Now or Never? (James Campbell.)

[Cristobal Autieri]

It was time, Cristobal hasn’t told anybody about his sexuality, and it was starting to hurt him emotionally. He wanted to turn to certain teachers, but they weren’t the type of people, it would obviously affect his grades. He heard that James Campbell was married to a man, and he had the ‘LGBT’ welcome sign at the door of his office. At the time, Cristobal thought it was right to talk to James Campbell about it. At lunch break, Cristobal did whatever it took for him to slip out of the cafeteria, and visit James’ office.

It was time, Cristobal hasn’t told anybody about his sexuality, and it was starting to hurt him emotionally. He wanted to turn to certain teachers, but they weren’t the type of people, it would obviously affect his grades. He heard that James Campbell was married to a man, and he had the ‘LGBT’ welcome sign at the door of his office. At the time, Cristobal thought it was right to talk to James Campbell about it. At lunch break, Cristobal did whatever it took for him to slip out of the cafeteria, and visit James’ office.

Cristobal made sure that his tattoos were covered, he made sure that his beard was well combed, and he made sure that he was eligible to talk to James’ about such a serious manner. “I think I like men, I think I like men, I think I am attracted to men, I think I am also attracted to women, I think I am bi-sexual.” Cristobal recited over and over before he reached the office of James Campbell.

Looking towards the receptionist, Cristobal smiled. “Head Recruiter James Campbell here?” Cristobal asked, right before she nodded her head, and motioned her hand towards the door of his office. Without hesitation Cristobal went towards his office door, only to knock on the door. This was it, it was now or never.

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[Dr. James Campbell]

James really loved this time of year.

No, really. December was his favorite month, and it had been since he was very little. It was like a month-long celebration of family and winter, and that still didn't justify his tie, which was blue with embroidered silver snowflakes. (It was one of his favorites, and naturally, Chase hated it.) But it did justify the meticulously-maintained Pandora station he had playing as he sat at his computer, reviewing flagged police reports.

Most of the time, the recruiter kept his office door open. Other recruiters, if they weren't out on a trip, were used to coming in whenever they needed him to sign off on something or call someone for confirmation. He'd spent this particular morning, however, on a conference call with the county sheriff of some rural Idaho county and some anguished parents, telling them that he'd sent a recruiter already, and that the newly-manifested aerokinetic they had on their hands was going to be all right, and that it was normal for them to sleep twelve hours at a time after causing a windstorm in the middle of a fifth grade math test. But after that ordeal--the parents were more upset at the fact that the sheriff thought it was necessary for the girl to be locked up than her being a meta--he'd decided to leave it closed so he could get some more work done.

He didn't mind interruptions though, so when he heard the knock, he looked up. "Come on in, it's open!" James called, and then waved the student in. He hadn't been the one to bring Christobal in, so other than signing off on paperwork, he didn't really know the boy. "Take a seat, Mr. Auteri. What can I do for you today?"

[Cristobal Autieri]

Cristobal stood there, listening to the music James was listening to. After James gave him the ‘Ok’ of coming in, Cristobal walked into the man’s office, taking a seat in front of his desk. “I wanted to talk to you about something important, Mr. Campbell,” Cristobal said, gulping, causing his large Addams apple to move up and down. His bony feminine figure sat in the chair, facing James and his computer. Cristobal scratched his head a couple of times, when he looked towards Mr. Campbell.

Just wanting to get it over with, Cristobal blurted out, “I’m attracted to men, I saw the Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transsexual welcome sign, so I thought I could come to you, and I heard that you were married to a man, and if I tell my dad he’ll kill me.” Cristobal said that rather fast, just trying to get over with. After he said all of those things, he winced his eyes shut, staring at his feet, in shame. But really, there was nothing to be ashamed of. Cristobal had no control of his sexual orientation, and it wasn’t his fault.

Cristobal was ready to leave. Not the office, he was ready to leave Hammel. Everything was stressful, even when he left, he wouldn’t go home. He’d just run away, sadly Hammel had recruiters. And those recruiters were very, very, very, very top notch at what they do. “I’m sorry for interrupting, should I go?” Cristobal asked, timidly.

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[Dr. James Campbell]

As soon as Cristobal said it was important, James put down the paperwork in his hands. He wasn't a teacher, but he was at Hammel for the sake of the students, and when one came in looking this upset, he was willing to drop whatever he was doing and do what he could to help. (And though he flinched slightly, he didn't correct the young man on his name. Mr. Campbell was Chase. He was Dr. Campbell, and he'd spent many a long night on homework in university to get that title.

The recruiter just nodded gently when the student let everything spill. Usually, when a student he didn't know came into the office, it was because of the Safe Zone sticker on the door. He and Chase were visible, and so they more kids coming in for advice on that kind of thing. "You weren't interrupting, please stay, Cristobal." James held up his hand in a "No" gesture and shook his head then. "First of all, it's going to be okay."

"I put that sign on the door just for things like that. And the first thing I need to ask you, Cristobal, is if you really think you're in danger. Or were you exaggerating a bit when you said your dad would kill you?" He didn't know if the boy lived in the dorms, but they were going on the holiday break soon, and most students went home for those weeks. And James didn't know every family's dynamic, but he did know teenagers were prone to exaggerating their parents reactions.

[Cristobal Autieri]

Cristobal knew it was okay, he was already thinking of ways to tell his father. Or, he could always insinuate it. Telling his father that he was attracted to men was telling the world it was going to end the next minute. He wouldn’t believe, or he would panic. Cristobal’s father was a strict Italian, unfortunately, he was so strict, and he was a homophobe. Well, Cristobal wasn’t a homosexual, maybe in the future he’d end up with a wife?

Cristobal didn’t want to bring up any more depressions to his father, ever since Cristobal’s mother passed away, the bills rushed in on him. After he heard it was going to be okay, Cristobal’s heart started beating at a normal rate, a rate that any other human could beat at. Cristobal looked up at James Campbell after he asked the question, and he chuckled. "Of course I’m exaggerating…" Cristobal read his desk identification, "Dr. Campbell."

Cristy showed all signs of respect for the man, publicly being married to another man took balls. Well, that was what Cristobal thought; it was love that drew the man and the other man together. And Cristobal admired that. But, on Christmas break Cristobal had to deal with an abusive man who was getting stressed over Con-Ed bills.

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[Dr. James Campbell]

"That's good to hear, Cristobal, but unfortunately I can't always assume the 'of course'." Out of all of the kids he'd spoken to over the years, most of those concerned with how their parents would react were surprised, in the good way. In a lot of cases, their parents didn't exactly approve, but they didn't kick their kids out.

For a good chunk of his own life, the recruiter had been afraid of what would happen if he came out to his parents. The Campbells were fairly religious Catholics, even if they'd always been on the more liberal side of things. He'd dated a few men after his divorce, but he'd only told his parents after living with Chase for a while. He was the only one worth risking his family over; luckily, they had welcomed him with open arms. (They were upset when they'd been married, but not because he and Chase were both men. No, they were upset because none of his family but Ginny had been invited.)

James gave the boy a kind smile, then turned in his chair and opened the mini-fridge behind his desk. "Would you like some water?" he asked, pulling out a bottle and offering it to him. "Have something to drink, calm down a bit, and we can talk about it."