CHAPTER 6
Halo
Angels and Monsters(Book Two)
Episode 6: Whisper to a scream
I opened my eyes to see an angry Matt standing over me. "Where am I?"
"Nurses office," he replied gruffly. "Look, Coy, we gotta talk."
"It was Ky," I said, quickly, as I sat up on the cot I was lying on. "He … he pretended to be me and…"
"Coy, I have known you for awhile now, and I think I can tell my own boyfriend from his brother," he replied. "I swear I'm gonna kick his ass."
"No, you will not touch him," I shouted. "Ky, regardless of how much an ass he is, he is still my brother, and I gotta talk to him."
"Your brother may have very well destroyed my reputation, Coy," he spat. "Trust me…"
"Trust you? You want me to trust you?" I asked, as I began remembering the conversation yesterday when I'd learned about him.
"Of course I want you to trust me," he said with a scoff. "Why shouldn't you?"
Before I could answer, the nurse walked in and gave us a warm smile. "I'm so sorry to interrupt a lover's quarrel, but I am going to have to ask you to leave so I can check my patient out."
Matt rolled his eyes and walked out of the office while she sat on the cot. She still smiled at me. I looked at her with a sideways grin.
"What?"
"You two are so adorable," she said happily. "I love the gays. Is it true love?"
I looked down at my hands. I wasn't entirely sure anymore.
Matt walked outside in the hall to see Miranda standing there. He sighed to himself.
"Not right now," he said pushing past her. She smiled and clapped her hands.
"Great job," she said, laughing. "I swear, you had me and the whole campus convinced you were straight."
Matt froze in his steps. His heart was beating fast. He didn't know what to do. When in doubt, though … deny.
"I AM straight," he said, turning around slowly. "I fucked you didn't I?"
"What a good job you did too," she said, walking toward him. "But the thing about you fucking me is that there was no connection there. See … you could fuck the hell out of me day in and day out. But then, it was the type of fuck that made my knees weak, but not the thought of it. There was no feeling there. You were just doing it because you weren't getting any."
"What are you trying to get at?" he asked with a confused look on his face.
"I'm getting there," she said putting a finger on his lips. "Yesterday when we were together, I had a suspicion it was Coy that you were truly in love with. I see how you two are always together. But it was just a suspicion. Then I wondered why your face always seems to darken when Anthony comes around. I see you watch him as he walks down the hall. I heard you two in the nurse's office. I got all the proof I need."
Matt wasn't sure if he could believe what he was hearing. It was happening all over again.
"But then I thought if you and Coy were together why aren't the two of you humping constantly?" she continued. "But I remembered something about last year. It was something I heard my dad talking about toward the end of the year. Something happened to Coy, and I realized that's why you came to me. Because Coy wasn't giving it to you, and you needed to fulfill that void with me."
"Miranda…"
She kissed his lips softly. "I don't blame you," she said to him softly. "Coy's a very hot guy. Nice lips and nice slim frame. But the mistake you made was underestimating me to be some stupid chick. I'm far from stupid. In fact, I'm smart enough to help you help me."
"What do you want?" Matt asked weakly.
"I want you and all of you … not just your dick," she said simply. "Now I know that after yesterday, everybody is going to ask if you're gay. So I offer you the choice. Be my boyfriend and I can help you get rid of the rumors of being gay, or I will be one of the metaphoric village people burning you at the stake."
Matt stood looking speechless. He wasn't sure of what to think or believe. "Is this really happening to me?" he kept asking himself that very same question.
"Let me know by tomorrow," she said kissing him on the cheek. She left a stunned Matt standing there in the hallway.
***
Ky, Anthony, and Nick sat in the lobby of the Dean's office waiting to be seen by him.
"I can't believe you, Ky," Nick said to him. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I am getting help for this problem," he replied simply. Anthony scoffed.
"What problem? The only problem I see is some dumb guy who refuses to deal with the reality that he likes dudes. He likes fucking guys in the ass," Anthony said, annoyed. "All this is, is an overblown temper tantrum that somebody needs to beat the hell out of you."
"Anthony, calm down," Nick said to him. "We are already in enough trouble as it is, now."
