Congratulations to Chris Unger, winner of the short story contest! You can read his winning entry below. Thanks to everyone who entered. They were all great and it was really difficult to choose only one winner. Congratulations again, Chris!
The Mystery of the
Naked Pictures
"You've
got to do something about this!" my little brother roared as he burst
through the door.
Everyone in
the room jumped and spun in his direction. There were only five of us, the
officers for our school's gay/straight alliance. My boyfriend Asher and I were
co-presidents, Brandy was vice president, Alaina was secretary, and Trina was
the treasurer. We were having our weekly planning meeting.
"Do
something about what, Kane?" I asked. "And by the way, we're trying
to have a meeting here."
"Sorry,
but really, this is getting ridiculous." He waved a sheet of folded paper
in my face.
I took the
paper and opened it up, gasped, and refolded it quickly.
"See!"
Kane said indignantly.
"What
is it?" Asher asked. The other girls looked on curiously.
I felt my
face heating up. "Um..."
"A
naked picture of some guy."
Brandy
raised one eyebrow. "And you have that why?"
"Somebody
put it in my locker. It's the third time this week."
"All
naked?" Asher asked.
"No,
the other two were just in their underwear."
"Is it
the same guy in all of them?" I asked.
Kane rolled
his eyes. "I don't know. I didn't pay that much attention. I guess
so."
"Well,
who is it?" Alaina asked.
"If I
knew that I'd tell him to stop. He never shows his face. The photos are just
from the chest down." He turned to me. "You have to find out who it
is and make him stop."
"Why
me?"
"Duh!
Why do you think? Because you're practically like a detective."
"What's
the big deal anyway?" Trina interjected. "I think you're being
homophobic."
Kane shot
her a dirty look. The two of them didn't get along very well. "How am I
being homophobic?"
She pushed
her long black bangs back from her face and gave Kane a challenging stare. The
rest of her hair was buzzed close to her scalp, but her bangs brushed her chin.
Trina favored the Goth look, with black fingernails and heavy, dark eye makeup.
She was proudly — and militantly — lesbian. "Why do the pictures bother
you so much?"
When we
were first forming the GSA, Trina had wanted to make it gays and lesbians only,
with the idea that some gay people would be scared to come if there were
straight people present. We had to explain to her that a "gays only"
policy would sort of defeat the whole gay/straight alliance thing, and that the
whole point was to build a bridge between the gay and straight kids. She still
kind of resented the straight kids that attended, such as Kane, for instance.
"Gee,
I don't know, Trina, how would you feel if some guy started stuffing naked
pictures of himself into your
locker?"
Trina
scowled. "That would be sexual harassment."
"And
how is it any different for me?"
"Or
even me," Asher said. "It's kind of inappropriate no matter who you
are or what gender you like."
"I
guess," Trina grumbled, and flipped her hair back into her face. It was a
familiar gesture, one she employed whenever she was pissed off or annoyed.
"So
how am I supposed to find out the identity of the guy in these pictures? Stick
them up on the bulletin board and ask, 'Do you recognize this penis?'"
Alaina
giggled, but Kane didn't look so amused. "Come on, Killian. Help me out.
I'm not trying to get him in trouble. I just want it to stop. The underwear
pictures were one thing, but this..."
I sighed.
"Okay. I'll see what I can do."
Kane
grinned. "Great. Thanks. I'll see you at home."
As soon as
he was gone, Asher scooted his chair closer. "So let's see." Alaina
shot out of her chairs and rushed to peer over my shoulder. Even Trina heaved a
beleaguered sigh and moseyed over for a look. After a few seconds, Brandy
shrugged and came over as well.
"Jeez,
you guys. Who said you all get to see it?" Asher gave me a look, and I
laughed. "I was just kidding."
I unfolded
the paper, and Alaina squealed in glee.
"Wow,"
Asher muttered under his breath.
Trina
leaned in closer. "Who would have thought someone so skinny would have
such a big—"
"Trina!"
