Title: The Love Inside
Summary: Jen's daughter Amy had just turned fifteen and is starting high school. How does she deal with the fact that she has two fathers, and what will everyone think when they find out?
Author: Yelak.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, no, I do not own any of these characters, though I wouldn't mind snagging Pacey.
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"It's my baby's first day of high school," Doug Witter sniffed, mocking all sorts of sadness and pride as he sat a bowl of Cheerios on the table in front of his daughter. He kept glancing at the clock every few seconds, knowing he would probably be late for his job at the bank, but not wanting to miss such an important day. He'd traded in his sheriff uniform around the time he had come out of the closet to all of Capeside; it had just been too awkward. This was around the time his father figuratively disowned him.
"Oh, puh-lease, Pop," fifteen-year-old Amy groaned, pushing away the bowl with disgust. "I told you, I'm on a diet."
"You don't need to be on a diet, you're a beautiful young girl," Jack McPhee insisted, rushing into the kitchen. "And we are going to be late for class."
"I am so going to be stuffed in a locker when people find out you're my dad," sighed Amy, scrunching her nose up at the thought. Jack and Doug froze in unison, and then shared a look of concern.
Sliding into the seat next to Amy, Jack asked softly, "Why's that?"
A look of confusion crossed Amy's face; intertwining with the usual sarcastic grin she always wore. "Because you're . . . my teacher," she explained slowly, glancing in between her two fathers as though she was watching a tennis match. They both relaxed at her comment though, and went on doing what they were before. It had never really occurred to Amy that her family was quite dysfunctional, to say the least. She didn't know that having two fathers in a committed relationship was strange to any of the other kids, so she had never bothered to tell them. And Jack and Doug had never bothered to explain to her, either.
"So, anyway," Amy said, standing up and showing off her brand new outfit, "how do I look?"
"Beautiful," Jack and Doug said at the same time.
"Do you mean that like Little-Girl-Beautiful, or First-Day-Of-High- School-Beautiful?" she questioned, crossing her arms.
"You look . . ." Jack paused, searching for the right words. Then suddenly he smiled-a sad, warm smile. He stared at his daughter's golden curls, her bright grin, her petite body, and just continued to smile. "You look like your mother," he said at last.
The smile off Amy's face faded for a few seconds, but returned quickly. "Thanks, Dad," she said, engulfing him into a giant, loving bear hug. Doug grinned as the two people he loved most in the world embraced, before clearing his throat to break them apart.
"I have definitely got to be getting off to work," he said, and then gave Amy a hug. "You have a terrific day at school, okay?" She nodded in return, and Doug leaned back up and smiled at Jack. "You too." They kissed briefly, at which Amy winced, like any normal child, and the three of them left-Doug in one car, and Amy and Jack in his Saab.
Like any normal school morning, Jack and Amy were sitting in the two front seats of the car, snuggled in with their safety belts, and fighting over what radio station they should play. However, on this morning, there was a big difference-they were going to the same school. Jack was hesitant in having the talk he knew he should have with his daughter, but finally he paused and snapped off the radio.
"Dad!" Amy whined.
"Just listen, Amy. Okay . . . uh, I don't really know how to say this. Let's see . . ." He seemed to be fighting for the right things to say, as Amy listened intently with a raised eyebrow. "When your . . . your mother passed away, see, we were best friends-"
"I know, Dad. You told me this story. Best friends since high school," Amy interrupted.
"Yes, well, this isn't easy for me, Amy, so just listen, please. Okay, when I was in high school-I had to tell everybody I was gay, which was one of the hardest things I ever had to do."
"Why?" Amy hadn't heard this story before.
"Because, uh, well, people sometimes . . . see, there are a certain kind of people who, uh, they . . . frown upon gay people." Jack's face screwed up with contortion. Explaining this to her wasn't going to be easy.
"They do?" She looked mildly surprised. "Why?"
"Well, they don't think it's right. And for awhile here, in Capeside, I was . . . I was made fun of for being different."
"Just because you were gay?"
"Yeah. And you-well, you're different too."
"Me?" Amy's eyebrows shot up. "How am I different?" After a few seconds of silence from Jack, she asked again slowly, "Dad?"
