Behind the Net: Across the Distance (A Sequel) - Chapter 1
Title: Behind the Net: Across the Distance (A Sequel)
Author: shmorgenheigen
Chapter: One
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Pierre/David
Word Count: 3735
Summary: The continuation of the story Behind the Net, picking up right where the original story left off. David and Pierre explore their new relationship while navigating a long distance relationship. While Pierre is in Anchorage in his first year of college and playing college hockey, David is stuck back in Juneau to finish his senior year of high school. When an unlikely person from David’s past shows up and forces their way back into David’s life, things take a turn for the dramatic. Will David and Pierre be able to maintain their love for each other while separated and stave off those pesky feelings of loneliness, jealousy, and depression?
Disclaimer: Don't know, don't own, didn't happen!
Author's Note: When I started to re-write Behind the Net from Pierre’s perspective, I started to think about how much story there would be to tell when Pierre went off to college, leaving David alone in Juneau. I became obsessed with the idea of writing the next chapter in their story and now that it’s finished, I am absolutely in love with how it turned out and the original characters I added into the story! If anyone reads this, leave me a comment and let me know!
“Come on now, I don’t really think expulsion is entirely necessary.”
David Desrosiers looked over at his father, feeling nervous but grateful that this was the man’s opinion on his best friend’s photo stunt from a month prior in which she had posted pictures all over the school of David making out with the boy who had once been his enemy, his lifelong bully, the captain of the hockey team, and the boy that he now called his boyfriend, Pierre Bouvier. He looked around at the other faces in the room with him, searching for a sign of what they were thinking and if they shared in that opinion or not. The Principal’s office felt entirely too small for the amount of people that were occupying it and it made the room feel stifling, increasing David’s sense of unease as claustrophobic sensations began to overwhelm him. He looked over at his best friend, Jenny, who was sitting between her parents with her head tilted down and her eyes on her hands which were intertwined in her lap. The aura of shame and anxiety that was emanating from her was palpable and David couldn’t help but feel bad for her, despite what she had done and the fact that she had done it to him.
“I would disagree entirely,” a man’s voice from the other side of the room spoke in rebuttal, bringing all eyes to him. David looked at Pierre who was sitting next to the man who had spoken, and felt a pang of anxiety shoot through his body. Pierre looked at his father, his face displaying a mixture of discomfort and irritation, though David knew too well that if Pierre answered honestly he would also agree that Jenny should be expelled; he simply wouldn’t say so for David’s sake, as Jenny was his best friend and they had made up after the falling out that had led to the photo incident to begin with. David bit his bottom lip as he watched Pierre, desperate for the older boy to try to help defend his friend but also knowing that he couldn’t reasonably ask for him to do so. What Jenny had done had affected Pierre too, after all, in ways that significantly outweighed any effect David would ever feel.
“Do you have any idea of the damage that this has done to our family?” the woman sitting on Pierre’s opposite side spoke, her voice quiet and waspish as if she was afraid of the scandal being spoken of too loudly, clearly finding it distasteful. “To our son?” she added on, and David thought the addition of Pierre had sounded like an afterthought. Pierre seemed to grow more irritated at this but his jaw was clenched and for the moment he didn’t speak, merely shaking his head in a movement so small that it appeared he hadn’t meant to do it at all but it had slipped out of him. David couldn’t see Pierre in her at all with her bleach blonde hair and her blue eyes which shone with a disdain that told him she thought they were better than everyone in the room.
“Yeah, it hasn’t exactly been great for David either but that doesn’t mean we need to hurt this girl’s future over some petty, teenage drama,” David’s father snapped back, sounding frustrated and at his wit’s end with these haughty, stuck up people. His hazel eyes were alight with frustration and his silver hair and beard looked a little wild from his time in the hospital and stuck on the couch, having not bothered to keep up much with that level of grooming while he was healing from the injuries he’d sustained the month prior.
“Petty teenage drama?” Pierre’s mother snapped back indignantly, turning fully in her chair to address Mr. Desrosiers. Pierre and David’s eyes caught each other and they exchanged a look of discomfort; it didn’t bode well that the first time their parents were meeting was under these circumstances, even more so that they were of differing opinions on how the punishment for this crime should be handled. “She took a photo of our sons kissing and posted it through every square inch of this school! The damage to his reputation has been irreparable!”