"Why should I calm down? I mean it's bad enough that he outted the two of us," Anthony said heatedly, pointing at Ky. "Even that asshole Matt, he outted, and I don't even like him, but still that wasn't right. But your own brother? Your own twin?" Anthony glared at Ky.
"My brother and I are none of your concern," Ky said softly.
"Correction: YOU are not my concern," Anthony said, standing up. "Your brother, however, IS my concern."
"Don't you think it's sad that you're still chasing after something you'll never have?" Ky asked him, not even bothered by Anthony. "Coy is stuck on Matt, and as long as Matt is all he sees, then you will never, I repeat—never—have a chance. Take a cue from your brother, here. He never had a chance with me and he moved on. Although, I did mess that up for him, but I say a good start for you, Nicky."
Nick sighed and grabbed Anthony and forced him to sit down. He looked at Ky hard. Was this the same guy he was falling in love with? Was this the same guy he wanted to be with?
"What happened to you, Ky?" Nick asked, concerned. He grabbed Ky's face and forced him to look in his eyes.
Ky looked Nick deep in his eyes. Was it really so bad to just allow himself to be happy with Nick? To allow himself to be the way he was with no fight?
He looked past Nick to see Reverend Taylor standing there with a skeptical look on his face.
"Looks like our get-out-of-jail-free card is here," Ky said, getting up and moving away from Nick.
Reverend Taylor smiled at the Pagan brothers, and headed into the Dean's office.
"Want to know why this is all happening?" Ky asked the two of them. "Because if I were to give in to my feelings for you, Nick, I would have to constantly worry about people who want to beat my ass because I'm gay. It already happened once. If I'm straight, the main thing I have to worry about is people hating me for being black, something I knew I didn't choose. But being gay … I feel like that was a choice. Somewhere, sometime I made that choice to be gay but now I get the choice to be straight. I'm trying to save me and my brother. So before you judge me … know the whole story before you do."
"But are you sure Coy wants saving?" Anthony asked, realizing it all stemmed from Ky's bashing. It was almost as if he understood why Ky was doing this … but it still wasn't right. "Isn't that Coy's decision to know what he wants."
"Coy was raped," Ky said to them both. Shocking both Nick and Anthony.
"What? When? Did you know this?" Nick asked Anthony who looked down at the floor. "When did this happen?"
"Sometime last year," Ky replied to him. "He used to scream a lot in his sleep, and didn't want to be touched. I didn't know why for the longest … Figured he was being weird. But I was in his room one day when I was looking for some notebook paper, and I saw a pamphlet for a rape victim's meeting hidden in a stack of papers. So I put two and two together. I don't know the entire details of what happened, but something happened to my brother, and I couldn't save him. I'm saving him now before anything else bad happens. Because something will happen. Anthony … Nick … as twins, yourselves, I know you two can relate. You can sense when something is wrong with the other. Coy sensed it when I was bashed that night. I sense something is going to happen. I want to prevent it, and this is the only way I know how."
Nick and Anthony were both speechless. While they didn't agree with Ky's entire thought-process, they could agree to wanting to protect a brother. No matter what…
Reverend Taylor walked out of the office after the three had been sitting in silence for a few moments.
"Men, you can all go back to class," he said to the three of them. "I was able to get you guys off without getting in any trouble. Kyle, be sure to stop by my office at the end of the day."
He waved to the three of them and took off down toward his office. Ky sighed and headed off toward his class.
"Ky … wait …" Nick said, going after him. "You don't have to do it this way. You can let us help. Just let me help."
"I'm sorry, but I just can't do that," Ky said, without turning around. "Nick … before all this goes down, I want to say this. You weren't just some fuck to me."
"It doesn't have to be this way, Ky," Nick pleaded trying to get through to him.
"Just remember, that when all is said and done, and the dust clears, remember the Ky you both knew and loved," he said, continuing down the hall.
Giselle sat filing her nails in class. She really was frustrated. Matt was the first guy she ever allowed herself to fall for completely. But he wasn't the perfect boyfriend by any means. He rarely knew how to be romantic, unless coaxed by her, and then it was how he was always flirting with the other girls. Then … the gay thing appeared out of nowhere. She didn't want to believe it … Hell! She didn't at first. But when a good friend of hers, Devin, had accused Matt of being gay, she started being suspicious. He would disappear at school, skipping classes and sometimes be seen hanging around questionable people. But she just couldn't allow herself to fully doubt Devin, so she chose to believe him.
