Halo II
Angels & Monsters

By: Micah Diablo
(© 2010-2011 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 4
The Taking Of The Crows (Part One) 

"FAG!" a boy called out at me as I walked down the halls of ivy, so to speak. I looked around to see people pointing and laughing at me, and I wasn't sure why.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked the dude as he was just making some ignorant humping gesture with his friends.

"I don't like fags," he said with a sneer. I looked around for my friends. I saw Matt standing there. He looked as if he didn't even want to acknowledge me, and the truth was—I didn't want to acknowledge him.

"COY!" Carmen called out, rushing toward me. Josh stood back with Matt, and they both looked at me with a look of confusion and worry.

"What's going on?" I asked her, looking around at the people.

She pulled me aside and down the hall, away from the crowds of people. She looked down at the floor.

"Carmen?"

"Everybody knows your secret," she said with a sigh. I looked at her as her eyes watered up from just the thought of it.

"What? How?" I asked, confused. Everything was happening so fast.

"Ky," she said simply, and that was when I lost it and blacked out.

***

One Day Earlier…

"Coy, please talk to me," Ky begged as we both stood in the kitchen. It had been a week since he had forcefully pulled me out of the closet with my parents. Since then, my mom barely paid much attention to me, and my dad decided to move in with us again. Ky had finally been released from the hospital the day before and it was going to be his first day back.

"I seriously have nothing to say to you," I said, pushing past him to take my breakfast in the living room.

"It's been a week and you've been ignoring me," he said, following behind me. "I miss our crazy conversations."
 

I rolled my eyes. "That was before you became a backstabbing asshole," I said to him. "You seriously can't believe that things would ever be the same after what you did; can you?"

"I just want to get us both the help we need, Coy," he said with a sigh "We don't have to be like this."

"I want to be like this, Ky," I said angrily. "I'm fine with who I am, and I don't want to change it because there is nothing wrong with me."

"Coy, you're sick," he said to me with a sad look. "You have an illness and you can get rid of it if you trust me."

"Trust you? Ha! That's funny," I said, laughing loudly at his dumb remark. "Tell me, dear brother, who is the sickest one of the two of us? Did you tell Mommy and Daddy how you've gone further than I ever have? You fucked Nick. More than once, and you still want to."

"That's not true," Ky said. I soon regretted saying it as our parents both came walking downstairs.

"What did you just say, Coy?" Dad asked me with a stern look on his face.

"I didn't say anything," I said, going back to eating my cereal. Mom sat down across from Ky and me on the couch.

"Nick? Who is this Nick?" she asked Ky, who then looked down at the carpet.

"Somebody Coy just made up out of spite," he lied and I just laughed and shook my head.

"Didn't sound like it was made up, son," Dad said looking at Ky and me with a curious look. "Somebody is lying."

"I'm not the liar," I said, getting up from the confrontation about to happen. "Check Ky. All he does is lie about himself and his identity."
 

"You keep secrets from us, which is just as bad," Mom countered back, and I scoffed at the gall of that comment.

"Look at why, though," I said, turning to face the three of them. "My mother is too dense to understand that she's trying to be a mother, and she's never here to mother anybody. My brother decides it's okay to betray my trust and tell my parents that I'm the one who's gay while HE has slept with a guy more than once. And let's not forget the father I rarely see, who only drops off loads of money to try and make-up for the fact that he sucks as a REAL father."

"We are still your parents," Dad said, stepping towards me.

"By genetics only," I retorted. "Neither of you know how to be a parent. You don't know how to be here for your kids."

"We're here for you now," Mom said, walking toward me and rubbing my cheek. "I'm here to get you the help that you need and deserve, in order to get over this."

I was really getting frustrated. "You're some fucking idiots," I said with a laugh. She slapped me across the face, shocking us all.

"Mom…" Ky said nervously not knowing what was going on.

"Hush, Kyle," she said without taking her eyes off me. "I understand that your father and I have made mistakes when it's come to you boys. But you do not get the right to talk to me or him or your brother like that. We are trying and, yes, we're going to help you, too."

"What happens if I refuse?" I asked her, and Dad walked up beside Mom.

"Coy … Please don't make this harder than it has to be," he said with a dark look. "Now, Ky, I believe what your brother says, and I'm disappointed to hear that. But I'm proud to know you're working with Reverend Taylor to better yourself. Speaking of Reverend Taylor, Coy, you need to come straight home after school."

"For what?" I asked, getting frustrated by this situation.

