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Anthony didn’t look up from his bowl of cereal. He’d known this was coming. Last year, when he’d first dyed his hair black, his father couldn’t shut up about it and hadn’t for weeks:Are you crazy?What kind of a man fusses over his appearance?

Anthony knew the answer to that. A gay one! Although to be fair, plenty of rock stars did too, from decades back when Kiss first developed their unforgettable style all the way to the current top forty charts with bands like Poison, who looked like their kid sisters had practiced putting makeup on them. Repeatedly. Without washing the layers off in between. Those guys were all straight, judging from their lyrics and reputations.

“Leave him alone,” Anthony’s mother said.

He glanced up at her. Dawn’s platinum blond hair framed fine features, her makeup expertly applied to enhance her natural beauty. She had style, always choosing playful colors to draw attention to her slender frame. His mother was a shining star at a breakfast table that was otherwise surrounded by giant lumps of men and whatever the hell Anthony was. He didn’t consider himself goth or feel the need to slot into any other category. He’d simply seen the nail polish at the mall over the weekend and decided it would be fun. And yeah, a little gay, but so what?

“You should be proud of him,” Dawn continued. “I know women twice his age who can’t paint their nails that nice.”

“But he’s not a woman,” Joe grumbled while glaring at his son’s fingers. He was like an older version of Mike except the sandy-blond hair was darker, his face was more lined, and his build was even beefier. “If I’d wanted a daughter, we would have kept trying.”

“This way you won’t have to,” Anthony shot back.

Mike snorted from next to him.

“What’s the harm?” Dawn insisted.

“Hey, no need to gang up on me,” Joe said, raising his meaty paws in surrender. “He can go to school wearing a dress for all I care. I just don’t want him to get his ass kicked. You really should eat more, son.”

Anthony never got sick of hearing that! Everyone on his father’s side of the family was huge and perpetually upset that he wasn’t. And they always commented on how much he resembled his mom. Their family photos always featured three ox-sized men with two scrawny people in front. His brothers never treated him differently because of it. For instance, as Joe continued to lecture them on how boys dressed and behaved back in small-town New Jersey where he’d grown up, Anthony exchanged a weary look with Mike, who rolled his eyes in sympathy. Not that his brother disagreed entirely.

“You should take karate or something,” he said on the drive to school. “I won’t be around next year to watch out for you.” Mike had always been protective of him. Did he suspect the truth? “Or at least lift some weights.”

“I’ve been doing bicep curls with bananas recently,” Anthony replied. “I’m up to five reps on each arm!”

His brother laughed and let the subject drop.

Once they reached the school, Anthony listened to the Violent Femmes on the way to class. Despite his family not thinking he was the coolest, the music managed to build him back up again. He met Omar outside of journalism class, but his friend only wanted to talk about his favorite subject as of late.

“Man, I can’t wait until sixth period. Do you think the front office would tell me what Silvia’s schedule is? I could surprise her by showing up at one of her classes. Orallof them!”

“Why don’t you hire a private detective to follow her around?” Anthony grumbled.

“How much do you think that would cost?” Omar replied with a straight face.

Hopeless! Anthony didn’t wait for Mr. Finnegan to usher them into class, going straight to his assigned seat to escape the topic. Not that it helped.

“Hey, Mindy,” Omar said, following along behind. His tone sounded reverent, which was unusual. “I never realized that you and Silvia are best friends. She said a lot of nice things about you on our date.”

“Oh yeah?” Mindy replied in sickly-sweet tones. “Well I told her all sorts of terrible things about you. Not that it helped.”

“Come on now!” Omar said, standing in front of the table. His crotch was practically in Anthony’s face, so at least there wassome consolation. “I’m not so bad. Just ask Silvia. You probably did already, right? What did she say about me?”

“That you’re painfully transparent,” Mindy said, busying herself with her books.

“Did she really say that?” Omar asked, missing the point.

Mindy ignored him.

“Hey,” Anthony said to get his friend’s attention. Once he had, he put on a reassuring expression as if to say “I’ve got this.” before he tilted his head, indicating that he should go away.

Omar flashed a grateful smile before retreating. For appearances only, Anthony leaned close to Mindy and spoke to her in low tones, but he only asked if she’d seen the latest episode ofIn Living Color. They talked about TV shows until class began. Omar would inevitably ask him what she said afterwards, and Anthony would reassure him that Silvia thought he was great, because how could she not? Although he did briefly entertain the idea of telling his friend bad news instead, if the mere thought of Omar feeling sad and rejected wasn’t so unbearable.

“Welcome back to another exciting week,” Principal Preckwinkle said over the school speakers. “I know you’re all eager to start learning, but first some announcements. There has been an unusual amount of trash left in the cafeteria and the courtyard recently. Some feel this is in response to me doing away with the recycling program. It’s important to take into consideration the limited budget of the school. To help you understand better, here are some examples of our operating expenses.”

Anthony put both earbuds in without trying to hide his actions. Mr. Finnegan noticed, but his already pained expression implied he was unlikely to say anything about it. As he’d done previously, the teacher nodded at Anthony when the announcements were over and it was his turn to address them.

“Okay everyone,” Mr. Finnegan said. “I’m pleased with your progress so far. I’ve never had so much natural talent in a single class before. Really! Now then, this week we’re going to focus on a newspaper’s primary concern of reporting current events. If you look at the front page of any periodical, you’ll see the most recent news, which presents a challenge because—”