Danny gazed back out over the rows of seats behind him, and caught Whit’s eye. She smiled, waved, and then made a kissy face. Now he was embarrassed, and the sunshine rose into his cheeks as well. Happiness makes you warm, he thought. Happiness is the sun.
Poor Colin, he thought sadly. If only he had waited.
* * * *
With all the chaos, nobody had noticed the band setting up behind the drapes on the stage. Most of the stage was busy being set up with food tables etc. but behind the second set of curtains, Mr. Loesel had the entire band in place. At his cue, the curtains were opened and since there was no power for the mike, he had the drummers start. They had apparently been learning new music. Did they start with the national anthem? The school spirit song? Sousa? Oh heck no. This thing they played had drums and pounding pianos and vibrating guitars. Anybody not playing pounded or banged something. It was organized chaos of a very therapeutic type, except for those few, teachers mostly, who still thought anything after Frank Sinatra was noise, not music. There was not another sound in the house, not that it could have been heard anyhow. Ms. Wickers had to gesture to get everyone to come down and get something to eat. Someone started a line dance, someone else started a conga line, and soon people were doing everything from the bunny hop to the frog, on their way to eat, or just dancing in their seats waiting. Principal MacFadden just hoped it wouldn’t bring down the rest of the building. Even the firemen cheered. And Bernadette jumped on top of a table and did some dance that looked like a cross between a strip tease and trying to kill a huge, over-enthusiastically blood thirsty, mosquito.
Danny was still thinking of Colin, and how he had just missed this. He was overwhelmed by a feeling of sadness, bordering on spirituality, a compassion for the whole world. Then he saw Whit smiling at him, and caught by the infectious joy of the others, he joined in the dance.
THE END
ABOUT EMERY C. WALTERS
Emery C. Walters was born Carol Forde, a name he soon knew didn’t fit the boy he was inside. Transition was unknown back then, so he married and then bore and raised four children. When his youngest child, his gay son, left home, Emery told Carol that she had to step aside, and he fully transitioned from female to male in 2001.
Emery worked in county government and as a college writing tutor before retiring. He and his wife Robyn, herself raised mistakenly as a boy, live in Hawaii where they combine snorkeling, scuba diving, and volunteer work with activities to boost LGBT rights and awareness.
Interested in Ninjutsu, both land and underwater photography, and writing, Emery can usually be found writing, reading, or sailing on his imaginary pirate ship.
Emery’s 2010 first published novel, Last Year's Leaves, is an intense story of recovery from abuse and loss, finding love, and coming out whole. The book is laced with his trademark humor. His recent publications include four other coming of age novels involving coming out and overcoming obstacles as well as two books of short stories. All are humorous and filled with hope. Drystan the Dire, Emery’s Welsh pirate ancestor, shows up at times to help the heroes and annoy the villains. Emery currently has two more novels in the publishing pipeline.
Between them, the Walters have eight adult children, umpteen grandchildren, and one great grandchild, none of whom can do a thing about the genetic material handed down to them—their gift to the future. So there. More information can be found online at ftemery-theemeryboard.blogspot.com.
ABOUT QUEERTEEN PRESS
Queerteen Press is the young adult imprint of JMS Books LLC, a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance. Visit queerteen-press.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!
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