A brief excerpt from "Joined at the Soul"
What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.
Aristotle
Chapter 1
Of Mirrors and Locker Rooms
The bus stops and Blake Rogers stumbles on; it’s running three minutes late. (I hate being late!) Blake is my best friend. He’s exhausted this morning because he put off doing his homework again and had to stay up late last night. Today is going to be one of those days.
“Good morning,” I say in sarcastic cheeriness.
“Mumm-ning, Randy,” he yawns. He’s already dozing before his butt even hits the seat. I’m guaranteed a quiet, peaceful ride to Chadham High. Good! I need the time to think. See, today, September 17, 1979, is a day of historic importance. This morning, I woke up and discovered I am gay.
I know I know I know; it’s not supposed to work like that, but that’s just what happened. I was brushing my teeth, spit out, and looked in the mirror. A pointy-nosed sixteen year old with mousy brown hair stared back at me.
“Randy Clark,” he said. “You, young man, are gay.”
I should probably explain. I didn’t just go to bed last night as the straight Randy Clark only to have the gay pixie come and sprinkle fairy dust all over me; it’s not that simple. The truth is it’s something I’ve kind of seen coming for a couple of years now. It’s like a process: one day you start adding up all the times in your life you caught yourself looking at guys or couldn’t stop thinking about a particular guy, and then it just hits you -- you’re gay.
It’s funny, but now that I’ve admitted it, I feel more at ease than I ever have in my life; it feels natural. But it’s also kind of scary too. I mean being gay isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can just announce to the world. Some people would instantly hate you; others would express their feelings with a few punches (and I get more than my share of those already). It’s enough to make a guy a little nervous.
And then there’s the problem, the real problem; something’s missing in my life, something important, very important. See, a straight guy can look forward to the possibility of getting married. But what about me? Is there someone out there waiting for me? I mean sure, friends are important in life, but they’re not enough -- what I need is a boyfriend, that special someone to turn me on and send me into sexual orbit. That’s what it’s all about, right?
Blake won’t be the first person I tell I’m gay. It’s not that he’d stop being my friend or anything, it’s just more urgent to find someone I can go to for advice about guys first. Blake likes girls too much to be any help on that issue.
For that job, I know exactly who I need: Annie Brock and Jeremy Smith. They’re in my Art class. If there are any two people on earth who will be able to help me find a boyfriend, its Annie and Jeremy.
"Joined at the Soul" - coming in February 2015 from Prizm Books.
Aristotle
Chapter 1
Of Mirrors and Locker Rooms
The bus stops and Blake Rogers stumbles on; it’s running three minutes late. (I hate being late!) Blake is my best friend. He’s exhausted this morning because he put off doing his homework again and had to stay up late last night. Today is going to be one of those days.
“Good morning,” I say in sarcastic cheeriness.
“Mumm-ning, Randy,” he yawns. He’s already dozing before his butt even hits the seat. I’m guaranteed a quiet, peaceful ride to Chadham High. Good! I need the time to think. See, today, September 17, 1979, is a day of historic importance. This morning, I woke up and discovered I am gay.
I know I know I know; it’s not supposed to work like that, but that’s just what happened. I was brushing my teeth, spit out, and looked in the mirror. A pointy-nosed sixteen year old with mousy brown hair stared back at me.
“Randy Clark,” he said. “You, young man, are gay.”
I should probably explain. I didn’t just go to bed last night as the straight Randy Clark only to have the gay pixie come and sprinkle fairy dust all over me; it’s not that simple. The truth is it’s something I’ve kind of seen coming for a couple of years now. It’s like a process: one day you start adding up all the times in your life you caught yourself looking at guys or couldn’t stop thinking about a particular guy, and then it just hits you -- you’re gay.
It’s funny, but now that I’ve admitted it, I feel more at ease than I ever have in my life; it feels natural. But it’s also kind of scary too. I mean being gay isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can just announce to the world. Some people would instantly hate you; others would express their feelings with a few punches (and I get more than my share of those already). It’s enough to make a guy a little nervous.
And then there’s the problem, the real problem; something’s missing in my life, something important, very important. See, a straight guy can look forward to the possibility of getting married. But what about me? Is there someone out there waiting for me? I mean sure, friends are important in life, but they’re not enough -- what I need is a boyfriend, that special someone to turn me on and send me into sexual orbit. That’s what it’s all about, right?
Blake won’t be the first person I tell I’m gay. It’s not that he’d stop being my friend or anything, it’s just more urgent to find someone I can go to for advice about guys first. Blake likes girls too much to be any help on that issue.
For that job, I know exactly who I need: Annie Brock and Jeremy Smith. They’re in my Art class. If there are any two people on earth who will be able to help me find a boyfriend, its Annie and Jeremy.
"Joined at the Soul" - coming in February 2015 from Prizm Books.
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