Parents aren't always right

Chapter 1.

Reed's POV

I grab my backpack and head for the door. "Bye, dad!" I shout over my shoulder.

"For Jesus!" he replies, as usual. I roll my eyes. He always says that, like it's some kind of mantra. "For Jesus," I mutter under my breath and slam the door behind me.

The fresh morning air hits my face and I feel a surge of energy. It's been a while since I felt this alive. Well, not since the last time I saw Charlie.

Charlie Davens is my best friend, but I'm pretty sure I like him as more than a friend. Scratch that, I know I do. He's straight, though. I wish I could tell him how I feel, but I can't. I can't tell anyone.

My parents are devout Christians, but they take it to the extreme. Like, way too extreme. Last year, when I was 16, I made the mistake of telling my dad that I thought I was bisexual. He's a cop, and he was wearing his uniform at the time. He looked at me with disgust and said, "If you kiss a boy, I'll put a gun to your head." He wasn't kidding. He actually pointed his gun at me. So I just said that I was probably just being silly and he agreed.

I hear a familiar voice calling my name, and I turn around to see Charlie Davens. A grin spreads across my face as I greet him. He's a bit shorter than me, with a slender build and a quiet demeanour. He always wears a beanie, even in the summer, to hide his bushy brown hair. His fringe falls over his forehead, partially covering his vibrant green eyes. He has a mask on even though it isn't mandatory anymore (I like to tease him about that) but I can still see his slight freckles on his nose and cheeks.
Sure, I can help you with that. Here is a possible way to make your text flow better:

"Hey, bro!" I say as I run down to meet him. "Wassup?"

"Not much..." He says, looking down. "Dad's a bit mad... But that's it." I give Charles a pained look. Charles' parents aren't the nicest people. They yell at him a lot and it really hurts his already low self-esteem. I give Charles a half hug as the bus rolls up in front of us.

We sit in our usual seats in the middle-ish of the bus, where there's a four-seat booth. We sit next to each other and start worrying about our homework. "Come on, dude, you're smart. I'm sure you won't get an F," I say to Charlie's worry.

"No, I'm not. I'm gonna fail!" he exclaims, hugging his bag.

"DUDE! Shut up right now!" I put my hands on his shoulders and made him look at me. "You, Charlie Davens, are a class topper with straight A's. You could get into Harvard! I'm 100% sure you're gonna get an A on the English essay. I read it, it was amazing! So calm down!"

Charlie lets out a sigh and thanks me. I didn't hear any of that because I was trying to calm myself down. Did I just...? No way i just did that! It reminded me off my favourite movie spiderman into the spiderverse; when mile's uncles tells miles to out his hand on Gwens shoulder and go 'hEy'. (A/N Yeah idk why i put this i just always loved that scene and also feel like Reed would be a spiderman dude)

"Reed? REED!" Charles interrupts.

"Oops, sorry. Kinda just zoned out," I say. He nods and pulls out his phone. A few stops later, our two other friends come and sit across from us.

"Hey, dudes!" calls Alex Bigones. Next to her comes short Ananya Patel.

"Hey, dudettes," I say, scrolling through my phone. I look up and laugh. "No way, Alex!" She had dyed the ends of her black hair a vibrant pink.

"Yes way," she says, doing jazz hands.

"Did your parents...?" I trail off.

"Yeah, I just told them it was a joke... Yeah. Speaking of my parents, I was thinking I should... tell them the truth?" Ananya kisses Alex on the cheek and hugs her. Alex is trans, but her parents don't know that. They think she is a boy and they want her to stay that way. They are very conservative and sexist. They don't accept people who are different from them. Alex has been hiding her true identity from them for a long time. She hasn't been able to fully transition and come out to them because she is afraid of their reaction.

"Oh well that's your choice Alex..." Charlie said finally joining into the conversation. Alex gave us a sad smile and leaned onto Ananya's shoulder. Ananya was short with long straight black hair and chocolate coloured skin. Her and Alex were dating and Ananya spends most other time at Alex's because her mother always has some man over and she does not want to hear or see them.

We four sit in an awkward silence. Ananya tries to break it. " so uhm my mum brought home a drunk Norwegian dude yesterday...." I laugh a bit but go back into silence. Finally the bus stops at school and we all get off.

(Title ideas please?! i want to name the chapters but i'm not sure what to name them.)