FIC: Aimless (6/?)
Category: Fanfiction
Title: Aimless (6/?)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters/Pairing: Rory/Eleven, Amy, Meg, OMC
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of slash, AU
Spoilers: Possible mentions of all early Series 5 episodes, alludes to 6x08 "Let's Kill Hitler"
Word Count: 2,888
Chapter Summary: Bullies. Yay.
A/N: So sorry about the delay in getting this up! It's been a hectic time at school, and I just really haven't had time to sit down and write lately. Anyway, here's chapter 6. Just a warning -- I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, so there's a large chance that I won't be posting much at all for the month of November. Enjoy this chapter, though!
Edit: 10/5/11: Whoops, that should be Mel, not Meg. Fixed.
Chapter 5
The hours without the Doctor there pass slowly. Rory tries to find a way to pass the time, but the process of reliving his entire life in the matter of a few minutes-even less than that, he supposes, in real life-makes him so tired that he doesn’t do much else other than sleep. He comes to despise the pulling sensation, because he knows what’s coming up. He remembers it all-granted, there are a few places where his memory is fuzzy, but for the most part, he knows what’s coming. He keeps that knowledge to himself, though, and the Doctor never asks.
Two hours pass. Nothing of much consequence happens during the ninth year of Rory’s life, and he ends up reliving almost pointless memories that nevertheless leave him exhausted.
Then he feels that tugging feeling once more, and finds himself sitting on the stairs of the house. He toys idly with the corner of an envelope from his aunt in London, Dad’s sister. The note inside the card is the sort of thing relatives always write. “Happy birthday, you’ve gotten so big, hope you have a wonderful day blah blah blah”. Rory doesn’t pay it much attention, and instead just tucks the money that was also in the envelope away inside the pocket of his jeans.
He glances up at the door, begging for the doorbell to ring. From the kitchen, Dad calls, “Rory, you sure you wrote the right time on those invitations?”
“Yes,” Rory calls back, and feels his heart sink even lower. He glances at the shiny new watch that Dad got him. Almost three. If anyone’s coming, and Rory doubts that they are, they’re nearly an hour late.
Footsteps on the stairs alert him to Amelia’s approach. “Where is everybody?” she demands as she plops down next to Rory. “This is stupid. What good’s a party with no one there?”
“They’re not coming,” Rory sighs. He stares down at the envelope and resists the temptation to just crumple it up and throw it away. “They hate me.”
“That’s not true!” Amelia snaps angrily. Rory knows how she feels about it. She gets angry whenever Rory puts himself down, but he knows it’s true. The other kids don’t like him. They think he’s weird. They call him names and push him around and steal his stuff. Adam Riley is the ringleader for the physical stuff, like pushing him and knocking him out of the lunch line, but Renee Lister is the one in charge of the name calling.
“They don’t hate you,” Amelia goes on. “They’re jealous of you. Because the Doctor visited you and not them.”
“They don’t even believe he’s real, though!” Rory protests.
Even Amelia can't argue with that one, and Rory knows it. They've had this argument far too many times, and they may have only known each other for a few years, but it feels like a lifetime. Rory knows Amelia better than he knows himself.
For a while, they just sit on the stairs and watch the door, waiting for someone-anyone-to approach. Eventually, Amelia breaks the silence with, "You know, I've been thinking. And I've made up my mind."
Rory recognizes the technique for what it is-namely, a distraction. Nevertheless, he can't help being intrigued. Amelia talks a lot, but it's rarely to just fill the empty air. She almost always has something interesting to say. So Rory gives in. "Made your mind up about what?" he asks.
"I don't want to be called Amelia anymore," she decides firmly. "Amelia's a little girl's name, and I'm not a little girl anymore."
Rory can't help but be a bit amused by it all. "What am I supposed to call you, then?" he asks. "Caitlin?"
Not-Amelia sniffs disdainfully. "Don't be stupid," she snaps. "You're going to call me Amy."
"Amy," Rory echoes, trying out the name. It fits her well enough, he supposes, but he wonders if Amy believes in the Doctor like Amelia did. Then he chastises himself for thinking that. Amelia and Amy are the same person. It's just a different name, not a whole new person.
His thoughts are interrupted by the doorbell ringing, and his heart leaps into his throat.
