Peter and Problems

“I hate it when you act like you know everything about getting made fun of in school” Peter said to his mom.

“Peter, you know it can’t be that bad”Peter’s mom, Patty, said to him. It seemed like no one would ever get me. Even though it’s typical teens to make fun of the ugly, unusual, or unfashionable kid, I was the main target. I am gay.

It all started in the 8th grade, one of the boys that were one of my good friends I started to get attracted to. I didn’t realize that at the time I was gay for him until I thought about it one day. I keep it a secret for the longest time, but I knew I had to express my feelings. So one day I told him. He didn’t react how I wanted him to, he gave me a look like I was crazy and went straight home. Since that day I haven’t spoke to him since, I’ve been scarred for life ever since. He was one of my best friends and I felt so alone. I knew I had to tell everyone if he didn’t first.

So one day, I was feeling rebellious, so I broke in the principal’s office to see her sitting at her desk.

“Peter?” she said.

“Can I help you?”She said after a pause of me not responding.

“I need to make an announcement” I said. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest as if it was about to burst open.

“An announcement, what are you talking about?”She said with a confused look on her face as if I was speaking a different language.

“Yes, over the intercom so the whole school can hear me” I said.

She looked at me and said “Well I can’t let you just say whatever to all of the school.”

I looked over at her for a couple seconds, turned my head, and started walking towards the door. Then thought to myself, it’s now or never.

I turned back around looking very quickly around the room for the speaker to the intercom. I couldn’t find it anywhere! I was like I was looking for a secret treasure and time on the clock was ticking in my ear. My palms were sweating and I could feel my heart racing faster than it ever has before.

Suddenly I looked over, and found exactly what I was looking for. I ran over to it and looked at it wondering if the decision I was about to make would get me in trouble and be a terrible decision.

I went with my gut feeling and picked it up and said the words that would change me forever.

“Hi everyone excuse this announcement. This is Peter Miller. I don’t know how to say this, but I am gay.”I dropped the speaker when I realized what I had just done.

The principle gasped, she looked at me as if I just robbed a bank. She started screaming at me but I couldn’t understand a word she said. I only got out “you are in a lot of trouble mister”. I was walking out the door as she was still yelling at me, still not understanding a word she was saying. I walked back to class as if nothing had happened.

Everyone was staring at me, some were pointing, and some were laughing. I got the idea that this is how it would be from now on.

I was walking in the halls the next day; people were staring, laughing, pointing fingers. It seemed like all the attention was on me, and I was helpless when it came to trying to getting it off of me. I would not be able to deal with this for long, it was eating me alive.

The next day I went to school. There was a bully named Matt. He was very mean to me all the time. We would push me into lockers and stuff me into garbage cans in front of all of his friends and they would point and laugh at me like I was their own television. I was getting bruised from head to toe on a daily basis.

I told myself that this has to come to a stop. With my entire mite, I walked down the hallway in the direction towards my bully Matt and all of his friends. They were laughing at someone or something as usual. My heart started to pound in my chest, I could feel a drop of sweat go down the side of my head. The hall way seemed like the longest walk I ever went on in my life. I finally got up to them and looked Matt straight in the eye.

“Matt, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what is you and your buddies problem with me?”I said to him with a furious look on my face as if I wanted to kill all of them.

“Do not worry about it Peter!! GET OUT of my way.”He said as he pushed me out of the way.

I watched him walk away as I stared and thought to myself that it needs to stop now.

I went to tell my mom with pure embarrassment running through my veins. I was waiting for the question, “well why he was making fun of you?”My family is the type to make up of gays. I’ve heard them make fun of them before and I can’t stand the idea of me being the in that position.

I walked home on the side walk that I’ve walked on almost every day of my life for all these years I have been in school. Thoughts were rushing through my head about what to say to my mom without her thinking different of me. I needed to get this bully in trouble, but the only way to do that is to tell my family. My family was the last people on this earth I wanted to tell. It was so scary walking in the door of my house.

I looked around at the blue and white walls of my living room. I told myself that this is the right time to do what I have to do; I cannot keep stalling around forever. I walked all around of my house that smelled of cat pee and old meat loaf. My family was not the richest there was around, but not the poorest. We lived pay check to pay check and needed help from our grandparents sometimes to pay the bills and get food.

I saw my mom sitting on her bed looking as if she was trying to take a nap, but I shook her anyways. She turned over on her other side and made some kind of grunting noise.

I whispered, “Mom wake up. I need to talk to you. Common wake up”.

She slowly sat up and said “common Peter, what do you need?”She paused and rolled her eyes at me with sleepiness in her eyes. “I need to wake up in 2 hours to go to work”.

My mom was always working weird hours since she had so many jobs to keep the family running she was always sleeping or trying to get rest so she could go to her next job.

“Mom I’ve been getting bullied in school” I said to her looking down at the ground as I felt my cheeks turning as red as a tomato.

It was like she mood instantly changed, her mouth dropped and she said “Hunny! What has been going on? WHY did you never tell me before?” she said with complete pity.

I sat there for a couple seconds with loss of words. The only thing I managed to get out of my mouth is shuddering the word I a bunch of times. I broke down in tears, I just didn’t know how to tell her. She gave me a big hug and sat next to shaking me like a baby whispering in my ear “everything will be ok” and “we’ll get them in trouble for this”, but I didn’t listen to a word she said because I knew when I tell her why I was getting made fun off she would think of me as I should be getting made fun of.

I hopped off of my butt and said “Mom there is something you don’t know that I have to tell you,”I said looking at her in her eyes with pure sorrow.

She said “Yes my dearest son, you can tell me anything.”

“Mom, I am gay......”I said to her with this look on my face as if I didn’t know what to expect from her.

She laughed to herself and said “I kinda got the idea haha”.

I looked at her with a confused face and said “Mom I love you,” and smiled.

She said “it is ok Peter, I always wanted to have a gay friend that was a boy!”

We both laughed for a good amount of time. Then the subject got back on the bully. “Don’t worry Peter, we’ll get that bully! He’ll get what he deserves!”