When Jack turned to look at her, Amy could see that he was blinking back tears. "Well, Amy," he said hastily as he pulled into a parking lot at the high school and shutting off the car, "all I wanted to say was that you should just ignore what anyone thinks or says to you. Okay?"
"O . . . okay, Dad." She didn't really understand what he was telling her; she simply brushed it off as a father-to-daughter heartfelt moment. They got out of the car and went into the school separately, him flashing her a goodbye smile.
Later that day, emerging from her first class, overwhelmed with her work, Amy finally caught up with a good friend of hers from the junior high, Kelsey.
"Amy, hey girl!" Kelsey screeched, and began babbling about the cute guys she'd seen already that morning and how much she loved high school.
"Hey, Kels. Look, what class do you have next?" she asked, praying they would be in the same one.
"Uh, English lit. Why?"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have it next too. And you know who teaches it, right?" Amy shifted the books in her arms uncomfortably, wrinkling her forehead with worry.
"Uh, nope," Kelsey answered carelessly. "Who?"
Looking around, Amy leaned in closer to her friend and hissed, "My dad!"
"Really? Wow, so we finally get to meet the mysterious Mr. Lindley." Amy had never really explained her family relationship with anyone. Her friends knew that her mom had died when she was a baby, but that was it. Plus, she had never really had slumber parties or friends over to her house, so her fathers were a mystery to everyone.
"McPhee," she corrected her, looking away. The two of them started for their class side-by-side.
"What?" Kelsey asked, looking puzzled.
"Well, he's . . . not exactly my real dad," she tried to explain.
"What do you mean?"
"When my mom died, she was single, so she left me to her best friend . . . who I call Dad."
"Oh," Kelsey responded, nodding understandingly. Then she stopped in her tracks, lost in thought. "Wait, wait, wait-why does McPhee sound so familiar?" Amy shrugged and they started walking again, before Kelsey froze once more. "Oh my god-he's the gay teacher!"
"Uh," Amy said hesitantly, "yeah, so?"
"You never told me your father was gay!" she hissed.
"Well, so what? What's the deal? I mean, it's not like it's anything big-"
"Anything BIG?!" Kelsey exploding, flourishing her hands for added emphasis. "Amy, this is HUGE! I mean, what happens if people find out?"
"Kelsey, slow down! What're you talking about? So what if they find out? I mean, no one will care."
"Yes, Amy, darling, they will. They will care. And . . . you'll be made fun of forever."
"What?! Why?!"
"How many gay people do you know in Capeside?"
"Uh . . ." Amy stopped to think. "Two."
"Two?" Kelsey repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Who's the other one?"
"Uh, Pop."
"You have TWO fathers?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't matter."
"Wake UP, Amy. It DOES matter. Listen, we just have to stop people from finding out that he's your dad."
Amy nodded slowly, knowing her best friend was more than likely right but still unsure and feeling a bit ashamed. "How do we do that?"
"You go talk to him and make sure he doesn't say anything that will give it away. I'll keep people from coming into the classroom." Kelsey opened the door to the room Jack McPhee taught in. Amy gulped, entered, and closed it behind her. Spreading her arms out as though guarding the door, Kelsey looked ready to attack if someone tried to cross her.
Jack was sitting at the desk in the front of the room, going through a dark blue notebook, and scribbling notes every few seconds with a red pen. His tongue was poking slightly out of his mouth, which meant he was concentrating.
"Dad," Amy said slowly, causing Jack to jump. She strode over to his desk and looked him in the face, her hands trembling slightly.
"Yeah? What's wrong, hon-"
"Wait. Stop," she interrupted, at which Jack looked surprised. He nodded numbly and stopped talking. "Uh, thank you. Okay, there's just one thing I need to say. I think it would be best-for both of us, of course-if you didn't tell anyone that you're my dad." Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Amy cut him off again. "It's not that I'm ashamed that you're my dad, I just think for my reputation-" he stopped suddenly, then went on, "-I mean, if you gave out lots of homework the kids might think, you know, I had something to do with it. So please, can we not tell anyone?"