“Told you they don’t hate you!” Amy crows as they jump off the stairs and rush to the door. Rory pulls it open breathlessly, grinning like a maniac, then-
“Mum!” Before he can stop it, he’s throwing himself into her arms and she’s laughing loudly. She twirls him around once before placing him back down on his feet. He throws his arms around her waist.
“You’re getting huge!” Mum exclaims. She kneels down so she can hug him better. “Happy birthday,” she adds, still smiling.
“Dad said you weren’t coming!” Rory informs her. He’d all but given up on anyone but Amy coming, had half-expected it to be like any other weekend, with he and Amy running around in the backyard playing make-believe.
“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to,” she says regretfully. “A client cancelled at the last minute, so I thought I’d stop in and see you.” She ruffles his hair playfully and glances over his shoulder, and the smile drops. “Thomas.”
Rory twists to see Dad standing in the doorway, his face carefully empty of all expression. “Annie,” he murmurs. “Thought you weren’t coming.”
“I-” Mum starts, but Dad raises a hand to stop her.
“Whatever,” he cuts in. “Doesn’t matter.”
Mum looks sad, but she turns her eyes back to Rory as she stands up. “Are you going to introduce your friend?”
“Oh!” Rory quickly glances back at Amy. “Mum, this is Ame-Amy. Amy, this is my mum.”
Dad frowns at the new name, but Amy steps forward and politely extends her hand. “Hello, Mrs. Williams.”
The corner of Mum’s mouth twitches. “Call me Annie,” she says. Rory wonders whether it’s because ‘Williams’ isn’t her last name anymore, or if she just likes Amy that much.
“So where are all your other friends?” Mum asks, turning her attention back to Rory. He glances over at Amy, who bites her bottom lip.
“I don’t think they’re coming,” Rory mumbles, glancing up at Mum. “They don’t… like me very much.”
Mum frowns. “Well, why not?”
“Because they’re snobs,” Amy says before Rory can even open his mouth. “They don’t know what they’re missing.”
Rory looks back thankfully at her, and when he looks up at Mum, she’s smiling. Finally, Dad steps away from the door and says, “Come on, Rory, get out of the way so Mum can get in. You and Amel-Amy, go play.”
Rory looks up sharply at that, because the only time Dad tries to get him out of the room when Mum’s here is when he’s mad and they’re about to start fighting.
“Come on, Rory.” Amy grabs his hand and drags him toward the backyard. He lets himself be pulled along, but he can hear raised voices before they’re even out the door.
Other than that brief spat, the day goes fairly well. Jeremy Jefferson shows up-grudgingly-around five, seemingly having been dragged by his mum, who cheerily hands Rory a card and informs Dad that Rory gets 20% off at her clothes shop next door to Clara’s mum’s diner and then takes off with Jeremy (they never do end up shopping there). Mum leaves after cake and presents, and Amy’s aunt shows up around eight to drag her home. She waves over her shoulder as she hops into the car, and Rory smiles slightly.
“Come on, back inside.” Dad ushers him back through the door. “Come into the kitchen, I’ve got something for you.”
“Got something for me?” Rory echoes. “But you already got me the watch.”
“Yeah, this is special, though.” Dad smiles at him. “Go on, into the kitchen, I’ll be just a minute. Gotta go get it from upstairs.”
Rory’s interest is piqued, and he hurries into the kitchen and sits down at the table impatiently. Dad comes in a moment later, carrying a long, skinny box.
“Now, this,” he tells Rory as he sits down next to him, “is a very special present. My dad’s dad, your great-grandfather, made this himself when he was just a kid, and on my dad’s tenth birthday, he gave it to him as a present. Then on my tenth birthday, Granddad gave it to me. So now,” he goes on as he slowly lifts the lid off the box, “I’m gonna give it to you.”
“What is it?” Rory asks, leaning forward to see. Dad smiles and pulls the lid all the way off and sets it off to the side, then gently pushes back the tissue paper inside to reveal a leather cord necklace with small, painted wooden beads. Rory frowns. “That’s it?” The question slips from his mouth before he can stop it, and he blushes immediately after, wishing he could take it back. “I mean-”
Dad laughs. “Don’t worry about it,” he tells Rory gently. “I said the same thing when Granddad gave it to me.” He lifts the cord out of the box and motions for Rory to turn around so he can put it on. “I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it means a lot. It’s part of being a Williams boy. I wore it every day for ten years, until I married your mum.” He fastens the clasp, and then, “There you go. Proper ten year old, now.”