David swallowed hard and averted his eyes from Mrs. Bouvier, embarrassment making him feel meek and small. He could still see the picture in his mind as if it was taped to the inside of his eyelids and it pained him to recall. The betrayal had truly been bitter and heinous and it had upended both David’s and Pierre’s lives in ways that Jenny had either not considered or not cared about as she carried it out. Though he didn’t want to, David couldn’t always stop himself from thinking of the way that Jenny had an entire weekend to think about what she was doing, to think about how it would negatively impact him and Pierre, and had disregarded all of it and gone forward with her plan. She had apologized and David had forgiven her, but he couldn’t deny that it still hurt to know how little regard she had had for him, the boy who had been her best friend for years. Even after a massive fight, David knew that he would never do to her what she had done to him, and that was something he thought he would struggle to get over for a while to come.
“I’m not saying what she did wasn’t wrong,” David’s father argued back, facing Pierre’s mother just as fully as she had faced him. “Obviously it was wrong. But we’re talking about her entire future. She should be punished. She should have to face the consequences of her actions, but I think an expulsion on her record is going too far! It doesn’t match the crime! Pierre’s future is still fine! This picture might be humiliating for him, but it’s not gonna stop him from going to college or getting a job in the future. Expelling Jenny could very well do both of those things to her!”
Jenny and her parents were silent as the two involved families argued, feeling as if it wasn’t their place to take part in the decision making. Jenny’s mother and father watched the dispute that was taking place in front of them with somber expressions while Jenny continued to watch her own hands in her lap, seeming to curl further into herself with each passing second.
“You have no idea the future that she took away from our son!” Pierre’s father cut in bitterly, his face displaying the full depth of his rage in a way that made him look frightening to David. It was odd how much he looked like Pierre, only there was an air of superiority that Pierre didn’t have, and he was smaller and significantly less muscular than his son. Still, his brown eyes and hair were the same, but the way he styled and held himself made him look pompous and arrogant. David thought he could see the future that Pierre would have had if he hadn’t changed the course of his life, that he could have turned out to be exactly this man. It made him sad to think about. “This ended a five year relationship that was headed toward marriage with an incredible young lady!”
“Well clearly he wasn’t that into her anyway!” David’s father snapped, causing David’s eyes to widen and his entire body to go rigid, completely blown away at his father’s comeback and how thoughtlessly it had rolled off of his tongue.
“How dare you?!” Mr. Bouvier yelled, standing and taking a step toward Mr. Desrosiers in his rage.
David’s father stood and turned as well, having to prop himself up using his crutch, though the cast on his leg and foot didn’t stop him from taking his own step forward toward the challenge of the man in front of him. Both Pierre and David reacted without conscious thought, standing and moving to place themselves between their fathers’ bodies with shock on their faces and hands held out to stop any further progression.
The Principal had also stood from his seat and held his hands out, and the hockey coach who stood just behind him had reacted physically as well, all on edge and waiting for someone to lash out and strike first. “Okay, let’s calm down!” the Principal pleaded, an air of desperation in his voice. Jenny and her parents sat completely still, all with wide-eyed looks of fear and apprehension. Pierre’s mother looked nothing short of scandalized.
“Dad, don’t,” Pierre begged, his voice low, though he sounded scared in a way that David had never heard before. David pulled his eyes from his own father and looked over his shoulder at Pierre, concern for his boyfriend picking at him. “I had already broken up with her,” he continued, still holding both hands out in front of his father in a silent plea for the other man to de-escalate and sit back down. Mr. Bouvier turned to look at his son, shock and anger clear on his features at his son’s confession. “It’s not like that picture was the first time I ever kissed David,” he finished, though embarrassment made the words difficult to say.
When Pierre’s father continued to stare incredulously at his son, the Principal renewed his plea for calm and civility. “Please, let’s just sit down and discuss this calmly,” he requested; David could hear the undertone of distress in his words.
Mr. Bouvier’s face relaxed back into a haughty scowl as he looked forward at the Principal once more before he straightened out his suit jacket and sat down, giving a proud huff as he did. As Mr. Bouvier had begun to sit, so too did David’s father, though he didn’t take his eyes of the pompous man to the left of him, looking as if he’d like nothing more than to take the discussion to the parking lot despite the injuries he was recovering from. David and Pierre looked back at each other nervously before moving to resume their seats, though both remained much more on the edge than they had previously, worried they were going to have to spring into action once more to keep their fathers from engaging in a fist fight.
