The past few days had been stressful as hell. Shane had started by speaking to the school’s Principal, Cecilia Lyons, but it only served to add to his frustration.

“I’m sorry for the kids, but my hands are tied,” she had said. “The School Board is set on these regulations for school dances going forward.”

“They only made these rules because they heard about Jesse, right? That’s deliberate prejudice, Cecilia. These kids have the right to be treated just the same way as everyone else.”

“And everyone else has to follow the rules too,” the Principal insisted. “If you want to bring it up to the School Board, feel free, but I’m not sure it will go anywhere, Shane.”

He hadn’t pushed it too much past that. It was obvious the woman didn’t care enough to put her neck out to see to it things changed. If he needed to do this himself, so be it.

Except getting a meeting with the superintendent had proven harder than he had expected. He had sent an email out every day, and called the office several times, but his messages were ignored and his calls dodged. It left him with only one solution—to storm the superintendent’s office in person.

He made sure to go as soon as school was over, on a day he didn’t have choir practice to keep him longer. Better to give them less of an excuse to already be gone for the day. It didn’t take him long to get there, at least, as the Board of Education building was located just down the street from the high school. It was a small, plain brick building with a small parking lot, tucked away off the street a bit. It shouldn’t feel as intimidating as it did, but still Shane had to take a few deep breaths to gather himself before he could make his way inside.

“Hey, Mr. Howard,” said the receptionist as he came into the office, flashing a polite smile. “What can I do for you?”

“I’d like to speak to Mr. Jones, please,” he said as courteously as he could manage, even mirroring the smile.

“Hmm, today is a pretty busy day…” she said uncertainly. Just the sort of evasive tone she’d been using to put off his phone calls the past two days. “Is it an emergency?”

“Yes,” he said confidently. “I’m happy to wait right here until he’s available, of course.”

She eyed him a moment as if trying to decide whether or not to call his bluff, but he was perfectly happy to wait right there until the man was forced to stay overnight hiding in his office, or finally face him like a civil human being.

“All right,” she caved, nodding down the hallway. “He’s in his office.”

“Thank you,” he said gratefully, then turned on his heel to move down the hall. He took another breath, brushed himself off, then knocked on the door.

“Come in,” came a gruff voice from the other side.

Shane pushed into the office and closed the door behind him.

Warren Jones was a stocky, middle aged man. He was taller than Shane was, and often boasted of his old high school days when he played football. He’d gained a fair amount of weight over the years, but he still had the solid figure of someone who could tackle you to the ground if he wanted to. His hairline was receding, but he had a poof of hair on the top of his head he kept combed back. He didn’t look terribly friendly, either, and Shane couldn’t help but imagine him as a larger version of the Grinch, who’d committed his life to making sure children were as miserable as possible.

He certainly didn’t look pleased to see Shane.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Jones,” Shane said politely, stepping closer to his desk. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I really was hoping I could have the opportunity to talk to you.”

“Ah… Yes, Mr. Howard,” he grunted. “I got your emails. I’d planned on writing you back later today.”

That sounded like a lie, but Shane didn’t point it out. Instead he made it clear he wasn’t going to be put off, grabbing a seat in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk, looking across it towards him.

“Wonderful. We can go over that now then, if you don’t mind,” he said, still keeping his voice polite. “As you saw in my email, I’m concerned about the decision to ban LGBT students from school dances—”

Warren cut him off. “They’re not banned, Mr. Howard. They’re free to go, so long as they act and dress appropriately.”

Shane’s lips pursed. “You consider LGBT students going together to be inappropriate behavior? Doing the same exact things any other students would be doing?”

“If they’re flaunting it? Yes, Mr. Howard, I do. Some of the parents are concerned about their children being exposed to that sort of behavior, and frankly I agree.”

“Sir, this is absurd. Sexual contact already isn’t allowed on school grounds or at school events. All they would be doing would be walking in together, holding hands, and dancing. How is that any threat or insult to any other students? How is that offensive and inappropriate? We should be building a safe and welcoming environment for everyone, no matter their gender or sexuality. These kids have done nothing wrong, and are being unfairly treated. What really is the harm of letting Jesse Vela wear a suit to the Winter Formal?”

“Ms. Vela isn’t excused from dress codes. It wouldn’t hurt her to dress a little more feminine anyway,” the superintendent said, as if that was the only thing Shane had said that really mattered to him.

Shane’s jaw set. “Jesse uses they and them pronouns, Mr. Jones.”

Watching Warren roll his eyes nearly made Shane leap across the desk at him, but he bit the tip of his tongue and stayed rooted in place, lest he lose his temper.

“Yes, she’s a very special child. I get it,” Warren continued dismissively. “Our schools are perfectly safe and welcoming, and what the students do on their own time is their decision, but in this school district we uphold family values and traditional morals.”

Shane squared his shoulders. “I would have to disagree. I don’t believe your schools are safe for everyone. I’ve witnessed an appalling amount of bullying towards Jesse Vela and Mildred Hale over the past few weeks, and all that’s been done is a slap on the wrist—if that.”

