Paparino's Piccolo Gattino

Just a few miles away in what was considered the outskirts of the Eno Township, another alarm was blaring, the song of choice being Unholy by KISS. A sixteen-year-old boy by the name of Ashley Purdy reached out a hand to slap the snooze button on his alarm clock, only to be startled when his abusive mother threw open the door to his new bedroom. Knowing that naught but trouble could possibly follow if he didn’t get up, he choked back the whimper on the tip of his tongue and tossed the covers off his legs.

As quickly as he possibly could, he jumped in the shower to wash off the blood, dirt, and other gore from last night’s beating before somehow managing to get himself dressed. Tears streamed down his face, both from the pain he was in and from the memories of what life was like before his father’s death. His mother blamed him for something he had no part in, simply because it was her belief that if he weren’t queer as a three-dollar bill, Dillon Purdy wouldn’t have been unfaithful to her and fallen down the stairs of his mistress’ house. What a load of shit that was, but sadly, it was his life.

Once he was dressed in black skinny jeans, a KISS band tee he’d gotten from Hot Topic before he moved, and his cowboy boots, he set to work on his makeup. Concealer was a must if he wanted to hide the Godsmack-awful bruises on his face and neck, along with the double black eyes he sported. Even though it hurt like a mother fucker, he managed to get his heavy eyeliner on as if he weren’t feeling like he was stabbing his eyes out with the gentlest of touches. After that, he settled on a quick swipe of clear gloss to enhance the look of his full, pink lips, then decided he was done. His hair didn’t need straightening and he didn’t feel like teasing it like he normally would because of his pain, so it was time to go.

Knowing his mother was likely skunk drunk, he quickly gathered his things for school and tossed them in his bookbag. He quickly but quietly headed downstairs and grabbed the keys to his car, knowing that if she saw any food missing when she checked the kitchen later, he’d either better have a death wish, or not come home. Either one sounded good to him, unlike the ferocious growling of his stomach.

“Good morning. How can I help you?” the secretary sitting in the main office asked when he walked in.

“I’m new here, and I need my schedule,” he answered quietly, scared to raise his voice.

“What’s your name, sugar?” the woman asked, fingers poised over her keyboard.

“Ashley Purdy.” Once again, his response was so quiet that it wouldn’t have been heard if it weren’t only six-thirty in the morning.

“All right, here ya go. Your first class is with Mr. Biersack, the band director,” she told him. “He’ll be your guide and you guys can figure out the layout of the school together since he’s new here, too.”

“Can you have someone show me to the band room?” Ash asked.

“I’ll show you myself since it’s so early. Just follow me, Ashley,” she answered, rising from her chair.

Since it was still pretty early and there weren’t many, if any, students littering the old halls, he didn’t have to stay close to her like he was a stick up her ass as he followed her. A short walk and a couple of turns and they stood before the band room, surprised to see that the lights were already on. The secretary quickly tried the door, knocking briskly when she found it was locked.

Moments later, a man that didn’t look much older than himself unlocked and opened the door, his eyes widening as he saw the two of them standing there. The woman who’d guided him this far, whom the man he assumed was Mr. Biersack addressed as Miss Gentry, told him that he was a new student and that he was in his first period class. A small smile curved the lips of the man standing before him, and he noticed what looked like a hole through the left side of his lower lip.

“C’mon in, Ashley, and we’ll get you settled,” he said, addressing him for the first time.

Timidly, he followed the man into the room and down the built-in risers to his stand, where he’d spread out a rule book from the office and his attendance folder.

“So what instrument do you play?” Mr. Biersack asked curiously.

“Usually bass guitar,” he answered, his voice still soft. “When jazz band isn’t in season, I take an unconventional detour and play flute.”

“Oh, really?” He looked up and was met by a pair of icy-blue eyes, which were wide with surprise. “I wouldn’t have expected that from someone who’s a bassist.”

“The higher notes of a flute are just soothing to me, for some reason,” Ash explained, shrugging.

“Well, when I was younger, I started out on trumpet and eventually moved on to baritone,” the band director told him. “I’m a bassist myself, which is why I said I found it surprising that you went with something that produced such higher notes, in comparison.”

“Miss Gentry said you were new here, too,” he said softly, abruptly changing the subject.

Sensing that he didn’t want to explain why he picked flute further, Mr. Biersack nodded. “I am. I just moved here from Ohio so I could take this job. What about yourself?”

“Missouri,” the teen answered, finally sitting on the floor at his feet. “We had to after…after…”

“Hey, if you don’t wanna talk about it, you don’t have to.” He was surprised when the band director joined him on the floor and wrapped his arms around him. “It’s obvious that it’s painful to talk about, and I’ve never been one to press for information unless someone’s life is on the line. If you don’t wanna tell me, you don’t have to, but if you decide you do, I’ll be more than glad to listen.”