"Reverend Taylor is coming over for dinner to discuss our options for a fix out of this mess," Mom said. "I still can't believe it … both of our sons are…"

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out to see it was Anthony calling. I looked up at them and smiled a fake smile.

"Whatever, I gotta get to school," I said, and pushed past them. "Ky, please stop following me."

Ky sighed as he watched me walk outside and slam the door behind me.

"You did the right thing," Mom said hugging him tightly. "It's a good thing you opened up to us when you did. Now we can do our best to fix this problem."

Ky just stood there as his parents hugged him, unsure of what his next move was.

***

"Hey," I said jumping into Anthony's car. "You're a life saver. I needed to get out of there and head to college. A place that's so much better than home."

"We aren't going to classes today," he said as we drove off.

I looked at him with a sideways glance. "Um … Ant … I don't skip, really."

"Well, you are today," he said to me with a determined look on his face. I sighed and look over at him.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I took out my cell and began to text Carmen, Josh, and Matt that I wouldn't be there.

"Ocean City," he said cryptically.

I looked over at him again with a curious look.

"Matt's from Ocean City," I said and he nodded to himself.

"Trust me when I say, that today will change everything," he said and we headed to the expressway on our way to Atlantic City.

***

Ky headed down the hallway to the Christian Circle meeting area. As it was club day, after talking to the reverend, it was a new step in the change of his illness. Reaching Room 218, he sighed as he stood at the door. Before all that had recently happened, he was a Jock who partied like crazy and got drunk all the time with no guilty conscience as to what happened. But he was tired of being the bad boy … tired of being trouble … tired of being gay. He was about to do something drastic. Something nobody would expect.

"Ky?" Carmen asked, as she walked down the hall. He turned to face her as she stopped to talk. "What are you, of all people, doing here?"

"I'm minding my business," he said rudely, shocking her. "You know, you should try it."

"I understand that you and Coy are having problems and while I think it was messed up what you did, you don't have to take it out on me," she said to him. While she wasn't as close to him as she was with me, Ky was still a close friend of hers.

"My family and my business is none of yours, Carmen," he said firmly. "Instead of worrying about what I'm doing and how I screwed Coy over, worry about your boyfriend. I saw him talking to some known dealers at the school. If you would excuse me, I have matters to attend to."

Carmen's face cracked as she thought about what Ky had said about Josh. He smiled realizing he had gotten to her and turned and entered the lecture hall. Forgoing the urge to go to Dance club, Carmen decided to try and find Josh.

Ky felt nervous as about sixteen pairs of eyes stared back at him as he stood in the lecture hall. He recognized Reverend Taylor and felt a little better as he saw a familiar face.

"What are you doing here?" a guy asked Ky. Ky wasn't sure who the guy was, but he flashed back to tenth grade when he had beat the dude up for telling Ky that he was not only gay, but had a crush on him.

"Um…"

"Kyle here is our latest member for Christian Circle," Reverend Taylor explained.

'He's far from a Christian,' Ky thought, and then remembered the boy's name—Shane. "He drinks and engages in pre-marital sex with slutty girls."

"And guys," Ky said finally getting his confidence. "Look, I understand that I have a reputation at this school at not being the most religious person. Hell, I make fun of you guys a lot. But something happened to me a  little over a week ago and I realized not knowing God might be my downfall. You, as Christians, always welcome new members with open arms, and I'm here asking for help. So are you guys going to help me or not?"

The other members nodded there approval and walked over to shake his hand and pat him on the back.

"Well, that was a nice intro, Kyle," Reverend Taylor said with a beaming smile. "Now let me get my papers ready to begin the meeting. Mingle amongst yourselves."

Ky took a seat beside Shane who looked at him with a confused look.

"I know what you're thinking," Ky said to him. "But I AM sorry for all that I did to you. It wasn't right. I just … I just didn't know how to deal with it back then, and now I see I don't have to deal with it. I can get help. So I hope you'll forgive me, and we can move on."

Shane nodded still in shock at Ky's admission. Reverend Taylor cleared his throat.

"Well, to begin the meeting, I thought it would be fair to begin talking about the school's newest club," he said as the group quieted down. "The GSA or Gay Straight Alliance group."

The people around Ky and Shane shouted their disapproval against this new group.

"They can't do this," a girl screamed out.

"It goes against our club and what we believe in," another girl yelled out. "It goes against the Bible by trying to make it seem okay by mixing Gays and Straights together. Probably an attempt for them to convert the few good men we have at this school of higher, purer learning."