She
shrugged and ambled back over to her seat. Brandy just chuckled and returned to
her chair as well.
"Shouldn't
be too hard to find him," Alaina said with an evil grin as she sat back
down. "Just look for the guy with the huge bulge."
"He
could be a grower not a shower," Asher added helpfully.
I gave him
an exasperating look. "Okay, can we just move on with the meeting
now?"
"Maybe
he's a member of the GSA," Brandy mused.
"What
makes you think that?" Trina asked.
"Well,
he's obviously gay if he's slipping naked pictures of himself into a guy's
locker."
"What
if he has the wrong locker? Maybe he thinks it's a girl's," Trina argued.
"He
can put as many as he wants in my locker," Alaina said with a salacious
grin.
Trina
ignored the straight girl. "And even if he is gay, why does that mean he
has to be part of the group? Not every gay guy in the school attends. A lot of
them aren't even out."
"I
didn't say he was a part. Sheesh. I
just said maybe he was."
"It is
possible," I interrupted before things could escalate into an argument,
"but I still don't see how that would help. What am I supposed to do? Make
all the guys stand in a line-up and drop their pants?"
"Yes!"
Alaina cheered.
I ignored her
this time. "Actually, maybe I'll just watch to see if any of the guys pay
especially close attention to Kane at the meeting tomorrow."
Asher
laughed. "All the guys pay attention to Kane at the meetings."
He was
right. It seemed like all the gay boys had a crush on my brother. And most of
the straight girls, too. And at least three of the bisexuals. The GSA had
started off small — pretty much just Asher, me, and a few straight girls — but
it had grown quickly over the last several months. It was sort of the
"in" thing at the moment, so while we had a lot of straight
supporters, there were also quite a few real, live gay kids too. Kane attended fairly
regularly, making it okay for his other skater friends to tag along as well.
"Whatever.
I'll figure something out. Let's just finish our meeting." I stuck the
picture in my binder and pushed it from my mind. I'd think about it later.
* * *
That
evening, I was doing homework when the picture fell out of my binder. I groaned
as I picked it up off the floor. I'd forgotten all about it. Why had I promised
Kane I'd find out who was sending him the images? I had no idea how I was going
to keep my word.
I flipped
the page open and took a closer look. It had been printed out from a computer
on regular paper, so it wasn't the best quality. Except for his generous
endowment there weren't any visible distinguishing marks on his body: no unique
tattoos, large moles, or birthmarks conveniently shaped like easily
recognizable countries. There was just a tight, smooth torso, a well-trimmed groin
region, and a large, jutting penis.
I felt a
jump in my pants and quickly folded the picture back up. I shoved it under a stack of papers, feeling
slightly guilty but not sure why. How else would I find out who had left it in
Kane's locker if I didn't examine the evidence?
Just then,
the bedroom door flew open. I jumped guiltily, but it was just Kane. "Did
you find out who's stuffing those pictures in my locker?" He dropped onto
his bed.
"Oh,
yeah. In the several hours it's been since I saw you last I got it all figured
out."
Kane
frowned. "You don't have to get all pissy about it."
"Sorry."
I gave him an apologetic smile. "I just don't have any idea how I'm
supposed to find this guy."
"Can't
you, like, stake out my locker or something?"
"What
am I supposed to tell my teachers? 'Sorry, I can't come to class today because
someone is putting naked pictures of themselves into my brother's locker.'
Somehow, I don't think that will be an excused absence."
"You
could just skip."
"For
how long? Does he leave pictures every day?"
"No,
there was one last Monday, one on Wednesday, and then the one today."
"Did
you save the others?"
"No!
Why would I save them?"
"Evidence?"
"Oh.
Right. Well, I threw them away. At first I just figured it was one of the guys
pulling a stupid prank."
"How
do you know it's not?"
"Because,
I asked them. None of them knew anything about it. I know these guys. If it was
one of them, they'd admit it. They love getting credit for their stuff."
"Okay.
When do the pictures show up in your locker?"