Unfamiliar with people who actually gave a shit about him, he couldn’t help but look into the man’s eyes. “Thanks, Mr. Biersack.”

“It’s no problem. And there’s just something about you, Ashley, that makes me like you, so feel free to call me Andy when there’s no other students or faculty around,” he told him, still smiling.

“I like you, too…Andy,” Ash said, pausing before he said the man’s given name. “And just call me Ash.”

“That I can manage.” He took his arms from around him, but remained on the floor at his side. “Now, just so you know, since it’s the first day of school, no one really needs their instruments. If you don’t have yours, that’s perfectly fine. If you do, when I call your name while taking attendance, just go put it in the storage room back there.” He pointed in the direction he meant.

“I actually don’t have a flute anymore.” He sighed sadly and picked at a loose thread on his shirt. “My mom…she broke it the last time she got pissed.”

“What?” Andy sounded completely outraged and flabbergasted as he reared back as if he’d smacked him.

“Yeah. My mom…she’s not the nicest person around. If I weren’t sixteen or could get emancipated, I’d move out in a heartbeat, just to get away from her.”

His new teacher studied him for a moment before licking his thumb, then pressed it to his cheek in a spot that his hair would hide later. Gasping as he realized what he was doing, Ash tried to rear back and stop him, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Moments later, as tears welled up in his eyes from the shame, he heard a soft gasp from the man he’d hoped would become a friend. His tears really began to fall then, and he was surprised to feel the man’s arms wrap around him again.

Andy rocked him back and forth for a few moments as he calmed him down, making sure not to smear anymore of his makeup since he now knew why he wore it. He felt the teacher’s heart thudding against his ribs, probably from anger as much as sorrow upon seeing what he had to go through. That same heart could be heard by the teen as he pressed his head against his chest, and it slowly comforted him.

Within a few minutes, the teacher’d calmed him down enough that he could talk without stuttering through his sobs, and he finally looked up at him again. He saw shock, outrage, and of all things, compassion in those icy orbs, and he wondered why. Before he could ask, the band director admitted that he’d once been in an abusive relationship and, although it wasn’t the same as child abuse, he knew how an abused person acted because of that. He also admitted to being queer as a three-dollar bill as well, and that it was his ex-boyfriend who’d abused him in every way possible under the sun.

Ash was thoroughly shocked when he continued by telling him that, because of his past experiences with abuse and that he wasn’t willing to possibly go through that again, his personality had changed from that of a sub to that of a Dom. This made him fear him a bit, now knowing that he was a Dom while he himself was a sub, but the man holding him assured him that he’d never do anything but listen and try to help him. After what he’d been through, and just because it was part of his personality, he couldn’t bring himself to harm another living being, but especially not another human. That only partially reassured him, but in the end, he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt since he’d just met him.

“All right, Ash. Others will be in here shortly, so just remember to call me Mr. Biersack, okay?” Andy reminded him, rising from the floor.

“Okay,” he agreed, accepting the hand he offered.

“Why don’t you just sit in the center seat of the front row?” he suggested, gesturing to the chair he meant. “All flutes and possibly some clarinets will be up front, and we’ll work our way back to bass clef as we fill up the rows. I’ll reorder you guys when we have our first playing test a few days from now, so if you don’t like that seat, I’m sure it’ll get changed.”

Nodding, he took his seat with his bookbag in the floor at his seat. “But my mom broke my flute, remember?”

“I keep at least one spare of every instrument used in a high school band class, with the exception of percussion,” Andy told him, smiling. “And even if I didn’t, I’m sure the school has spares in the storage room that can be loaned out to students who need them.”

“I guess that works,” Ash sighed, crossing his legs at the ankle.

It wasn’t long before hordes of other students came in, and he began to feel a bit claustrophobic when two girls who looked about his age took a seat on either side of him. Noticing his distress, they both softened their tone when they turned to him and introduced themselves, shocked when they realized he was a guy. The girl on his right, Cori, had long, raven hair and emerald eyes that sparkled like the Caribbean sea. The girl on his left, whom she said was her sister, Raina, had the same raven hair, but her eyes were the same color as a lavender bush, which gave her a more mysterious air.

They both played flute like he did and, according the the band director that Andy replaced, were some of the best in this high school. Not only that, but they played picc, as well, yet another thing they had in common that he wasn’t about to admit to just yet. He soon realized that, like him, Raina was the shy, submissive type while her sister, whom was actually her twin, was the more outgoing, dominant type.

Once everybody was in the seats they’d picked, knowing they’d likely be changed in just a few days’ time, the band director stood behind his stand and cleared his throat. The rest of the students were startled into silence, startled further when his basement-deep voice carried throughout the room as he introduced himself. As he looked up at him, Ash realized that he’d pulled his hair back into a ponytail that was tied at his nape, and although it didn’t really suit him, he knew it was because he was a teacher. He quickly called out attendance, watching as several rose to put their instruments in the storage room, then went over the rules from the rule book that the main office had given him.

