Gypsy man

Real Friends

I woke to a phone call from my mother. It woke the girls too.

"Honey..." she breathes. "How is your heart?"

"Heavy." I whisper.

"I saw the video."

Silent tears run down my face. "Mom-" My voice breaks.

"You don't need to explain. I just want you to know I love you no matter what you do. If you wanna talk I'm here."

"Yeah I wanna talk to him" I hear my father's voice in the background.

"Don't come home, Alex." My mom ends the call.

Why is he back? The girls look at me with questioning eyes.

"My parents know."

"And? What do they think about it?" "My mom said she still loves me. I'm pretty sure my dad wants to kill me. Mom's says I should stay away from home."
***
We spend the day at Deck's house. His parents are happy to have us.

"Oh I'm starving." Brendan exclaims. He rummages through the cabinets.

I'm with the guys in the kitchen. The girls are in the living room watching favorite live gossip show.

I can never remember the name. "So we have chicken strips. I'll pop them in the oven." Deck gets the chicken strips from the fridge and put them in the oven.

"I'm gonna see what the girls are up to." Danny exclaims.

I follow him. "And the hottest news this week is what's happening in Andrew Hawkins' son, Alexander, and some tall dark stranger. Daddy might not be so proud of his son."

Daniel and I stand in the doorway and listen to the female host talk about me.

"The bitch." Tash exclaims. "Doesn't she realize how much she could hurt him?" Abi comments.

"A real bad boy, that Alex is being. And his lover is a maaan." The male host with pink hair fans himself. "I wouldn't mind being pinned down by that stud. I'm jealous of you, Alexander. Work it boo." He snaps his fingers in a gay manner.

"You're on his side?" The female host frowns at her partner.

His face falls. "He's gay. Of course I support him."

The female host smiles a fake smile. "We'll be back after a short break."

"Ride that bull, Alex!" The male host yells before the show ends.

"Whoa." I don't think I'm up to the task. "I don't think I wanna do that."

The girls and Danny laugh. "I think the girls can teach you." Danny winks at Abi.

She throws a pillow at him. "Daniel!" The girls squeal.

They're not denying it. "Here's lunch." Brendan comes in with a big bowl of chicken strips.

Deck has two bottles of red wine. "Deck, it's too early for that." Tash points out.

"No." He corrects her. "It's a bit late. Zander lost his virginity. And he's figuring out who he is. It's cause to celebrate." He pours everyone a glass. I don't drink from mine.

Everyone urges me to drink. "I don't drink."

"Why not?" Bren sits down next to me. "My father drinks."

"Oh..." the girls react.

"So what?" The guys say. Tash takes my glass.

Deck tries to stop her. "We're celebrating him. He has to drink."

"No, Declan, he doesn't have to." She never calls him Declan.

His eyes widen. He looks like a little boy who broke his mother's favorite vase. Tash's the scolding mother.

Deck let's her take the glass of wine and gets me a glass of coke.

"To self discovery!" Tash cheers. "To self discovery!" We all say in unison.

The wine bottles run dry too fast. The guys having drink most of it.

The girls only had a small glass each. "So, " Deck and Bren sit next to me. Deck throws an arm over my shoulders.

"How's gay sex. Like I don't know anything about gay sex. Tell us."

"I don't know." How exactly do I answer. I watch Daniel trying to grope Abi on the couch opposite us. She keeps hitting him while she and Tash are talking.

"Well I don't think it's that different from straight sex. Just a different hole..."

Deck leans into me. "Like was his dick in your ass?" Yes.

"Can we stop talking about this, Deck. I'm not in the mood."

"No I wanna know Bum boy." Bren places a hand on my leg.

I don't know why but I punch him. "I'm not a bum boy!" I yell.

"You kinda are." Deck laughs and I punch him in the gut. He clutches his stomach, suddenly sober.

"I only meant it as a joke. I'm sorry. We shouldn't call you that." he looks at Brendan. Brendan nods.

He takes out his phone. "I have to go now. I have a date." He gives a sly smile. He leaves in a hurry.

"I have an idea!" Natasha breaks the silence. "Abs and Alex, you two are coming with me." She pulls me and Abi to our feet and drag us out the door. Deck and Danny just stare wordlessly.