Rory reaches up to gently brush his fingers over the worn leather, the chipped paint on the wooden beads, and feels a rush of almost overwhelming love for his father. He twists in his seat and sees that Dad’s got a small smile on his face like he’s been waiting for this day for his whole life, and Rory tries to think of the future, of fastening the clasp behind the neck of his own son-or daughter, he adds silently-and can’t imagine it. It seems like a million years away.
Dad looks surprised when Rory throws his arms around him, but he quickly returns the hug. “Thank you, Dad,” Rory mumbles against his father’s shirt.
He can feel Dad’s smile against his hair. “You’re welcome,” he murmurs back.
---
It’s three weeks exactly after Rory’s birthday that Adam Riley becomes a problem.
They’re out on the playground, and Rory’s got a bandana tied around his eyes while Amy scolds their friend Mel for getting in trouble again. Rory’s trying desperately to tag them, but doing an awful job of it. Eventually, he gets fed up with walking around blindly and calls out, “Am I getting close yet?”
“Yes, Rory,” Amy calls back, and then goes back to her conversation with Mel. Rory tries not to feel too annoyed. Meg transferred to their school only just recently, so she doesn’t really know how things work. She’s not even at school, half the time. She’s always skipping, or missing for silly things.
With a sigh, Rory gives up on the game and reaches up to pull the bandana off, only moments before he feels a rough shove against his back and falls hard to the ground.
With no way of seeing the ground rushing up, he only just barely manages to get his hands underneath him. Regardless, he feels the hard, cold concrete scrape against his palms, knees, and cheek.
“Oh, sorry, Williams, didn’t see you there,” says a sneering voice.
Rory bites his lip to distract himself from the stinging, and slowly turns around so that he’s sitting down so he can take off the bandana. As soon as he’s sitting, though, a foot plants itself on his chest and he’s pushed backwards.
“Not going somewhere, are you?” asks the same voice.
“Get off me, Adam,” Rory grunts as he tries to push Adam’s foot off his chest. It isn’t budging.
“Hey, Adam!” shouts Amy from off to the side. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Suddenly, the weight is gone from his chest, and he sits up quickly and tears the bandana off just in time to see Amy and Mel stalking toward Adam. Amy drops to her knees next to him to make sure he’s okay, but Mel’s eyes spark with anger and she shrieks, “I’ll fucking kill you!”
Rory’s eyes widen in shock at the word-and at what Mel does next. She leaps at Adam, knocks him backwards, and straddles him with one knee on either side of his chest. Then she starts pounding him, landing solid punches on his face every time.
“Mel, no!” Amy groans, even as a teacher is rushing over and pulling Mel off of Adam.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the teacher demands. “Language like that, and fighting! And just after you finished talking with the principal! We’ll see how your parents like this!”
Mel laughs at that, like it’s the funniest thing in the world. It’s a cruel, dark laughter, and it chills Rory to the bone to hear someone laugh like that. He and Amy exchange a look of slight surprise.
They don’t hang out with Mel very much after that.
---
Rory’s twelve the first time he hears it. The bell’s just rung to let them out of school, and he and Amy rush down the stairs in excitement. The sooner they get to Rory’s the sooner they can play. Rory’s backpack bounces on his back as he races after Amy through the crowd of students rushing forward to get away from school.
He loses Amy for a second, and he’s so distracted with trying to find her again that he almost doesn’t noticed when he gets pushed-hard-and falls.
He can’t miss the familiar feeling of concrete biting into his knees and palms, though. He hears the sneering voice and knows who it is without looking up. “Where you going, Rory?”
“Let me go, Adam,” Rory mumbles. He doesn’t want to do this. Not today.
Adam laughs. “Going to see your boyfriend, Rory?” His pack laughs along with him.
“Leave him alone, Adam,” comes a cold voice, and Rory looks up to see Amy walking over, hands in fists.
Adam rolls his eyes. “You could be so cool, Amy. If only you didn’t hang out with someone so…” He looks over at Rory and sneers, and then calls him something that Rory’s never heard before.
Amy’s eyes widen and she lets out an indignant noise. “You stupid little snot!” she shrieks. “How dare you?” She grabs a stick off the ground and pelts it at Adam’s head. Nearly hits him, too, but he dodges out of the way at the last moment and takes off running, with his pack right on his heels.