Jack was silent for a few seconds, then he smiled and looked around the entire room jokingly, before kissing her on the forehead. "Okay," he gave in, "for your reputation. Now, get your body guard away from the door and let those poor kids in."
Amy grinned, then went over the door and nodded to Kelsey. Kelsey peeped her head in the doorway, and looked at Jack for a few seconds. Shaking his head, he stood and motioned Kelsey in, in which she obeyed, and the other students began filing into the classroom. Jack waited patiently until all havoc was aside, then stood in front of the class.
"Welcome, you guys, to English Lit. I am your teacher, Mr. McPhee, and if you cooperate, this should be a fairly enjoyable year," he announced. He could tell the whole class was watching him with wide eyes, though hardly any of them were actually listening to what he was saying. They were trying to get a better glimpse of the infamous gay teacher, he knew, though he hadn't expected less. "Now, I'm going to cut you all some major slack seeing as this is our first day, so we're going to go around the room and say your name, one thing you'd like people to know about you, and if you have a question for me, feel free to ask it. We'll start with you." He pointed a long finger to an athlete-type boy in a Capeside High jacket.
"Uh . . ." The boy glanced around then room, then cleared his throat. "My name's Jordan Murphey, I play freshman basketball, and, uh . . . I don't have a question."
Jack nodded and said kindly, "Thank you Jordan. Now onto you." It was the blonde, stylish girl behind Jordan's seat's turn.
She smiled, and he could tell right away she had the bubbly type of personality. "Okay," she said, "my name's like, Sarah Campfield, I'm into all kinds of guys"-she paused and gave a flirtatious glance at a boy in the back of the room, which Jack had to smile at-"and I do have a question."
"Okay, shoot."
"Do you have a boyfriend?" The class broke into small, quiet snickers and snorts, but Jack could tell she was serious. Amy's eyes shot up as she wondered how he would answer this. She knew he was under strict rules to not talk about his sexual life, though she could never quite understand why.
"Uh, well . . ." Jack paused, ignoring the class's rude sounds. "Yes," he said finally, "I do." Once again, small titters roamed through the class, while some students look disgusted.
"Cool. What's his name?" Sarah pressed on, after tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear.
"This is English Lit, not twenty questions," he reminded her and smiled. She looked disappointed but smiled back nonetheless. "Now, you with the red hair."
A redheaded, freckle-faced girl said in a monotonous voice, "My name's Tristan Hampton, I play the trumpet in the school band, and my question is: do you have any kids?" The way she said it made Jack wonder whether or not she even cared.
"Actually, I do. I have a daughter."
"How'd THAT happen?" joked Tyler-From-New-York. Kids laughed, and Jack took it in as a non-hurtful comment, but a funny one.
"My best friend passed away, and seeing as I was the godfather, I took the roll of parenting." He was careful not to look at Amy when he said that.
"How old's your daughter?" someone else called out.
"About your age," he answered truthfully, and could see out of the corner of his eye that Amy was shrinking into her seat.
After some slightly boring and some humorous introductions, it was finally Amy's turn. "Okay, A-" he said but paused. "Young lady in the blue shirt," he finished, remembering his promise to her.
Amy looked relieved yet worried about what she would say. "Um . . . my name's Amy Lindley"-it pained Jack that she didn't go by her real last name, which was actually Lindley-McPhee, or if you wanted to get technical, Lindley-McPhee-Witter, but he nodded anyway-"and, um . . ." Feeling everyone's eyes on her, she hesitated. She hated being the center of attention, so she turned to Kelsey for help.
"And her mom died when was a baby," Kelsey exploded, causing Amy's eyes to grow round as nickels. Also looking taken aback, Jack stared at Kelsey, who merely shrugged. The rest of the class looked sympathetic.
"O . . .kay," Jack cleared his throat, sneaking a glance at Amy, who was frowning intently into a book. His eyes lingered on her for a while, before moving onto the next person for their turn (Timmy, an ape-like boy with brown hair who played football and wanted to know what excuses Jack would take for missing assignments).
Less than an hour later, Jack stood and dismissed his students, whom he now knew some interesting things about. Amy saw her father sneak her a short wink as she left the room, and brightened. But something she heard made the smile on her face fade.
"Yeah . . . he was a lot queerer than I thought he'd be . . ."
