Chapter 4: A Transgressive Lesson
I was dead. I never thought I’d die this way, but there was no hope for me now. For almost two months I had managed to keep on the Eaglenator’s good side, but this was where it ended. These were the thoughts that coursed through my head as I wondered what my funeral would be like? They’d probably bury me in a dress – I highly doubt my parents would want to cremate me. We were supposed to write a 500 word op-ed on a piece of recent news – I had not wrote a word of it. It was due at the start of class, typed up. Twice I had got away with ‘forgetting’ assignments like this on my printer, but the Eaglenator only gave you two chances, and then you were on his shit list. He would not accept an excuse like that again. In fact he made a habit of reminding all of us with only one strike left of this daily. His social studies classes were really fun, but the man had very strict guidelines. He was eager to read what I said I was going to write about - there was no way he wouldn’t destroy me for letting him down like that. The worst part was, I probably wrote a thousand words to Jason on the topic over instant messanger.
If only I could cast spells in the school (not that I’d mastered even the simplest of time magic), I could cast a time distortion spell, run home, write it, and come back here. I’d have what felt like 2 hours, but really was only 2 minutes. That was VERY high level magic though, and to maintain a spell outside the points where that other realm fully intersected with our own – a higher level still. There was nothing I could do. Nothing. I sighed and whispered to myself the answer to Jason’s question in possibly one of the most defeated voices ever uttered from me, “no”.
And as I whispered that, a stapled set of sheets of paper appeared on my desk. Size fourteen font, Times New Roman, properly formatted for paragraphs, and with the proper page margins. I recognized the words. They were my own, the very ones that I had rambled towards Jason over messenger the night before. Before I assulated Dunban’s keep. How had he known that I didn’t do it. “Jason, what how?” I whispered to him.
The only response he gave me was a shake of his head. How did he know? Did he know about my foray’s into the magical underbelly of society? I had kept it a secret, partly to protect my friend, partly because I wanted to keep it to my self. I know that is selfish, but sometimes there are things, especially when you spend so much time together and share so much, that you just want to keep away from your best friend. “Seriously dude, don’t mention it.” He added as I stared at him dumbfounded.
Breathing a sigh of relief I took the pages and placed them atop my opened binder. I had been emptying my backpack as I went over my contemplation of my impending doom. The binder was open to the section for social studies, new fresh pieces of loose leaf sat atop it, ready to be written upon. A mechanical pencil with .7 lead (seriously, who used .5? Scrubs that’s who.) lay neatly below it, awaiting use.
We were even when I sat down to my desk, but already I was indebted to my charming friend once more. He was too good, maybe I would have to try and question him about his connection to the magical world after all. I’d been exploring this since I was ten years old, alone. Maybe it didn’t have to be alone anymore. Things were getting more dangerous as I rebelled against Dunban too, so help was probably something I needed anyways.
As my mind wandered to the future, the rest of our classmates entered the room. First there was Daniel, Dan, and Danny (all three named Daniel of course, but thankfully they all wanted to go by something different). Then there was Sean, Shawn, and Shaun. It was impossible to get only one of their attention, and they were constantly bickering over whose name was the proper way to spell it (for the record, I’m in the Sean camp). Hana and Hao walked in, holding hands. It was a big scandal in their families that the two were dating. They were Japanese and Chinese, so it made things kind interesting. I honestly loved hearing the updates during the lunch hour, it was like peaking into a soap opera. Julie, Jodie, and Robin came in, they weren’t friends, but they weren’t not either, they did walk to school together because they were neighbors. Julie and Jodie were the president and vice president of the anime and games club despite only being in the ninth grade. Kayla and Katie were followed into the class by: Alex Gregley, Alex Gunn, and Al (yes, he too is an Alex). Alex Gregley, she goes by Greggles, Alex Gunn goes by Alex or Gunn, or A G (Wow, that kid really has a lot of nicknames). Curtis, and Ryker were no where to be seen, the two were probably off somewhere filming something for Youtube. Their absences were too frequent to mention. In next came Randi and Randy – both female, and dating. People asked them if they planned to adopt a girl and call her Randi squared. I can’t imagine how tiring that became. Surprisingly Conor (female) was nowhere to be seen. She was always studious and shy, and hated missing school. This was the cohort that was my homeroom class, as well as my social studies class.
Actually, we took all our core-classes together. It was only electives that we got to go to different rooms and meet different people. Every year you had more electives and got to go to more different classes and meet more different groups. Grade 12 I was so excited for, the only class I was required to take was English. It would be THE BEST. The best I say. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my homeroom, but I just REALLY wanted to define MY education to be as unique as possible. It was something I couldn’t quite understand – but still, it was exactly what I wanted from school.
As the last of my classmates entered the classroom and sat down, the bell rang to announce the official start of the school day. Static played from the intercom as the office connected to the classes. The voice of our principal, Madam Morrell, came out of the small gray speaker in the corner of the room. “Good Evening students of Eastwood High. Would you please rise for the singing of O’Canada” She requested in her typical prim and proper voice. Her French accent curling around the words, when she spoke it always felt like she was glaring into your soul, even if she wasn’t in in the room.
I stood up and put a hand over my heart, then folded them behind my back, then I made a strange interlacing of my hands in front of me as our National Anthem played. Every morning, the day is started with the playing of the national anthem, followed by announcements. I never knew how best to stand during this. It always felt just a little bit too awkward. Nothing against my nation, but the daily standing for O’Canada felt kind of pointless and just like busy work. Either way, at least they got drama kids to sing it each morning instead of just playing a recording. At my middle school, they played a recording, but knowing that the singing is live, at least for me, makes it more bearable.