Amy stomps over to Rory and helps him up, still looking furious. “I can’t believe him!” she snarls. “I’ll kill him, I swear!”
“Just let it go, Amy,” Rory tells her quickly. He doesn’t tell her that she really needs to stop beating people up for him. Ever since the thing with Meg, the teasing’s only gotten worse, and she’s making him look like a girl.
The whole way home, Amy won’t shut up about it. Rory doesn’t know what the word Adam called him means, but he’s not about to let Amy know that. It’s an insult-that much he can tell from Amy’s furious expression.
“You know what my aunt would call him?” Amy rages. “A close-minded snob! All the people in this town have spent so long wrapped up in their little bubble that it’s absolutely inconceivable that anyone could be different from them at all!”
Rory’s a bit surprised that she knows what ‘inconceivable’ means.
Amy looks over at him like she’s expecting him to say something. “Aren’t you angry?” she demands.
“Of course I am!” Rory answers quickly, covering his tracks. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now, is there? Just let it go, Amy, really.”
A bit grudgingly, Amy does so. They manage to make it through the rest of the day without a single mention of the word, much to Rory’s relief. At five-thirty, Dad gets back from work and tells Amy that she needs to go home. With a wave, she tells Rory she’ll see him tomorrow and skips off down the sidewalk. She ignores the fact that she hasn’t helped Rory clean up at all. Rory ignores the fact that she’s ignoring it.
But his mind is still burning with the need to understand, the need to know. It’s so distracting that he barely even picks at his dinner. Eventually, Dad looks up at him and demands, “Why aren’t you eating?”
Rory glances up, then looks back down at his plate. “Can I ask you a question?” he asks softly.
“You just did,” Dad points out, but he nods. “Yeah, sure, Rory, anything. You know you can always ask me whatever you need to know.”
Rory pushes a piece of broccoli around on his plate for a moment. Finally, he asks, “What does ‘gay’ mean?”
After dinner, he rushes upstairs, filled with shame. Because he hadn’t realized there’s something wrong with it. Because just the other day he and Amy were agreeing that the new boy in class is kind of cute.
Chapter 7
Title: Aimless (6/?)
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters/Pairing: Rory/Eleven, Amy, Meg, OMC
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of slash, AU
Spoilers: Possible mentions of all early Series 5 episodes, alludes to 6x08 "Let's Kill Hitler"
Word Count: 2,888
Chapter Summary: Bullies. Yay.
A/N: So sorry about the delay in getting this up! It's been a hectic time at school, and I just really haven't had time to sit down and write lately. Anyway, here's chapter 6. Just a warning -- I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, so there's a large chance that I won't be posting much at all for the month of November. Enjoy this chapter, though!
Edit: 10/5/11: Whoops, that should be Mel, not Meg. Fixed.
Chapter 5
The hours without the Doctor there pass slowly. Rory tries to find a way to pass the time, but the process of reliving his entire life in the matter of a few minutes-even less than that, he supposes, in real life-makes him so tired that he doesn’t do much else other than sleep. He comes to despise the pulling sensation, because he knows what’s coming up. He remembers it all-granted, there are a few places where his memory is fuzzy, but for the most part, he knows what’s coming. He keeps that knowledge to himself, though, and the Doctor never asks.
Two hours pass. Nothing of much consequence happens during the ninth year of Rory’s life, and he ends up reliving almost pointless memories that nevertheless leave him exhausted.
Then he feels that tugging feeling once more, and finds himself sitting on the stairs of the house. He toys idly with the corner of an envelope from his aunt in London, Dad’s sister. The note inside the card is the sort of thing relatives always write. “Happy birthday, you’ve gotten so big, hope you have a wonderful day blah blah blah”. Rory doesn’t pay it much attention, and instead just tucks the money that was also in the envelope away inside the pocket of his jeans.
He glances up at the door, begging for the doorbell to ring. From the kitchen, Dad calls, “Rory, you sure you wrote the right time on those invitations?”
“Yes,” Rory calls back, and feels his heart sink even lower. He glances at the shiny new watch that Dad got him. Almost three. If anyone’s coming, and Rory doubts that they are, they’re nearly an hour late.
