Page 72 of Ours
“Cory, wait. I didn’t—” Derek tried to explain his actions but was cut off.
“I’mdone, Derek.” Cory was just staring blankly at the floor at this point. “Take off the collar.”
“Cory…” Derek was actually surprised at how much it hurt to hear Cory say that.
“Get the fucking collar off me, Derek.” Cory clenched his fists and struggled to not grit his teeth. “Take it off my fucking neck. Now.”
Derek nodded but said nothing as he fumbled for his keys in his pocket. Cory lifted and turned his head away from the two, not wanting to meet either of their gazes lest he falter in his decision. Nic watched in silence as Derek grasped the lock around Cory’s neck, more concerned with shielding his feelings than letting them be known. Derek held the lock steady and turned the key until it clicked before stepping away. Cory reached up, unlatched the chain from the lock, and let the collar fall to the floor.
The three boys stood there for a moment in silence, all of them feeling the weight of the moment, but none fully grasping the repercussions. They had been friends for so long…
“Just … leave me alone. Ignore me.” Cory was the first to speak, making sure his voice was steady. “Stay out of my life.”
Derek and Nic both looked at the collar as it lay on the ground, neither saying a thing as Cory turned around and walked up past the rows of seats and out of the auditorium. The sound of the double doors slamming shut behind him echoed through the room.
“I gotta…” Nic struggled to find an excuse before leaving through a different exit. “I’ll see you around.”
Derek stood alone in the auditorium, bending over to pick up Cory’s discarded collar after he heard Nic leave. He held it in his hand and contemplated how things had even gotten to this point. But as he clumsily stuffed it into his pocket, he knew he could only blame himself.
Cory cried and hugged his knees as he sat in the corner of the auditorium lobby, not having actually left the building. He felt so shitty, so stupid, so lost. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it through the rest of the day. He should have just gone home earlier when he had the chance.
“You alright?”
Cory’s head shot up, the unexpected voice having him instinctively pushing back against the wall.
Oh god. It was Jackson. The dark-haired basketball player was one of the last people Cory wanted to see right now. “Look, can you just leave me alone? I donothave the energy to deal with you right now.”
“Ouch.” Jackson feigned being hurt but stayed where he was. “Having a rough day?”
“You don’t know the half of it…” Cory muttered to himself. “Seriously, can you go? I really wanna be alone right now.”
“Do you, really?” Jackson took a couple of steps towards Cory. “I saw your two buddies leaving… They seemed pretty down but not as much as you.”
“Are you stalking them too, now?” Cory challenged.
“I deserve that.” Jackson chuckled. “Haven’t meant to be so … weird about things. Just didn’t really know how to talk to you about it.”
“Talk to me about what?” Cory sniffled.
“The stuff with you and Derek and Nic,” Jackson answered bluntly. “How you were their boy. Like, theirboy.”
Cory tried to nonchalantly wipe his face as he eyed Jackson warily, unsure of where this conversation was going. He’d suspected for a while that the guy had figured out what was going on but didn’t know what he wanted out of it. Was he just looking for a blowjob or something?
“Hey, not judging or anything, and not looking to tell anybody either.” Jackson held his hands up in front of him. “The opposite. I’m into it.”
“You havegotto be kidding me.” Cory couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous circumstances he kept finding himself in. “You are thefifthnot-exactly-straight guy I’ve met in four months. Was this town built on top of a gay burial ground or something? Do I just have a big neon ‘use me to explore your sexuality’ sign above my head?”
“Uh, nope.” Jackson couldn’t help laughing either. “Maybe you just have good luck?”
“Goodluck?” Cory snorted.
“Okay, maybe bad luck,” Jackson admitted. “It did seem like maybe those guys weren’t treating you very well. Taking advantage.”
“Yeah. I remember when you snuck up on me in the library,” Cory recalled. “You thought I was doing their homework.”
“Was I wrong?”
“…About the homework.” Cory sighed, sounding defeated as he leaned back against the wall.
