Rough Draft by Leo d'Entremont

Author:Leo d'Entremont
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 9781634765947
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2015-09-30T04:00:00+00:00

“I’D LIKE to submit a new persuasive essay. New topic.”

Professor Randall looked up from a stack of papers on his desk to Ray standing in the doorway. His expression briefly registered surprise before returning to a careful neutral. “Really? What’s the topic?”

Ray squared his shoulders and slipped into the office. Maybe he should have knocked. Maybe he should have e-mailed ahead. But hey, these were posted office hours, and it was his only chance to give this to the professor before the next class. So… here he was.

“Stereotypes of masculinity,” he said, sounding far more confident than he felt. “I wanted to talk about the damage we do by stereotyping and limiting people… and, uh, the stereotyping and marginalizing of gay men in our society.”

The professor raised one light brown eyebrow. “A striking change from Internet monopolies.”

Ray flinched at the reminder. “Yeah, well, I kinda realized that something else was worth writing.” He held out a manila folder. “Is it okay for me to completely change the topic?”

“It is.” Randall finally smiled as he took the folder. “I’m glad you found something important to you.”

“Yeah.” He hesitated. “I’m going to rewrite the others too.”

“That might be good.”

Ray stood there, unsure what to say next, but he had to say something. “Professor, listen, I—”

“Elliot, stop for a minute.” Randall stood and took a step out from behind his desk but didn’t push into Ray’s personal space at all. In fact, he stepped backward slightly. “First of all, what my students do in their private time is up to them. It has no bearing on their evaluations, and I have no interest in gossiping about my students to anybody.”

Some of the anxiety that had been holding Ray’s stomach in a knot eased up. “Thank you, sir.”

“No problem. Second, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be horribly busy on Friday nights for the rest of the semester. I guess I won’t have any time to go to Buddies until after finals.” He gave Ray a meaningful look.

Ray felt his mouth fall open slightly. Randall had given him a free pass. “I… I appreciate knowing that, sir.”

“No problem.” Randall smiled again, but this smile was different. “I’m just glad you’re doing something for yourself. Believe it or not, Elliot, you do deserve the chance to be happy. You just have to give yourself that chance.”

Something fluttered in Ray’s chest, a bit unbalanced and breathless, but it wasn’t uncomfortable this time. “I’m trying.”

“I know.”

Ray turned to leave, then stopped. He looked back at Professor Randall. “Also… Elliot is my first name, but my friends always call me Ray.”

Randall was still smiling. “See you in class tomorrow, Ray.”

“Thank you.”

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