Footsteps on the stairs alert him to Amelia’s approach. “Where is everybody?” she demands as she plops down next to Rory. “This is stupid. What good’s a party with no one there?”
“They’re not coming,” Rory sighs. He stares down at the envelope and resists the temptation to just crumple it up and throw it away. “They hate me.”
“That’s not true!” Amelia snaps angrily. Rory knows how she feels about it. She gets angry whenever Rory puts himself down, but he knows it’s true. The other kids don’t like him. They think he’s weird. They call him names and push him around and steal his stuff. Adam Riley is the ringleader for the physical stuff, like pushing him and knocking him out of the lunch line, but Renee Lister is the one in charge of the name calling.
“They don’t hate you,” Amelia goes on. “They’re jealous of you. Because the Doctor visited you and not them.”
“They don’t even believe he’s real, though!” Rory protests.
Even Amelia can't argue with that one, and Rory knows it. They've had this argument far too many times, and they may have only known each other for a few years, but it feels like a lifetime. Rory knows Amelia better than he knows himself.
For a while, they just sit on the stairs and watch the door, waiting for someone-anyone-to approach. Eventually, Amelia breaks the silence with, "You know, I've been thinking. And I've made up my mind."
Rory recognizes the technique for what it is-namely, a distraction. Nevertheless, he can't help being intrigued. Amelia talks a lot, but it's rarely to just fill the empty air. She almost always has something interesting to say. So Rory gives in. "Made your mind up about what?" he asks.
"I don't want to be called Amelia anymore," she decides firmly. "Amelia's a little girl's name, and I'm not a little girl anymore."
Rory can't help but be a bit amused by it all. "What am I supposed to call you, then?" he asks. "Caitlin?"
Not-Amelia sniffs disdainfully. "Don't be stupid," she snaps. "You're going to call me Amy."
"Amy," Rory echoes, trying out the name. It fits her well enough, he supposes, but he wonders if Amy believes in the Doctor like Amelia did. Then he chastises himself for thinking that. Amelia and Amy are the same person. It's just a different name, not a whole new person.
His thoughts are interrupted by the doorbell ringing, and his heart leaps into his throat.
“Told you they don’t hate you!” Amy crows as they jump off the stairs and rush to the door. Rory pulls it open breathlessly, grinning like a maniac, then-
“Mum!” Before he can stop it, he’s throwing himself into her arms and she’s laughing loudly. She twirls him around once before placing him back down on his feet. He throws his arms around her waist.
“You’re getting huge!” Mum exclaims. She kneels down so she can hug him better. “Happy birthday,” she adds, still smiling.
“Dad said you weren’t coming!” Rory informs her. He’d all but given up on anyone but Amy coming, had half-expected it to be like any other weekend, with he and Amy running around in the backyard playing make-believe.
“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to,” she says regretfully. “A client cancelled at the last minute, so I thought I’d stop in and see you.” She ruffles his hair playfully and glances over his shoulder, and the smile drops. “Thomas.”
Rory twists to see Dad standing in the doorway, his face carefully empty of all expression. “Annie,” he murmurs. “Thought you weren’t coming.”
“I-” Mum starts, but Dad raises a hand to stop her.
“Whatever,” he cuts in. “Doesn’t matter.”
Mum looks sad, but she turns her eyes back to Rory as she stands up. “Are you going to introduce your friend?”
“Oh!” Rory quickly glances back at Amy. “Mum, this is Ame-Amy. Amy, this is my mum.”
Dad frowns at the new name, but Amy steps forward and politely extends her hand. “Hello, Mrs. Williams.”
The corner of Mum’s mouth twitches. “Call me Annie,” she says. Rory wonders whether it’s because ‘Williams’ isn’t her last name anymore, or if she just likes Amy that much.
“So where are all your other friends?” Mum asks, turning her attention back to Rory. He glances over at Amy, who bites her bottom lip.
“I don’t think they’re coming,” Rory mumbles, glancing up at Mum. “They don’t… like me very much.”
Mum frowns. “Well, why not?”
“Because they’re snobs,” Amy says before Rory can even open his mouth. “They don’t know what they’re missing.”
Rory looks back thankfully at her, and when he looks up at Mum, she’s smiling. Finally, Dad steps away from the door and says, “Come on, Rory, get out of the way so Mum can get in. You and Amel-Amy, go play.”