Warren sighed, fingers lacing together against his round stomach. “I haven’t heard of any aggressive behavior.”

“A kid doesn’t have to get beaten up in order to be bullied,” he pointed out.

“Of course not. But I trust Mrs. Lyons is dealing with any disciplinary action appropriately.”

In other words, he didn’t really care.

Shane stared at him for a long moment, then lifted his chin defiantly. “And what about me? I’m sure you heard the gossip, Mr. Jones. I’m bisexual. I like men too. Am I not welcome as a teacher in your school district?”

Warren eyed Shane for a few seconds with his nose scrunched up like he had just smelled something foul. It made Shane’s blood boil, but he kept his layer of calm wrapped around himself and kept making eye contact. He wasn’t about to back down now.

“So long as you’re not… behaving inappropriately with any students, or talking about it in the classroom,” his boss said after weighing his words. The way he said it made Shane’s skin crawl. “Again, what you do away from school, on your own time, is your own business. Don’t bring it to school.”

“Am I supposed to pretend not to be black next?” Shane snapped.

He watched as Warren’s face went red, and he seemed to well up like a balloon in outrage, as if only now Shane had suddenly crossed some invisible boundary. His fingers unlaced and he sat up, taking advantage of his height to loom. “I am not racist, Mr. Howard.”

Shane couldn’t help but laugh in reply, which only made the older man turn more red. “Right, of course not.” Apparently homophobia and transphobia fell into the appropriate side of bigotry.

“I think we’re done here, Mr. Howard,” Warren said curtly.

He didn’t immediately stand up, but after a few seconds he decided sitting here and arguing with this asshole wasn’t going to get him anywhere but fired, and then the kids would have no one fighting for them. Better to retreat for now, so he could regroup and come up with a plan. So reluctantly he bit back any further retorts and stood, giving a polite nod.

“Thank you for your time. Have a good afternoon, Mr. Jones.”

He barely got a nod in return, but Shane didn’t linger long enough to get much else in the way of farewells, as he turned on his heel and marched out of the room, continuing out of the building without a glance towards the receptionist. Only once he was outside in the parking lot did he exhale the breath he’d been holding, fists clenched tightly together. The car door opened and he clambered inside, slamming it closed and turning the ignition. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that douchebag, so he pulled out onto the street while his hands flexed over the steering wheel.

Shane hadn’t been this angry in a long time. He had witnessed and been victim to people’s prejudices countless times, and it was never something you could just get used to. But he had never seen such blatant, callous disregard for a student’s human rights and wellbeing from someone who worked inside the school system. Fuck, this guy was in charge of all the kids in this county. It was his job to make sure they were all taken care of, not to dole out his conservative morals upon them all.

How the fuck had he even been voted in?

He scoffed to himself after that thought. Of course he’d been voted in. This was Texas, for Christ’s sake. Bigotry was the platform of most public officials.

He had hoped Hidden Creek might be different, though.

He drove towards home, the route well memorized, and he let his brain mostly turn off during the ride, his outrage churning and simmering around in his skull. It wasn’t until he turned onto Victory Boulevard and caught a flicker of color out of the corner of his eyes that he snapped out of his thoughts, looking into the rearview mirror.

It was Phoenix, the town’s gay bar, which had just reopened a couple of months ago. Hanging outside of the building right beside the Texas flag was a Pride flag, its rainbow colors flitting about in the breeze.

The image was seared into his brain as he turned his attention back onto the road. Slowly his hands unclenched from the steering wheel, some of the tension in his shoulders subsiding.

Hidden Creek was different. Sure, there were plenty of assholes to be found, but the town was changing. More and more businesses were coming out in support of the community. The LGBT community center had opened up, and he’d heard so many stories of people who had settled down here and been welcomed and accepted, even found love. Hell, he’d even seen articles in the newspaper about them over the past year since he moved here.

Shane felt like he’d been struck by lightning.

Zach.

If he outed the school district’s prejudices to the newspaper, and they published an article about it, there would be no way Warren could continue to ignore it. Surely the town would come rallying in support, and with enough public pressure, maybe Warren would change his mind. If nothing else it’d at least get the School Board to talk about it, and maybe take a vote over the issue rather than Warren deciding only his opinion mattered.

He would need to speak to Jesse and Millie about it first. It would force them into the public eye, and he wasn’t going to make that decision without their full consent. He was fairly certain Millie would be all for raising some hell, but Jesse was already a nervous wreck over this.

And if they agreed, he’d have to convince Zach as well. Even if he was gay, it’d be a controversial article, and Shane wasn’t completely sure what the backlash might be. It’d be a risky move for all of them.

But it would be worth it. Nothing in the world changed without risks taken.

With his anger refocused into determination, he resolved himself to talk to Jesse and Millie about it tomorrow after school.

And then he’d talk to Zach.