"What
do you mean?"
"Do
you visit your locker throughout the day?"
"Yeah.
I have too many books to carry all day so I usually switch them out after
lunch."
"When
have you noticed the pictures? Are they there in the morning or when you go
back in the afternoon? Or has it been different each time?"
"It's
always when I go back at the end of the day."
"Then
we know he's doing it in the afternoon some time."
Kane nodded
enthusiastically. "Right. So now you only have to skip class in the
afternoon."
I rolled my
eyes. "How exactly am I supposed to stake out your locker, Kane? I can't
just stand around in the hallway all afternoon. I'll get in trouble."
He slumped
back on the bed. "Yeah. I didn't think of that." Then he perked up.
"Wait! My locker is right across from the library. Maybe you can hide in
there and watch my locker."
"And
what do I tell Mrs. Yi?"
Mrs. Yi was
the school librarian. She was really cool but strict about the rules of her
precious collection. She guarded the books like they were dragon's treasure.
"Ugh.
I forgot about her. She's pretty cool, though. Maybe if you explain what's
going on she'll leave you alone."
"She'd
more likely report it to Principal Martinez. You said you didn't want this guy
to get in trouble."
"I
mean, not if I can help it. If he's got a crush on me or whatever, that's cool.
I don't really care. I'm not homophobic no matter what Trina says. I just don't
want to keep getting pictures of his junk in my locker. You know?"
"Yeah.
I know. You don't have to defend yourself to me. I, of all people, know you're
not a homophobe."
He laughed.
"It's so stupid to say I'm homophobic. Trina is such a bitch
sometimes."
I couldn't
argue, so I just shrugged. "What can we do? She's worked really hard for the
group."
"I
know. So what are you going to do?"
"What
are we going to do? If I'm going to
do this, you're going to help me."
Kane made a
face, but then shrugged good-naturedly. "Okay. Fair enough. So what are we going to do?"
"Is
there any way you can check your locker between each class tomorrow? You might
not get any more deliveries, but if you do, then we'd narrow it down. If I'm
going to skip class, I'd like for it to be as few as possible."
"Um,
yeah, I guess so. It might make me late for chemistry but it won't be the first
time."
"Cool.
Then we'll start with that, then take it from there."
"And
if he doesn't leave one tomorrow?"
"Then
you do the same thing again on Monday."
He nodded.
"Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Killian."
"Eh.
No problem, little bro."
He laughed.
"I'm taller than you now. I think that makes you the little brother."
I grabbed a
piece of paper off the desk, balled it up, and chunked it at his head. He threw
a pillow in retaliation and, soon, a full-scale pillow fight had erupted.
* * *
I had to
talk Kane into attending the GSA meeting the next afternoon. No new pictures had
shown up that day, but he was convinced his stalker was a member of the club.
For all I knew, he was right, but that meant it was even more important for him
to be there. How else could I observe the other guys' reactions to him?
I took
special notice of every guy who went out his way to say hi to Kane, or seemed
to pay him special attention. Unfortunately, as Asher had said the day before,
all the guys paid attention to Kane. My little brother was cute, charismatic,
and accepting — every gay boys dream. Asher and I were probably the only two
guys in the room who didn't have a crush on him, especially since none of
Kane's straight friends had shown up that day. I think they were all afraid
they'd start getting penis-o-grams in their
lockers.
Still,
there were a few guys who seemed a little more attentive than usual. First,
there was Marco. He was a slim, dark-haired boy who made me look tall. He was a
slave to whatever new trend the teen magazines declared was "in", but
he tended to adopt more female trends than male. I suppose he was cute in a
sort of androgynous way. He always made a point of sitting next to Kane and
flirting outrageously despite the death glares Kane leveled at him. Of course,
that was par for the course with Marco. He was desperate for a boyfriend — a
little too desperate. He tended to come on a little strong, a tendency that had
gotten him into trouble a time or two with the football team.