Ky shifted uncomfortably and everybody looked at him to see what he had to say. This is what he was afraid of happening and why he was at the club. He didn't want to be gay anymore. Maybe God had a cure for him.

"They can't do this, can they?" he asked Reverend Taylor. He ignored the questioning eyes of those who were still skeptical of his dedication.

"Sadly, yes, they can," Reverend Taylor said. "The Administrative and Board policies allow any sort of club that has a positive image, and while we all here realize it's not positive, there are a lot of liberal viewers who don't agree with us."

"Do you agree with us?" a guy asked Ky. He had a challenging look on his face as he waited for an answer.

Shane and the others also wanted an answer, as did Reverend Taylor. Ky nodded to himself.

"Prove it," the boy challenged.

"What do I have to prove?" Ky asked getting annoyed.  "You all are welcoming me into the club."
 

"Welcoming you, yes," the boy said, walking to the front of the group. "Reverend Taylor, may I?"

"Feel free, Darek," Reverend Taylor said proudly.

"I have spoken with Reverend Taylor about your … situation … and he seems to think that you are a good member for our group," Darek said, and Ky shifted nervously. "But it doesn't matter what he says."  Darek pointed to the reverend.

"He's in charge of the club," Ky said, confused and Darek shook his head.

"He's the faculty advisor, Ky," Shane explained to the confused newcomer. "All clubs and social organizations at the school need some type of faculty member to oversee it, but Darek runs this one."

"Exactly," Darek said proudly. "Now I have no problem with you joining this aspect of the club, but in reality, we are so much more than some Christian-Bible-reading group. We are Christian Soldiers for God. We right all wrongs and ungodly things we see in the community."

Ky looked at Reverend Taylor who was busying himself with papers. The tone of the meeting had gotten a little darker, but he wanted a way out of his situation so he would agree to whatever they said.

"Your brother is the smarter one of you two," Darek began, walking towards Ky. "Am I right?"

Ky did his best to control his anger. "What are you saying?"

"Apparently, he isn't too bright if he trusted you with such a secret for you to blab to your family," Darek said with a laugh. "But I respect you enough for doing that. I like to know about EVERYthing ungodly so we can … fix … it. Get rid of it. Tell me, Ky … Kyle … Do you want our help? Do you want to find God?"

"Yes," Ky said meekly. "I do want your help. To find God, and to fix myself. So what exactly do I have to do?"
 

"All you have to do is sell your brother out again," Darek said with a smile.

***

"Anthony, it's almost eleven o'clock, and as much as I love eating, we could've done this after classes," I said, as we sat in the Outback Restaurant.

"I didn't bring you here just to eat, Coy," he said as he looked around.

"You been looking around like crazy," I said, sipping on my soda. "Are you expecting somebody?"

"Actually, yes," he said as a guy walked into the restaurant. He smiled when he spotted and recognized Anthony.

"New boyfriend?" I asked, and Anthony scoffed.

"One guy has my attention and it's not him," he said, getting up to give the guy a hug. "Gee, can you be any later?" Anthony looked at his wristwatch.

"Sorry, man; I was getting laid, and I didn't want to rush the process," the guy said as he looked over at me. "Is this the guy you were telling me about?"

"Yep," Anthony said with a smile. I flashed both of them a skeptical look.

"It's funny, that you've heard of me, yet I've never heard of you," I said sarcastically. "I'm Coy, and you are…?"

"Devin," The guy said, shaking my hand. "Anthony, here, wanted us to talk about Matt."

"What about Matt?" I asked, looking at both of them, confused. "How does he know Matt?"

"Because I am his boyfriend," Devin said, and I literally choked on my tongue.

"I'm sorry. What?" I asked not sure if I'd heard him correctly.

"Well, ex-boyfriend," he corrected himself. "I haven't seen him since the early part of July, and it's now October. He never officially broke it off with me but, hey, it's been three months without a visit or phone call, so I took it like that."

"I'm sorry; I'm still not understanding," I said, not able to wrap my head around the conversation. "Matt told me I was his first guy."

"He told me the same thing," Devin said with a laugh. "Actually, you're his third. Turns out he had a thing for high school kids and was messing with an underaged Senior last year."

"But he was dating Giselle," I said in shock.

"What's your point?" Devin asked, as he pulled out a cigarette.

I looked at Anthony who had an uneasy expression on his face. "You  brought me here for this?" I asked him. "Because you're jealous and you don't want me with Matt?"

"It's not entirely because I'm jealous, Coy," Anthony said, clearing his throat. "He isn't the guy you think he is. He's a player. A liar."