“I can see we’re not going to be able to come to an agreement on this matter, unfortunately,” the Principal spoke once all had taken their seats again. It was with a sigh and a minute shake of his head that he continued, “If everyone had been in agreement one way or the other we could have settled this now, but this will have to move to the school board to make the final decision.”
David looked at the Principal sadly, knowing how uninvolved adults would rule on such a case. When he heard his boyfriend’s voice practically whispering to the left of him, David turned quickly to look, feeling immediately devastated for the older boy at the tone of his voice. “Dad… come on… please just let it go.”
Pierre’s father stared coldly at his son. “This has brought shame onto the Bouvier name that will be felt for years to come,” he replied harshly, not working to keep his voice quiet in the slightest despite his son’s desperate, whispered plea. “I will not rest until this girl is expelled. I demand it,” he finished, his voice rich with entitlement and hatred. Pierre clenched his jaw but said no more; David wanted nothing more than to cry.
Suddenly Pierre’s father stood, his head snapping back to the Principal while his hand worked of its own volition to button his suit jacket. Pierre’s mother stood as well, grabbing her handbag and clutching it to her chest as she stared at the Principal as if he was a bug that she would very much like to squish. “The school board will be hearing from us,” Mr. Bouvier said firmly, before turning on his heel and storming out of the room without a glance back, followed quickly by his wife.
“Come, Pierre,” Mrs. Bouvier beckoned to her son, though Pierre didn’t immediately move.
The room was left in an uncomfortable silence and slowly Pierre shifted his eyes to glance over at David, to David’s father, to Jenny’s parents, and finally to Jenny herself. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice barely audible and sounding entirely defeated.
“Pierre!”
With a slow, deep sigh Pierre stood and followed out of the room after his parents, his shoulders slumped in a way that they usually didn’t, his walk much slower than usual.
David turned to look at his dad, offering a sad, weak smile. “Thanks for trying,” he said quietly, before standing and turning to look at Jenny and her parents. “I’m sorry,” he said, echoing his boyfriend’s words and tone almost perfectly; he knew just as well as Pierre did what would come of the Bouviers’ insistence on Jenny’s expulsion - it was inevitable.
Jenny’s parents nodded and stood, turning their attention back to the Principal. David could see the way they were working to keep their emotions reigned in. “We’ll await the decision from the school board,” they said quietly.
“Until the decision is made, the suspension will remain in place,” the Principal informed them in an almost mechanical way. David couldn’t decide if the man had wanted Jenny’s expulsion or not, though he supposed it didn’t matter as the decision had never been in the man’s hands to begin with.
When David felt a hand on his upper back pushing him gently he turned to look at his father who motioned toward the door with his head, indicating that it was past their time to leave. Without saying another word David and his father left the office, his father moving slowly behind him on his crutches and looking down as he moved to avoid running into anything. David felt low and dejected, fully aware that Jenny would not be allowed back into the school again.
When he got home that night, David had called Pierre and the two had talked for hours, abusing Pierre’s parents, Pierre wholeheartedly laughing as he recalled the snappy comeback David’s father had thrown at Pierre’s father that had almost resulted in two grown men fist fighting in the middle of the Principal's cramped office; the retort had impressed Pierre and solidified David’s father firmly as a badass in his mind. He was especially impressed with the fact that David’s dad wasn’t even a little bit dissuaded by his recent injuries and broken leg. How Pierre wished to have a dad like David’s.
David didn’t mention the moments of fear or sadness he had witnessed in his boyfriend, though they stuck in his mind and bothered him as he tried to sleep that night; suddenly he had found himself wondering if Pierre had ever been hit by his father and though he tried to push the thought away he couldn’t manage to do so. If anything had become apparent, it was where Pierre had gotten his quick temper and inclination toward violent outbursts.
It took less than a week for the school board to reach a decision on Jenny’s expulsion, a decision that was made in record time. Both Pierre and David knew exactly why they had come to the decision so quickly; Pierre’s father had demanded it. Jenny was officially expelled from the school before the end of the week, the news of which spread far and wide through the student body. Though an official reason wasn’t given, and though no announcement was ever made, every single student in that school became aware of the other girl’s absence, and given what had happened only a month before, every single student knew exactly why that expulsion was given. This was simply a scandal too big to be contained.