She'd gone to Atlantic County College hoping for a new beginning with Matt, from the rumors of most of the people from her old school chose to go to another school, but things still weren't perfect. He didn't seem to want her, really. She thought it was maybe because of all the new flocks of girls here at Atlantic City College, but she discovered it was because of a guy.
'Coy,' she muttered angrily to herself. She looked over at Carmen and Josh who were all huddled up working together on a project.
Not wanting to admit it, she was jealous of Carmen as well. Because somehow, everybody else was happy except Giselle. She thought she could be happy with Nick but that seemed further from the truth. She just wanted to be fully happy like before. But the difference was between THAT Giselle she was before, and the one she was now. She was waaaaay too nice, now. She didn't fight Carmen as hard as she wanted to over the cheerleading. She allowed her boyfriend to be taken by a guy. She allowed her ex to turn gay. Because she was too nice.
Watching Carmen, she realized that she was sick of being nice. Sick of being the sidekick. She wanted to be back in the limelight. The buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the class.
Josh and Carmen packed their things up while Giselle smiled a devious smile and cleared her throat.
"Did you guys get a lot of work done?" she asked with a fake cheerful voice. "I saw the two of you doing those little cutesy faces. It was kind of sickening."
"Jealous much?" Josh joked.
"Of what?" Giselle countered. "You? The junkie? Ha, no; I think I am good."
"Giselle…" Carmen warned.
"Oh, come on, Baby C," she said, getting out of the chair. She grabbed her bag. "You still haven't told Josh that we followed him to the Park that day and saw him mixed up in that drug deal?"
"What?" Josh asked his girlfriend. "You were following me?"
"I think I'll let you two chew on THAT fat for awhile," Giselle said, getting up and walking out of the classroom.
"Josh, before you…"
"I can't believe you, Carmen," he said, storming out of the classroom.
***
I stood while a bunch of eyes sat staring at me in the Cafeteria. I felt like I had three heads. I walked over to the table with Anthony, Nick, and Carmen.
"Where is Josh?" I asked sitting down. "Not wanting to be seen with a bunch of homos?"
"No, it's not like that, Coy," Carmen said to me with a sigh. "Giselle felt it okay to reveal some secrets this morning in class."
"Seems like everybody is wanting to reveal secrets," I said angrily. "How did you two guys fair?"
"Okay," Anthony said with a sigh. "It's you we're worried about, though, Coy."
"Why are you worried about me?" I asked them. Nick and Anthony both looked at Carmen. "What's going on?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked me. "About … the rape?" She'd whispered the last part, but loud enough for those at their table to hear.
"Anthony!" I said, annoyed. "You told."
"Well, I told Carmen, but Ky told us this morning," Nick replied. "Look, I know I'm not as close to you as Anthony is, but I do care about you, Coy. You mean a great deal to my brother, and I want to help you, if you'll let me."
"There's nothing to help because I don't want, nor do I need any help," I said firmly. Tony plopped down beside me in the seat next to me.
"What's up, people?" he asked with a cheerful grin. Anthony caught the uncomfortable look I had on my face.
"Hey, Tone," Nick said reaching over to bump fists.
"Hey, Tony," Carmen said with a warm smile. "How are you?"
"I should ask these three the same thing," he replied, taking some food off my tray.
Tony looked over at Carmen. "What's going on with Josh? I saw him hanging with the stoners. Not the first people I would imagine him being friends with."
"Well, it's a long story," she replied with a sigh. I felt there was more to it than she was telling us. "Where is he?"
"Outside on the soccer field," he replied. "Tell him, he still needs to pay me back the twenty bucks he owes me."
Carmen got up and excused herself from the table. Anthony looked at Tony pointedly.
"Shouldn't you … like … be somewhere else? This table is for friends only," he said to him.
"Relax man," Nick said to his brother. "Tony, here, is my friend. Probably the only real friend, I have outside of you guys."
"Aw, shucks," Tony said with a mock embarrassed look. I rolled my eyes. "Even though you guys are homos, I still got mad love for you. Especially, Coy, here. But Ant is right. I probably should go and see what's going on with Matt. I heard that some of the jocks are not too happy with the news about him. We might have another brawl on our hands by the end of the day."