"What he said," Devin said, taking a drag on his cigarette.

"You think I'm going to go on the word of some random stranger that my boyfriend is lying to me?" I asked Anthony who looked over at Devin.

"Pictures never lie," he said, pulling a photo out of his pants pocket. I gasped as I saw Matt being kissed by a slightly younger looking Devin. "Dude, you need to get the hell away from Matt fast. From what I hear about you from Ant, you're a smart guy. Matt is nothing but trouble. He is not the person you would want to settle down with. Ask yourself this question—Why do you think Giselle and he broke up? Rumors were going around about Matt a few years ago at our old school. Most of them were fake, but some were true. She couldn't take it and broke up with him but somehow he convinced her he was full-on straight. There is a lot more about those two you don't know and you never want to know, so I advise you … to get out before you become another victim of Matt Gleisner."

I looked down at the photo my eyes tearing up. Was this true? Could Matt really not be the angel I thought he was?

"I want to know," I said softly. Anthony shook his head.

"Coy, maybe we should just go," he said, suddenly regretting his decision. He wanted to air-out at Anthony's lies, but now that he was witnessing the effect, he wasn't so sure.

"Tell me," I said wiping my eyes. "Tell me every last detail. Don't leave anything out."

***

Matt zipped up his pants and walked out of the closet. It was between lectures and he hadn't seen any sign of Anthony or me. He had promised himself he was going to stop hooking up with Miranda, but he couldn't help but let his jealousy get the best of him.

"God, Matt, you fuck like a porn star," she said, as she followed behind him.

"Thanks," he said, uninterested in carrying on a conversation with her. Truthfully, all it was to him was just sex. Nothing more. Usually, when he satisfied his urges with her, he was a lot less annoyed by Anthony.

"So when do you think we'll hang out after classes?" she asked as the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of break time.

"We already hang out," he said, waiting for Tony or Josh to show up to get him away from her. She was growing clingier by the moment.

"I meant on a date, silly," she said with a laugh. "I mean, it'd be nice to do something besides fuck. Not that I'm complaining."

"Look, Miranda, you're a cool girl and all," Matt said, finally getting annoyed after a week's worth of frustration build-up inside of him. "But I don't think we should do this anymore."

"Why not?" she asked with a hurt look. Matt sighed and looked at her with a faux apologetic face.

"I have a girlfriend and I really should try to work things out with her," he said, hoping that would get her off his back.

"Girlfriend? I never see you walking with any girls except for Giselle and Carmen," she said folding her arms. "They're both taken. The main person you are always around is … Coy."

Matt looked at her as her expression changed to a thoughtful expression. "What are you saying?" he asked.

"I'm saying that I agree with you, completely," she said, kissing him on the cheek. Matt was about to say something when Tony and Josh walked up to him and he was pulled along with them.

Miranda smiled to herself as the gears in her head started churning around.

Carmen sat in her last class unsure of what was going on. Josh had been acting a lot more normal over the past week; even this morning, yet the Josh she was looking at was like the one she had grown to hate. With ten minutes to spare before the day was over, she was still unsure of what had caused the regression. An apparently high Josh sat laughing at the dumbest things in their class with some guys who were pot heads. Stuff he normally wouldn't find funny. People he normally wouldn't talk to.

"So … Nick is taking me out on a date to this really nice restaurant in Seaside Heights," Giselle said to Carmen as they cleaned themselves up. "I might actually do it for him tonight?"

"Do what?" What is … 'it'?" Carmen asked, still worried about her boyfriend. Giselle laughed and leaned into Carmen.

"I might actually give him head," she said with a giggle.

"You don't do that?" Carmen asked momentarily shocked enough to actually give Giselle her full attention." I mean, you know that I don't, but I'm shocked you don't."

 "Of course not," Giselle replied, looking offended. "I might have had a lot of partners but I don't put nothing in my mouth but food, drink, and the occasional tongue."

Carmen noticed the classroom television flickered.

"What's that?" Giselle asked her.

Ordinarily, the morning time was the time for the announcements, but whatever this was must be a special announcement as the usual royal blue background that came before the news started was replaced with a red & black background with a cross on it.

Josh walked over to where Carmen and Giselle were standing and they began watching the news when a familiar voice came on.

"Hello, my fellow Vikings…"

"Is that Coy?" Giselle asked, but Carmen shushed her.

The entire class got quiet to see what was up with this special announcement.

"For those of you who don't know me, my name is Coy James, a sophomore here at the school…"

"Wow, Coy looks real professional on camera," Josh muttered to himself. Carmen however felt something was weird.