Renewed muttering followed Pierre and David in the halls which they both worked to ignore, choosing to focus instead on each other and the sudden amount of time they had to spend together now that the hockey season was over and their afternoons and early evenings were no longer being spent in practice and training. They smiled and laughed and talked lightly at lunch time, allowing themselves to get lost in their own little world together and completely unbothered by the fact that no one else would talk to them. Though it had felt odd at first, Pierre found himself happy to be able to actually enjoy David’s company and the fact that he no longer had to worry if he looked at the younger boy too long or too gently, or if he slipped and reached out to touch him. Now he could touch David all that he wanted, and though he wouldn’t admit it to David, he was glad to be able to get all of that time with David to himself instead of having to share it with the girl who had turned his life upside down. He had worked to keep the peace with Jenny for David’s sake but Pierre still didn’t like or trust her, and he definitely still hadn’t forgiven her. Her presence was not missed by the senior in the slightest.
David had found himself worrying, however, about what it would be like for him the following year when Pierre was gone and Jenny was no longer at the school. What kind of relentless bullying would he experience? The way that other students taunted him when Pierre wasn’t around was all the proof David needed that the following year was going to be hell for him. As April neared its end, David could no longer keep those fears contained and found himself appealing to his father.
“Dad… If I wanted to transfer to the other high school for next year… would you let me?” he asked timidly as he sat at the dinner table with his father, having barely touched his dinner and instead having picked at it sadly.
His father looked at him seriously, contemplating the request. “I guess it would depend on the reason,” he started, poking at his spaghetti with his fork absentmindedly. “If it’s just because Jenny goes there now, I’m not sure that’s quite good enough.”
While it was true that Jenny had enrolled at the other high school in town - his own school’s rival - it wasn’t because of her that David wanted to make the change. David shook his head and looked down at his food, feeling a little ashamed of himself at his inability to handle the way he was bullied. “It’s not that,” he replied quietly, keeping his eyes on his own bowl of spaghetti. “It’s just Pierre will be gone, and he does a lot to keep the other kids from messing with me,” he explained, and again he felt shame and embarrassment eating away at him. He knew Pierre would never run from a school because the other kids picked on him, he would stand toe to toe with them and refuse to back down, but David wasn’t Pierre and he had to remind himself of that often. Pierre was tall and muscular, Pierre had the advantage of having been respected, admired and even feared for all of his life because of who he was and what he was capable of. David was none of those things and no amount of standing up for himself would ever get the other students to leave him alone, especially given the way they were used to picking on him already.
David could feel his father looking at him but kept his eyes down, wishing he could have been more like Pierre for his father’s sake; all he had ever wanted was for his father to look at him and feel proud, to get the urge to stereotypically say, “That’s my boy,” but as much as he wished it could be real, he knew it never would be. David just wasn’t that kind of boy. He worried that he disappointed his father because of it.
“Is it that bad?” he heard his father ask, and he could hear that the question was asked with earnest understanding and sadness.
David looked up, glad that he hadn’t heard any attempt to discount what he was very clearly saying, and gave a nod. “Honestly? Yeah, it’s that bad. And without Pierre around to intimidate them, it’s gonna get a lot worse.”
His father continued to look at him for several more seconds before he was nodding and digging his fork into his noodles again. “Yeah, I’ll get the paperwork started,” he replied simply, before directing his attention back to his spaghetti and slurping up a big mouthful.
David felt a lightness grow inside of him and he smiled before looking back at his own spaghetti and beginning to actually eat it. “Thanks dad,” he said before twirling himself a bite and eating it significantly more gracefully than his father was doing. His father grunted in response and nothing further was said on the matter, the two finishing their meal in relative silence. Though it felt weird to have the man in the house for such an extended period of time, David was suddenly incredibly grateful to have his dad around, and felt even more grateful that he had his dad and not Pierre’s.
As he continued to eat his dinner, David started to imagine what his life could be like the following school year. Jenny had joined the theater department and had already made several new friends as a result. Though she wasn’t the reason that David wanted to transfer schools for his senior year, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering if he could also end up making friends. Could he possibly integrate into Jenny’s new friend group? Would there be any students in his classes that would talk to him? Though he didn’t want to hope for it, the idea that he could have a normal senior year bubbled inside of him and it was with a sense of contained excitement that he ended the night, wanting the next day to come so he could share the news with Pierre.