Then there
was Jordan, one of the smartest guys in my grade. It was pretty much a foregone
conclusion that he'd be valedictorian. He had shaggy, dirty-blond hair, big
blue eyes behind trendy glasses, and dressed in preppy, A&F fashion. I
caught him sneaking more than one longing glance in the direction of my little
brother, which surprised me since Jordan supposedly had a boyfriend away at
college who he talked about constantly. No one had ever met his collegiate
beau, however, and while Jordan was well-liked, some people liked to tease that
Jordan had made him up.
Another
boy, Danny, a quiet, bookish boy with close-cropped black hair and huge, brown
doe eyes, had gone over before the meeting and shyly attempted to start a
conversation with Kane, but was quickly rebuffed by Kane's suspicious stare and
gruff responses. He spent the rest of the meeting staring at his lap and
occasionally casting pouty looks toward Kane.
Finally,
there was Juan, the handsome, confident star of the track team. His dark, curly
hair was always artfully disarranged, and his dark skin glowed with a healthy
tan from all his outdoor activities. He was new to the group, and one of the
few bisexual guys. He was known as a bit of a player, and judging by his body
language when he joked around with Kane before the meeting, touching him every
chance he got, it seemed as if my brother was his next intended conquest. Good luck with that, Juan, I thought,
more than a little amused.
Despite
their obvious interest, though, I had no reason to think any of them had been
sliding pictures of their genitals into Kane's locker. I had no more answers by
the end of the meeting, and Kane shot out as soon as it was over, giving me no
more opportunity to observe.
The weekend
went by with no further mention of our "investigation." Monday passed
with no pictures, and then Tuesday too.
By
Wednesday, I was optimistically beginning to hope we could drop the whole
thing. I was talking to one of my theater friends in the hall after school when
someone slapped a sheet of paper down on the binder I was holding in my hands.
I looked
down to see a picture of erect penis. I quickly slammed the binder against my
chest and whirled to give Kane a dirty look. "What the hell?"
Kane grimly
stared back. "Special delivery. Last period."
"Was
that...?" Nathaniel asked hesitantly from behind me.
I sighed
and turned to face him. "Someone has been slipping naked pictures of
themselves into Kane's locker."
He nodded
but still looked a little confused. "And...he gives them to you?"
"He
likes cock," Kane said with a cheeky grin.
I punched Kane
in his arm. "My dear little brother wants me to find out who the guy is
and get him to stop."
"Why
you?"
"Because
he's a natural detective," Kane supplied helpfully.
I gave him
another dirty look, but the answer seemed to satisfy Nathaniel. "Okay.
Cool. Whatever. I'll see you later, Killian." He walked off shaking his
head.
I turned to
face Kane again. "Did you have to do that where he could see the
picture?"
Kane
shrugged. "It's no big deal. He's gay, too, isn't he?"
"What
does that have to do with anything?"
"Just
that he's not going to get all bent out of shape at seeing a penis."
"Kane,
can you stop being such a prick—"
Kane
snorted and burst into laughter, and as soon as I realized what I'd said, I
started laughing along with him.
When we'd
settled down, I said, "Okay. I'll skip my last period class tomorrow and
tell Mrs. Yi I'm researching a paper. I'll try to keep an eye on the locker,
but if he doesn't show, I won't be able to do that again on Friday."
"Yeah,
I know. Let's just hope you catch him. This is getting really old."
* * *
Later that
night, I pulled the picture out for a closer look. Judging by the shape and
size of the penis, it was the same guy as the last picture. This time, his hand
was wrapped around his penis and he was holding it out from his body, which was
turned side to the camera.
I noticed a
thin silver bracelet on the guy's wrist. There was a charm of some sort hanging
from it, but the picture was too grainy to make out the details. I pulled out a
magnifying glass but all that did was enlarge the little dots making up the
image. Despite the lack of clarity, it was still a clue — and those were
something we had precious few of in this investigation.
The next
day, I checked in with Kane just before last period. No new photos had turned
up, so I made my way to the library, chose a few research books at random, and
set up camp at a table close to one of the large glass windows that separated
the library from the hallway.
