The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School(96)

26


Si Te Amo Y Respeto . . .


I stand up straight and march like I’m proud, but I’m fucking terrified. I’ve never been sent to the principal’s office in my entire life. This is a normal thing for Bo, but for me it feels like the end of the world.

One of the office ladies tells us we can go in to see Mr. Cappa, and we’re still holding hands. I think Bo wants to prove a point, but I’m holding on for protection. It feels safer than going in alone. Mr. Cappa sighs when he sees us. He’s sitting at his desk, and he gestures for us to sit.

“I was about to call you two in here. Do we have another problem?”

I use my best smart voice. “That announcement was in bad taste. It was humiliating, not to mention just completely wrong. Girls go to prom together as friends all the time.” I want to keep going off and call this whole thing out as the bullshiterious miscarriage of justice that it is. I resist the urge so he’ll take me seriously.

“If you two wanted to go to prom as friends, it wouldn’t be an issue. There was an inappropriate public display of affection at the art show. Some of the students and parents were made to feel very uncomfortable. And as you know, this school operates by the laws of the Catholic faith. Homosexual activity is not permitted on this campus. I’m sorry, but that kind of inappropriate behavior can’t go unpunished.” He hands both of us a detention slip.

I laugh. It’s easier to laugh than to cry right now.

“Do you want to be the one to tell my parents about this, or should I call them?” Bo says. This is why I like her parents. She knows they have her back. I can picture Emma raising hell over this.

“I will inform both of your parents of your behavior today.”

“Great.” Bo smiles sweetly, like this is a game. I, on the other hand, am not fucking smiling. I got after-school detention . . . As supportive as she is now, Mami is going to KILL me.

“You’re free to go.” He waves his hand toward the door as if to shoo us away. I thought arguing with the principal would be a lot more satisfying. Now I just feel sick.

For the rest of the day, Bo and I are practically celebrities. Well, we’re admittedly not the most-liked celebrities. I’m not oblivious to the whispering when we walk by. It doesn’t take long for news to travel here, and by second hour, everyone knows Bo and I got detention for my promposal. Bo smiles when she sees me between classes, like this is normal. Like we’re not being punished and publicly humiliated for something I wanted to celebrate Friday night. I force myself to smile back.

People I barely know approach me all day to tell me how brave I am, or that they support me and Bo, or that they have a gay cousin, or whatever. The only person who actually makes me feel better is Cesar. He and Hunter sit with us at lunch today.

“So, are you guys still gonna go to prom, or . . . ?” David asks.

“No,” Bo says, and I swear my heart shrinks a little. I try not to let my body visibly slump. Because I was really looking forward to prom. With Bo. Even if we had to pretend to be going platonically. I was so excited for this.

“Respect,” Cesar says. “Nobody cares about prom anyway. We should boycott.”

“Boycott prom? Hell yeah,” Emily says as she puts her tray down between Amber and Hunter. “Is it okay if I sit here?” she asks, and we nod, so she sits down.

“Karen, Jenna, and I are no longer friends. . . .” She sounds sad but doesn’t look it. “I didn’t know where else to sit.”

“Thank God. I was waiting for you to dump them,” Amber says.

“It’s been a long time coming, trust me,” Emily sighs. Then they all go back to discussing the prom boycott.

I think they all expect me to be happy about boycotting, but I’m not. I wanted to have a cheesy fairy-tale prom like everyone else. I just want to be salty for a minute. So I keep my mouth shut the rest of lunch. I get it. They want to stay energized, and boycotting prom makes sense after what happened. I just really wanted to go. Of all the worries I had leading up to the showcase, I never once thought I’d get in trouble for it. I didn’t think I’d get detention.

The one time I have detention after school, Cesar doesn’t. I take my time walking to my locker before I’ll have to go to the cafeteria and sit in silence for an hour. When I get there, Amber is standing in front of it, blocking my way. She doesn’t move aside when I step closer.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Nothing! Nothing to see here!” She gives me the world’s fakest smile, back firm against my locker. “Do you have notes from religion? I totally forgot to take notes,” she rambles on.

“Amber,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady.

“I completely blanked, you know? And there’s that test on Thursday. . . .”

“What happened to my locker?” Did someone do something to it? This feels so unreal. I look around to see if anyone is watching me for a reaction. I feel like everyone’s staring at me, like they have been all day.

“You don’t have to look. I’ll clean it off,” Amber says.

“I can handle it.” I expect resistance when I go to push her out of the way, but she steps aside before I can.

UGLY DYKE

My jaw clenches, but other than that, I don’t let any emotions show on my face. I won’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me react. I open the locker and toss my books inside like I didn’t see shit.