Page 104 of Pure Vengeance

“We’ll have to get you a bed in there,” I say quietly. “Otherwise people will think...”

“People will talk... people will think... people, people, people...” he mutters. “Is that all you care about? What you look like in public? It’s not a big deal. So we’re gay. It’s not thenineteen thirties where people get hanged or beaten to death for falling in love with a guy.”

“We’re not in love,” I say, glancing at the bartender. “And keep your voice down. You might be proud and ready to come out, but I prefer people don’t know my business. Especially when I’ve worked so hard to keep it a secret for so long.”

He nods, looking deep in thought.

We fall silent and we sit there, sipping our beers. When we’re done, Adrian pays the bartender for all my drinks and our round together before he says, “Let’s get back. You need to sober up before class.”

“What about you?” I ask.

“I’m suspended, remember? I don’t go to class.”

“Oh yeah,” I say, a twang of guilt. “Adrian, you sure you want it to go down like this?”

“I know how it’s going to go down.” He looks confident and cocky, and I don’t like it. I don’t trust whatever he’s thinking, but I say nothing because the bartender is close by.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Adrian

I’m nervous about the panel. I know the reporter is going to be there to cover the investigation. As well as my mother and stepfather. I’m supposed to bring the girls who I paid with me, but that isn’t an option.

There’s only one option left, and I know what has to happen.

I sit in front of the panel, dressed in a suit. Dean Rochester is there along with two of my law professors and a teacher I don’t recognize. He looks around. “Are we waiting for the women involved?”

“No sir, but I’ve prepared a statement.”

Dean Rochester looks at me over his spectacles again and nods. “Very well.”

I stand up and nervously hold up the paper I wrote on. “Distinguished professors and Dean Rochester: I didn’t pay any girls for sex. I paid them to lie about having sex with me. I wanted to hide behind them, but I see now that’s a big problem. I didn’t bring any of them here today because they honestly did nothing wrong other than tell a few lies to make me look good.You see, I’m gay.” I let out the breath I’m holding as Maria gasps. “I don’t sleep with women. I’m not interested in women at all.”

I hear my stepfather hiss, and I look up at Dean Rochester. “I apologize if I made the university look bad, but it was just to protect my identity. I didn’t want to be ostracized because of who I am.”

Dean Rochester whispers to the rest of the panel, then looks up. “Very well, Mr. Carter. We understand your tastes steer clear of women. We cannot, however, have you dragging the university’s name through the mud. You will issue this formal statement to Campus News. You may continue to study here, but we are removing your football scholarship.”

I swallow hard. Fuck, I didn’t think they’d do that.

This has backfired. I can’t even look at my parents right now.

Dean Rochester waves his hand. “That is the final decision of the panel. You may go.”

I suspect they had decided this before my announcement. No way they came to that conclusion so quickly. I walk out of the room, and I hear hurried footsteps behind me. “You’re gay?”

My stepfather grabs me by my suit jacket and slams me into the wall. “You’re fucking gay?”

I look at him, refusing to back down. “That’s what I said.”

“I won’t have a little gay fairy-boy for a son,” he growls. “You’re not to come to the house ever again. You’re no longer welcome.”

I look at my mother, who averts her gaze. She won’t defend me against him. She never would. I never would’ve defended Noah against him. It’s just the kind of man he is.

He lets me go as the panel walks out of the room, and he takes my mother’s arm and drags her off.

I can feel the tears pricking at my eyes as I walk out of the administrative building after them. I see them get in the car and drive off without even a goodbye. My life is over. I can’t affordto study at university. I can’t afford accommodation. I only have the stuff that I packed when I came here. No doubt my stepfather will burn everything from my room.

I burst into tears and bury my face in my hands. I hear the click of a camera and look up to see Maria taking my picture.

---