’ve got a few. I can put one at the concession stand and one at the gate. You guys can have one at the stage to pass around to the audience,” O’Malley thought.

  “That’s awesome,” Pete said.

  “On top of that, I’ll add $100 into the pot as a personal donation,” O’Malley said without smiling.

  “Seriously?” Rocco said in shock.

  “I mean, I’d like to give more but I got bills to pay,” O’Malley said.

  “That’s great, O’Malley,” Pete replied.

  “The only thing you gotta do is get the crowd in,” O’Malley said. “The more people you get to show up, the more you get.”

  “Yeah, for sure!” Pete said. “Thanks, O’Malley. That’s more than we ever expected.”

  “You’re good kids doing good things. I’m happy to support it,” O’Malley said leaning back in his chair. “You’ve drawn in a lot of new business lately so I’m grateful.”

  “We have?” Pete asked.

  “Yeah! We used to just be a skate park for little kids but now we’re a hang out spot for high school kids,” O’Malley said. “I owe you guys.”

  “Ah man, you don’t owe us anything!” Rocco said.

  Pete and Rocco walked out surprised at how amenable O’Malley was to their request. “Wow, that was easier than I expected,” Rocco said.