The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) (26 page)

Then there
are the rest of Peter’s friends: Karen Ken was nicknamed Wheezy
because she had Asthma and almost always had her inhaler in her
mouth. She wore a black cardigan, plain black T-shirt, long maroon
skirt, and black witch-style silver-buckled shoes. Her dirty blonde
hair was tied up onto her head. Her grey eyes, long eyelashes,
short cute nose and thin lips suited her sweat peach face
perfectly. She was certainly the smartest in the group, and there
was no doubt about it.

Jerry
Walters,
nickname Wily Coyote, but they
mostly called him Wily, because of all of his over the top plans
and harebrained schemes, though all in all he was probably the
second smartest of the group, but certainly not the
wisest.

He was
wearing a dark red T-shirt and a black long sleeved shirt
underneath. He also wore long-legged shorts, which was one of the
more popular fashions with most teenagers at that time. With short,
dark hair spiked strait up, and his tanned skin told that he liked
the sun. He was good-looking to a certain degree, but didn’t have a
girlfriend. That could’ve had something to do with the fact that he
was gay, at least he thought he was, though in his mind, if he were
to declare himself gay, he could lose the life he has, for what
would his parents say? Although he thought he knew what they might
say or do out of shock. His mum would cry day and night, blaming
herself and wondering if it was something she had done while he was
growing up, or if it was due to the fact that she had really wanted
a girl. His dad would try everything to get his son back and make
him see that it was all in his mind. And if or when he failed, he
would disown him.

He also
wondered what the rest of the Losers would think of this, apart
from Peter, who already knew, as he was his best friend. And if he
couldn’t trust his best friend, then who could he trust? At first,
Peter had been taken aback by his friend’s sudden confession, and
he actually thought he was joking. When he realized that the
confession was real, he did not know what to say. And he wondered
if his friend would take his silence the wrong way. He tried to
think of something to say.

However, it
was Wily who broke the silence. “So what do you think?”

“
It doesn’t
matter what anyone else thinks. The real question is, does it
bother you?” said Peter, finally finding the words.

“
I don’t
know,” said Wily bewildered.

“
Do you feel
any different than you did before you found out you were
gay?”

“
I think I’ve
always known. But when I realized for sure, I was and still am
afraid that people will treat me like a freak or pervert if they
find out the truth.”

“
No, I
mean…are you still you, or have you changed and become someone
different? Do you still see your friends in the same way, or do we
look different to you?”

“
No, I don’t
feel different about the other guys but you.” Wily blew a kiss at
him.

“
What?” At
first Peter was shocked, but when Wily’s cheeky grin came, he shook
his head in disapproval as he sometimes did out of
habit.

“
You always
were easy to wind-up.”

“
My best
friend just told me he’s gay. I think you can excuse me for being a
little off the mark.”

“
Do you think
I should tell them?” Now they got to the question that Wily had
really wanted to ask.

“
By them, I
suppose you mean everyone?”

“
Well,
yeah.”

“
I don’t
think I should be telling you what to do with your
life.”

“
Come on, I
don’t know what to do. I need your help pal,” his friend
pleaded.

“
You said
that you are afraid that if you tell people that they might treat
you differently, right? Well who cares what they think. All that
matters is what you think. And the truth is, you shouldn’t be
ashamed of what you are, and if you want to tell people, then that
is up to you. But why? Why tell anyone? I mean, before you were
sure you were gay, you liked girls right?” said Peter.

“
Yeah, so
what?”

“
Well,
did you run around telling
everyone?”

Wily smiled.
He knew Peter was right. “Fine. I know what you’re saying, and
you’re right. It’s none of their bee’s wax.”

“
Just call me
Dr. Pete.” They laughed.

Wily did tell
the rest of the gang, and only them, and again Peter was right.
They didn’t think of him any differently.

T
he last one of Peter’s friends
was Danielle Ewing, nickname DesDan, which was short for Desperate
Dan. She was called that because she was always attracted to people
who, let’s just say, were not very desirable, which made her look a
little desperate to the more superficial people in the school.
Nevertheless, she didn’t care about the way people looked. In fact,
none of the Losers cared about the way people looked, most of the
time.

That’s what
they called themselves, for at one time or another, somebody had
called them Losers, so they decided to be proud of it rather than
be ashamed. Even Peter had been called a Loser a few times, for
only his friends and his girlfriend, Charity, knew that Helen was
rich, and they all promised not to tell a soul unless instructed by
him personally. And the young King definitely had a hard time
trying to keep it quiet. In fact, that was the reason he went out
with Charity in the first place. She threatened to tell everyone if
he didn’t. She had always wanted a rich boyfriend and was delighted
when he agreed to her terms.

The rest of
the Losers didn’t like her even before she blackmailed Peter, for
she was one for the more popular crowd. And naturally, she wanted
Peter to change the way he dressed and acted and ditch those Loser
friends of his so he could join her group of friends, which the
Losers fittingly named the Barbie Doll Club, because that’s what
they reminded them of, Ken’s and Barbie’s, all brainless dolls
walking around without a clue.

A
s far as changing who and how he
was, Peter put his foot down and said, “If you can’t have me for
who I am, I’ll tell everyone the truth and you can go jump off a
cliff.”

It would be
an understatement to say that she was upset. However, she was so
afraid of losing her new rich boyfriend that she said she was
sorry, and it didn’t matter.
He’ll come round to my way of thinking
, she unwittingly told herself. He never did.

