Chapter 38
Principal Ronald Curtis let his sputtering old sedan come to a halt as he eyed the circus that was his high school. Who the hell were all these people standing around? He was only here to oversee the setup for prom in the auditorium—he sure didn’t expect whatever was happening here. And damned if he was in the mood for this kind of crap. Certainly not on a Saturday.
Wearing a scowl, he climbed out of the car and marched toward the crowds. It looked like there were two distinct groups here—a handful of angry-looking adults holding up signs, and some teenagers in a group of their own, screaming at the adult group. The groups were roughly the same size, though he could see some more cars pulling up, teens pouring out of them and joining the gathering.
“Oh, good Lord,” he muttered, stuffing his keys in his jeans pocket and approaching the group of adults. “Excuse me, what the hell is going on here? I’m the principal of this school and I never authorised any kind of… what is this, a protest rally?”
He looked up at their signs, and grimaced as he saw the content.
NO DEVIANTS IN OUR SCHOOLS
PROTECT THE CHILDREN
NO GAYS AT PROM
LEVITICUS 20:13
Oh, Jesus Christ, it’s a gay thing, he thought with a foul word uttered under his breath. It’s always something to do with the gays lately, isn’t it?
Ron pinched the bridge of his nose as one of the protesters emerged from the group; a large woman with a crucifix necklace and wide, judging eyes.
“You’re the principal?” she snarled. “How can you sanction this filth?”
“Ma’am, I do not know what you’re talking about,” he replied in a terse but even tone. “You are…?”
“I’m Mary-Sue Moresby, president of Concerned Albuquerque Parents,” the woman said, extending a hand. “CAP for short.”
Ron reluctantly shook her hand, eyes narrow.
“Okay,” he said. “Well, Ms Moresby, would you mind telling me what this is about? We are preparing for prom tonight and this rigmarole is just going to slow us down.”
“Sir, we were sent an anonymous tip recently about a homosexual couple that plan to attend tonight’s prom. We are here to demand an immediate stop to this deviance.” She crossed her arms. “We had been sending out emails to our mailing list so we would have a larger turnout, but apparently someone hacked us and deleted everything. I can’t help but think it was no coincidence. And I assure you, the police will be looking into it, and we’ve notified every paper in town. And you’d better believe Fox News will be hearing about this.”
Ron was not in the mood for this. The last thing he needed was a national spotlight on his school, let alone for something this controversial.
“I haven’t heard anything about a gay couple,” he said truthfully. “Just who are you talking about?”
At this, a girl emerged from the group of teenagers. Ron recognised her as one of Admiral Calavicci’s girls, the second of whom had been enrolled at his school.
“She’s talking about me, sir,” she said, scowling at the woman. “Me and Kat McCall. We’re registered as a couple on the guest list, and nobody has told us we can’t go together.”
“Oh, look at this creature,” Mary-Sue said, eyeing the girl, who had dyed black hair with blue streaks. “I should have guessed it was a devil worshipper. I’ll bet she’s into ouija boards and witchcraft. You should search her locker for satanic symbols.”
“Lady, what is the matter with you?” The Calavicci girl retorted. “Don’t you have your own life? Do you even have a kid that attends this school?” She looked smugly at Ron. “She doesn’t, you know. But even if she did, my personal life wouldn’t be her business.”
Ron groaned, meeting the girl’s eye. “Are you responsible for this… counter-protest, Miss Calavicci?”
“Yes, I am,” she said with a resolute nod. “I heard CAP was going to be here, so I called in some allies to show you that a few hateful adults are not the only ones around here with a voice and the ability to organise a snap protest.”
“Hateful?” Mary-Sue shrieked. “This gay agenda is hateful towards the family, the church, and America itself! I will not be silent while these deviants destroy our way of life!”
The Calavicci girl hiked a thumb at the woman. “You’re really going to listen to this word salad, sir?”
Ron stamped a foot. “That’s enough! Both of you, get your people off school grounds before I have you forcibly removed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”
He turned towards the auditorium, ploughing through the crowds as he seethed. He would not have his school made into a media circus.
