CHAPTER 34
Anthony wandered the school hallways as he’d done all day, not concerned about getting to his next class on time.
He had a press pass that excused him from being tardy for up to five minutes, which he had so far resisted the urge to abuse.
The reason for these exceptional rights was simple enough: He needed the extra time to conduct interviews for the Lion’s Pride Post. A new issue was due out next week.
The focus was on everyone’s favorite subject: the end of the school year.
He’d been targeting seniors mostly, since they were always eager to chat about their plans and got ridiculously melancholy while doing so, which amused him.
Of course he also envied their impending freedom.
He was glancing around for his next target when he noticed Traitor Dave digging through a locker. Anthony decided to annoy him with his presence.
“Excuse me! Do you have a moment to share your feelings about the end of the school year with your fellow students?” He said this loudly enough to attract surrounding attention, knowing that Dave wouldn’t want to be seen with him.
Sure enough, his former friend shrank away, adjusting the door to his locker for more privacy. “What do you want?”
“I’d like to interview you for the school newspaper. Have any exciting summer plans with your new friends?”
“Go away,” Dave said, slamming the locker shut.
Anthony followed him down the hall. “How is that working out for you anyway? The whole hanging out with a bunch of jerks thing.”
Dave glowered at him. “This is for the school newspaper?”
“No. I’m curious. Why did you ditch us?”
“You of all people need an explanation?”
That was a low blow. “I made a mistake,” Anthony said. “Diego’s dad had committed suicide. I was young and didn’t know how to deal with that. What’s your excuse?”
Dave looked him over.
“Is it me?” Anthony pressed. “Because I came out?”
“That’s all you talk about,” Dave grumbled. “Like your whole world revolves around being gay. But no. That’s not why.”
“Then what happened?”
Dave clenched his jaw. Then he sighed. “My dad got to know Troy’s dad at the country club. They hit it off. Well enough that Troy’s family invited us over for dinner. I know you hate him, but he’s not so bad.”
“I don’t—” Anthony began.
“Anyway,” Dave interrupted, “we were hanging out in his room, and I’ll never forget it, because he looked me right in the eye and asked if I was tired of being a loser.”
“Wow. Charming. Now I see why you like him so much.”
“Laugh all you want!” Dave shot back. “I was sick of never having a girlfriend. I didn’t want to graduate high school a virgin.”
Anthony scrunched up his face. “So you ditched your best friend on the off chance you might get laid?”
“I wanted to be cool. And now I am. You guys aren’t.”
Anthony walked beside him in silence for a few paces. “David is dating Whitney.”
This was clearly news to him. “What?”
“Yeah. He’s taking her to prom. Who’s your date?”
A shadow crossed Dave’s features. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Must be hard, choosing from all those cool kids you hang out with. Omar is taking Silvia. Hey, Mindy isn’t going to prom with anyone.”
Dave perked up.
“Oh wait, she’s a loser, like me. I can’t imagine you wanting to stoop so low.”
Dave scowled. “Very funny.”
Anthony dropped the sarcasm. “Don’t you ever feel like you chose the wrong side?”
“I actually like my new friends,” Dave shot back.
“And you didn’t like us?”
He shrugged. “I felt like an afterthought. You and Omar were always the stars of your own little show. Remember how much more we used to hang out in junior high? And then Ricky comes along, a freshman, and you guys gave him more time than me or David ever got. I was sick of being on the sidelines.”
“Oh. Sorry. I never meant for—”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m happier now.”
That was hard to imagine. But then, they were different people. Dave finding a new group of friends wouldn’t matter if not for all the bad blood. Otherwise, their separate social circles would probably overlap on occasion. That would never happen with Troy and his cronies.
“So what’s it like?”
“What?”
“Hanging out with them.”
“The parties are amazing,” Dave said. “My parents aren’t exactly strict, but most of theirs don’t give a damn. We ended up at a huge house in Shawnee Mission last week. I didn’t know anyone there. So many girls! It was amazing.”
That didn’t sound like Anthony’s idea of fun. He liked to party but wanted to be surrounded by people he felt comfortable with and who accepted him. Evidently, that’s not how Dave felt. Did his new friends treat him better?
“I hope you never get on their bad side,” he murmured.