After the song ended we all sat down a small mummer of chatter emitting from my classmates as the announcements began. It was all the typical stuff, but one thing stood out for me. “The school fencing club, as well as the school wrestling team will be hosting try-outs tomorrow after school. Anyone interested please sign up in the office during lunch hour.” Said the voice of Student Council president Brian Hanson. He had a tired, bored tone to his voice. Apparently he wasn’t really student council president by choice, but instead got signed up for the job by his friends, and elected in. He ran for the position seriously, apparently, it was all before I was here obviously. Still – both wrestling and fencing were things I wanted to try out for. They used the same space in the school, so I could theoretically join both teams. I felt excitement welling up inside of me at the prospect of this. Jason turned his head to me smiling, “We’re joining both” he asserted, and I quickly snapped back, “I don’t know if they’ll want or need you after they see me.”
Class began and Mr.Eagles began collecting the homework assignments. It was a pretty rudimentary class for the first ten minutes as we wrapped up our discussion on culture in China and the differences in their educational system. What wasn’t expected at all was Mr.Eagles next statement. “Let’s talk about the LGBTQI community.” My eyes peaked up. This was dangerous, especially in a class of grade nines. Everyone looked tense around me, Jason especially. He kept looking at me, a little worried. Conor walked into the classroom at this point handing her assignment to Mr.Eagles She went to say something and he said, “Don’t worry miss. Anderson, I got your email. Now take your seat.” She sat down in front of Jason.
“As I was saying, we’re going to talk about the LGBTQI community. To start things off, and don’t feel obligated to out yourself, but who identifies under this spectrum in here?” Randi and Randy both raised their hands, as did Al. This was surprising, but not like in a bad way. My hands were tight on my desk. Nobody knew I went by Seth. Nobody knew the dysphoria I had with my changing body. I wanted to share it, to be open, but I was still too scared. I was shivering and quivering. Were people looking at me right now? I was turning my head left and right, I saw a couple people in similar positions as me. Once I realized people weren’t staring at me, I felt my heart begin to slow down. I finally looked at Jason to give him a smile, but I was caught by a surprise.
Jason raised his hand and I was so confused. How did I not know this? He cleared his throat and said, “You forgot A sir.’ Mr. Eagles looked at him seriously for a minute, and then a soft smile washed over his face. “You’re right Mr.Abudo. My apologies” he replied. My mind dashed over what the ‘A’ meant. It came to me quickly, ‘A’sexual. My eyes wavered on Jason for a second, I couldn’t decide if he was just championing inclusiveness, or was ensuring he was represented there. It didn’t matter either way, I was just curious. We were best friends, we were supposed to share everything, but I had my secrets, so should he.
Jason put his hand down as soon as his statement was addressed. I didn’t know how to read this moment at all, and I didn’t know if I should even be TRYING to read it. I swallowed hard as I tried to move on from that particular string of thoughts, this was helped along by Mr.Eagles continuing his string of thought. He cleared his throat before saying, “Yes, the LGBTQIA community, some people say queer community, other people say gay community, and don’t even get me started on all the slurs we can find slung at its members. Already I’ve had some excellent think pieces from you wonderful people about the treatment of this section of society, however none of you have begun to breach the topic of why. This is where you’ll get your first proper assignment from me. More than these 500 word think pieces a proper eight page paper!” He began, and a groan released seemingly from every person in the room. Neither Jason nor I were exempt from this.
“Now now, don’t prove the other teachers right in their claims that grade nine students can’t do proper homework assignments! You’ll have a month and a half to complete this paper. I expect it by the first day of December. That gives you fourty-five days since it’s the fifteenth of October. I do NOT recommend leaving it until the last minute. I want you to frame this like a news editorial. I want you to write a retrospective on the plights of the Queer community. Write this like it’s at a time where equality has been won. I want you to compare it to the history of another marginalized group. We live in Canada, so try to keep it in a Canadian perspective. Feel free to ask me any questions after school, or send me copies of completed drafts to receive feedback on. This will be an interesting assignment, I want to see you all apply a critical eye to the topics at hand. MLA citations are expected, which we will go over how to do today. Are there any immediate questions?” He spoke with a clarity and intensity that I’d never seen come from our teacher. He always seemed intense, but this was a level I’d never seen before.
A murmur broke out as people began to discuss the assignment. Before the Eaglenator could quell the discussions the bell rang signifying that we should head to our next class. The room began to pack up as Mr.Eagles sighed and sat behind his desk. “Leave your assignment on my desk on your way out” He instructed as he reclined in his chair, rubbing his temple. This assignment was so transgressive. I couldn’t believe how bold he was being, sure this was Canada, so civil rights were generally better here then our southern neighbour, but there would be outcry from a few parents for sure.
As I packed up my stuff into my school bag I found myself staring at Jason. Wondering if he was just being a good ally, or if he was actually asexual. It wasn’t my place to know or ask, but at the same time I felt like I needed to know. His gaze caught my own and he cocked an eyebrow. As I felt my cheeks reddening, I stuck my tongue out at him and flung my backpack back on.
“Come on slow poke, we’re going to be late for math class” I said to him. I wouldn’t ask though, invading his privacy wasn’t even his best friend’s place.
“You know I can’t bail you out if you forgot to do your homework this time” he retorted.
“Shut up” was all I could muster in reply.
We both laughed at our exchange as we walked out into the hall and power walked to Mrs. Smith’s classroom.