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math class again. mackenzie always hated being stuck in algebra, but this was his only period where all of his friends were. the teacher always droned on about total nonsense, and he had to get bluey's little sister of all people to help him understand, but he got to spend the whole class talking with his buddies.
he had gotten situated in his desk when he noticed the teacher had just written "work day" on the board. it made sense; the fall semester was ending and loads had missing work. he was just gonna pull out his phone when his friend, rusty, walked into class looking like someone had pissed in his lunch.
“oh, hey man,” mackenzie greeted, trying to see just how mad rusty might be. rusty just sighed and sat in the chair in front of him. mackenzie wasn't extremely invested: rusty was more of jack's friend, and jack was more of his friend. rusty was a fine guy to hang out with, but he was a lot more into being "manly." mackenzie liked his internet blogs and video games, meanwhile.
soon enough, his other friends had piled in, with bluey sitting to his right, judo next to her, indy behind him, and coco to indy's right. jack, who always sat to rusty, noticeably hadn't come in by the time the bell rang.
“pssst,” he nudged bluey, knowing rusty wouldn't hear. he had pulled out his worksheets and was glaring down while he wrote on them. “hey, do you know what's up with rusty?”
bluey looked over at him from her conversation with judo. “nope. but you know, judo noticed jack wasn't in english this morning.”
“rusty wasn't looking good this morning either,” indy chimed in, leaning forward. “all sour when i tried to talk to him.”
“good fucking god, you know i can hear you guys,” rusty had turned around in his chair, and the small group was now looking at him and feeling guilty.
“uh, sorry rust,” mackenzie started, “we're just a little worried. are you feeling okay?”
“no, i thought you guys heard.”
“heard what?”
“jack didn't tell you?”
“tell us what, rusty? spit it out!” bluey urged.
rusty sighed in frustration. “jack's a fucking fag.”
everyone fell silent. mackenzie couldn't believe what he had just heard. everyone he'd grown up with seemed to have progressive parents. he'd never actually seen someone act homophobic, but, then again, he didn't know many gay people besides bluey and judo. besides jack now, too.
“jack, you can't say that,” judo finally spoke up, slipping bluey's hand into hers. bluey, meanwhile, was stuck looking stunned and hurt. “what are you saying?”
“that fag made a pass on me. i have no problem with gay people, but that fag—”
“stop fucking saying that!”
“that's so not cool, rusty,” indy said, looking concerned. coco nodded with her.
“ugh, that's what he is. girls are different. guys don't try to fuck their friends. kenzie, you get it, right?”
and suddenly, all eyes were on mackenzie. he immediately felt a cold sweat. he'd never even thought about this. the girls had started talking about sexuality, dating, and gender a lot faster. he didn't know any gay guys. he didn't even know if he... he just hadn't thought about it. he wondered how he might feel if jack "made a move" on him.
“um...” he swallowed. “rusty, maybe you shouldn't call him that, he's a really nice guy. maybe he was just confused—”
“gay people aren't confused, mac,” judo interrupted.
“i didn't mean it like that!” his voice cracked, feeling his face flush now. “i mean, like, he didn't try to hurt you, right?”
“he held my hand like some pansy and asked to kiss me,” rusty explained.
“rusty, c'mon,” mackenzie was exasperated now. “he's your best friend.”
“not anymore!”
“rusty, do you really feel that way about gay people?” bluey sounded really emotional, and judo had started rubbing her back.
“like i said, gay people can be normal if they don't flaunt it. and if they keep it away from the rest of us.” he darkly chuckled. “maybe he should've tried it with kenzie, he seems pretty eager to defend a faggot.”
despite his usual cool demeanor, this set mackenzie off. he stood from his desk, looking at jack angrily. one of the girls had gasped, and at this point other classmates had noticed them.
“don't be so mean, man,” was all he said.
rusty stood up too, getting in his face. he was just a bit taller than mackenzie, and he was definitely more fit due to being in cricket and rugby. “what's the matter? you're not denying it.”
“it's none of your business. what if i was?”
“then you're less of a man than i thought. at least jack's always seemed like a queer.”
mackenzie shoved rusty's chest, causing him to stumble back, and causing most of the class to gasp. he heard rusty growl, then before he knew it, he was out cold.