Author: shmorgenheigen
Chapter: One
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Pierre/David
Word Count: 3735
Summary: The continuation of the story Behind the Net, picking up right where the original story left off. David and Pierre explore their new relationship while navigating a long distance relationship. While Pierre is in Anchorage in his first year of college and playing college hockey, David is stuck back in Juneau to finish his senior year of high school. When an unlikely person from David’s past shows up and forces their way back into David’s life, things take a turn for the dramatic. Will David and Pierre be able to maintain their love for each other while separated and stave off those pesky feelings of loneliness, jealousy, and depression?
Disclaimer: Don't know, don't own, didn't happen!
Author's Note: When I started to re-write Behind the Net from Pierre’s perspective, I started to think about how much story there would be to tell when Pierre went off to college, leaving David alone in Juneau. I became obsessed with the idea of writing the next chapter in their story and now that it’s finished, I am absolutely in love with how it turned out and the original characters I added into the story! If anyone reads this, leave me a comment and let me know!
“Come on now, I don’t really think expulsion is entirely necessary.”
David Desrosiers looked over at his father, feeling nervous but grateful that this was the man’s opinion on his best friend’s photo stunt from a month prior in which she had posted pictures all over the school of David making out with the boy who had once been his enemy, his lifelong bully, the captain of the hockey team, and the boy that he now called his boyfriend, Pierre Bouvier. He looked around at the other faces in the room with him, searching for a sign of what they were thinking and if they shared in that opinion or not. The Principal’s office felt entirely too small for the amount of people that were occupying it and it made the room feel stifling, increasing David’s sense of unease as claustrophobic sensations began to overwhelm him. He looked over at his best friend, Jenny, who was sitting between her parents with her head tilted down and her eyes on her hands which were intertwined in her lap. The aura of shame and anxiety that was emanating from her was palpable and David couldn’t help but feel bad for her, despite what she had done and the fact that she had done it to him.
“I would disagree entirely,” a man’s voice from the other side of the room spoke in rebuttal, bringing all eyes to him. David looked at Pierre who was sitting next to the man who had spoken, and felt a pang of anxiety shoot through his body. Pierre looked at his father, his face displaying a mixture of discomfort and irritation, though David knew too well that if Pierre answered honestly he would also agree that Jenny should be expelled; he simply wouldn’t say so for David’s sake, as Jenny was his best friend and they had made up after the falling out that had led to the photo incident to begin with. David bit his bottom lip as he watched Pierre, desperate for the older boy to try to help defend his friend but also knowing that he couldn’t reasonably ask for him to do so. What Jenny had done had affected Pierre too, after all, in ways that significantly outweighed any effect David would ever feel.
“Do you have any idea of the damage that this has done to our family?” the woman sitting on Pierre’s opposite side spoke, her voice quiet and waspish as if she was afraid of the scandal being spoken of too loudly, clearly finding it distasteful. “To our son?” she added on, and David thought the addition of Pierre had sounded like an afterthought. Pierre seemed to grow more irritated at this but his jaw was clenched and for the moment he didn’t speak, merely shaking his head in a movement so small that it appeared he hadn’t meant to do it at all but it had slipped out of him. David couldn’t see Pierre in her at all with her bleach blonde hair and her blue eyes which shone with a disdain that told him she thought they were better than everyone in the room.
“Yeah, it hasn’t exactly been great for David either but that doesn’t mean we need to hurt this girl’s future over some petty, teenage drama,” David’s father snapped back, sounding frustrated and at his wit’s end with these haughty, stuck up people. His hazel eyes were alight with frustration and his silver hair and beard looked a little wild from his time in the hospital and stuck on the couch, having not bothered to keep up much with that level of grooming while he was healing from the injuries he’d sustained the month prior.
“Petty teenage drama?” Pierre’s mother snapped back indignantly, turning fully in her chair to address Mr. Desrosiers. Pierre and David’s eyes caught each other and they exchanged a look of discomfort; it didn’t bode well that the first time their parents were meeting was under these circumstances, even more so that they were of differing opinions on how the punishment for this crime should be handled. “She took a photo of our sons kissing and posted it through every square inch of this school! The damage to his reputation has been irreparable!”
