In Gym class, the teacher, Mr. Bevins, told everyone to change and be ready to do a thorough warm up. This surprised Fletcher. Since it was the first day, he had thought they wouldn’t be changing and just take things easy today.

Well, I guess it’s a good thing I brought my gym clothes. He smiled to himself as he entered the boys’ locker room.

There were already students in the locker room. They were all talking while they changed, laughing about stuff they had done over the summer. Fletcher overheard more than a few of them bragging about having sex.

“Hey, who’re you?” Someone demanded as Fletcher put his bag in an empty locker. He turned to see one of the other guys looking at him sternly.

Fletcher turned back to the locker. “Fletcher Stone.” He said, pulling out his athletics clothes. “I’m new this year.” He turned again to the guy who had spoken and offered a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

The guy stared at him for a long moment. Then his eyes narrowed. “Homo.” He spat. Then he pointedly walked away.

Fletcher blinked in surprise. It was the first time anyone had ever said that to him. He looked down at his shirt and a smile spread across his face. Yes. He laughed to himself. I am. Then he turned away from the many evil glares he was getting and started to change.

The door opened as another student entered the locker room. “What’s everyone staring at?” He asked. Fletcher didn’t hear anyone answer him, but then the same voice spoke again. “Hey, Fletcher, right?”

“Huh?” Fletcher quickly pulled down his shirt and turned around. Lance was standing behind him. “Oh, hey.” He crammed his clothes into the locker and shut the door.

“Hey! Church!” One of the other guys shouted. “You’d better stay away from him!”

“Yeah, he might try to turn you gay!” Someone else called.

“Huh?” Lance looked back at everyone else, then he turned to Fletcher again. “So… You are gay?” He asked.

Fletcher shrugged, trying to hide how angry the comments had made him. Ignorant bastards. He started to head back to the locker room door. As he passed the group of students, he looked over his shoulder at Lance. “Yeah, I am.” Then he left the room.

Mr. Bevins looked up from his clipboard when Fletcher came out of the locker room. “Hey!” He shouted, waving him over while checking his watch. “That was a fast change, Mister…” He looked down at his clipboard.

“Stone.” Fletcher offered.

“Ah, yes.” Mr. Bevins nodded, tapping a finger on the clipboard. “Fletcher Stone.” He looked up. “You’re new this year?”

Fletcher nodded. “That’s right.”

“Well then.” Mr. Bevins smiled at him. “Until the rest of the class is changed and ready to go, I guess you can just do whatever you want.”

Fletcher nodded again. “If it’s alright,” he started, a little hesitant. “I’d like to just run. Would I be disruptive if I did laps?”

Mr. Bevins looked at him like he wasn’t supposed to exist. “Oh, uh, yeah. That’s fine. Go right ahead.”

“Thanks.” Fletcher smiled and started running. He listened as his sneakers hit the floor and echoed. Focusing on the sound, he slowly picked up speed until he was going at his fastest sustainable pace. Like this, he could probably go for nearly half an hour without stopping.

Fletcher liked running. It was a chance to clear his head. Plus, every time he passed the locker room door, he kind of hoped that someone would come out and see him go past. He wanted them to see that he was athletic, and not some weakling that they could bully.

Bring it on! He dared every homophobic person in the school. Just try to mess with me.