"The guy was such a fag!"
"I bet they only hired him 'cause they felt sorry for him."
She only caught snippets as she passed the small group of kids talking, but she heard enough to know the kids were talking about her dad. Tears sprung in her eyes, as she walked away wondering how anyone could be cruel enough to say those things. She wanted so bad to turn around and tell them off, but then again . . . She didn't want to be known as the girl who stuck up for the "gay teacher." That's when she heard:
"I mean, the guy has a boyfriend. How sick is that?"
She whipped around, her blonde curls snapping as she did so, and her books clattered to the ground, with a thud. "It's not sick!" she cried.
The kids look surprised as Amy shouted that, and silence rang throughout the hallway for a few seconds. Then one of the boys sneered, "You're defending him? What are you, one of the 'tribe?'"
"No!" she shouted, giving him a death glare. "I just know him better than you guys do."
"Well, whatever. You go ahead and befriend all the queers around, see where that will get you," spoke up Jordan Murphey, the blonde boy from class.
"Oh, yeah? Where will it get me?" she said, biting the bait they were dangling.
Jordan took a step towards her, and his face was grave and serious. "Hell," he said, in a harsh whisper. Amy took in a sharp intake of breath, and having no comeback, she snatched her books, turned, and left as quickly as she could.
For the rest of the day, Amy had a hard time concentrating. The only thing on her mind was the conversation from earlier. She exited the school nearly in tears, clearly distressed. She knew she couldn't go home right away. No way would she be able to look either of her fathers in the eyes; not after that. She decided to turn to the person she could trust most in the world- her Pop's younger brother, Pacey. He would be at the Ice House, the restaurant he owned and cooked at, right now.
Choosing to walk, she started off towards the building, and when she arrived, there were wet streaks running down her face again. 'How dare they!' she kept fuming. 'They don't know anything. They're just stupid, moronic imbeciles.'
"Well, hey! It's my favorite nie-Amy, what's wrong?" Pacey asked, concerned, as Amy shoved the door open and stormed in, looking angry and upset at the same time. She was sobbing uncontrollably, while muttering bad things to herself.
"Uncle Pacey, can we talk?" She managed to ask, after gulping for air. The restaurant was relatively empty, so he nodded and pulled out a seat for her, which she gratefully accepted.
"Today was your first day of high school, right?" She nodded. "Then I understand why you're upset," he joked, putting his hand on his niece's smaller one.
"N-no, that's not . . . that's not it," she said, her eyes filling with tears once more.
"Then what?"
"Dad taught my English Lit class today."
"Ohh. And you didn't want anyone to know he was your dad, right?" Pacey looked understanding, and she bobbed her head slightly.
"But . . . it's only sorta because he's . . ."
"Gay," Pacey finished for her, cracking a slight smile. "So . . . someone found out?" Her raised an eyebrow jokingly. "Do I need to be up some high school bullies?"
"No, no, no. It's just . . ." She took a big, unsteady breath. "When class was over, I heard some kids talking. And they were saying some . . . uh, really mean things about dad."
Pacey's expression softened, frowning into the wooden table in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Amy cut him off.
"And you know what the worst part is? I hardly defended him. I mean, I could've said something better, but what do I do? I scream and then run off like a baby. I must be the worst daughter in all of history."
"You are not a bad daughter, Amy. That's just kids for you. Look, Amy, I want you to listen, okay? When I was younger, I would always make fun of Dougie-tease him, call him names, call him gay-and I would do it often, too," Pacey explained.
Amy's eyes grew wide. "You, Uncle Pacey?"
"Yeah, I was such a dumb-dumb kid," he added, after nearly swearing. "And I know, that hurts. But you've just gotta ignore the ignorant ones. Jack and Dougie are good people, and they're happy. As long as they've got that, who cares what anyone else thinks?" He reached out and wiped the tears off the young lady's cheeks with a napkin, and they smiled at each other. "Now, run on home kiddo."
Amy reached around and gave Pacey a hug, before leaving the restaurant, in a much better mood then when she came in. When she reached her house, her dad's car wasn't sitting parked in the driveway, which meant he was probably at an after school meeting. She ran into her room and closed the door.
