Secure in Insecurity
by James
7 Feb 2023 901 readers Score 8.5 (18 votes) PDF Mobi ePub Txt
[๐๐จ๐ญ๐: ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง.]
Chapter 2
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ-๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ. ๐๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ-๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฅ-๐ธ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐บ...
Ari idled at his locker, taking advantage of the partial privacy its narrow walls provided. His metal cabinet was virtually identical to those surrounding it, say for a few photos and a questionably appropriate firefighter-themed calendar. Despite its size, the locker provided Ari refuge from the threat of social vulnerability.
The boy wasnโt inherently noticeable. He was slightly smaller than average and on the leaner side of athletic. When next to Thomas, the contrast between their physiques was obvious. But Ari worked hard to maintain a proportional middle ground. No matter how constant or intentional his efforts were to fade into the background, he was still an openly gay Jewish kid in a conservative high school.ย
From his pocket of privacy, Ari listened to the melody of his peers. The rolls and ruff of slamming lockers. The pizzicato of sneakers struck against the tile floor. He listened as the performers shuffled to their last class of the day, each playing a part in their transient-transit rhapsody. Ari flipped through a novel, tuning out all those beyond the walls of his makeshift cubicle.ย
Unlike most of those around him, he was free during the last period of every day. It had become a kind of ritual for the high school Junior. While Thomas no doubt toiled away, tortured by horrible visions of precalculus and trigonometry, Ari spent time with Miller, Salenger, and on the rare occasion Dickens. This week he had been getting to know Burnett, whom Ari found a surprising departure from his normal company. He pulled a pencil from his pocket, underlining part of the passage...
โโฆEverything's a story. You are a story โ I am a storyโฆโย
...Sadly, Ari couldnโt spend the full period with Burnett.ย
He got why Thomas thought the book thing was sad, but Ari was content hanging with his novels. While teams and clubs were complicated, books were not. Still, Thomas had been excited when Ari expressed interest in the wrestling team, and a bigger friend group could be nice. It was more of a passing thought in the younger boyโs mind, but Thomas had been so into the idea that it was hard for Ari not to catch his excitement. The older boy had even gone out of his way to set up a meeting between Ari and Coach Henry. This meeting, the reason for Ariโs shortened reading time, was set for 2:30 in the coachโs office. A digital chime broke the silence of the now-empty hall, marking the end of the passing period. This gave Ari and Burnett 15 more minutes of quality time alone, and the boy intended to use every moment he got.
___
โHey, slut.โ The voice came from above. Ari swung around, confronted by the tapered V of a zip-up jacket. The boy jerked his head again, this time up towards the large jock looming over him.
Ari's response was reflexive, his voice full of angst. โ๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.โ He tried stepping back, prompting the taller figure to step even closer. Ari was practically standing in his locker, yet the space in front of them only seem to be shrinking.
โYouโd like that wouldnโt you fag.โ It wasn't a question, it was a statement. The jock glanced over to the locker door, chuckling at the shirtless men humping fire hydrantsย above the April calendar.
โUh, hey, mA-Max.โ Despite his cracking voice, Ari was more annoyed than afraid. โIโd love to talk, but I'm actually a little bu-โ
โWhatcha reading?" Max grabbed the book out of Ariโs hands, clearly uninterested in whatever the boy was stammering about.
โHey! Give that ba-โ
โThe fuck is this fruity shit!?โ This time Max's laugh was full-on cackling. Ari went for his book, only for Max to raise it further out of reach. โI was just gonna mock you for reading alone like a fucking loserโฆโ Ari reached up to grab Maxโs arm but found his hand blocked and pinned to the top of the locker. โโฆ But youโre really standing out here reading a book called โA Little Princess?โ Youโve out-fagged yourself!โโ
Ariโs brain was on autopilot, trying to find the easiest way out of the situation while keeping his book and self unharmed. โDude, itโs a classic English children's novel exploring gender ine-โ
โwAIT, ITS A KIDS BOOK!?!? HA-HA OH MY GOD!!!โ At this point, Ari was worried that Maxโs laughing might warrant a noise complaint. Ari also didn't understand how Maxโs grip was still so tight when the man was practically doubled over from howling. โHA-He-heโฆ Is this how you want to be treated!?โ
โCan we not do this today? I have -โ Ari jumpedโฆ โ-THINGS TO- โ His free hand grabbed the book. โ-do today.โ The boy landed with a triumphant thump, not even caring his other hand was still pinned. A few seconds into his internal celebration, Ari processed Maxโs question. โTreated like what?โ
Max grabbed the hand with the book, raising Ariโs free hand to join its captured brother. โโฆLike daddyโs little princess.โ Maxโs grin dripped with condescension. โI bet youโre such a submissive little bitch boy.โ Ari felt a knee slip between his legs. His annoyance started shifting towards alarm. โHow many dicks have you had up your slutty boycunt?โ Ari tried to pull out of his confines, but Max had both his wrists tightly bound with just a single hand. โOr are youโฆโ Max stared quizzically into Ariโs eyes, squeezing the boyโs ass through his Khaki pants. โโฆ a virgin?"
โOk, Max! T-that's enough!โ Max looked down at Ariโs bouncing foot, recognizing the nervous tick as a clear sign of his intimidation. โC-can youโฆโ Ari paused. โYou n-need to let m-me goโฆ N-now.โ Maxโs smile dropped as he tightened his grip around the boyโs arms. Ari felt his stomach sink seconds before his feet left the ground. He slid up the wall, only stopping once his face was parallel with Maxโs.
โA little birdie told me your scrawny ass is joining the wrestling team. Is it true?โ The only person Ari had even talked to about this was Thomas. Ari made a mental note to give his best friend hell later that day.
โI'm just meeting with the coach.โ Ari couldn't read Maxโs face, but his intensity was unmistakable. He could practically see himself in the reflection of Maxโs eyes. โI-I'm not even sure if I qualify, let alone if Iโd actually w-wanna join.โ For a moment Ari swore he saw Max's face soften before he was dropped back down to his feet.
โWord of advice: Donโt.โ The warning didn't feel like the previous intimidation tactics. To Ari, it felt oddly genuine. โBut if you doโฆโ Max ripped the firefighting photo off the homoerotic calendar, his smug grin returning to his face. โI look forward to pinning you to the mat.โ He placed the image in Ariโs hands. โApril was last month, Little Princess.โ Max gave Ari a wink, turned, then started down the hall. Ari was left flustered, confused, and with less than 10 minutes till his meeting.
โSo much for alone time...โ Ari said, tossing the novel back into his locker. He slammed the door and started toward the gym. โAni -fucking- ayef..."