The Rainbow Patch

Chapter 5

All through the weekend, I couldn't concentrate. When Monday finally came around, I ran to school, eager to see Emily again.

I turned down the hallway leading to my locker, and the smell hit me like a truck. I gagged, covering my nose as I made my way toward the locker. A mob of people surrounded it, whispering to each other. I pushed through the crowd and stared.

The door hung open, something yellow and runny dripping from it. My vision began to tunnel. Pictures of Emily and I kissing were duct-taped everywhere, and my books were soaked through with the mysterious fluid. Through my tear-blurred eyes, I could see a torn rainbow flag and the words ALL QUEERS MUST DIE written with black sharpie.

My legs gave out and I hit the floor with a sickening thunk, curling into a ball on the cool floor. Through the whispers, I heard distant footsteps and someone yelling. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn’t look up, for fear it was someone who would make this worse. “Johanna.” I didn’t move. “Johanna!”

I looked up to see the person who I both wanted to go and needed. Emily. She looked up and saw my locker. “So they did it to you too? Figures.” She picked me up and held me close, then began walking. I heard a few people call out, telling Emily, to stop, to wait for a teacher, but she ignored them. I felt cool air on my wet face, then the rough stone of the wall as Emily sat me down on it. I pulled my knees up to my chest and sobbed. Emily sat down beside me and rubbed my back, not saying anything. Eventually, my tears stopped flowing, and I got my breath back.

“Sorry.” I said.

Emily stared at me. “What are you sorry for? It’s not your fault.”

“But, now you’re late to-”

Emily shushed me. “I don’t care about any of my classes right now. All I care about is if you’re okay or not.”

‘I’m fine.” I assured her.

“No you’re not.” Emily insisted.

“Yes I am.”

“You’re not. I know the difference between fine and not fine, Johanna.”

I sighed. “What do you want from me?”

Emily looked taken aback. “I don’t want anything from you! I just want to make sure you’re okay!”

“I told you, I’m fine!”

“NO. YOU’RE. NOT!” I flinched at her raised voice. Emily sighed and buried her face in her hands. “Sorry. I just...don’t want to lose somebody else.”

“I know. I’m-” Emily cut me off.

“Don’t you dare say ‘I’m sorry’.” She stood up and started walking to the back of the school. “Now c’mon.”

I followed. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“We’re going to After the Rain. They have someone who deals with stuff like this.”

We ducked through the fence and made our way through the streets until we came to the battered old café. Zach smiled at us as we came in, but stopped when he saw my tear-streaked face.

“What happened?” He asked.

“Homophobes happened.” Emily replied. “Is Adrian here today?” Zac nodded.

“They’re in their office.” Emily led the way to a flight of stairs at the back of the café and onto the second floor of the building. She knocked on a door at the end of the hall with a sign that read Adrian Holland, LGBTQIA Rights Activist and Advocate. Emily knocked, then pushed the door open. A person with messy red hair was seated at a desk, tapping at their phone. “Hello, Emily! Who’s this?”

“I’m Johanna.” I said.

“What’s happened to you two?’ Adrian asked.

I couldn’t speak about it, so Emily answered them. “People broke into and vandalized our lockers at school.”

“That’s pretty bad. Any idea who did it?” We both shook our heads.

“When?”

Emily answered him again. “Sometime over the weekend, probably.” Adrian continued like this, asking questions, while Emily and I answered them.

I felt my anxiety begin to swell again. I hated questions. Finally, Adrian seemed to run out of them. “Alright girls. I’ll talk to the police about this, but from what you described, I think they might already know. Do you two want to go back to school?” We both shook our heads. “Home?” Emily laughed.

“My folks would send me back to school.”

I nodded. “Mine too.”

“Do you just want to hang here then?” We both nodded. “Fine then.”

Adrian led us back down the hall, towards a bright red door with a sign that read QUARAN-TEEN. Inside was a pool table, a couple of arcade machines, a TV, shelves of books, and enough beanbag chairs to seat a small army.

Emily grinned. “Thanks Adrian.”

Adrian smiled back. “No problem. I’ll go make those phone calls.”