Summary: Jen's daughter Amy had just turned fifteen and is starting high school. How does she deal with the fact that she has two fathers, and what will everyone think when they find out?
Author: Yelak.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, no, I do not own any of these characters, though I wouldn't mind snagging Pacey.
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"It's my baby's first day of high school," Doug Witter sniffed, mocking all sorts of sadness and pride as he sat a bowl of Cheerios on the table in front of his daughter. He kept glancing at the clock every few seconds, knowing he would probably be late for his job at the bank, but not wanting to miss such an important day. He'd traded in his sheriff uniform around the time he had come out of the closet to all of Capeside; it had just been too awkward. This was around the time his father figuratively disowned him.
"Oh, puh-lease, Pop," fifteen-year-old Amy groaned, pushing away the bowl with disgust. "I told you, I'm on a diet."
"You don't need to be on a diet, you're a beautiful young girl," Jack McPhee insisted, rushing into the kitchen. "And we are going to be late for class."
"I am so going to be stuffed in a locker when people find out you're my dad," sighed Amy, scrunching her nose up at the thought. Jack and Doug froze in unison, and then shared a look of concern.
Sliding into the seat next to Amy, Jack asked softly, "Why's that?"
A look of confusion crossed Amy's face; intertwining with the usual sarcastic grin she always wore. "Because you're . . . my teacher," she explained slowly, glancing in between her two fathers as though she was watching a tennis match. They both relaxed at her comment though, and went on doing what they were before. It had never really occurred to Amy that her family was quite dysfunctional, to say the least. She didn't know that having two fathers in a committed relationship was strange to any of the other kids, so she had never bothered to tell them. And Jack and Doug had never bothered to explain to her, either.
"So, anyway," Amy said, standing up and showing off her brand new outfit, "how do I look?"
"Beautiful," Jack and Doug said at the same time.
"Do you mean that like Little-Girl-Beautiful, or First-Day-Of-High- School-Beautiful?" she questioned, crossing her arms.
"You look . . ." Jack paused, searching for the right words. Then suddenly he smiled-a sad, warm smile. He stared at his daughter's golden curls, her bright grin, her petite body, and just continued to smile. "You look like your mother," he said at last.
The smile off Amy's face faded for a few seconds, but returned quickly. "Thanks, Dad," she said, engulfing him into a giant, loving bear hug. Doug grinned as the two people he loved most in the world embraced, before clearing his throat to break them apart.
"I have definitely got to be getting off to work," he said, and then gave Amy a hug. "You have a terrific day at school, okay?" She nodded in return, and Doug leaned back up and smiled at Jack. "You too." They kissed briefly, at which Amy winced, like any normal child, and the three of them left-Doug in one car, and Amy and Jack in his Saab.
Like any normal school morning, Jack and Amy were sitting in the two front seats of the car, snuggled in with their safety belts, and fighting over what radio station they should play. However, on this morning, there was a big difference-they were going to the same school. Jack was hesitant in having the talk he knew he should have with his daughter, but finally he paused and snapped off the radio.
"Dad!" Amy whined.
"Just listen, Amy. Okay . . . uh, I don't really know how to say this. Let's see . . ." He seemed to be fighting for the right things to say, as Amy listened intently with a raised eyebrow. "When your . . . your mother passed away, see, we were best friends-"
"I know, Dad. You told me this story. Best friends since high school," Amy interrupted.
"Yes, well, this isn't easy for me, Amy, so just listen, please. Okay, when I was in high school-I had to tell everybody I was gay, which was one of the hardest things I ever had to do."
"Why?" Amy hadn't heard this story before.
"Because, uh, well, people sometimes . . . see, there are a certain kind of people who, uh, they . . . frown upon gay people." Jack's face screwed up with contortion. Explaining this to her wasn't going to be easy.
"They do?" She looked mildly surprised. "Why?"
"Well, they don't think it's right. And for awhile here, in Capeside, I was . . . I was made fun of for being different."
"Just because you were gay?"
"Yeah. And you-well, you're different too."
"Me?" Amy's eyebrows shot up. "How am I different?" After a few seconds of silence from Jack, she asked again slowly, "Dad?"
