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Good Enough--Crossroads--Chapter 9--The Week Before

"Hey, guys," Chance greeted happily Tuesday afternoon, seating himself at the lunch table with his friends. Almost as soon as he sank down, he felt uneasy; Junior's usual attitude had vanished, replaced by a small scowl as he picked halfheartedly at his food. "What's wrong?" Chance murmured curiously.

Junior looked over at him, then back down. "It's nothing. Just thinking about some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Chance wondered.

"What's going on between you and Zack Bailey?" Junior questioned. "You two seem really friendly."

"We are," Chance answered. "And we're--" He stopped himself just short of mentioning the date. Yes, he had been thinking of it a great deal since Saturday and yes, he was greatly excited about it. "We're pretty good friends. He's a cool guy."

"Until he gets violent," Junior grumbled. He took a bite of his food and chewed thoughtfully.

"Chance, the two of them have a bitter history," Lexi mentioned. "It's complicated."

"What's going on between you two?" Chance huffed. "I'm tired of trying to figure this out. Did you two get into some kind of fight or something?"

Junior stood suddenly and passed his tray of barely touched food towards Benny. "I'm going to the library. Need to finish my essay for Chardan's class."

"Alex..." Lexi started but Junior shouldered his backpack and walked off without another word. Lexi's gaze shifted towards Chance, her expression unreadable. Beside them, Benny had started to dig into Junior's leftovers, looking impartial.

"What's going on between those two?" Chance asked. "I'm so confused. Zack won't tell me what's going on either."

"I'm not surprised," Lexi said sadly. "Probably a bad memory for both of them." She shifted awkwardly in her seat, looking over at the bear. "Should I...?"

Benny swallowed. "Alex ought to."

"He's not here."

"Then you tell it."

Lexi took a deep breath, sighing heavily. "Well, they were... friends..." She looked extremely uneasy now, unable to sit still. "Really close friends."

"Boyfriends," Benny interjected.

"Ben!"

"What?" Benny said. "I'm sure he's figured it out by now. If not, he'll find out later. Better to put everything in context now rather than later."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Yes, they were boyfriends. They had gone out on a date. I don't know the full story... I wasn't there. But when they got back, Alex and Zack were arguing and he had an ice pack on his head. Zack kept trying to say sorry and Alex wasn't listening. Like I said, I don't know the full story. But I think they might've gotten into an altercation."

"A fight?"

She shrugged. "Possibly. I just know that since then, they've never really liked each other."

"I see... Maybe I'll be able to get a better answer from Zack," Chance said.

"Chance, not going to tell you if you should or shouldn't be hanging out with Zack," Benny said, "but I think you ought to be careful. Rumor has it that he's pretty mean when he's mad."

Chance nodded. I've never seen him really mad... But he wouldn't hurt me...

---

"Chance, come in here a minute," David called later than night. The clock had just turned to five and Chance, halfway through the unholy headache of geometry homework, was glad to have an excuse to put it aside for later. He left his room and walked into the kitchen where his father was seated, reading from a book. He hurriedly closed it and set it down on the table when Chance entered, but Chance caught a glimpse of the book's title: Parental Communication. He sank down across from his father, feeling small and curious.

"So, about this Zoe girl," David said, leaning forward.

Who's Zoe? Oh... "What about her?"

"Tell me about her," David insisted. "Is she a tomboy? Is she a bookworm?"

"She's kind of athletic," Chance said. "Likes to keep in shape. She's really attractive. Kind of bold and a little brash sometimes. She's not afraid to take things into her own paws if she needs to."

"Is she a black jackal?" David wondered.

"What? No," Chance said, looking downward. "She's a coyote."

"Is she really?" David asked. Chance nodded. "Son, what made you decide to give dating a female a try?"

"Well, I thought about what you said..."

"And?"

And I thought you were full of crap."And I figured I'd give a chance. Just to see if I like it."

"This girl must be attractive for you to be willing to give it a try," David said, eyes narrowed. "How'd you meet her?"

"She's a classmate," Chance insisted, shifting nervously. "Hey, Dad, I've got some homework I need to finish."

"In a minute, Charles," David rumbled. "When will I get to meet her? Saturday?"

"Maybe. If you want to, but can we not on the first date?" Chance asked. "I'd really rather not have her here on the first date."

"Afraid I'll embarrass you."

"Yes," Chance said rapidly before he could think about it. At once, he covered his mouth with his paw, but David had burst into a hearty laughter. "What's so funny?"

"I used to be the same way when I met your mother," David said. "Was so scared my parents would embarrass me."

"Sorry, didn't want to offend you."

"No offense taken, Chance. So, have we reached an understanding about this gay crap? Is this little phase over?"

"I think so," Chance lied. "I'm sorry if I made you upset or anything..."

David paused for a moment. "I'm just glad you got this faggy shit out of your head. Don't want my son to be a fag."

Chance nodded, trying his hardest not to wince at the terminology, the wash of pain and discomfort that worked through him at these words. "Yeah, better that I'm a normal guy, right?"

"Right. Sorry if I was so hard on you before, but I just want you to live the right way."

The right way? What's that supposed to mean? "Yeah. Hey, Dad, I've got some homework I need to finish." Thank God for geometry.

"What're you working on?"

"Geometry."

"Bring it in here. Maybe I can help you out."

"Really?" Chance asked in surprise, genuinely surprised that his father was offering to help--he was normally "preoccupied".

"Yeah, bring it in here," David said. "I was best at math."

Chance stood to go get his homework, but David's voice made him pause on his way out of the kitchen. "Charles, you better not be lying to me."

