Shelter Chapter 2+3

Chapter 2

*sigh* "I hate lunch. I never know where to sit. I feel like everyone is just staring at me." A boy walks out into the crowded hall and turns a corner to go into the large lunch room. "I hate crowded places like this." He gets in to the lunch line and stands there with his arms crossed, tightly gripping and twisting his left sleeve with his right thumb and forefinger. He flips his hair a time or two. The line seems to creep forward. "Where to sit?

The boy looks out into the lunch room looking for someone he knows. "There’s an empty table over there, maybe I should just sit alone. I’ve done it before it’s not that bad."

“What can I get you today?” the lunch lady says.

“Uhhh,” getting zapped out of thought, “I’ll take pizza.” The lunch lady takes a piece of greasy pizza and places it on his plastic plate, beside it she puts fries on it. Why do I even get lunch I don’t even eat it. He sighs. The line slowly moves through everyone pays their $1.75 for lunch. Anxiety creeps upon him as he looks over the lunch room. I think I’ll just go to that empty table. He moves toward the empty table. He sits down and gets out his notebook. He begins to write.

“Is that him over there alone? In the gray shirt? Is that Quinn?” someone from the table behind him says. Quinn pretends he doesn’t hear anything. "Are they talking about me? Quinn, that IS me." Quinn thinks to himself

“Shhhh. Don’t talk so loud.” Another voice says. Quinn looks back for a glance. He sees a table with three people at it, two guys and a girl.

“Hey you.” The first voice says, “Quinn. Come over here. You can sit with us.”

“Ummm… me?” Quinn gets out.

“Yes you. So will you sit with us?”

"See I told you. Now just go over there and act friendly. Its ok they seem nice." Quinn gets up as he tells himself. Puts his notebook back in his satchel and walks over to the table. One of the guys pulls out a chair for him and pats the seat.

“Hi. You can sit here.” Wow. It’s that one really cute guy in my English class. Awesome!

“Thank you.”

“Well, I’m Amy. You know Clark. And this is Jeffery.” The one girl at the table points at the brown haired boy beside her.

“Hi, thank you for letting me sit here.” Quinn replies.

“Oh its cool. You just look so lonely over there. But now your awesome cause your over here with us!” Amy giggles. “So do you write. I saw you had a notebook out over there.”

“Yeah I do a little writing.”

“That’s cool. Clark writes too.”

“Ummm… Do you write poetry? Clark says trying to hide his red face.

“Yeah. That and short stories.”

“That’s cool. What about?”

“Ummm…nothing too much.”

“Oh… ok that’s cool. So yeah, I didn’t know you had this lunch period. Where did you sit before?”

“On the other side of the lunchroom.”

“Oh I see.”

“Hey Jeffery,” Amy’s high voice said after a brief silence. “Do you have your Math homework done? I need to borrow it.”

“Yeah hold on.” Jeffery reached into his gray green pack and bulled out a blue binder. “Lemme find it.” He searched through the scattered papers. He pulls out a sheet or two and hands them to Amy.

“Thank you. Your awesome!” She replies as she hurriedly pulls out her papers. The bell rings to end lunch. Quinn gets up to leave. Clark quickly grabs the back of his tight shirt.

“Wait a minuet.” Clark says quickly. Quinn looks startled. “Here take this.” Clark gives Quinn a folded piece of paper and walks off.

"Whoah! Did I just get a note. From Clark too! I think I’m gonna like sitting here." Quinn begins to read.

Hey,

You kinda know me from 7th hour English and all and……

Chapter 3

"Oh my god!" Clarks palms were still sweaty. He wipes them on his faded jeans.

“Jeffery! Amy!” Clark excitedly says. “I did it!”

“You gave him the note?” Amy says smiling. All Clark can do is smile back.

“Awesome good going dude!” Jeffery adds in. “Your like my hero. Even though you go to school here you still aren’t afraid to be yourself.”

“Yeah I guess. But I don’t see the big deal in it. I mean I like him for who he is. Just like why anybody likes anybody else.”

“Good job Clark I’m proud of you. You’re a good person.” Amy chimes in.

“When is he gonna write back?” Jeffery asks.

“Ummmm…. I told him to write back by Friday.”

“See you two later.” Amy waves as she walks off. The two guys wave back. They start walking to their 6th hour class.

“That’s cool.”

“Yeah I can’t wait to see what he says.”

“Ha. You seem really excited. You really seem to like him.”

“Oh yeah definitely! Hey do you have a pencil I can have?”

“Yeah hold on.” Jeffery hunts through his coat for one. “Here.” He hands Clark a pencil.

“Thanks. So yeah you want to do something after school? You can ask Amy if she wants to do something too.”

“Ok sounds cool. Wait I have to work tonight, but I’m free till about 4:30.”

“Oh…Yeah I forgot you work on Wednesdays”

“We can all still do something until then though.”

“Cool. I’ll meet yall at your lockers after school.”

“Sounds good.” They walk into there Current Events classroom.

“Good Morning class.” the teacher says.

“Hi Mrs. Makey.” A girl towards the front says back.

“Ok today’s topic is the up coming election. I would like to know your views toward Democratic Representative Jonathan, or Republican Representative McTyler. Can anyone tell me any policies? Clark how bout you lead off. You usually have very unique ways of looking at the world.”

“Sure why not. I don’t really look at their policies.”

“What do your mean then? How do you choose a president then.”

“I look at there person. Not there policies.”

“But that could mean choosing the wrong man to run the country.”

“Well I believe that if a person has good morals and his intentions are right then I’d rather have him in office than someone who is all about fans, and numbers and all that political stuff.”

“I think I see where your coming from.”

“Its really simple. I just think someone’s character out weights anything else. And I no not everyone will agree with all his decisions but that will never happen.”

“I get it. Good point Clark. Anyone else want to discuss something?”

“Mrs. Makey,” a student speaks up, “Do you believe in gay rights?”

"I knew this was going to come up…" Clark sighs.

“Yes, I do.” Mrs. Makey confidently says, “I think everyone is entitled to their rights no matter what there personal, religious, or public life is like.”

“I don’t think so,” the same student replies, “I think its wrong. A guy and another dude is just sick. It should be a guy and a girl.”

“I agree with him,” Another student, this time a girl, chimes in, “Its just kinda weird.”

“What do you suppose we do with them than?” Mrs. Makey asks the class.

“I think…” Clark spoke up hesitantly from his desk in the front row, “I think that homosexual’s should be allowed to be there own person. If they like someone for who they are and see the beauty in everyone then that’s just who they are.”

“Clark you just say that cause you are gay.” A boy called out from the back of the room.

“Hey…” Clark was interrupted.

“Shut up queer.” someone coughed out.

“Hey! If straight was the minority then YOU would be the odd one! Just because I’m different I shouldn’t be treated differently!”

“Class that’s enough!” Mrs. Makey snapped out. The bell rings. “Clark would you stay a little after please? I need to talk to you one on one.”

“Yeah, what do you need to talk to me about?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t know you were…”

“It’s ok. I know you didn’t know. But its cool cause I’m proud of who I am.”

“Are you not afraid?” Mrs. Makey adjusted her glasses, “You know how this town is. Nobody accepts gay rights here.”

“Yeah I know. I’m not too afraid, cause I think that its wrong to dislike somebody because of another belief or lifestyle. So I just try to be myself.”

“You’re a brave kid Clark. You’re a really brave kid.”

“Uhhh…”Clark laughed, “I guess.”