When Jack turned to look at her, Amy could see that he was blinking back tears. "Well, Amy," he said hastily as he pulled into a parking lot at the high school and shutting off the car, "all I wanted to say was that you should just ignore what anyone thinks or says to you. Okay?"
"O . . . okay, Dad." She didn't really understand what he was telling her; she simply brushed it off as a father-to-daughter heartfelt moment. They got out of the car and went into the school separately, him flashing her a goodbye smile.
Later that day, emerging from her first class, overwhelmed with her work, Amy finally caught up with a good friend of hers from the junior high, Kelsey.
"Amy, hey girl!" Kelsey screeched, and began babbling about the cute guys she'd seen already that morning and how much she loved high school.
"Hey, Kels. Look, what class do you have next?" she asked, praying they would be in the same one.
"Uh, English lit. Why?"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have it next too. And you know who teaches it, right?" Amy shifted the books in her arms uncomfortably, wrinkling her forehead with worry.
"Uh, nope," Kelsey answered carelessly. "Who?"
Looking around, Amy leaned in closer to her friend and hissed, "My dad!"
"Really? Wow, so we finally get to meet the mysterious Mr. Lindley." Amy had never really explained her family relationship with anyone. Her friends knew that her mom had died when she was a baby, but that was it. Plus, she had never really had slumber parties or friends over to her house, so her fathers were a mystery to everyone.
"McPhee," she corrected her, looking away. The two of them started for their class side-by-side.
"What?" Kelsey asked, looking puzzled.
"Well, he's . . . not exactly my real dad," she tried to explain.
"What do you mean?"
"When my mom died, she was single, so she left me to her best friend . . . who I call Dad."
"Oh," Kelsey responded, nodding understandingly. Then she stopped in her tracks, lost in thought. "Wait, wait, wait-why does McPhee sound so familiar?" Amy shrugged and they started walking again, before Kelsey froze once more. "Oh my god-he's the gay teacher!"
"Uh," Amy said hesitantly, "yeah, so?"
"You never told me your father was gay!" she hissed.
"Well, so what? What's the deal? I mean, it's not like it's anything big-"
"Anything BIG?!" Kelsey exploding, flourishing her hands for added emphasis. "Amy, this is HUGE! I mean, what happens if people find out?"
"Kelsey, slow down! What're you talking about? So what if they find out? I mean, no one will care."
"Yes, Amy, darling, they will. They will care. And . . . you'll be made fun of forever."
"What?! Why?!"
"How many gay people do you know in Capeside?"
"Uh . . ." Amy stopped to think. "Two."
"Two?" Kelsey repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Who's the other one?"
"Uh, Pop."
"You have TWO fathers?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't matter."
"Wake UP, Amy. It DOES matter. Listen, we just have to stop people from finding out that he's your dad."
Amy nodded slowly, knowing her best friend was more than likely right but still unsure and feeling a bit ashamed. "How do we do that?"
"You go talk to him and make sure he doesn't say anything that will give it away. I'll keep people from coming into the classroom." Kelsey opened the door to the room Jack McPhee taught in. Amy gulped, entered, and closed it behind her. Spreading her arms out as though guarding the door, Kelsey looked ready to attack if someone tried to cross her.
Jack was sitting at the desk in the front of the room, going through a dark blue notebook, and scribbling notes every few seconds with a red pen. His tongue was poking slightly out of his mouth, which meant he was concentrating.
"Dad," Amy said slowly, causing Jack to jump. She strode over to his desk and looked him in the face, her hands trembling slightly.
"Yeah? What's wrong, hon-"
"Wait. Stop," she interrupted, at which Jack looked surprised. He nodded numbly and stopped talking. "Uh, thank you. Okay, there's just one thing I need to say. I think it would be best-for both of us, of course-if you didn't tell anyone that you're my dad." Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Amy cut him off again. "It's not that I'm ashamed that you're my dad, I just think for my reputation-" he stopped suddenly, then went on, "-I mean, if you gave out lots of homework the kids might think, you know, I had something to do with it. So please, can we not tell anyone?"
Jack was silent for a few seconds, then he smiled and looked around the entire room jokingly, before kissing her on the forehead. "Okay," he gave in, "for your reputation. Now, get your body guard away from the door and let those poor kids in."