Chance winced. Part of him wanted him to tell the truth, but instead, he said, "Course not. Just a bit nervous about going out on Saturday."

"I see," David said. "Well, get your homework. Let's see what we can do about that."

Chance nodded. You don't believe me, do you?

---

"Hey, Mom," Chance said, speaking lowly into his phone. Elsewhere in the house, his father and stepmother were preoccupied.

"Hi, sweetheart," Elaine greeted cheerfully. "Happy to hear from you again. What's going on? Are you still having problems with your dad's wife?"

"Not so much anymore," Chance said, "but... Dad... He's being kind of..."

"What's going on? What'd he say?"

"Mom... I might've lied to him."

"Why?" Elaine said. Her tone changed. "I know for a fact that neither I nor your father taught you to lie."

"I didn't want to," Chance said, "but he's... Mom, is it okay that I'm gay?"

"Of course," Elaine answered kindly. "Is someone bullying you for it?"

"No, but Dad said--"

"Chance, it's fine to be gay," Elaine assured him. "What'd you lie to him about? What's going on?"

"I told him I had a date with a girl this Saturday."

"I thought you were gay."

"I am! I had to lie so that he wouldn't be upset," Chance said, "and now he wants to meet her and she doesn't exist. And if I show him who I'm really going out with on Saturday, he'll freak and probably kick me out and then--"

"You know he won't kick you out," she interrupted, breaking off his rambling. "Eventually, he'll find out, though. Chance, you shouldn't have lied."

"Can you maybe help me?"

"What can I do?"

"Can you talk to him about it so that he's not angry?" Chance asked hopefully.

"No, I can't. He's probably not even going to listen to me anyway," Elaine said.

"Then what do I do? Think I can keep it a secret?"

"Chance, he'll learn about it sooner or later," she warned, "and eventually, you'll have to face him. If you want me to be there, I'll be there, but I can't fight your battles for you. And if it really gets that bad, then I'll come pick you up, I promise."

Chance sighed. "Okay..."

"Chance, I love you."

"I love you too."

---

Chance had come to the realization that Coach Salt seemed slightly off on Wednesday, distracted, as he left the locker room after class. As usual, the coach stood just outside the gym and the students walked by him as they left. Unlike usually, the coach didn't seem to notice them much, only giving halfhearted replies to their byes and waves. But the thought quickly faded away when he arrived at the cafeteria. He hurriedly got his food from the line and seated himself, not with his friends, but at Zack's usual table. Others walked by him, amazed to find someone seated at Zack Bailey's table, but when Zack arrived, Chance noticed he looked agitated and slightly annoyed.

"What's wrong?" Chance asked as Zack sat down, taking bite of the pizza on his tray.

Zack took a deep breath. "Some cat started talking too much after gym."

"Who?"

"Don't remember his name," Zack said. "Started asking about you. If we were together."

"You mean... dating? He asked if he were dating?" Chance said, lowering his voice in his panic. "Do you think he knows?"

"From the sounds of it, the whole school does," Zack answered, taking a bite of his food nonchalantly. Chance found himself momentarily at a loss for words. He wondered if word would reach Sylvia. If she knew, would she tell his father that "Zoe" was "Zack"? And--he glanced around him nervously--where there homophobics here too?

"And that's not a problem for you?"

Zack shrugged. "Not really. How about you?"

"Well, kind of," Chance answered halfheartedly. He took a small breath. "I don't really like people to know about that kind of thing."

"Because of your dad?"

"Yeah. Him and everyone else," Chance said. "Have you ever had that problem?"

Zack scoffed, shaking his head. "Not really. I'm bi and I've had a girlfriend before so I'm pretty much off the hook."

Chance perked up slightly. "Really? I didn't know you'd had a partner before except for..."

"Except...?" Zack prompted.

"Him," Chance said, pointing.

Zack glanced over and at once, his eyes narrowed when he saw who Chance was pointing at. The fox had looked over as for a brief moment, only to scowl, before breaking eye contact without a sound. Chance felt a small pang of sadness; Junior hadn't spoken to him all day, and (despite being with his friends in the morning) Chance noticed that Junior seemed more irritable than ever before.

"Who told you about that?" Zack demanded, turning back around.

Chance shifted nervously in his seat, biting his lip. "Lexi told me about it. She didn't tell me all the details though." He lowered his voice, leaning forward to avoid being overheard. "What exactly happened? All I was really told was that you two had some kind of... altercation."

Zack opened is milk and drank it down before speaking in a very clear, irritated tone. "You've asked me this before."

"I know." Chance leaned backward in his seat, picking absentmindedly at his food. "I just thought that if we're going to be a... a couple"--Chance waited to see any sign of dislike from Zack--"then I think I should know what happened."

Zack let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I don't want to talk about this now. I _will_tell you but this isn't the time or the place. It's not something I like to think about. If we've got some time later and we're not in public, I'll tell you everything you want to know. I promise."

"Okay," Chance said, feeling slightly dejected. "Are you alright? You seemed distracted in gym today."

"It's nothing. Something happened at home but it might be fine now. I don't know because my phone's dead."

"Oh... I hope it's not too bad."

"I hope so too..."

"...So are we still on for Saturday then? I'm really looking forward to that."

"Hmm. Tell you what; I'll text you later whether we're still on. I can't be sure what'll happen between now and then."

"Okay," Chance grumbled, ears drooping. "I hope everything turns out okay... I really don't want to miss our first date because I really like you and--"

"Hey, hey," he interrupted, reaching over to lightly jab Chance's shoulder. "We've got this."

Chance grinned happily, his tail thumping audibly against the chair.