Rory looks up sharply at that, because the only time Dad tries to get him out of the room when Mum’s here is when he’s mad and they’re about to start fighting.
“Come on, Rory.” Amy grabs his hand and drags him toward the backyard. He lets himself be pulled along, but he can hear raised voices before they’re even out the door.
Other than that brief spat, the day goes fairly well. Jeremy Jefferson shows up-grudgingly-around five, seemingly having been dragged by his mum, who cheerily hands Rory a card and informs Dad that Rory gets 20% off at her clothes shop next door to Clara’s mum’s diner and then takes off with Jeremy (they never do end up shopping there). Mum leaves after cake and presents, and Amy’s aunt shows up around eight to drag her home. She waves over her shoulder as she hops into the car, and Rory smiles slightly.
“Come on, back inside.” Dad ushers him back through the door. “Come into the kitchen, I’ve got something for you.”
“Got something for me?” Rory echoes. “But you already got me the watch.”
“Yeah, this is special, though.” Dad smiles at him. “Go on, into the kitchen, I’ll be just a minute. Gotta go get it from upstairs.”
Rory’s interest is piqued, and he hurries into the kitchen and sits down at the table impatiently. Dad comes in a moment later, carrying a long, skinny box.
“Now, this,” he tells Rory as he sits down next to him, “is a very special present. My dad’s dad, your great-grandfather, made this himself when he was just a kid, and on my dad’s tenth birthday, he gave it to him as a present. Then on my tenth birthday, Granddad gave it to me. So now,” he goes on as he slowly lifts the lid off the box, “I’m gonna give it to you.”
“What is it?” Rory asks, leaning forward to see. Dad smiles and pulls the lid all the way off and sets it off to the side, then gently pushes back the tissue paper inside to reveal a leather cord necklace with small, painted wooden beads. Rory frowns. “That’s it?” The question slips from his mouth before he can stop it, and he blushes immediately after, wishing he could take it back. “I mean-”
Dad laughs. “Don’t worry about it,” he tells Rory gently. “I said the same thing when Granddad gave it to me.” He lifts the cord out of the box and motions for Rory to turn around so he can put it on. “I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it means a lot. It’s part of being a Williams boy. I wore it every day for ten years, until I married your mum.” He fastens the clasp, and then, “There you go. Proper ten year old, now.”
Rory reaches up to gently brush his fingers over the worn leather, the chipped paint on the wooden beads, and feels a rush of almost overwhelming love for his father. He twists in his seat and sees that Dad’s got a small smile on his face like he’s been waiting for this day for his whole life, and Rory tries to think of the future, of fastening the clasp behind the neck of his own son-or daughter, he adds silently-and can’t imagine it. It seems like a million years away.
Dad looks surprised when Rory throws his arms around him, but he quickly returns the hug. “Thank you, Dad,” Rory mumbles against his father’s shirt.
He can feel Dad’s smile against his hair. “You’re welcome,” he murmurs back.
---
It’s three weeks exactly after Rory’s birthday that Adam Riley becomes a problem.
They’re out on the playground, and Rory’s got a bandana tied around his eyes while Amy scolds their friend Mel for getting in trouble again. Rory’s trying desperately to tag them, but doing an awful job of it. Eventually, he gets fed up with walking around blindly and calls out, “Am I getting close yet?”
“Yes, Rory,” Amy calls back, and then goes back to her conversation with Mel. Rory tries not to feel too annoyed. Meg transferred to their school only just recently, so she doesn’t really know how things work. She’s not even at school, half the time. She’s always skipping, or missing for silly things.
With a sigh, Rory gives up on the game and reaches up to pull the bandana off, only moments before he feels a rough shove against his back and falls hard to the ground.
With no way of seeing the ground rushing up, he only just barely manages to get his hands underneath him. Regardless, he feels the hard, cold concrete scrape against his palms, knees, and cheek.
“Oh, sorry, Williams, didn’t see you there,” says a sneering voice.
Rory bites his lip to distract himself from the stinging, and slowly turns around so that he’s sitting down so he can take off the bandana. As soon as he’s sitting, though, a foot plants itself on his chest and he’s pushed backwards.
“Not going somewhere, are you?” asks the same voice.
“Get off me, Adam,” Rory grunts as he tries to push Adam’s foot off his chest. It isn’t budging.