I did my best to look nonchalant. I propped up a U.S. history book
in front of my face and vigilantly peered over the top, occasionally
turning the pages to keep up appearances.
About ten minutes
into my stake out I saw a pair of girls idly strolling in the vicinity
of Kane’s locker. Could it be some sinister girls delivering the
photos? The girls chattered away, twirling their hair and popping their
gum, but never came within reach of Kane’s locker. Damn.
I anxiously tapped my foot as I waited for the next prospective suspect to make his or her move.
“Could you please keep it
down,” a voice whispered from a few tables away. I whipped my head around to see who it was.
“Your tapping is distracting,” a wiry looking boy with pale skin and dark hair looked back at me.
“Sorry,” I whispered back to him, “I didn’t even notice I was doing
it.” I laughed it off and both of us went back to our books.
“Shit,” I murmured under my breath as I noticed a short, dark-haired
freshman opening his locker which was a few down from Kane’s, “I hope I
didn’t miss anyone else.”
For the rest of the period I watched
the locker with renewed enthusiasm. I would never hear the end of it if
Kane found another picture in his locker when I was supposed to be
watching it like a hawk. No one else came close to Kane’s locker. I
couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that I had skipped class and
found myself with no new leads.
“How is your paper coming?” Mrs. Yi asked as I packed
up my books and stuffed them into my backpack. That’s right, I almost
forgot about my alibi.
“Oh, it’s coming along nicely,” I lied.
“I’d say you got more window gazing done today,” Mrs. Yi quipped. She
smiled her sly librarian smile. I think she knew I had other things on
my mind.
I booked it out of the library and surveyed the area around Kane’s locker for anything I might have missed.
“Any leads?” a familiar voice asked from behind me. I turned around to
see Asher approaching me with a playful grin on his face.
“Nothing yet,” I replied, my face brightening at the sight of him,
“Whoever this guy is, he was clever enough to avoid leaving anything
today.”
“I’m sure he’s bound to slip up sometime,” Asher
said with a reassuring inflection.
“Killian!” another familiar voice called from down the hall. Kane
bounded through the corridor, weaving and zig-zagging through crowds of
eagar-to-depart high schoolers.
“What is it boy?” I joked as Kane panted, “Is Timmy trapped in the well?” Asher gave a slight giggle in support of my joke.
“No,” Kane shot back flatly, “I’m just dying to know if you caught the guy.”
“I’m afraid there are no leads from today.”
“What do you know so far?” Asher asked, attempting to boost my morale.
“We’ve got a well endowed mastermind on our hands,” I half-whispered.
“He prints off his pictures on computer paper,” Kane offered, “not very high quality.”
“There is one clue that we have from the last picture though,” I said,
suddenly remembering, “he had a thin silver-colored bracelet on his
right wrist. It wasn’t very detailed but it could be the breakthrough
we’ve been looking for.”
“We find the bracelet, we find our culprit!” Kane added enthusiastically.
“Precisely.”
Kane confidently went to his locker to pick out his books, he twisted
the dial as he had done hundreds of times before and opened the latch.
“Killian,” Kane said coldly and calmly, “you say that you never took your eyes off my locker, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, you must have missed something. How do you explain this?”
“Oh, brother!” I groaned as I was handed another low fidelity photo of
our friend with the large package. This one was very similar to the
last one, probably taken at the same time. Same dick, different angle.
And there was that silver bracelet again. Whose hand is that?
*****
The more I thought about the bracelet, the more I felt it looked
familiar. Where had I seen it before? And how could the culprit have
snuck past me? There was only the one opportunity and it wasn’t very
long. I had to rethink my whole investigation and reexamine all of my
clues.
I plopped onto my bed, shoving my face into the pillow.
Okay, so we know this guy has access to a digital camera and a low
resolution printer; that may eliminate a few people. And then there’s
that bracelet.
I turned over on my back and shut my eyes.