David swallowed hard and averted his eyes from Mrs. Bouvier, embarrassment making him feel meek and small. He could still see the picture in his mind as if it was taped to the inside of his eyelids and it pained him to recall. The betrayal had truly been bitter and heinous and it had upended both David’s and Pierre’s lives in ways that Jenny had either not considered or not cared about as she carried it out. Though he didn’t want to, David couldn’t always stop himself from thinking of the way that Jenny had an entire weekend to think about what she was doing, to think about how it would negatively impact him and Pierre, and had disregarded all of it and gone forward with her plan. She had apologized and David had forgiven her, but he couldn’t deny that it still hurt to know how little regard she had had for him, the boy who had been her best friend for years. Even after a massive fight, David knew that he would never do to her what she had done to him, and that was something he thought he would struggle to get over for a while to come.
“I’m not saying what she did wasn’t wrong,” David’s father argued back, facing Pierre’s mother just as fully as she had faced him. “Obviously it was wrong. But we’re talking about her entire future. She should be punished. She should have to face the consequences of her actions, but I think an expulsion on her record is going too far! It doesn’t match the crime! Pierre’s future is still fine! This picture might be humiliating for him, but it’s not gonna stop him from going to college or getting a job in the future. Expelling Jenny could very well do both of those things to her!”
Jenny and her parents were silent as the two involved families argued, feeling as if it wasn’t their place to take part in the decision making. Jenny’s mother and father watched the dispute that was taking place in front of them with somber expressions while Jenny continued to watch her own hands in her lap, seeming to curl further into herself with each passing second.
“You have no idea the future that she took away from our son!” Pierre’s father cut in bitterly, his face displaying the full depth of his rage in a way that made him look frightening to David. It was odd how much he looked like Pierre, only there was an air of superiority that Pierre didn’t have, and he was smaller and significantly less muscular than his son. Still, his brown eyes and hair were the same, but the way he styled and held himself made him look pompous and arrogant. David thought he could see the future that Pierre would have had if he hadn’t changed the course of his life, that he could have turned out to be exactly this man. It made him sad to think about. “This ended a five year relationship that was headed toward marriage with an incredible young lady!”
“Well clearly he wasn’t that into her anyway!” David’s father snapped, causing David’s eyes to widen and his entire body to go rigid, completely blown away at his father’s comeback and how thoughtlessly it had rolled off of his tongue.
“How dare you?!” Mr. Bouvier yelled, standing and taking a step toward Mr. Desrosiers in his rage.
David’s father stood and turned as well, having to prop himself up using his crutch, though the cast on his leg and foot didn’t stop him from taking his own step forward toward the challenge of the man in front of him. Both Pierre and David reacted without conscious thought, standing and moving to place themselves between their fathers’ bodies with shock on their faces and hands held out to stop any further progression.
The Principal had also stood from his seat and held his hands out, and the hockey coach who stood just behind him had reacted physically as well, all on edge and waiting for someone to lash out and strike first. “Okay, let’s calm down!” the Principal pleaded, an air of desperation in his voice. Jenny and her parents sat completely still, all with wide-eyed looks of fear and apprehension. Pierre’s mother looked nothing short of scandalized.
“Dad, don’t,” Pierre begged, his voice low, though he sounded scared in a way that David had never heard before. David pulled his eyes from his own father and looked over his shoulder at Pierre, concern for his boyfriend picking at him. “I had already broken up with her,” he continued, still holding both hands out in front of his father in a silent plea for the other man to de-escalate and sit back down. Mr. Bouvier turned to look at his son, shock and anger clear on his features at his son’s confession. “It’s not like that picture was the first time I ever kissed David,” he finished, though embarrassment made the words difficult to say.
When Pierre’s father continued to stare incredulously at his son, the Principal renewed his plea for calm and civility. “Please, let’s just sit down and discuss this calmly,” he requested; David could hear the undertone of distress in his words.
Mr. Bouvier’s face relaxed back into a haughty scowl as he looked forward at the Principal once more before he straightened out his suit jacket and sat down, giving a proud huff as he did. As Mr. Bouvier had begun to sit, so too did David’s father, though he didn’t take his eyes of the pompous man to the left of him, looking as if he’d like nothing more than to take the discussion to the parking lot despite the injuries he was recovering from. David and Pierre looked back at each other nervously before moving to resume their seats, though both remained much more on the edge than they had previously, worried they were going to have to spring into action once more to keep their fathers from engaging in a fist fight.
