Page 37 of Every Hidden Truth

“Don’t care,” I sing-songed.

Backing me up against my locker, he kissed me firmly, uncaring that I was smooshing all the decorations. I slipped an arm around his neck and licked at the seam of his mouth. He tasted like spearmint gum, and—

A throat cleared noisily behind Ben, and we broke apart with a jolt.

“Don’t make me write you two up for inappropriate behavior,” Mr. Rodriguez said dryly, arms crossed over his sweater vest.

“That’s homophobic,” I said.

Ben choked.

Mr. Rodriguez looked unimpressed. “I’ve been married to a man for six years. Try again.”

I gasped dramatically. “Mr. Rodriguez, for shame! What would Jesus say?”

Ben groaned and hid his face in his hands. “Oh my God.”

Mr. Rodriguez arched an eyebrow. “Get to class.”

“I don’t think Jesus cares about my education,” I said as the two-minute warning bell rang.

“Get to class,” he ordered, and I smiled.

“You’re so much cooler now, by the way. You should start a school club for the queers! LikeGlee,but without the singing and the synchronized dancing. Wow,Gleewas super gay. How was that even mainstream?”

“We’re going to class now,” Ben announced, tugging on my hand to get me moving.

“Good idea,” Mr. Rodriguez said.

“Queer Club, Mr. Rodriguez. We have to!” I cried as I stumbled after Ben. To Ben, I said, “Did you know he was gay?”

“I don’t even know who that is,” he admitted as we rushed down the hall.

“Oh, he’s the Spanish teacher. He was really nice, even though I sucked at Spanish. He never had any pictures of his family on his desk.” I stopped in the middle of the hall. “Did the administration not allow him to? That’s a hate crime, Ben!”

Capturing my face in his hands, he kissed me, short and sweet. “As much as I love your spirit of activism, I’m literally going to be late to my class.”

“Oh, right.” I pecked his mouth and pushed him away. “I’ll see you at lunch. Run!”

He ran.

I ducked into my econ class half a minute before the bell rang, hoping he’d made it to class on time.

Since classes were dedicated to test preparation, I spent most of my time planning events for the fictitious school club that Mr. Rodriguez and I would definitely be creating. It had to be for allies too, though, because other than me, Ben, and the choir lesbians, we were short on queer people in this school.

Well, at least, we were the onlyoutqueer people. There were more; there always were. Maybe they just needed a safe place.

Head filled with crazy ideas, I walked into the cafeteria, searching the crowd for Ben. He was walking away from the tiny school “store” where students could buy gym clothes, school memorabilia, and tickets to various school events and performances. As he tucked his wallet into his pocket, he noticed me and smiled.

“Hey, so I know I was just rambling before,” I said the second he was in ear shot, “but what if we did start a club?”

“What?”

I took his hand and told him about my ideas for Queer Club as we entered the lunch line and filled our trays with food. He listened with rapt attention, chiming in with his own ideas, and by the time we were sitting down, I felt... giddy. Which was a weird emotion for me.

Unfortunately, my excitement was doused by Kim rounding on me the second I sat down, a feral look in her eyes. I froze like I was facing a T-Rex. Maybe, if I didn’t move, she wouldn’t see me, and I could escape before she ripped me apart and ate me with her terrifying jaws.

“Are you guys coming to take pictures with us before dinner or just meeting us at the restaurant?” Her question confused me, but the banner hanging on the wall behind her head jogged my brain.

---