Whoever this guy is, his target is obviously Kane because by now he
would have realized his mistake if it was the wrong locker. But what
does this guy hope to accomplish? Does he want to embarrass Kane? Does
he want his attention? Who has the will and the equipment to do this?
I slowly drifted off to sleep, but my mind kept running, trying to solve the mystery of the photos.
*****
My dreams that night were haunted by false confessions and phallic
imagery, but even my unconscious couldn’t figure this one out yet. But
all hope was not lost, if I could find that bracelet, I could find the
guy who did it.
As I walked the halls of the school to my first
class, I heard a familiar sound, it was a small sound that normally I
would have overlooked but somehow it caught my attention. It was a
light jingling sound. I turned to see the source of the noise and it
was coming from a boys wrist, he was wearing a bracelet, a silver
bracelet.
“That’s the guy!” I immediately blurted to no one in
particular. But as soon as I jumped to that conclusion, I realized he
was walking by another guy with the same bracelet on, both with the
same little charm.
I turned on my heel to follow them, but then I realized what time it
was. If I did any pursuing I would be late to class. I tried to take
note of who the boys were. They looked like the jock type. I sort of
recognized them on a superficial level but I couldn’t recall their
names. I’d have to ask around and find out what the deal was with the
jocks and the matching bracelets. At least now I had a lead. Maybe one
of these athletes is making a desperate attempt to escape the closet.
*****
After class I caught Trina in the hallway.
“Hey Trina,” I
called, “I’ve got a question for you.”
“Oh? Is it about your latest case?” she said gleefully.
“If you’d like to call it that, yes.”
“What is it?”
“How much do you know about the jocks?” I began, sounding a bit like a TV detective.
“I knew it! I bet it’s one of those football players, isn’t it? I hear they’re always doing gay stuff with each other!”
“Shhh! Can you keep it down,” I hissed, “I don’t think it’s a football
player necessarily, but do you know any reason why any of them might
have matching bracelets?”
“Bracelets?” Trina repeated, “Oh yeah,
bracelets!” She acted as if repeating the word suddenly made the stars
align and everything made sense. I couldn’t tell if she was being
serious or if she was just pulling my leg.
“Bracelets? Am I missing something here?”
“Yeah,
remember the basketball team last year?” I stared blankly at her, she
didn’t wait for a response. “Well, they went to state last year and
they all got matching bracelets with a little basketball charm on ‘em.”
“That makes sense, so we’re dealing with a basketball player with a lot of-”
“Balls?” Trina giggled as she finished my sentence.
Now I at least had a smaller pool of suspects to pick from.
“Maybe I should sit in on basketball practice after school and see if I can get any leads.”
“But what about the GSA meeting?”
“Just tell them I’ll be a little late.”
*****
After school, I headed to the gym, where I knew my window would be
small to catch a word from anyone on the team. I wasn’t quite sure how
to go about asking anyone about this rather delicate situation, I would
have to be very subtle. After all, I couldn’t just waltz into the
locker room and ask the basketball team to drop their pants for me,
could I?
“Killian?” a voice from my past called out, “long time no see!” It was
my friend Jeremy. Last year we had a bunch of classes together and had
cultivated a friendship based on our alphabetical proximity. This year
we didn’t have any classes together, so it had been a while.
“Jeremy! It’s good to see you! I didn’t know you were on the basketball
team,” I said, gesturing to the silver bracelet donning his wrist.
“Yeah, I didn’t really play that much last year, so it wasn’t such a big deal to
me.”
“But hey, you still made it to state, right?” I said, trying to sound knowledgeable.
“Sure did. So, what brings you to the b-ball court today?”
“I thought I’d submit an article to the school paper about how the team
looks this year,” I said, fairly confident in my cover story.
“Cool,” Jeremy said with a smile, “how about I introduce you to some of
the guys?” Before I could really even make up my mind I was being
whisked off into the locker room.