"…And if you don't know me, trust me—after this announcement, you definitely will…"

"That's not Coy," Carmen said and Giselle looked at her.

"Of course it is," she said, slapping Carmen over the back of the head. "And I'm the dumb one?"

"Wait a second, she's right," Josh said noticing it. Even while being high, he realized something wasn't right.

"My announcement is…"

"That's Ky," Carmen and Josh said in unison.

"I'm gay."

Everybody in the classroom gasped at the shock of the statement.

"That is Coy," Giselle said in shock. "Ky wears the urban clothes and Coy wears the preppy clothes. That's the only way I can tell them apart."

Josh and Carmen knew differently. Although, Ky and I were identical twins, we were ambidextrous. However, I usually used my right hand for things while Ky used his left for everything. Obviously, it was Ky as he held the microphone in his left hand.

"I felt it was my place to let you guys know, and to tell you, that this Gay Straight Alliance is a bad idea for me and my boyfriends…"

"Boyfriends?" Giselle asked, pleased. "Little Coy is a li'l pimp, I see. You better do it, Coy."

"I've been dating Matt Gleisner for a little over a month," Ky continued. "But before that, I was messing around with the Pagan brothers, Anthony and Nick. And I…"

Before he could continue, the screen went blank and the class was left in silence. Carmen looked over at Giselle.

"Giselle?" she asked her friend who had a blank look on her face.

"So they were true," she said aloud but to herself. "It happened to me again?"

"What is she talking about?" Josh asked, and Carmen shrugged. The buzzer sounded, signaling the day was over.

Giselle grabbed her purse and stormed out of the classroom as people began laughing at her. Carmen turned to Josh, unsure of what to do.

"I should go after her," she said to her boyfriend. "See if you can find Ky. I haven't seen Coy all day, but find out why Ky did what he did."

"I can't," Josh said to her, giving her a kiss. "Meeting up with the skaters from class and going skateboarding."

"Skateboarding? Since when do you skateboard?" she asked, confused.

"Find out; I had a lot of common interest with the guys," he said, kissing her again on the cheek. "I'll text you later on, tonight."

Carmen stood there unsure of what to do about what had just happened.

My Blackberry storm vibrated and I picked it up and noticed it was Nick. Anthony probably tried to use him to talk to me after I'd completely stopped talking to him. He knew Matt was cheating and yet never said anything until a week later. Even before the cheating, he knew all the crap about Matt but never said anything. I couldn't believe all this shit. My cell phone vibrated and it was a text from Matt.

*We gotta talk….ASAP!*

"Got that right," I muttered to myself.

***

"Coy, the reverend is here," Ky said standing in the doorway of my room. I rolled my eyes and got up and walked past him. "Hey."

"What?" I asked him. "What do you want?"

"I just want you to know … everything I did, I did for you," Ky said to me. "I want to help you. Help us."

"Keep telling yourself that," I said as we walked downstairs.

Mom and Dad sat talking with a man who I took to be the reverend. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Coy, It's so nice to meet you," he said extending his hand for me to shake. I shook my head.

"Let's keep the familiarities at a low," I said taking a seat at the table. Ky sat beside me. "So what's up with this meeting?"

"Well, we just wanted you to meet the Reverend," Mom explained. "He was telling us all the great things he has planned for you boys and even convinced us to go to his church this Sunday."

"Church on a day that's not a holiday? Wow, this family really is changing," I said sarcastically.

Dad flashed me a quieting look which I ignored. "While Ky is usually our trouble-maker, Coy has been a little rebellious for the past week or so."

"Okay, so I met the guy, so can I go to my room?" I asked my parents.

"Not yet," Mom replied. "We're going to leave you three alone and allow you to do some prayer and some talking."

"Prayer?" I asked, not sure if it was a joke. Looking at theirs, the reverend's and Ky's faces, I realized it was far from a joke. "Dear God … Sorry, rev."

"It's quite okay," he said with a smile that made me sick to my stomach.

"We'll leave you three to it," she said, getting up with my dad, following behind.

"Oh, and Ky … we will talk about pressing charges against that Nick boy for raping you," Dad said to Ky, and I looked at him.

"He didn't rape you," I hissed. "You went to him."

Ky shrugged his shoulders and grabbed my hand. "Shall we pray?"