“I can see we’re not going to be able to come to an agreement on this matter, unfortunately,” the Principal spoke once all had taken their seats again. It was with a sigh and a minute shake of his head that he continued, “If everyone had been in agreement one way or the other we could have settled this now, but this will have to move to the school board to make the final decision.”
David looked at the Principal sadly, knowing how uninvolved adults would rule on such a case. When he heard his boyfriend’s voice practically whispering to the left of him, David turned quickly to look, feeling immediately devastated for the older boy at the tone of his voice. “Dad… come on… please just let it go.”
Pierre’s father stared coldly at his son. “This has brought shame onto the Bouvier name that will be felt for years to come,” he replied harshly, not working to keep his voice quiet in the slightest despite his son’s desperate, whispered plea. “I will not rest until this girl is expelled. I demand it,” he finished, his voice rich with entitlement and hatred. Pierre clenched his jaw but said no more; David wanted nothing more than to cry.
Suddenly Pierre’s father stood, his head snapping back to the Principal while his hand worked of its own volition to button his suit jacket. Pierre’s mother stood as well, grabbing her handbag and clutching it to her chest as she stared at the Principal as if he was a bug that she would very much like to squish. “The school board will be hearing from us,” Mr. Bouvier said firmly, before turning on his heel and storming out of the room without a glance back, followed quickly by his wife.
“Come, Pierre,” Mrs. Bouvier beckoned to her son, though Pierre didn’t immediately move.
The room was left in an uncomfortable silence and slowly Pierre shifted his eyes to glance over at David, to David’s father, to Jenny’s parents, and finally to Jenny herself. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice barely audible and sounding entirely defeated.
“Pierre!”
With a slow, deep sigh Pierre stood and followed out of the room after his parents, his shoulders slumped in a way that they usually didn’t, his walk much slower than usual.
David turned to look at his dad, offering a sad, weak smile. “Thanks for trying,” he said quietly, before standing and turning to look at Jenny and her parents. “I’m sorry,” he said, echoing his boyfriend’s words and tone almost perfectly; he knew just as well as Pierre did what would come of the Bouviers’ insistence on Jenny’s expulsion - it was inevitable.
Jenny’s parents nodded and stood, turning their attention back to the Principal. David could see the way they were working to keep their emotions reigned in. “We’ll await the decision from the school board,” they said quietly.
“Until the decision is made, the suspension will remain in place,” the Principal informed them in an almost mechanical way. David couldn’t decide if the man had wanted Jenny’s expulsion or not, though he supposed it didn’t matter as the decision had never been in the man’s hands to begin with.
When David felt a hand on his upper back pushing him gently he turned to look at his father who motioned toward the door with his head, indicating that it was past their time to leave. Without saying another word David and his father left the office, his father moving slowly behind him on his crutches and looking down as he moved to avoid running into anything. David felt low and dejected, fully aware that Jenny would not be allowed back into the school again.
When he got home that night, David had called Pierre and the two had talked for hours, abusing Pierre’s parents, Pierre wholeheartedly laughing as he recalled the snappy comeback David’s father had thrown at Pierre’s father that had almost resulted in two grown men fist fighting in the middle of the Principal's cramped office; the retort had impressed Pierre and solidified David’s father firmly as a badass in his mind. He was especially impressed with the fact that David’s dad wasn’t even a little bit dissuaded by his recent injuries and broken leg. How Pierre wished to have a dad like David’s.
David didn’t mention the moments of fear or sadness he had witnessed in his boyfriend, though they stuck in his mind and bothered him as he tried to sleep that night; suddenly he had found himself wondering if Pierre had ever been hit by his father and though he tried to push the thought away he couldn’t manage to do so. If anything had become apparent, it was where Pierre had gotten his quick temper and inclination toward violent outbursts.
It took less than a week for the school board to reach a decision on Jenny’s expulsion, a decision that was made in record time. Both Pierre and David knew exactly why they had come to the decision so quickly; Pierre’s father had demanded it. Jenny was officially expelled from the school before the end of the week, the news of which spread far and wide through the student body. Though an official reason wasn’t given, and though no announcement was ever made, every single student in that school became aware of the other girl’s absence, and given what had happened only a month before, every single student knew exactly why that expulsion was given. This was simply a scandal too big to be contained.
