The Alliance by Gabriel Goodman Page A

“I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”
    â€œSo,” she said quickly, like she was trying to change the subject. “We’ve got a major decision to make.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œWho is going to be president, and who is going to be vice president of the GSA? I’ll arm wrestle you for it.”
    I leaned away in mock fear. “I’ve seen you in a fight. You’d rip my arm off. I’m happy to be vice president.”
    â€œOr,” she said with a smile, “we could be co-presidents. It’s a tough job. It’d be good to have somebody to help shoulder the load.”
    I nodded. “Co-president? I could deal with that.”
    She held out her hand, and we shook. “You know,” she said, “we had all those people sign the petition. It’s no guarantee they’re all gonna join the GSA.”
    â€œSchool charter says any club has to have a minimum of three members. We got you, me, and your friend Ricky. The important thing is that Winston doesn’t have any excuse not to sign off on the club.”
    Carmen
hmphed
and rattled the ice around in her cup. “I’ll believe it when I see it…”

F
    irst day back from our suspension, before classes started, Scott and I went to Mr. Winston with our petition.
    â€œAs you can see,” I said, trying hard not to sound as smug as Winston usually looked, “we got one hundred student signatures. We could have gotten more, but we ran out of room. Maybe the petitions need to be bigger.”
    â€œAnd after three teachers signed, I got verbal promises from six others that they support the creation of a GSA at Southside as well,” Scott said. “And Mr. Rosencranz offered to be the co-advisor with Mrs. Carney.”
    â€œThere’s a lot of support for this, Mr. Winston,” I said. “All we need is for you to sign at the bottom to make it official.”
    Winston eyed the petition. “So, who will be running this … alliance?”
    Scott and I looked at each other. “Well, we want to do it together,” I said. “A straight boy, a queer girl …That’s what the GSA is all about.”
    Winston sighed, then rifled through his desk, looking for a pen. “If you read the charters, you know that all new organizations go through a ninety-day probation period. At the end of that time, you need to turn in a list of elected officers, minutes for your first three meetings, and detailed plans on how to use the money you’ll be allotted as a school-sanctioned club.”
    I shot a look at Scott. This was really happening!
    We heard a knock behind us and turned to find Principal Rice standing in the doorway. “Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Winston,” she said. “Could I have a word?”
    Winston nodded, and the pair went into the hallway. We watched as she spoke quickly to Winston, who scowled and nodded. They both kept sneaking looks our way.
    â€œThis can’t be good,” Scott said.
    I shook my head. “We followed the rules. We did everything by the book. They can’t stop us now.”
    Rice gave Winston a pat on the back, waved at us, and left. Winston trudged back into his office, closing the door so the three of us could have privacy.
    â€œSomething’s come up,” he said. I couldn’t tell if he was happy or upset. I think he was trying hard not to be either. “The GSA is on hold. Indefinitely.”
    Scott was the first out of his seat. “Why?”
    â€œThe school board had an emergency meeting last night. A concerned parent group got wind of plans for the alliance and prompted the board to put a stop to it.”
    â€œThey can’t do that!” My hands were shaking I was so mad. All I could think about was calling my parents and having them go all legal on the school board.
    Winston, for just a second, looked somewhat sympathetic. “They
have
done that. They feel homosexuality is a