Change

He had just come out, but only to a few close friends. That was one of the hardest things he ever had to do, to admit aloud that he was gay. Being 23-years old, Jerry Lewis had kept this secret to himself for years. It had haunted him daily, slowly killing his spirit. Saying the words, I am gay to his friends made this giant boulder he had attached to his shoulders suddenly fall off, roll down the hill and crash into tiny pieces.
One of his friends, Jillian was ecstatic he had shared this information with her. Jillian is an eccentric girl that likes to label herself as the life of the party. She mentioned a gay bar and club scene downtown known as Club Penguin. She wanted to go there with him so he could experience what she referred to as the gay lifestyle. Jerry knew nothing about this lifestyle other than what he had seen on television and in movies. Although the second she mentioned this outing his stomach tied into tight knots and sweat began to bead across his forehead, he agreed to go.
The line outside the club was long; in fact it stretched to the next street over. Jerry and Julian waited in line; it felt like for an eternity. Eventually they got in and the club was like something out of a movie. The lights hit so hard and flashed in every direction. The music pulsated through the room bouncing off all the walls. There were people everywhere dancing as if no one else was watching. Freedom. “Finally,” Jerry expressed, “this is a place I can let go and finally be me.”
Three vodka red bulls later, Jerry and Jillian climbed up on stage and began dancing. Hands in the air the music running in his veins, Jerry felt like a new man, like the man he always was supposed to be. He was finally himself. This felt right, it was right. The dancing did not stop for the next two hours.
This club was packed at this point, bodies touching, at times not being able to move more than an inch in any direction. Suddenly Jerry felt a hard stab pierce his left arm. He let out a terrified scream but due to the loud music, no one reacted. When he looked at his arm his face suddenly turned a pale white. In his arm was a needle. He quickly tore it out of his arm, blood slowly began coming out of the tiny hole that was left. On the needle read a note with small print. The writing placed on this needle was about to change Jerry’s life forever. The small print read, welcome to the world of AIDS…