Being a senior, despite the fact that he was only sixteen, Ash’d heard the majority of the rules he went over in the various high schools he’d been in before moving to North Carolina and zoned out a bit. He couldn’t help the fact that his teacher was quite attractive and it made him want to fantasize, which made him mentally face-palm as he thought of Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher.

“Jeremy Ferguson?” Andy called out, running through the attendance list again when a few stragglers came in late.

“I’d prefer to be called Jinxx,” the student responded. He turned to look toward the back of the room at who was speaking, surprised to see someone dressed similarly to himself.

“All right, if that’s what you want,” he agreed, making a notation to himself on his attendance list. “Christian Mora?”

“Like Jinxx, I wanna be called by my nickname,” someone else said, and he was again surprised to see someone dressed similarly to himself.

“And that would be?” the band director asked curiously, cocking his brow.

“CC, which stands for Christian Coma,” the guy answered, grinning.

“How on Earth did you come up with that?” he asked curiously, making a notation by the guy’s name.

“Put a kid in a coma freshman year because he decided it was a good idea to attack me just for being an outcast.” CC shrugged. “I got called ‘the coma causer’ after that, and Christian Coma is way cooler than Christian Mora.”

“Okay then. To each their own.” Andy glanced back down at his attendance list for the next name that garnered no response before. “Jacob Pitts?”

“I’d prefer to be called Jake, if ya don’t mind.” Ash turned slightly to see a third guy dressed similarly to himself sitting near Jinxx.

“That’s doable,” the man before them all agreed. “All right, so that’s everyone, right?”

“Who’s that kid up front between Cori and Raina?” someone asked curiously.

“Care to introduce yourself to the class?” the band director asked.

Feeling shy, he nodded as he walked up beside him so that the class could see him. “My name’s Ashley, and yes, I’m a guy. I play flute during concert and marching band, but bass guitar during jazz band and in my free time,” he said, trying to raise his voice a bit.

“Well done, Ash,” Andy said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You willing to answer any other questions they might have?”

Still feeling shy, Ash merely nodded.

“All right, looks like CC has one.” He quickly called out the other student’s name as he pointed to him.

“What made you decide to play flute if you’re also a bassist?” the guy asked. His tone wasn’t mocking, but one of excited curiosity.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” he answered, feeling ashamed of himself.

“It’s okay, Ash.” The band director rubbed a hand soothingly over his back. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, remember?”

“Oh, I see. Must be personal,” CC said, sounding understanding.

“What about you, Jake?”

“Other than KISS, since it’s obvious from the shirt you’re wearing, what are some of your favorite bands?” Jake asked.

“Mötley Crüe and various other eighties hair-metal bands, and believe it or not, a bit of country since I grew up in rural Missouri,” Ash answered.

“And finally, Jinxx, since no one else has their hand raised,” Andy said.

“You play any other instruments besides flute and bass?” Jinxx asked.

“A little guitar, but not as much as I do bass,” he answered.

From there on out since no one else had any questions for him, he was allowed to turn the tables on his fellow classmates and ask them each a question if he had one. The only ones he really had questions for were CC, Jake, and Jinxx, as the rest of them didn’t really seem like they’d end up his friends, and he could ask Cori and Raina questions whenever he needed to since they were in his section.

It wasn’t long before he learned that CC was a drummer, but had started out on trombone in sixth grade until he could make the switch to percussion, and currently played snare like a boss. Jake was a guitarist during jazz band season and in his spare time, but chose to play clarinet during concert and marching band season. Jinxx was the most interesting out of the trio, given that he admitted to being a guitarist that played rhythm during jazz band and primarily during his spare time. He was also a classically-trained pianist, which is why he picked bells when he could make the switch from clarinet to something else, but also tore up a violin like nobody’s business since he was classically-trained in that, too.

After the questions had been answered, they were allowed to split into little groups to talk quietly amongst themselves since they weren’t doing anything else. Since Cori and Raina left to go talk to some of their old friends, he resigned himself to sitting alone and reading since he couldn’t really talk to Andy anymore, but Ash was shocked when CC, Jake, and Jinxx moved down front to sit by him. He was a bit startled that they even wanted to be near him, but especially when he realized what a hyper and dominant personality CC was.

By the end of first period, he found out that he had second period Art with Jinxx, third period Gym with CC, and fourth period US History with Jake. He also found out that the three of them were in an open relationship with one another, and that while Jake and Jinxx were strictly gay, their friend was bisexual. Even though he knew they wouldn’t judge him, Ash couldn’t bring himself to admit his own sexuality, and was somewhat thankful when the bell rang.

What he didn’t know was that, by third period, he’d be glad he’d talked to and gotten to know them a bit.

Notes