Fraternizing With The Enemy

“Though I have many a friends that like men and are men. Or like women and are women,” Adam said very nonchalantly. It really didn’t surprise me that he’d said that, but I wasn’t exactly expecting it either. There seemed to be a reoccurring theme that day of talking about homosexuality, and I found it quite hilarious. Of course, I was one of those “many a friends” of Adam’s that “likes men and is a man” as he so wonderfully stated. It’s not like I’m embarrassed or ashamed of what I am, but I’m just not as open about it as some people are. I guess some of that comes from the fact that I’m pretty obviously gay and don’t really have the need to inform people of it. Plus, I’m not a very outspoken or outgoing person and it’s just not like me to tell people things like that if I don’t know them well. I still applaud those people that can do that king of thing.

Like that boy from Weston Valley that plays trumpet. Toby, I think I heard him say his name was. He’s the one that I heard audition when I was waiting to do mine. I didn’t really expect him to be gay, but I suppose that it did fit him pretty well. And he really had to have been proud and sure of himself to announce that to the entire room. I mean, there were bound to be people in the room that didn’t like that, and maybe even a few that would do something about it, so I suppose that’s another reason I wouldn’t do anything like he did. But I definitely applaud him for that, because it showed us all one other thing too; he’s not afraid to really be himself, which is a great characteristic to have in a person.

Within the sharing circle, there weren’t a lot of kids to still go after Geoff and I went, and I found myself not listening anymore. I was kind of lost in my thoughts the rest of the time. One reoccurring thing in my thoughts, though, was Toby. The more I found out about him, the more he interested me. I already knew that he was an impeccable musician, and that intrigued me enough, but that day he was like a drug to me. I just couldn’t get enough and I needed more. I needed to know more about him, and I couldn’t really explain why.

“Okay,” Ms. Karen’s voice range, jolting me out of my thoughts. “Now that that’s out of the way, I want everyone to find someone that they do not know and have a conversation with them. I want everyone to me making friends here, so what’s a better way to do that than have everyone talk with people they don’t know? Go on, guys, find someone and get started.”

I knew right off the bat that I wanted to find Toby and talk to him, but I was only hoping that nobody else got to him first. I stood up and looked for him, but didn’t see him in the sea of people. I saw his friend - Geoff? - walk towards Adam and I felt a bit lost as I looked around the room for Toby and saw almost everyone else paired up already. I nearly gave up when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and came face to face with none other than the boy I was looking for.

“Caiden, right?” he asked, smiling.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “You’re Toby?”

“Yep,” he popped. “So let’s chat, yeah?”

I laughed lightly and gestured towards two empty seats nearby. “Let’s.”

We sat down and got comfortable before launching into a conversation.

“Alright,” he started. “So you go to Huntington, right?”

“Uh-huh, and you’re a Weston Valley kid,”

“Yup,” he nodded. “Did you happen to have a piccolo solo last year for marching band?”

“Yeah, I did actually,”

“I thought that was you,”

“Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?” I asked, not exactly sure what to think of his response.

“Oh it’s definitely good. I’m a brass guy, and I’m not that big into woodwinds, but your solo was amazing. You are so good,” he said, his eyes slightly large for emphasis. “You’re only a sophomore?”

“Yeah,” I chuckled.

“So you were a freshman when you did that solo?”

“Uh-huh. I beat out even the senior piccs for that,” I couldn’t help smiling at the memory of the day I got the solo. “Since it was a huge solo, our director held auditions for it. The day everyone auditioned, one of the senior girls scoffed at me before I went and said something along the lines of ’Awe, that’s so cute. The little freshy thinks he’s good enough for the solo.’ Then once I played, I looked back at the girl that said that and just smirked because I knew I did great on it. It was a couple days later that our director made up his mind and announced to the whole band that I’d gotten the solo. I looked at the girl that scoffed at me during auditions and said so simply, ’Who’s good enough for the solo now?’. That was probably one of the best days of my life.”

“You are so amazing though. I can’t believe you were only a freshman for that,”

“I’ve been playing flute since I was in the third grade and picc since sixth,” I shrugged. “It comes so naturally to me.”

“Well I know what you mean there,” he nodded. “I’ve been playing trumpet since I was eleven. It’s kind of like breathing at this point in my life. It’s second nature.”

“Exactly! Not many people really get that. It’s nice to know someone that knows what I feel,”

“Yeah it is. I’ve never really known many people like us either,”

“By the way, you’re amazing at trumpet,” I smiled. “I saw you audition for this program and I couldn’t get over how great you did.”

“Yeah, I remember you staring in awe at me afterwards,” he said with a jokingly stuck up tone of voice.

“Oh shush up!” I giggled. “I wasn’t staring at you that bad!”

“Yes you were,” he said, laughing heartily.

“Nuh-uh!” I laughed, shaking my head at him. “I wasn’t really even staring!”

“Oh, yeah right. You’re eyes were practically glued to me and your mouth was on the ground,”

“How do you know I wasn’t just staring at you like that because of how ugly you are, huh?”

“Because I’m not ugly,” he chuckled.

“Oh, so now he’s cocky too,” I mused out loud.

“Of course,” he winked. “No, but really, you were staring something fierce.”

“Well, you were fiercely amazing,” I shrugged, laughing at his antics.

“Alright, let’s just settle this by saying that we’re both fiercely amazing. Sound good?”

“Deal,” I smiled, holding out my hand as if we were actually making a serious deal.

He extended his hand and shook mine, nodding. “Deal.”