Chapter Two: "Quincy's a Faggot"
“They tell me I’m not normal, that I’m a freak. That this was my choice. That’s the hardest part, some days—thinking that I did this to myself and to my family. I would do anything to take the daily tears in my mom’s eyes away, but I can’t change what I am. If I could, I would be anything else. Anyone else. Everyone seems to forget that I’m the victim here.”
--from the journal of Quincy Zoric, aged 16.
Quincy winced, dabbing gingerly at the cut across his cheekbone with a wet paper towel. He hadn’t even so much as glanced in Kaiden’s general direction, and he’d still gotten hit for looking at him the wrong way. As if he’d go for such an oversized football player with mallets for hands… That class ring had gotten him good, though. A deep red bruise was already forming around the cut; there was no way he’d be able to hide this one. Why did they always go for the face? It was so much worse when Octavian—or Rainer, Quincy supposed he liked to be called—wasn’t around.
But of course, Rainer had been suspended again for the last time he’d socked someone trying to mess with Quincy. It wasn’t fair. Didn’t the school have a zero tolerance policy toward fighting? Apparently they were willing to look the other way when it was their star player bullying a worthless little sophomore. The big game was coming up, after all…
Quincy sighed, tossing the paper towel into the waste bin. He knew that it didn’t matter who Kaiden was; the big point was that he was gay, and the school board had never gone out of its way to protect someone like him. It was his fault. It was always his fault.
Quincy was supposed to be eating lunch, but he never could bring himself to go to the cafeteria when Rainer wasn’t around. He’d prefer eating nothing to being thrown in the garbage again, really. Besides, Rainer always went with him to the diner after school when he was suspended, so it wasn’t as if he’d starve. And fourth period really was early for lunch…
He sighed when his stomach growled despite all his reasoning.
“Well, it’s not my fault,” he muttered to it, moving to one of the stalls.
One good thing about this abandoned bathroom was that no one ever came to it except kids smoking pot, and they left it surprisingly clean. It hadn’t been touched by someone genuinely needing to use the bathroom in years, and Quincy had no qualms with plopping onto the toilet and settling down for a nap.
Right as he was getting comfortable, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He fished it out of his tight jeans, glancing at the display to see that Rainer had sent him a text message.
“how r u doin?” it read, and Quincy smiled slightly. “im bored as fuk. U wanna bust out?”
“After Vaughn’s class,” Quincy typed in reply. Mr. Vaughn always seemed to notice when he’d gone missing. It had saved his ass a few times, but usually, they’d just found him skipping in one of the bathrooms.
A moment later, he received the reply: a simple “K c u then :)”
Quincy didn’t know how Rainer did it, but he always brightened his day. It was funny; most people thought of Rainer as a thug. Sometimes even Quincy was afraid and wanted to duck behind something, truthfully. But after he’d caught a glimpse at Rainer’s home life… well, things had changed, for the better. It was only when they were alone together, but sometimes Rainer was sweet.
After a while, the bell rang, and Quincy wound his way to class as quickly as he could. Mr. Vaughn’s class was one of the few classes he wasn’t scared to death. Most of the other teachers looked the other way, but Mr. Vaughn didn’t, and that immediately made him Quincy’s favourite. As he entered the room, though, Mr. Vaughn stopped him. That wasn’t a common occurrence…
“Quincy,” the man said, “I wanted to speak to you before class.” Quincy nodded his acquiescence, and they moved to Mr. Vaughn’s desk. “I know that the other teachers… turn a blind eye, sometimes. I’ve spoken with the principal numerous times, and he claims that you are not at any real risk, or that these altercations are accidents. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to change his mind. I wanted to invite you, though, to an afterschool group I’ll be sponsoring starting next week. For kids like you.”
“Kids like me?” Quincy asked, his voice a little doubting. “Mr. Vaughn, I’m the only gay kid within a ten-mile radius.”
Mr. Vaughn chuckled. “It’s for kids who feel… overlooked. Forgotten. Listen, just think about it. Consider giving it a try. If you don’t like it once, you don’t have to come again.”
“Yeah. Okay. Sure, I’ll think about it,” Quincy lied. He wouldn’t have minded going, but he didn’t think Rainer would want to go. It would be tough convincing him, too, Quincy thought to himself as he flopped into his desk. Oh well. It wasn’t like he was looking toward going to some afterschool program, anyway. From the sounds of it, he’d be labelled as even more of a loser, and he didn’t think he could take much more abuse than he already did.
The moment Quincy could escape Phillips High, he did. He headed straight to the diner to find that Rainer was already waiting for him there, dressed in typical baggy shirt and jeans, a silver chain hanging from his neck.
“Hey, Rain,” Quincy said. What else could he say? The very moment Rainer looked at him, his piercing brown eyes had spotted the new mark on his face.
“Who did that to you?” Rainer asked, his voice sounding angry. Quincy chanced a glance at him to see that his face was already contorted with rage. It was heart-warming, but Rainer was pushing prison time at this point, and Quincy didn’t think he’d be kept alive if Rainer got put behind bars.
“It’s fine,” Quincy lied.
“Quin—”
“Really. Please. Just leave it.”
Rainer growled, and that was when Quincy knew he was fucked. Rainer was angry more often than not, but when he growled, the shit was about to hit the fan. He proved that a second later when he grabbed Quincy’s arm and started dragging him to the bathroom, despite Quincy’s struggle to get away.
Quincy squeaked when he was thrown bodily against the wall, and Rainer’s hand gripped his chin firmly.
“Who. Hit you?” he asked, his voice deadly quiet. When Quincy closed his eyes and refused to respond, he continued, “Was it Kaiden? It was, wasn’t it?”
“Rain…”
“I knew it! That bastard…” Rainer released Quincy and stalked off toward the sinks, muttering to himself. Quincy rubbed at his sore chin, frowning. Rainer didn’t even seem to notice that he was here now… Even Rainer forgot about him sometimes.
Quincy sighed and headed back home, letting the bathroom door slam shut behind him. Maybe Mr. Vaughn’s suggestion wasn’t such a bad idea… Maybe Rainer would remember him more often if he wasn’t around so much.
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