“Hey, Adam!” shouts Amy from off to the side. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Suddenly, the weight is gone from his chest, and he sits up quickly and tears the bandana off just in time to see Amy and Mel stalking toward Adam. Amy drops to her knees next to him to make sure he’s okay, but Mel’s eyes spark with anger and she shrieks, “I’ll fucking kill you!”
Rory’s eyes widen in shock at the word-and at what Mel does next. She leaps at Adam, knocks him backwards, and straddles him with one knee on either side of his chest. Then she starts pounding him, landing solid punches on his face every time.
“Mel, no!” Amy groans, even as a teacher is rushing over and pulling Mel off of Adam.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the teacher demands. “Language like that, and fighting! And just after you finished talking with the principal! We’ll see how your parents like this!”
Mel laughs at that, like it’s the funniest thing in the world. It’s a cruel, dark laughter, and it chills Rory to the bone to hear someone laugh like that. He and Amy exchange a look of slight surprise.
They don’t hang out with Mel very much after that.
---
Rory’s twelve the first time he hears it. The bell’s just rung to let them out of school, and he and Amy rush down the stairs in excitement. The sooner they get to Rory’s the sooner they can play. Rory’s backpack bounces on his back as he races after Amy through the crowd of students rushing forward to get away from school.
He loses Amy for a second, and he’s so distracted with trying to find her again that he almost doesn’t noticed when he gets pushed-hard-and falls.
He can’t miss the familiar feeling of concrete biting into his knees and palms, though. He hears the sneering voice and knows who it is without looking up. “Where you going, Rory?”
“Let me go, Adam,” Rory mumbles. He doesn’t want to do this. Not today.
Adam laughs. “Going to see your boyfriend, Rory?” His pack laughs along with him.
“Leave him alone, Adam,” comes a cold voice, and Rory looks up to see Amy walking over, hands in fists.
Adam rolls his eyes. “You could be so cool, Amy. If only you didn’t hang out with someone so…” He looks over at Rory and sneers, and then calls him something that Rory’s never heard before.
Amy’s eyes widen and she lets out an indignant noise. “You stupid little snot!” she shrieks. “How dare you?” She grabs a stick off the ground and pelts it at Adam’s head. Nearly hits him, too, but he dodges out of the way at the last moment and takes off running, with his pack right on his heels.
Amy stomps over to Rory and helps him up, still looking furious. “I can’t believe him!” she snarls. “I’ll kill him, I swear!”
“Just let it go, Amy,” Rory tells her quickly. He doesn’t tell her that she really needs to stop beating people up for him. Ever since the thing with Meg, the teasing’s only gotten worse, and she’s making him look like a girl.
The whole way home, Amy won’t shut up about it. Rory doesn’t know what the word Adam called him means, but he’s not about to let Amy know that. It’s an insult-that much he can tell from Amy’s furious expression.
“You know what my aunt would call him?” Amy rages. “A close-minded snob! All the people in this town have spent so long wrapped up in their little bubble that it’s absolutely inconceivable that anyone could be different from them at all!”
Rory’s a bit surprised that she knows what ‘inconceivable’ means.
Amy looks over at him like she’s expecting him to say something. “Aren’t you angry?” she demands.
“Of course I am!” Rory answers quickly, covering his tracks. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now, is there? Just let it go, Amy, really.”
A bit grudgingly, Amy does so. They manage to make it through the rest of the day without a single mention of the word, much to Rory’s relief. At five-thirty, Dad gets back from work and tells Amy that she needs to go home. With a wave, she tells Rory she’ll see him tomorrow and skips off down the sidewalk. She ignores the fact that she hasn’t helped Rory clean up at all. Rory ignores the fact that she’s ignoring it.
But his mind is still burning with the need to understand, the need to know. It’s so distracting that he barely even picks at his dinner. Eventually, Dad looks up at him and demands, “Why aren’t you eating?”
Rory glances up, then looks back down at his plate. “Can I ask you a question?” he asks softly.
“You just did,” Dad points out, but he nods. “Yeah, sure, Rory, anything. You know you can always ask me whatever you need to know.”
Rory pushes a piece of broccoli around on his plate for a moment. Finally, he asks, “What does ‘gay’ mean?”
After dinner, he rushes upstairs, filled with shame. Because he hadn’t realized there’s something wrong with it. Because just the other day he and Amy were agreeing that the new boy in class is kind of cute.
Chapter 7