Inside, I was a bit shocked at
the openness of so many of the boys. Many were walking around half
dressed or in towels. A few guys were horsing around, whipping each
other with towels and such. It was a lot to take in, and I hoped the
dragon between my legs wouldn’t get the best of me.
“Brian!” Jeremy called over a tall, tan-skinned guy with a
shaved head and abs that were on the verge of being over done.
“Brian, this is Killian, he’s doing a story for the school paper.
Killian, this is Brian, one of the team captains.” Brian put out a big,
rough mitt and shook my hand briskly.
Suddenly, I was
distracted by a flash of light coming from the corner of the room. It
was a camera flash accompanied by an artificial chht sound of a shutter
opening and closing. I turned my head to see who it was. I saw a tight,
well trimmed brunette with a towel wrapped around his waist laughing to
himself as he reviewed his most recent picture.
“Dude, I totally got your ass in that picture,” the guy with the camera shouted to his buddy who was out of view.
“I wish I could talk,” Brian said recapturing my attention, “but we’ve got to start practice early today.”
“That’s okay,” I
assured him, “mind if I just, observe for a bit?”
“Sure, go right ahead. Consider yourself one of the guys.”
“Thank you,” I said humbly.
“Okay team!” Brian bellowed over the sounds of horseplay and locker room banter, “Let’s move out!”
The room became even more chaotic as the players grabbed their
uniforms, stuffed bags into lockers and rushed out the door. In less
than a minute it seemed the team evacuated the premise. But there were
a few stragglers, one of them being the guy with the camera.
“Excuse me,” I said as I approached.
“Woah,” he exclaimed, dropping his towel revealing a pristine white jockstrap, “you caught me off guard there buddy.”
“Sorry about that,” I said, trying not to stare below his waist, “I was just going to ask you something
quick.”
“What is it? I need to get ready fast.” he snatched up his jersey which was laying on top of a duffel bag.
“Could I borrow your camera to take some pictures of the practice
today. I forgot mine at home and I need some shots for the article in
the paper.” He picked up the camera and gave it a good stare. He seemed
hesitant for a moment, but then, as if remembering some brilliant
stroke of insight he seemed willing.
“I suppose that wouldn’t be a big deal, as long as you get it back to me one one piece. What did you say your name was?”
“Killian. Yours?”
“Jeff. Just stick the camera back in my bag after you’re done with it.”
“Thanks, Jeff.” I carefully took the camera as he slipped his jersey on over his head.
“Make sure you get some good ones of me,” Jeff
scoffed as he dashed out the door.
Finally, I had the camera in my hands, maybe there was some
incriminating evidence on it. I quickly started searching through the
pictures saved on the camera. There was shot after shot of locker room
funny business but nothing serious enough to make Jeff the number one
suspect. Just as I was about to give up hope though I found a picture
of him in his underwear. Or at least, I think it was him. Maybe someone
else had been using Jeff’s camera to take the naughty pictures. I had
to be absolutely sure if I was going to make any accusations.
I
had to get a second opinion, so I dashed down the halls to the GSA
meeting which had probably already started, hoping that Kane would be
able to recognize the underwear.
“Kane!” I gasped as I entered
the room, “I need to ask you something.” My dramatic entrance was
greeted with a low turnout. I guess the meeting hadn’t quite started
yet.
“Did you find out who the guy is?” Kane asked eagerly.
“Would you be able to recognize a familiar pair of underwear?” I asked holding up the camera.
“Where’d you snag that from?” Alaina inquired.
“That’s for me to know for now,” I turned on the camera to reveal the picture I had found, “Does this look familiar?”
Kane gasped, “It’s the first picture I got. Who is it?”
“Yes,” Alaina added with a sinister tone, “inquiring minds want to
know.” Kane and I both rolled our eyes, as if we were cued to do so at
the same time.
“It’s a basketball player, but there are still
some unanswered questions.” Before anyone could ask anything further I
turned around and ran back to the gym.
*****
I sat through the basketball practice and snapped a few shots from
different angles just in case I was really going to have to write that
article for the paper. When the coach told the team to “hit the
showers” I knew that was my chance to talk to Jeff again.