Amy grinned, then went over the door and nodded to Kelsey. Kelsey peeped her head in the doorway, and looked at Jack for a few seconds. Shaking his head, he stood and motioned Kelsey in, in which she obeyed, and the other students began filing into the classroom. Jack waited patiently until all havoc was aside, then stood in front of the class.
"Welcome, you guys, to English Lit. I am your teacher, Mr. McPhee, and if you cooperate, this should be a fairly enjoyable year," he announced. He could tell the whole class was watching him with wide eyes, though hardly any of them were actually listening to what he was saying. They were trying to get a better glimpse of the infamous gay teacher, he knew, though he hadn't expected less. "Now, I'm going to cut you all some major slack seeing as this is our first day, so we're going to go around the room and say your name, one thing you'd like people to know about you, and if you have a question for me, feel free to ask it. We'll start with you." He pointed a long finger to an athlete-type boy in a Capeside High jacket.
"Uh . . ." The boy glanced around then room, then cleared his throat. "My name's Jordan Murphey, I play freshman basketball, and, uh . . . I don't have a question."
Jack nodded and said kindly, "Thank you Jordan. Now onto you." It was the blonde, stylish girl behind Jordan's seat's turn.
She smiled, and he could tell right away she had the bubbly type of personality. "Okay," she said, "my name's like, Sarah Campfield, I'm into all kinds of guys"-she paused and gave a flirtatious glance at a boy in the back of the room, which Jack had to smile at-"and I do have a question."
"Okay, shoot."
"Do you have a boyfriend?" The class broke into small, quiet snickers and snorts, but Jack could tell she was serious. Amy's eyes shot up as she wondered how he would answer this. She knew he was under strict rules to not talk about his sexual life, though she could never quite understand why.
"Uh, well . . ." Jack paused, ignoring the class's rude sounds. "Yes," he said finally, "I do." Once again, small titters roamed through the class, while some students look disgusted.
"Cool. What's his name?" Sarah pressed on, after tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear.
"This is English Lit, not twenty questions," he reminded her and smiled. She looked disappointed but smiled back nonetheless. "Now, you with the red hair."
A redheaded, freckle-faced girl said in a monotonous voice, "My name's Tristan Hampton, I play the trumpet in the school band, and my question is: do you have any kids?" The way she said it made Jack wonder whether or not she even cared.
"Actually, I do. I have a daughter."
"How'd THAT happen?" joked Tyler-From-New-York. Kids laughed, and Jack took it in as a non-hurtful comment, but a funny one.
"My best friend passed away, and seeing as I was the godfather, I took the roll of parenting." He was careful not to look at Amy when he said that.
"How old's your daughter?" someone else called out.
"About your age," he answered truthfully, and could see out of the corner of his eye that Amy was shrinking into her seat.
After some slightly boring and some humorous introductions, it was finally Amy's turn. "Okay, A-" he said but paused. "Young lady in the blue shirt," he finished, remembering his promise to her.
Amy looked relieved yet worried about what she would say. "Um . . . my name's Amy Lindley"-it pained Jack that she didn't go by her real last name, which was actually Lindley-McPhee, or if you wanted to get technical, Lindley-McPhee-Witter, but he nodded anyway-"and, um . . ." Feeling everyone's eyes on her, she hesitated. She hated being the center of attention, so she turned to Kelsey for help.
"And her mom died when was a baby," Kelsey exploded, causing Amy's eyes to grow round as nickels. Also looking taken aback, Jack stared at Kelsey, who merely shrugged. The rest of the class looked sympathetic.
"O . . .kay," Jack cleared his throat, sneaking a glance at Amy, who was frowning intently into a book. His eyes lingered on her for a while, before moving onto the next person for their turn (Timmy, an ape-like boy with brown hair who played football and wanted to know what excuses Jack would take for missing assignments).
Less than an hour later, Jack stood and dismissed his students, whom he now knew some interesting things about. Amy saw her father sneak her a short wink as she left the room, and brightened. But something she heard made the smile on her face fade.
"Yeah . . . he was a lot queerer than I thought he'd be . . ."
