Person, place and song

Jamie Ander
Creative Writing
Person, Place and Song


The first time Josh heard Nobody's Fool by Avril Lavigne, Josh was over at the park and he was playing his mp3 player. Josh was playing his mp3 player at the park because he was trying to forget about him: Thom. Josh had met Thom at a party in his sophomore year in college and they were fast friends. They spent most of their time together, studying at the library and at the park to people watch as they became close friends.
It was in his dorm room five months later that their friendship changed invariably. They started talking and Thom started talking about past relationships and almost seemed to goad him onto the topic. Josh had mentioned that he had a girlfriend in high school for a few months but realized during their time as a couple that something was wrong, something was missing. Thom inquired what had happened then, when Josh fell silent. Josh slowly told him how she seemed shocked at first but was alright with it. She decided that they would break up as long as they could be friends. He had no problem but the next day, her father had a confrontation with his parents about why he had broken up with his daughter.
Josh told Thom he had tried to explain to him that it was mutual and how he felt but her father hadn't listened. He called him horrible names like queer, faggot, homo until his mother was in tears. Finally, his father had forced her father to leave until he calmed down to talk logically. After he had left, Josh told Thom how his father couldn't believe that his son was gay and was slack jawed in rage when Josh told him the truth. Thom couldn't believe it, he couldn't begin to imagine how that must have felt as Josh continued on. He ended up living with his aunt as he finished high school. His mother was sick before that but her health took a turn for the worst and she died the day after he graduated from high school. He decided that after that, he would live in the dorms and pay his own way so that his father wouldn't need to have anything to do with him anymore.
Thom was speechless as Josh, then, went on to tell him how in his freshmen year in college about his first and only boyfriend. They had become friends fast but something seemed wrong to him even though he ignored it because he believed that her loved him and that he was loved in return. They had dated only a month when he started acting cold towards him and he didn't know why until it was made clear a week later. Apparently, his supposed boyfriend had decided that, after a visit with his family, that he wouldn't----couldn't---- be 'homosexual' as he worded it.
Josh almost broke down as he told Thom how he had been worn down slowly and would have broken completely if not for his closest friends and his aunt. He told Thom that that was the reason why he transferred to their present college.
After that night, Thom and Josh decided to become a couple. Thom told Josh that he felt his pain and respected him for his strength but felt love towards him. He realized that he was gay when he was twelve since he just wasn't attracted to girls like he was to boys. Thom just didn't have such a hostile environment like Josh had had. He had his problems but his family and close friends had helped him stay strong. He told him what had kept him strong was those loved ones of his that were so precious to him. They were so happy for a year until Josh's father came to the college. Josh didn't even know how but he had found him.
His father had come to send him to a priest who would "cure" him and that he still could because he was his father and Josh was a minor until he was twenty-one. Josh was forcibly ripped apart from Thom and was heartbroken for months until now. He had found his aunt now and she decided to fight in his defense.
He was free now but far from his beloved friends and Thom. The song 'Nobody's Fool' by Avril Lavigne gave him hope, courage and confidence that he was nobody's fool and would go on happily no matter what.
Just as he was sitting there on the bench in that park, he saw someone that he never thought he would ever see again:  Thom. He jumped up, almost falling on his ass as he grinned sheepishly. Thom almost felt like it was a dream as Josh rushed at him and hugged him tightly. Thom knew how happy he was to see Josh, as much as Josh was to see him apparently. Thom smiled and leaned as Josh kissed him simply as they had all that they needed now.