***

I walked up the stairs of Atlantic City College with a headache. After two hours of hell with the reverend, I had to listen as my dad planned to press charges against Nick. Apparently, Ky told him that Nick was blackmailing him into having sex, and that after he fulfilled his "obligations", Ky was raped by him. This is why I could never tell them about Tony raping me because this would cause way too much of a circus that I wasn't ready for. Speaking of Tony, he stood at the door of the school, playing with his phone.

"You actually showing your face?" he asked me. Rolling my eyes, I walked inside the school.

I noticed all eyes seemed to be on me and I was a little shocked. While I was popular to an extent, I didn't expect as much attention on me.

"Hey, Giselle," I said as I passed her and some of the cheerleading girls. She flicked me off.

"Fuck you," she said, and that shocked me. Over the past month, we had actually grown to the point where I was actually beginning to like her more than before. She was kinda funny.

"Um … Okay," I said confused by the harsh remark.

"Coy, maybe we should leave," Anthony said, walking up to me with Nick following behind him.  I rolled my eyes.

"Why? This time you're gonna tell me something bad about Josh and Carmen that you've been keeping from me?" I asked sarcastically.

"He's serious," Nick said to me. I could see people watching us closely. Anthony and Nick were both starting to blush.

"Look … you guys are being a little weird for me," I said with a sigh. "Anthony, I have nothing, and I mean … nothing … to say to you. Nick, we are still in an educational facility, but if you will excuse me, I've got to get my stuff from my locker."

"Coy…" Anthony began, but Nick stopped him and let me walk on past them. "What are you doing?"
 

"He's going to have to deal with it eventually," Nick replied. "We both already got ours this morning."

"But it wasn't him," Anthony said not sure of how he should react. "He was with me."

"We all know that, but the rest of the school doesn't, Ant," Nick said as some dude bumped roughly into him. "You got a problem?"
 

"Yea, I can't stand fags," the guy said, and Nick was about to fight him, but Anthony stopped him.

"We can't fight the whole school," Anthony said to him. Nick calmed down, still upset at the situation, while the guy laughed.

"That's what I thought," he said, walking off. Anthony and Nick both noticed Ky walking into the hallway and rushed towards him.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Anthony asked him. "You fucked your brother over twice in a week, and now you want to pull others into your deal?"

"I have half a mind to beat your ass right now," Nick said, angrily. "What do you think you're doing? I never slept with Coy. Neither did Anthony and Matt. So what's the deal with that?"

"Responsibilities," Ky said cryptically.

"People will start thinking you're gay, too," Anthony said. "Guilty by association."

"My track record speaks for itself," Ky said with a tight smile. "I don't have to worry about that. But you guys … you better get ready for the storm, because it's going to rain hell when I am done here. I hate gays and I no longer have to be gay."

Ky was about to walk off when Anthony and Nick both grabbed him and started jumping him.

"HEY!" A guy said noticing the three fighting. The lacrosse team began to jump into the fight.

***

"FAG!" a boy called out at me as I walked down the halls of ivy, so to speak. I looked around to see people pointing and laughing at me, and I wasn't sure why.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked the dude as he was just making some ignorant humping gesture with his friends.

"I don't like fags," he said with a sneer. I looked around for my friends. I saw Matt standing there. He looked as if he didn't even want to acknowledge me, and the truth was—I didn't want to acknowledge him.

"COY!" Carmen called out, rushing toward me. Josh stood back with Matt, and they both looked at me with a look of confusion and worry.

"What's going on?" I asked her, looking around at the people.

She pulled me aside and down the hall, away from the crowds of people. She looked down at the floor.

"Carmen?"

"Everybody knows your secret," she said with a sigh. I looked at her as her eyes watered up from just the thought of it.

"What? How?" I asked, confused. Everything was happening so fast.

"Ky," she said simply, and that was when I lost it and blacked out.

"OH MY GOD! SOMEBODY HELP!" She yelled out. 

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Okay that is the ending of this chapter. I changed my initial chapter preview because I actually know now where I want to take the Angels & Monsters installment for Halo as well as setting up for the last installment entitled Halo: Marco.

This is actually where Angels & Monsters takes it turn from Halo because you will get to see the characters' dark sides. This chapter was more of a Ky and Coy centric episode just because we will get to see who the "Angel and Monster" are of those two. As well, I wanted to begin to cause more turbulence for Matt and Coy as well as Nick and Giselle.

In Chapter 5, the 'Taking of the Crows' Part 2, Coy deals with the aftermath of his forced coming out but has to contend with Matt when Matt's reputation is on the line. Giselle questions Nick on his actions while Josh's temper gets the best of him and puts Carmen in a dangerous situation. Ky continues down his path.