Accept Me or Except Me

I looked for him everywhere. He wasn’t in school. I saw him yesterday, but I never managed to speak to him. The whole school was horrible to him, just because of a rumor they didn’t know was true. I looked all over school, but he was nowhere to be seen. Something was wrong. Something was seriously wrong.

After the last bell rang, I decided to walk home with Matt. We walked through the school gates down the street. There was a park in the fifteen minute drive between the school and my house. Matt and I rambled aimlessly as we sat down on a bench. Our conversation went on to Danny.

“He wasn’t anywhere in school?” Matt asked with real concern in his eyes.

“If he was, he was incredibly good at avoiding me,” I replied. “I just need to speak to him. I need to let him know that there’s nothing wrong with whom he is.”

“I know. Remember I’m here for you, and if you’re there for Danny, so am I,” Matt said weakly.

Whenever, of if ever Danny accepts himself, there would be approximately three anti-homophobic students in our school. The odds weren’t in our favor, but we couldn’t give up on him. We simply couldn’t. I sighed, and Matt held me in a friendly way.

The only person who’d touched me in a similar way was Danny, but I could tell there was love and passion there as well as the friendship and reassurance that was in this hug, too. I smiled and finally got up.

“We better get going,” I said to him, and he nodded.

On our way through to the other end of the park, I noticed a figure on the swing set. It was Danny. I wanted more than anything to run up to him and hug him, but he wouldn’t want PDA from me, not yet. Especially not as a surprise. Instead I turned to Matt.

“Matt, I’m so sorry. Danny’s here and I really need to speak with him alone. If I need you I’ll text you,” I smiled. “Oh, and if I don’t text you while I’m here, I’ll text you later to tell you how it went.”

Matt didn’t look hurt in the slightest. He understood, and left the way we came, to go the long way around so Danny wouldn’t notice him. I looked back at Danny, who wasn’t looking at me, but I could see the glint on his tearstained cheek.

I slowly sat on the swing next to him. Only then did he look at me. He was about to object, but he kept quiet. He knew I wouldn’t try and hurt him. He needed his friends, anyways.

“Danny, I didn’t see you in school today,” I began quietly. “Is there a reason why you weren’t there?”

“M-My dad knows, Lee. I panicked!”

“Woah, start from the beginning. What exactly happened?” I asked calmly.

“I needed closure, Lee. I didn’t want to tell my parents yet so I drew the scale you were talking about,” he said. “I put your name above the, uh, nine and mine on the t-ten. I went down for dinner when my dad found it. I wasn’t ready! I freaked and ran away, and slept in the only place I could think of…”

“The park?”

“Yeah. I didn’t go to school because my dad will have told them I haven’t been home, but I guess now the school’s going to tell dad I wasn’t there!”

“So it wasn’t the homophobes?”

“I guess they helped keep me away,” he paused. “I missed you.”

He missed me? Did this mean…

“I missed you too, Danny!” I said before I could even start to think. I waited for him to make a move, and he did. He hugged me tightly.

“Does this mean you’re out?” I asked.

“I guess so. I just need to do one thing before it is official.”

“What’s that?”

He turned to me, and stroked my cheek with his palm. “Lee, will you meet my parents?”