Maybe the 'A' and the 'L' looked a whole lot like an 'S'???
You just brought up an uncomfortable high school memory.
There was a kid that I had to sit next to in a couple of my classes because at the time, we were seated alphabetically throughout the school. He was the swishiest guy I had ever met, and he wasn't shy about it either. He would frequently wear a 1" diameter button that said "I Love Sex." It gets worse -- on his folders, where some kids would draw Hello Kitty or the logo of their favorite band, he would sketch -- wait for it -- phalluses.