Song: Roses by The Chainsmokers
Ah, traveling in in the middle of March, how wonderful. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and Spring is finally here! Maybe if you live somewhere else, that is. Here, we were still stuck in winter clothes, riding in Dashiell's dad's RV in below zero weather, watching the snowy scenery go by.
"Some Spring festival this is going to be. Let's celebrate the arrival of spring while there's still snow on the ground," muttered Zaavan sarcastically.
"It's just called a Spring festival because it takes place during spring. It's really a festival to celebrate unknown artists," answered Ariadne. She rolled her eyes and turned over to Katja. "Why exactly did we invite Oscar the Grouch?" She questioned, pointing a painted black fingernail at Zaavan.
"Because we're good people."
"Yeah, well I'm not. I'm down to throw him out the window anytime. Just let me know."
"I'll keep that offer in mind," said Katja. The tension between her and Zaavan was obvious. Something happened, but I didn't bother trying to find out. My main concern was to win back Kennedy. How was I going to do that though?
As I turned my attention back to the guys in my booth, my phone vibrated. It was a text from Zhang.
Zhang Da Man
Hey man! What's up? Have you got any dirt on Zaavan yet?
Shoot! I completely forgot! Thank God for Zhang - March break was ending in a few days and if I didn't get any dirt on Zaavan I'd be dead.
Thanks for reminding me! I nearly forgot!
Hbu?
Unfortunately, yes but I'm only saying what would hurt Ahmed the least. He's actually a great guy.
"Already got another babe lined up?" Smirked Kolton.
"No. Besides, it's none of your business."
"He's still trying to win Kennedy back." Stated Zaavan rolling his.
I scoffed. "What are you, his dog or something?" I asked, earning a glare from the other boy.
"Woah there guys. Relax," said Dashiell, making a feeble attempt of calming everyone down.
"Eh, I don't blame him. She's a 10 for sure. Bet she's great in bed, isn't she?"
That was it. I leaned across the table and grabbed his collar in my fists, bringing his face so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my face.
"NEVER talk about her like that ever again." Dashiell put his hand on my shoulder as Zaavan, who was sitting beside Kolton said:
"Just drop it man."
"Can you guys keep it down back there - I can't concentrate on my driving!" Whined Benji.
"Well then at least play some music!" Said Katja from the both across from us. "Oh! Play The Chainsmokers! Roses for life guys!"
"No! Play some Nirvana or Kiss!" Suggested Ariadne.
"Ew! Just play something normal from the radio!" Protested Kennedy. That was exactly what Benji ended up doing and we managed to pass the next hour without killing each other.
***
Toronto wasn't far from our town and normally doesn't take long to get to. The problem was that we were all 17 and since you can only take your G1 once you hit 16, Benji was the only one with his G2. That meant we couldn't take the highway. Plus he got lost a couple of times. Thank God for Google maps. Almost there, we decided to make a quick stop at a nearby Tim Hortons. Dashiell and I got everyone's orders and joined the others at our table. We were just waiting for Katja and Ariadne to return from the washroom.
"Yo - you guys - check out those faggots over there," said Kolton. I looked over to the table across us, where two guys around our age were smiling and holding hands.
Benji pursed his lips and continued typing on his laptop. Dashiell suddenly looked really uncomfortable and Zaavan's eyes went wide with shock.
Kennedy's face twisted with disgust.
"Ewww! That must be like the weirdest thing I've ever seen!" By now, they were looking over at us.
"Fags! Why don't you guys go back to your own country!" He shook his head. "It's already bad enough that Canada takes in so many immigrants but why do they have to start taking in fags too?" My mouth fell open. Was he being serious right now.
"Dude - what the hell's your problem?!" I hissed.
"What did you just say?" One of the guys made his way over towards us. He looked ready to rip our throats open.
"Babe - just back off. Let's just leave," said the other as he quickly dragged him outside. Boy, if looks could kill, we'd all be dead by now.
"Someone should go and apologize," Dashiell whispered to me before he went outside to go find the two guys.
I glared at Kolton.
"Seriously, people like them make me sick. Freaks like them should all be dead, right Zaavan?" I directed my gaze over towards him and raised an eyebrow.
"Right Zaavan?" Kolton persisted in a menacing voice.