"The guy was such a fag!"
"I bet they only hired him 'cause they felt sorry for him."
She only caught snippets as she passed the small group of kids talking, but she heard enough to know the kids were talking about her dad. Tears sprung in her eyes, as she walked away wondering how anyone could be cruel enough to say those things. She wanted so bad to turn around and tell them off, but then again . . . She didn't want to be known as the girl who stuck up for the "gay teacher." That's when she heard:
"I mean, the guy has a boyfriend. How sick is that?"
She whipped around, her blonde curls snapping as she did so, and her books clattered to the ground, with a thud. "It's not sick!" she cried.
The kids look surprised as Amy shouted that, and silence rang throughout the hallway for a few seconds. Then one of the boys sneered, "You're defending him? What are you, one of the 'tribe?'"
"No!" she shouted, giving him a death glare. "I just know him better than you guys do."
"Well, whatever. You go ahead and befriend all the queers around, see where that will get you," spoke up Jordan Murphey, the blonde boy from class.
"Oh, yeah? Where will it get me?" she said, biting the bait they were dangling.
Jordan took a step towards her, and his face was grave and serious. "Hell," he said, in a harsh whisper. Amy took in a sharp intake of breath, and having no comeback, she snatched her books, turned, and left as quickly as she could.
For the rest of the day, Amy had a hard time concentrating. The only thing on her mind was the conversation from earlier. She exited the school nearly in tears, clearly distressed. She knew she couldn't go home right away. No way would she be able to look either of her fathers in the eyes; not after that. She decided to turn to the person she could trust most in the world- her Pop's younger brother, Pacey. He would be at the Ice House, the restaurant he owned and cooked at, right now.
Choosing to walk, she started off towards the building, and when she arrived, there were wet streaks running down her face again. 'How dare they!' she kept fuming. 'They don't know anything. They're just stupid, moronic imbeciles.'
"Well, hey! It's my favorite nie-Amy, what's wrong?" Pacey asked, concerned, as Amy shoved the door open and stormed in, looking angry and upset at the same time. She was sobbing uncontrollably, while muttering bad things to herself.
"Uncle Pacey, can we talk?" She managed to ask, after gulping for air. The restaurant was relatively empty, so he nodded and pulled out a seat for her, which she gratefully accepted.
"Today was your first day of high school, right?" She nodded. "Then I understand why you're upset," he joked, putting his hand on his niece's smaller one.
"N-no, that's not . . . that's not it," she said, her eyes filling with tears once more.
"Then what?"
"Dad taught my English Lit class today."
"Ohh. And you didn't want anyone to know he was your dad, right?" Pacey looked understanding, and she bobbed her head slightly.
"But . . . it's only sorta because he's . . ."
"Gay," Pacey finished for her, cracking a slight smile. "So . . . someone found out?" Her raised an eyebrow jokingly. "Do I need to be up some high school bullies?"
"No, no, no. It's just . . ." She took a big, unsteady breath. "When class was over, I heard some kids talking. And they were saying some . . . uh, really mean things about dad."
Pacey's expression softened, frowning into the wooden table in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Amy cut him off.
"And you know what the worst part is? I hardly defended him. I mean, I could've said something better, but what do I do? I scream and then run off like a baby. I must be the worst daughter in all of history."
"You are not a bad daughter, Amy. That's just kids for you. Look, Amy, I want you to listen, okay? When I was younger, I would always make fun of Dougie-tease him, call him names, call him gay-and I would do it often, too," Pacey explained.
Amy's eyes grew wide. "You, Uncle Pacey?"
"Yeah, I was such a dumb-dumb kid," he added, after nearly swearing. "And I know, that hurts. But you've just gotta ignore the ignorant ones. Jack and Dougie are good people, and they're happy. As long as they've got that, who cares what anyone else thinks?" He reached out and wiped the tears off the young lady's cheeks with a napkin, and they smiled at each other. "Now, run on home kiddo."
Amy reached around and gave Pacey a hug, before leaving the restaurant, in a much better mood then when she came in. When she reached her house, her dad's car wasn't sitting parked in the driveway, which meant he was probably at an after school meeting. She ran into her room and closed the door.