Ethan didn't get into a lot of fights. Between keeping his grades up and preparing for collage he just didn't have time for drama. But one could only take so much bullshit, before it came overwhelming.

For instance, all the morons running around making unintelligible noises for no particular reason, the whiny brats who'd rather spend their time complaining than actually doing any work, or - worst of all - Huie Tannen.

Huie was the jackass that sat in front of Ethan in third hour. Ethan always tried his hardest to ignore him. He'd tell himself the douchebag wasn't worth his time or energy, like the counselor and his friends had told him to, but sometimes...sometimes Ethan couldn't help except to fantasize about tossing the little miscreant in front of a bus.

It wasn't so much that Huie was bullying him. Ethan could take that. In fact, he would have preferred that. No, this was an issue that was far more serious. And, frankly, it had been going on for far too long.

See, every day Huie came into class, sat down in front of Ethan, and - very loudly and very obnoxiously - made some snide, homophobic comment.

It was a well known fact that Ethan was, probably, the only kid in the entire school who had two dads instead of one father and a mother.

Most people couldn't care less if they tried. After all, it was 2036, and the vast majority of minority groups had reached maximum levels of equality. However, there were still the those few who enjoyed discrimination. Huie was one of those few. Especially, when it came to Ethan and his family.

He'd say things like, "I think we should go back to a time when gay marriage was illegal." and "It's disgusting. What kind of guy would want to kiss another guy? It's so repulsive!" and "I hope none of those gay guys try to fuck me today. I think one of them tried to kiss me yesterday. Ugh!" and of course. "They're having babies now? That's repulsive! How can you raise a baby with that kind of lifestyle!"

At the beginning of the school year, Ethan just rolled his eyes at these remarks. He had thought they were a one time thing, but then it kept occuring every day for the next three months. Needless to say, Ethan was getting a little fed up.

He'd gone to just about every teacher in the entire school, to the principal, the counselors. But they all told him the same thing. They couldn't do much of anything, because it was his opinion. He had a right to speak his mind and blah, blah, blah.

So, Ethan had tried letting it go. Honestly. He really had no intentions of getting into any fights what so ever. It was just one of those things that happened in the heat of the moment.

Huie had walked in, his idiotic friends surrounding him. As he took his seat, he opened his mouth for his usual derogatory monologue. "So, I was walking into Walmart, when this fa -"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ethan kicked the back of his chair as hard as he could. (Granted, it couldn't have been that hard, considering the chairs were attached to the desks and - therefore - Ethan's foot had been at an awkward angle. Still, the action sent the little asshole jerking forward, effectively shutting him the hell up for once. And still Huie complained to the nurse later about how he'd almost broken his back.) 

Then, he turned around. "What the hell was that about?" Huie demanded, as if he had absolutely no idea why anyone might hate his guts.

Ethan found himself standing up, completely aware that the whole class was now staring, muttering and wondering what Ethan was going to do. He did his best to ignore them, not entirely sure what he was about to do either.

"Say one more thing," Ethan said without even thinking the words over. "I dare you."

"I was just talking to my friends!" Huie rolled his eyes. "What's the matter with you, gaybie? Why are you so hostile all of a sudden?"

Ethan glared at him. Of course, 'gaybie' wasn't exactly an insult. It literally just meant a baby, or kid, with gay parents. Which Ethan was. He'd never felt insulted by the term before. In fact, his friends Kaleb and Laurel called him that all time.

But certain people weren't allowed to say certain things. Homophobes, for example, weren't allowed to say any form of gay slang. Because, it was usually said in a hostile or disrespectful manner. At least, that's the way Ethan saw things.

Hearing the term gaybie from Huie was every bit as insulting as it was to hear the words "fag," "dyke," or any other derogatory word. Of course, since Ethan was straight those words didn't effect him directly, but most of his friends were either gay or bisexual. His dads were - obviously- gay. So, he didn't really appreciate any of those words, when they came from people like Huie.

Ethan shoved Huie, causing him to tumble back and hit the floor. He banged his head on a desk in the process. Several people jumped up, screaming as if Ethan were about to murder everyone. (Not that he could blame them. He'd read about all the school shootings back in 2018. Since then, people had been a bit hesitant to send their kids to public school...but that was an entirely different issue all together.)

"What the fuck?" Huie yelled, as the teacher - Mr. Gillmore - came running in from the halls.

"What is going on in here?" Gillmore demanded harshly.

"Ethan pushed Huie!" a girl in the back said.

The teacher looked at Ethan sternly. The boy just shrugged, unapologetically.

"Sit down," Gillmore ordered. "This is the only warning. There will be no fighting in my class. If, I have to tell you again, you'll spend the rest of class with the principal. Understood?"

"I have an IQ higher than everyone's in this room combined," Ethan reminded him. "But yeah. I'm here because I don't understand." He rolled his eyes, as Huie got up and leaned over to one of his friends.

"See? This just proves my point," he whispered. "Gay people can't raise kids! They're all messed up in the head! Kids need normal parents!"

For some reason, the moron thought it was a good idea to glance at Ethan with a sly smirk and add, "No offense."

And that's when Ethan completely lost his shit. One minute he was not so calmly walking back to his desk, the next he was on top of the other boy, punching him hard in the face. Huie threw a few weak punches in an attempt to defend himself, but Ethan didn't really give him much time to accurately preform his attacks. Besides, Gillmore was pulling him off after a few seconds, anyway.

Huie laid on the ground, groaning and crying like a baby.
"I think he broke my nose!"

Half the class was staring in horror at the scene. The other half was snickering behind their hands, silently congratulating him. Mr. Gillmore was less than pleased. He glared at Ethan, making it clear that - from this point on - no amount of ass kissing would ever make Ethan his favorite student ever again.

"Office," he said. "Now."

~

Ethan sat in the front office with the secretary, waiting for his parents to come pick him up. He'd been suspended for three days.

It didn't take long for them to arrive, maybe ten minutes at most. They didn't live too far away from the school.

While he waited, he tried not to think too much about what would happen, when they got there. He knew his dad, Ray, would probably be disappointed in him. He'd always encouraged to find better ways to solve problems, because punching people usually just got you into more trouble.

But Ethan wasn't really sure what his father, Mick, would do or say. He'd always been one of those hit first and ask questions later type of guys. He'd always say stuff like, "The more trouble the better." But Ethan wasn't sure if that applied to him or not.

When Ray and Mick arrived, Ethan met them at the door, not really wanting to stay in this place much longer.

"Are you okay?" Ray asked worriedly. "The principal called. She said you were suspended for getting into a fight?"

"Not really a fight," Ethan shrugged. "Mostly just me kicking the crap out of a guy."

Ray blinked. "Ethan, you can't just go around hitting people!"

"...Did he deserve it?" Mick asked.

Ethan nodded. "Kind of, yeah."

"Well, then, what's the problem, Haircut?" Mick asked, looking at Ray. (Ethan would never understand his father's nickname for his dad.)

"Because," Ray said, stuttering a little now. "Not everything can be fixed with irrational thinking and aggressive actions!"

"Why not? I've been doin' that my whole life," Mick insisted.

"Yeah, but -"

"Well, while you two decide on whether or not I should be punished for this," Ethan interrupted, "I'm gonna go wait in the car." He took the keys from his dad and headed for the parking lot.