Truth be
told, the reason that Peter agreed to go out with her was not
because of his secret, for he would have gladly told everyone the
truth rather than be blackmailed by some Barbie doll who wanted to
sell herself to the richest boy in school. No, the truth was that
he wanted to go out with her. He always had. He just never thought
he had a chance. So he was making her think that she had won when
in fact he was the one that was winning, as he was getting to go
out with the girl he had always wanted and she was getting Peter
Stark, sk8erboy or D.L. to his small circle of friends, which is
short for Dragon lover. His friends caught onto it from Helen. They
thought that it suited him, as when he was six he saw a poster of a
Dragon and was completely fascinated by it, and he had to have it
for his room.

Through the
years, he had collected Dragon posters, clothing, ornaments, and
many, many more objects. Helen swore that if he didn’t get rid of
some of it, one day she would have to buy a separate house for junk
alone, but he never listened. He liked his Dragon collection, and
as far as he was concerned, he would keep collecting as long as he
could.

“
I think we’d
better hurry before we’re late for class,” said Wheezy, and she
stuck her inhaler in her mouth and took a short blast of the cool
vapor as she felt her chest tighten. Then quickly put it back in
her pocket.

“
Wait, this
isn’t right, you guys,” said Cartman. “We should tell him,” he
said, nodding toward Peter. “I mean, we’ve been friends since the
first day of school. I can’t let it happen like that.”

“
Tell me
what?” asked Peter obviously intrigued.

“
You just
couldn’t keep your big mouth shut,” said Wily paying no heed to
Peter’s question. “It’s nothing to do with us. She’ll tell him at
first break. She said she would.”

“
Tell
me what?
” repeated Peter, only louder
this time, He hated it when people ignored him.

“
Well,
it’s about Charity,” said
Wheezy after taking another burst of her inhaler.

“
You know
what? I think I’ll ask her,” interrupted Peter as he saw Charity’s
mum’s flashy car pulled up to the curb. “Maybe then I’ll get some
real answers.” He ran down to meet her as she stepped out of the
car.

“
Well,
that was rude,” said
Wheezy, who sniffed loudly and turned on her heel and headed to the
entrance of the school to get ahead of the group and hide the tears
that were welling up in her eyes. She liked Peter a little more
than he knew, and to be brushed aside like that hurt
her.

“
Come on,”
said Wily, “I’m sure he didn’t mean it like it sounded. He probably
just wanted to hear it from her.”

“
Don’t defend
him Wily. He’s been running to her for a while now,” said DesDan
hotly.

“
Well,
it’s all going to change
soon enough,” commented Cartman.

“
Who will he
run to then?” added DesDan.

“
Us, because
we’re his friends, and just because he wants to spend some time
with his girlfriend, it doesn’t make him a criminal, does it?” said
Wheezy defensively.

“No,” said DesDan.

“
We should be
here for him when Charity dumps him. Think how you would have felt
if he wasn’t there for you when you counted on him, which up until
now has never happened. He’s always been there for us,” said Wheezy
a tear running down her face.

“
All right,
Wheeze, I know you’re right,” DesDan said and threw her arms around
her wheezy friend. Wheezy was always too emotional for her own
good, especially when it came to Peter.

Peter quizzed
Charity about what his friends said. She didn’t seem too pleased
with them. “They said they’d give me until half past ten,” she
said, momentarily forgetting that Peter was there.

“
For what?”
asked Peter, his patients now wearing a little thin?

“
I can’t
afford to be late again this week or I’ll get detention. It is
important, and I should have told you sooner, but now I’ll have to
tell you at first break okay?”

“
I don’t
really have a choice, do I?” grumbled Peter.

“
Nope.”

They walked
up the steps together but then split, for Peter needed to get some
books from his locker.

As he ran to
history class, he ran into Wheezy. He actually ran into her. They
picked up themselves and their books just as the bell
rang.

“
I’m late,”
Wheezy gasped. “I’m never late.”

“
Calm down,”
said Peter. “What happened? Why aren’t you with
Cartman?”

“
I forgot my
books.” She took off like a flash down the hall.

Peter swiftly followed, but she got there
first. He wondered how she had run so far and so fast without
needing her inhaler.

“
Sorry I’m
late, Mr. Haster,” she said as she went to her seat.

“
What?” said
the teacher as he turned away from the blackboard to put a face to
the apology? “Oh, yes, late. Well I’m sorry, Miss Ken, but I’ll
have to give you a warning for that.”

“I know, sorry,” she said again.

As Wheezy
went through the classroom door, Peter was only two seconds behind
her. But he was stopped before he could get in.

“
You’re late
Stark,” said Mr. Weavger with pleasure clearly in his voice.
Weavger was thin and lanky, with blonde hair, which was very thin
on top, his long face stretching because of wide smile that
intruded his usually grim and serious features. “I’ve warned you
about this before, but you just don’t listen.”

I
don’t need this today
, Peter thought. “I
forgot the time, and I had to get my books from my locker,” he said
to the teacher.

“
I’m sick of
your excuses, Stark. Just one more thing, just one more and it’s
the principal’s office for you. Well what are you waiting for? Get
to class!”

“
Umm… in case
you haven’t noticed I was about to go in to class before you
stopped me. See, I’m at my class; I just have to go in.” Peter
gestured to the classroom door with his hand.

“
You think
you’re so smart, don’t you Stark? Well you know
something?”

There was a
pause, and Peter didn’t know if Weavger was waiting for an answer.
However, as Peter was about to ask if it was a valid question, he
got his answer.

“
I’M SMARTER
THAN YOU COULD EVER HOPE TO BE! NOW GET IN THERE BEFORE I THROW YOU
IN!” When Mr. Weavger’s voice rose up, it seemed not just to
disturb the silence in the hallway. It was more like it shattered
it all together. And if that was what he set out to do, then he
certainly achieved his goal.