The Calavicci girl was trouble, he could see. It wasn’t that he was happy to appease those homophobes, but frankly their threats were not empty. They would call up all the conservative media to tear him to pieces for allowing a lesbian couple to attend prom.
No, he knew it was best not to resist such terrible pressure at a time when the issue of gay rights was in the zeitgeist. He didn’t want to be eaten alive. He didn’t want his students to pay the price, even if he still had to metaphorically sacrifice two of them in an effort to keep the peace.
But how best to finesse the situation without making a mass of volatile teenagers start a riot?
* * *
As the principal pushed his way out of the crowd toward the auditorium, Ben retreated away from the homophobes and back into the group of high schoolers he and the teen Addison had managed to wrangle.
She was waiting for him, an uncertain expression on her face.
“What did he say? It’s a little noisy here, I couldn’t hear a thing.”
Ben shook his head. “All he said was to break it up and get off school property. Which I’ll be happy to do—once we’ve got confirmation that we’re allowed to go to prom.”
“Not looking good,” the holographic Addison said, materialising beside her teenage self. “We’ve got under twenty percent odds so far.”
Ben grimaced. “Dammit.”
The younger Addison furrowed her brow. “What? No good?”
Ben shook his head slowly, lips pursed. “We need to ramp up the pressure.”
“How?”
“Not sure—I was hoping you’d have ideas.” He looked between the two Addisons expectantly.
“Ideas for what?” came another girl’s voice—one Ben had almost forgotten about. He spun around to find Kat weaving through some kids.
“Oh, hey Kat,” Ben said with a smile. “Glad you could make it.”
As Kat reached Ben, she grabbed him by the face and planted a kiss on his lips—which he didn’t fight, but also didn’t return.
As she finished up and pulled away from him, some indistinct heckles came from the CAP protesters, who were highly offended by the display.
Ben exchanged an awkward glance with his fiancée before turning and giving the finger to the homophobes, accompanied by a large grin on his face.
“Love is love, assholes!” Kat shouted at them. In defiance, she pulled Ben in for another kiss, dipping him to make it extra dramatic. Ben uncomfortably let it happen, blushing at the holographic Addison’s giggles.
“So,” said Kat, as she brought him back to his upright position, “what’d I miss? Who’s she?” She nodded at the younger Addison, who was smiling impishly.
“I’m Addison,” she said. “I don’t go here, but I’m, uh, a family friend.”
“My Dad and her Grandpa are BFFs,” Ben explained. “Addison helped me organise this counter-protest. About half the people here are from her school.”
Kat grinned. “Nice to meet you, Alison. Thanks a bunch!”
“It’s Addison,” Ben and both Addisons corrected all at once.
“Oh, sorry. It’s loud here.” She swept her hair back. “Maybe we should go in the auditorium and confront Mister Curtis? Away from these dweebs.” She gestured a dismissive hand towards the CAP members.
Ben folded his arms thoughtfully. “Yeah, maybe.” He met the hologram’s eye, silently asking for information.
Addison took the cue, tapping at the handlink. “Your odds go up marginally if you do that. Try and talk on his level.”
“Look, I’ll do it,” Ben said to the teens. “Just gotta act like a grownup.” He winked at Teen Addison, before pointing to the CAP protesters. “Can you two distract those guys while I slip past? Don’t want them following.”
Addison and Kat exchanged a shrug.
“Leave it to me,” Addison said, patting Ben on the shoulder before marching towards Mary-Sue with a smirk pasted on her face.
“Hey, lady! The library’s over there, in case you wanted to read a book that was written more recently than 2000 years ago. You ought to try it some time! Some books are even non-fiction and contain facts!”
“Oh my god,” the holographic Addison groaned, hiding her eyes. “I forgot this was my edgy atheist phase. Come on, let’s go—I can’t watch any more of this.”
Ben stifled a laugh, and made a beeline for the auditorium entrance.