“Hey Jeff, can I ask you a couple of questions?” I asked, trying to sound as reporterly as possible.
“Sure, but can we walk and talk? I’m sweating like a pig and I could use a shower. Did you get some good shots?”
“Yeah, I think I got some keepers, but what I really wanted to ask you
about was some of your pictures.” Jeff raised an eyebrow as he took his
jersey off, which is when I noticed the scar on his hip. It couldn’t be
Jeff in the picture, there was no scar in any of the shots from Kane’s
locker.
“What’s that from?” I asked quickly, changing the subject.
“That thing?” Jeff began, “I caught a barbed wire fence when I was 15. I had to have a tetanus shot, it was wicked painful.”
“Does anyone else have access to your camera?” I asked, changing the subject once again.
“Yeah, I guess my brother does, but-”
“Younger, right?”
“What is this all about? I’m beginning to doubt your journalistic intentions, Killian.”
“I can’t say anything yet. I’ll explain it all later.” And with that I dashed back to the GSA meeting.
On my way back to the room I cut through the science hallway, which was
mostly empty. But as I passed Kane’s locker I recognized someone I had
seen before, someone I noticed in my periphery, not by name.
“Hey kid!” I
shouted. The young freshman spun around, I had caught him in mid stride.
“Wha- What do you want?” the kid sputtered.
“I have a question for you.”
“What is it?” the boy said with a slight quiver in his voice.
“Did you see anyone slip anything in this locker earlier today?” I
whispered, even though no one else was around as I pointed to Kane’s
innocuous locker.
“I- I- I don’t know anything about it” he was nervous.
“If you saw something, it’s important that you let me know,” I pleaded
with the boy. He looked at me like a sad puppy dog that knew he did
something wrong.
“Okay, I admit it,” he started slowly, “I slipped a note into that locker a little while ago, but it wasn’t from me.”
“A note? So, you didn’t look at
it?”
“At least that’s what I assumed it was, why do you ask?”
“It wasn’t a note at all, but it sure sent a strong message. Who gave it to you?”
“This guy from my lunch table. He asked me if I would do him a favor.
It didn’t seem like such a big deal, he was very casual about the whole
thing.”
“You don’t know his name?” I gasped, amazed at the lack of the most important information in the case.
“Sorry,” the boy said, quite genuinely, “but I can tell you he’s kind
of short, dark haired, really alternative and trendy. You must know the
type I’m talking about.”
“Really flirty?” I asked, hoping to confirm my suspicions that were becoming ever more clear.
“I guess to some people he is. He usually sits at the other end of the table. He seems nice enough though,”
he said; smiling impishly.
“You know, I think I know exactly who you mean. What was your name?”
“Danny, you?”
“Killian. Thanks for your help.” Danny nodded back to me as I dashed down the hall to reunite with the kids from the GSA.
This time, I made my entrance a lot more smoothly. I casually strolled into the room and plopped down next to Asher.
“How nice of you to show up,” he joked, as he nudged me with his elbow, “We’re almost done for the day.”
“It was worth it though,” I said as a smile crept across my face. And
with that I refused to divulge anymore information which I so obviously
harbored.
After the meeting the group filed out in typical
amorphous formation and one by one we went our separate ways. Soon, it
was just down to four of us. Asher, Kane, me, and Marco. I knew I
couldn’t hold it in any longer; my patience and civility had worn to
thin.
“Hey Marco, why didn’t you tell me your brother was on the basketball team?”
Kane and Asher’s stares focused on me. They knew what was coming.
“What? What does that have to do with anything?” Marco became a bit defensive.
“The jig is up,” I smirked at how cliche I sounded, “You’re busted.”
“Oh, you mean--” Marco stopped trying to pretend, “I have some
explaining to do, don’t I?” Asher and Kane nodded in agreement.
“I’ll leave you two to talk things out,” I said, gesturing for Asher to
come and join me, “I think we can call this case closed.”