"Good," I replied. "A good ass-kicking is what he deserves."
Tony chuckled and got up and left the three of us sitting by ourselves.
"What's your deal with Tony?" Nick asked Anthony who, in turn, looked at me.
"You wanna tell him or should I?" Anthony asked.
***
Matt sat by himself at lunch. Never had he done that before. He was always the most popular guy and was used to having flocks of people around him. There, sitting by himself, he felt as if all eyes were on him. Thinking about it, he was almost positive that all eyes were on him.
"YO, Matty G," a voice said from behind him. He turned to see the Lacrosse team walking toward his table.
"Um … what's up?" Matt asked with a surprised look on his face. They all took a spot around the table.
Ryan Kelly looked at the others and finally at Matt. "We gotta know … is it true? Are you really a fag?"
Matt swallowed painfully as he'd never been called that word before, so it stung a little bit. Now he knew how the kids he called fags felt when he said it.
"Well?" a guy asked from the table. Matt sighed to himself. He couldn't let this happen to himself.
"Hell, NO!" he replied firmly. "I've fucked Giselle and so many other girls. Hell, I go with Miranda, the
Freshmen girl."
"Damn, she be bad," a guy said with a pleased look on his face. "Anytime you wanna flip that, let me know."
The team gave Matt their approvals before Ryan cleared his throat. They quieted down still smiling at Matt.
"We never believed Coy in the first place," Ryan stated. "We just wanted to hear the words come from your mouth. However, there is a problem. We can't have Coy James walking around the campus spreading bullshit like this."
"What … what do you mean?" Matt asked nervously.
"I mean we should teach him how to keep his mouth shut," Ryan replied.
Matt looked at the guys and was fearing what they had in mind. "You guys know that was his brother, Ky, right? He was posing as Coy when he made that announcement."
"Even if that is true, the whole enrollment thinks it's Coy," Ryan said. "Which means … we have to deal with Coy."
"Deal with him … how?" Matt asked, growing more nervous as the conversation went along.
"Beat his ass," Ryan said simply and the rest of the team agreed with him. "We can't risk him developing a crush on us and trying to ruin us like he is trying to do to you."
"It wasn't him," Matt said trying to get them to understand.
"You seem awfully against this, man," Ryan said to him with a sideways look. "Sure there's nothing you want to tell us?"
"I'm sure," Matt replied.
"So are you in or out?" Ryan asked him.
Matt realized this was wrong. But his reputation meant everything to him. So many people respected him … looked up to him. He was an amazing athlete in lacrosse, football, and baseball. He couldn't lose it all. Not over this. He glanced over and saw Anthony and me laughing. That gave him all the ammo he needed.
"I'm in," he replied with a dark look on his face.
***
Carmen walked outside to see Josh blazing with some of the skater dudes from their Culinary class.
"JOSHUA JACKSON!" she yelled out as she stormed across the field. "Put that blunt out."
Josh and the dudes laughed in their stupor. She snatched it out of his hands and stomped it out on the grass.
"Hey, man, that was some expensive shit," one of them said, but he fell back laughing.
"Hey, babe, you mad that I didn't invite you?" Josh asked her. "Here; there's plenty for all of us."
"Josh, what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked him. "Doing this shit on campus?"
"It's fun," he said, laughing stupidly. "Sure you don't want some?"
She pulled him away from the group. "Josh, what are you doing to yourself?"
"Trying to forget my problems, babe," he said to his girlfriend. "Hey, you know what? I forgive you for following me. I shouldn't hide this from you, should I? I should help you get into it with me."
"I am not a drug user," Carmen said to him, slapping him across the face. "And last I checked, neither are you J. Jax. You are gonna get yourself in trouble."
"I'm already in trouble as it is," he said with a shrug. "Just let me be me for right now. If you don't like what I'm doing, you can go."
"Wha…" Carmen was about to say something, but Josh turned and walked back toward the group.
Carmen sensed her boyfriend was slipping away from her and she didn't know why. Was it her?
"Is it me?" she asked herself as she watched the group light up a blunt and head toward the parking lot, obviously ready to skip his remaining classes.
TBC