He avoided my gaze and mumbled: "Right." I couldn't believe these homophobic assholes! I opened my mouth to protest but before I could say anything, Katja and Ariadne were back and the next thing I knew, we were all back in the RV and on the road.
~~~
I swear, I had no idea that Kolton was like this. I mean, c'mon, let's be fair - I hadn't talked to the guy for years! He was nothing but a homophobic racist bigot. I was angry at myself for ever even caring about someone like him but even more angry for agreeing with what he said. But what other option did I have? I guess now I get what girls mean when they say that they want a guy with a good personality. Not that I wanted a guy, but you get what I mean. That was a huge relief - gone were the inappropriate feelings I had for Kolton. Well, at least that was what I was trying to convince myself. But let me tell you, unsurprisingly, it wasn't such a hard thing to do.
I wasn't surprised by the way he acted though. Let me tell you something about our school. Though we live in Canada, it wasn't a happy fantasy land where everyone got along. Don't get me wrong - we live in a pretty awesome and accepting country and supposedly, things were better in the bigger cities like Toronto. But not in our small town, just outside of Toronto. To put it bluntly, we were racist as hell. Not that we'd show it though - we were subtle about it. Take Ahmed for example. He's a Muslim and it took him years to get the same respect everyone gave me. Because he was on the soccer team, nobody picked on him but the whole town had their eyes on him and his family. Even though his dad was a well respected politician - and not the greasy, slimy kind but the legit kind who are amazing people and seriously want to make a difference.
Even Zhang had it rough, being Chinese. His dad was a great cop but he never got promoted to town Sheriff, even though he saved many more lives than Sheriff Miller could ever hope to. But nothing compared to the homophobia in our school. We had a weird hierarchy at our school - nobody bothered lesbians. There was something about two girls together that the male athletes found really sexy so being a lesbian actually boosted your reputation. Bisexuals were okay, but only because everyone had it in their minds that bisexuality is just a phase.
But two guys together? Being a gay guy was practically committing social suicide and agreeing to live in hell for the rest of your life. There was just something about two guys together that violently repulsed everyone. Like Katja would say: you can just see the egocentric male pride oozing throughout the school.
We were finally here at the motel though. Apparently, Ariadne had some inside connections which got us some rooms for cheap. Just as I was about to leave the RV, Katja caught up to me.
"Hey - Zaavan. Listen. I know I was kind of invading your privacy the other day and I totally get that. Sorry - it really wasn't my place to ask. I just don't want this to ruin the trip so...we good?"
"Sure. Yeah. I shouldn't have yelled and called you names either."
"No worries."
"Hey you guys - so we have four rooms, so that means it's two people per room," said Ariadne, returning with the keys. Vance immediately turned to Kennedy. He was probably just about to ask her to room with him but was cut off.
"Hey Benji - room with me?" she asked smiling her devilish smile.
"Uhhh...sure? As long as you don't interfere with my work..." Dang. She was good.
"Shall we, babe?" asked Kolton?
"Of course," replied Ariadne.
"I call Dashiell!" chimed in Katja.
Great. Just great. That obviously left me with...
"I guess it's us then," said Vance.
"Guys, this place has a pool!!!" exclaimed an excited Katja. "We should totally go check it out!"
"KK! Be out in an hour pool ready then!" said Kennedy. With that being said we all retreated into our rooms.
Once inside, I quickly scanned the room. It was pretty decent, for a motel at least. Wait - was there only one bed? Oh God, you've got to be kidding me! I had to sleep in the same bed with my rival, Vance Dallas?! The bed was pretty small. I shuddered.
"Yo Zaavan? Hey I was thinking," started Vance, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Look. Since we'll be rooming together for the next few days, I think we should call a truce. This festival clearly means a lot to everyone and I don't think we should let a stupid rivalry ruin this for everyone. What do you say?" Well that was a shock. I searched his face for an answer. He looked pretty genuine, but something in his eyes said otherwise. Almost as if he was planning something...
Nah. I was probably just overthinking it. So I took the hand that he was offering and shook it.
A/N: Hey guys! So my chapters for some reason always end up being longer than I anticipate so they usually end up getting broken into two instead - I don't know why. Anyways, do you guys think that Vance was being sincere, or does he have an ulterior motive for calling a truce? Let me know what you think in the comments below!