A lot of people asked me why Dr. Christian Teach was such an insufferable asshole. There were several references to Christian's past in the four part Levi series. More specifically, something that happened ten years prior to meeting Levi. If you remember correctly, Christian was a new doctor of 28 years old when he met Levi. That means he was 18 when he had his first experience that turned him into what he was to become. Christian experienced his first love. This is the story of what happened to the sweet and young Christian Teach, before he became the cynical and arrogant Dr. Christian Teach.
I knew I was gay. I kept a very good secret. I had to keep the secret; high school is a jungle, right? The caption under the picture of the prom king in the yearbook read: Prom King 2000 Christian Teach. You didn't get pictures with those kind of captions when you are an "out" and proud homosexual in my high school. I played football, ran track, class president, Homecoming King-junior year, Prom king senior year. What can I say? I was likable.
Keith really was gorgeous. Keith was 100% Italian. His middle name was actually Alphonse...and get this...his mother's maiden name was Garfazzo. Keith was very Italian, even Catholic. However, Keith hated being Catholic. He was 6'2" and very skinny. Most people would even consider him scrawny. He didn't play any sports and lacked serious muscle tone. To be honest we weren't even friends until our junior year of high school. However, when I finally started hanging out with him I knew I was in love with him.
I wasn't really sure if he was gay or straight when we first started hanging out. I knew I was gay and I put up a great front. He didn't even really put up a front. He would say stuff about titties and banging bitches sometimes but he rarely said more than that on the subject of sex. I don't think he ever dated anyone. So, it didn't seem inconceivable to me that he might be gay. So I allowed myself to fall for him plain and simple.
We were both in a class called Spectrum. Spectrum was the class for gifted students. You had to have a 130 IQ to get into Spectrum. Anyway, I was friends with absolutely everyone in high school. I fit in with the jocks and I played guitar with the music kids. I worked with the student council and planned the senior skip days with the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). I literally knew and was liked by just about everyone.
One day while in Spectrum Keith was on a roll. He was so funny. It didn't matter what anybody said he automatically had a quip that reduced me to tears with laughter. I took notice of the scrawny kid. I always knew him but never really talked to him. He was kind of a loner kid that didn't participate in anything and didn't really seem to care about popularity. I decided I wanted to know more about what made this tall and skinny kid tick.
Other than Spectrum, Keith and I had no classes together. The way Spectrum worked was each of us (there were 9 of us) proposed a project of our liking every quarter and with approval we self-studied with a final project due at the end of the quarter to show our work. I decided one day, shortly after he made an impression on me, to find out what Keith was working on for the final quarter of our Junior year. Keith was working on the psychology of the high school student...Perfect
Figuring he was a nerdy kid I started flirting thinking he wouldn't pick up on it. "You have an interesting look" I said.
"Do you like looking at me?" He asked
"I like looking just as much as you like showing me what to see." I replied.
"That doesn't make sense." He said.
"Of course it does. As long as you have something to show me; I will look at it." I said.
"Well, so what typically do you like to look at?" He asked.
"Why do you ask? Do you like me to look at you? Do you want me to figure you out this quickly? Lesson number one Keith: always leave the people wanting more. Don't tell them everything they want to know upfront. Don't show them what they want to see upfront. Always hold something back." I said to him in a fast and quiet whisper.
"Is that what you do, Mr. Popular? You purposefully let other people know that you are smart without actually showing them that you are smart so as not to alienate those who are without intelligence? I am unsure as to why you are even speaking to me. I am not a lackey and you have nothing to gain by befriending me. I can only serve as some sort of groupie to you in one of your many following groups and forgive me but I have more respect for myself than to do that. More importantly, what is your project this quarter?" Keith spewed in a hateful tone.
"For a guy working on a psychology piece you are doing your best to isolate a valuable aspect of high school psychology. If you keep this kind of talk up you are going to alienate the one person who can speak from all sides of every clique. I'm not even screwing with you anymore. You need me to answer interview questions for you. I am free most nights and this Friday night by some sort of miracle. You can help me with my project by allowing me to help you with your project" I said
"You still haven't told me what your project is, Christian." He said.
"My project is a research piece on teen suicide coupled with the social inequalities of homosexuals in high school with an original spin." I replied
"So you want me to kill myself?" He asked.
"Don't be ridiculous. You aren't going to help me with the suicide part." I said.
"So you think I am a homosexual then?" He asked.
"I make no presumptions on anyone's sexual orientation. I want your help with the original spin part." I quickly replied hoping not to give too much away about my own big secret.