Dave didn’t need him to explain. He’d been there when Anthony had gotten beat up. From his wince, he was thinking of the same night. “They’re not so bad. Troy is cool. His parents kind of suck though.”
“What do you mean?”
They had reached Dave’s next class. He glanced around before lowering his voice. “They’re real hard on him.”
“As in they abuse him?”
“They don’t smack him around or anything. Not from what I’ve seen. But there’s…” Dave glared. “Never mind. You’d just use it against him.”
Anthony shook his head. “I won’t. I only want to understand him better, because I don’t get it. I don’t like Troy, it’s true, but I’d never go so far as to corner him in a corn maze with my friends so we can beat him up. That’s crazy. Right?”
Dave swallowed. “I didn’t hit you. Or kick you. I kept trying to get them to stop. In my own way.”
Whatever he’d done couldn’t have been much, because Anthony’s body had ached for weeks afterwards. “Just help me understand,” he pressed, “and all is forgiven.”
Dave sighed. “Troy’s parents call it the wall of accomplishments.
There are these built-in bookshelves in the living room full of trophies and awards.
Troy’s older brother is a hotshot quarterback.
His team won the regional championship three years in a row.
He got a scholarship to Notre Dame. His older sister was captain of the cheerleaders and valedictorian of her class.
And that’s just the beginning. I’ve never seen so many blue ribbons and framed certificates in my life. ”
“So you’re saying that Troy is under a lot of pressure?”
“You have no idea,” Dave said. The bell rang, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“I was with him the day that Troy found out he wasn’t going to be student council president.
As soon as he got home, his dad was there.
He took off early from work to find out the results, and when Troy told him, he was pissed.
His dad walked Troy over to the wall of accomplishments and asked him if he’d earned his place in the family yet.
With me standing right there. Troy was like a beaten dog.
It was crazy. He just said, ‘No sir, I haven’t earned my place. ’”
“Even though it was a close race?”
“Doesn’t matter. In his family, it’s all or nothing.
Have you seen Troy play basketball? He’s really good.
Easily the best at our school, but his team doesn’t win many games.
He scores the most out of anyone, but that doesn’t matter, because he’s not bringing something home to put on the wall of accomplishments.
His mom isn’t much better. I’ve heard her call him a loser.
” Dave finally seemed to realize that the hall had cleared out.
“Crap! Gotta go. Uh… Have a nice life, I guess.”
That was it then. No offer to hang out or words of reconciliation.
Dave was done with him. He’d given Anthony a gift in parting though, because as he digested what he’d learned, a picture began to form.
Troy resented Anthony for being his true self.
He wasn’t aware of the inner turmoil that accompanied each step of that journey, any more than Anthony had been aware of his.
Both of them felt the pressure of living up to someone else’s standards, whether social or familial, fearing the loss of love as a consequence. That much they had in common.
But it wasn’t enough to justify his behavior.
Anthony never would have attacked Troy so viciously.
He supposed Diego had done likewise, but that had been one against three, instead of four against someone who had fled for his life.
Nor could he forgive Troy for the way he had treated Mindy, although that made more sense now too.
Troy had been raised to believe that nothing mattered more than results.
Victory or failure, with nothing in between.
And the way he’d tried to ingratiate himself to everyone during the election, willing to say whatever people wanted to hear while villainizing others was a symptom of the worldview his parents had instilled in him.
You were either better than someone or their lesser, with no tolerance for differences.
These revelations did little to comfort Anthony. They weighed heavily on his mind throughout the remainder of the day. By the time he reported to the journalism classroom to turn in his interviews, he was downright depressed.
“Is everything okay?” Mr. Finnegan asked.
“Hm? Oh. Yeah, I guess.”
The lines of concern deepened on Mr. Finnegan’s face. “Any trouble during the interviews? Or with the press pass?”
“None at all,” Anthony said before sucking in air.
“If there is something on your mind…”
Anthony pressed his lips together before he finally released them, along with the breath he’d been holding.
“I found out today that my worst enemy has reasons for acting the way he does, but it makes the situation even more hopeless, because I can’t do anything to change those things.
He’ll just keep getting hurt and taking it out on others.
But maybe that’s simply how the world works.
Pain passes from one person to another, like a never-ending virus. ”