Renewed muttering followed Pierre and David in the halls which they both worked to ignore, choosing to focus instead on each other and the sudden amount of time they had to spend together now that the hockey season was over and their afternoons and early evenings were no longer being spent in practice and training. They smiled and laughed and talked lightly at lunch time, allowing themselves to get lost in their own little world together and completely unbothered by the fact that no one else would talk to them. Though it had felt odd at first, Pierre found himself happy to be able to actually enjoy David’s company and the fact that he no longer had to worry if he looked at the younger boy too long or too gently, or if he slipped and reached out to touch him. Now he could touch David all that he wanted, and though he wouldn’t admit it to David, he was glad to be able to get all of that time with David to himself instead of having to share it with the girl who had turned his life upside down. He had worked to keep the peace with Jenny for David’s sake but Pierre still didn’t like or trust her, and he definitely still hadn’t forgiven her. Her presence was not missed by the senior in the slightest.
David had found himself worrying, however, about what it would be like for him the following year when Pierre was gone and Jenny was no longer at the school. What kind of relentless bullying would he experience? The way that other students taunted him when Pierre wasn’t around was all the proof David needed that the following year was going to be hell for him. As April neared its end, David could no longer keep those fears contained and found himself appealing to his father.
“Dad… If I wanted to transfer to the other high school for next year… would you let me?” he asked timidly as he sat at the dinner table with his father, having barely touched his dinner and instead having picked at it sadly.
His father looked at him seriously, contemplating the request. “I guess it would depend on the reason,” he started, poking at his spaghetti with his fork absentmindedly. “If it’s just because Jenny goes there now, I’m not sure that’s quite good enough.”
While it was true that Jenny had enrolled at the other high school in town - his own school’s rival - it wasn’t because of her that David wanted to make the change. David shook his head and looked down at his food, feeling a little ashamed of himself at his inability to handle the way he was bullied. “It’s not that,” he replied quietly, keeping his eyes on his own bowl of spaghetti. “It’s just Pierre will be gone, and he does a lot to keep the other kids from messing with me,” he explained, and again he felt shame and embarrassment eating away at him. He knew Pierre would never run from a school because the other kids picked on him, he would stand toe to toe with them and refuse to back down, but David wasn’t Pierre and he had to remind himself of that often. Pierre was tall and muscular, Pierre had the advantage of having been respected, admired and even feared for all of his life because of who he was and what he was capable of. David was none of those things and no amount of standing up for himself would ever get the other students to leave him alone, especially given the way they were used to picking on him already.
David could feel his father looking at him but kept his eyes down, wishing he could have been more like Pierre for his father’s sake; all he had ever wanted was for his father to look at him and feel proud, to get the urge to stereotypically say, “That’s my boy,” but as much as he wished it could be real, he knew it never would be. David just wasn’t that kind of boy. He worried that he disappointed his father because of it.
“Is it that bad?” he heard his father ask, and he could hear that the question was asked with earnest understanding and sadness.
David looked up, glad that he hadn’t heard any attempt to discount what he was very clearly saying, and gave a nod. “Honestly? Yeah, it’s that bad. And without Pierre around to intimidate them, it’s gonna get a lot worse.”
His father continued to look at him for several more seconds before he was nodding and digging his fork into his noodles again. “Yeah, I’ll get the paperwork started,” he replied simply, before directing his attention back to his spaghetti and slurping up a big mouthful.
David felt a lightness grow inside of him and he smiled before looking back at his own spaghetti and beginning to actually eat it. “Thanks dad,” he said before twirling himself a bite and eating it significantly more gracefully than his father was doing. His father grunted in response and nothing further was said on the matter, the two finishing their meal in relative silence. Though it felt weird to have the man in the house for such an extended period of time, David was suddenly incredibly grateful to have his dad around, and felt even more grateful that he had his dad and not Pierre’s.
As he continued to eat his dinner, David started to imagine what his life could be like the following school year. Jenny had joined the theater department and had already made several new friends as a result. Though she wasn’t the reason that David wanted to transfer schools for his senior year, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering if he could also end up making friends. Could he possibly integrate into Jenny’s new friend group? Would there be any students in his classes that would talk to him? Though he didn’t want to hope for it, the idea that he could have a normal senior year bubbled inside of him and it was with a sense of contained excitement that he ended the night, wanting the next day to come so he could share the news with Pierre.