Spin [Chapter One.Part Two]

Homosexuality wasn’t exactly something I’d thought much about, but I knew what it meant to be gay. And I knew that he would be made fun of for it, but I was perfectly willing to stand up for Ashlee because that’s what friends do. 1

Ash didn’t come out of the closet fully until we were in highschool, but by then I was used to it. In fact, it was kinda fun. I could take him to the mall, and we would comment, “Hey that guys pretty hot.” Or, “He’s got a nice ass.” We pretty much had the same interest in guys, but that was never a problem until you. Guys stayed pretty far away from Ashlee, because he was openly gay. He wore ‘Out and Proud’ T-shirts almost everyday after he came out, and I supported him by wearing gay pride. Guys never seemed to take much of an interest in my either, because of Ash. I don’t know if it was because he’s gay or just because he’s a guy that I spend all my time with, but it doesn’t matter.2

It’s amazing how much of an impact his sexual orientation had on my life. I don’t mean that as a discriminatory thing, because, trust me, I am just about the most unjudgemental person ever, but it really did. We got looked at differently, ridiculed, laughed at. I couldn’t go a day without being reminded that Ashlee was gay. And maybe if I hadn’t known Ash would be doing the same things for me if I was the one, I wouldn’t have taken it so well. I know that if I was gay, Ash would’ve been the one wearing gay pride t-shirts, defending me. Now, I don’t know if he’d be as violent as me, because I’d never seen him deck anyone until someone was making fun of my dad. But that’s a tender subject and a story for another time.3

All in all, I think that his being gay brought us closer together. It was us against the world. The dynamic duo. We were Tess and Ashlee, hear us rawr. Most of the people at our school had learned not to mess with us after a while, and strangers didn’t very often, so we didn’t get to use this alternate identity much, to our dismay. 4

We pretty much stayed like that, Peanut Butter and Jelly, cookies and cream, for a while. It didn’t really start to change until the day I met you.5

Or, more specifically, the day that Ashlee met you.6