Stronger Than I Thought

Chapter Three - The Secret of Chad Williams

 I was pissed off at the fact that Sarah was being bullied - even though I learned the fact three weeks ago.

I still had trouble getting up in the morning; I felt guilty. But then I felt guilty because I annoyed Chad.

"Are you ever going to just hide your feelings about this - or get over it in the tiniest bit - so that I can drive you to school without a complaint? C'mon, Kae, I miss you." He'd said to me.

"You expect me to get over the fact that I'm the reason my father's dead?" I hissed, "How dare you!"

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it like that," Chad had sighed, "And plus, you're not the reason he's dead."

And with that, I broke down crying again. We were stopped in the school parking lot, and I had my knees up on the seat, my face buried in my legs with my arms over my head. Two muffled "Hey"s could be heard from underneath my arms, and a moment later I was enveloped in strong arms.

"What's wrong, Kae?" Luke asked me, rubbing my back.

 "You know what's wrong," I said to him, unfolding.

  He sighed and said, "Yeah, I know, baby."

  "So stop asking me," I said rudely, getting up and walking into the school.

  He trailed behind me, becoming angry. "You know, I'm really getting tired of this, Kaela. Get it together, don't call me until you do."

  My eyes filled with tears. I tried blinking them back, and leaned against a wall in the hallway.

  "Hey, don't worry about him," Chad said, rubbing my arm. "Meet me after school, there's something important I need to talk to you about."

  "Of course, Chad. You're always there for me, and you know I'll always be here for you," I smiled, wiping away my tears. "I'm going to forget about Luke for the time being. I'll meet you at the car."

  "Thanks. Have a good day," Chad smiled, squeezing my hand. He walked away, I took a deep breath and went to my first class.

  "Hey, girl," Chad greeted me with a hug as he walked up to his car, which I had already been leaning on.

  "Ready to go?" I asked, opening the passenger door to get in.

  "Yeah, let's go. We're stopping for frappucinos." He informed me, and we shared a smile.

  We had a conversation about nothing, things that had happened throughout the day, the weather, new assignments, gossip. We laughed and smiled and enjoyed ourselves.

  Pulling up to the cafe, we got out of the car and went inside to order. After getting our drinks, we sat down at a table for two by the window.

  "So you had something to talk to me about?" I said, smiling warmly at him after taking a sip of my drink.

  "Okay... I'm just going to go right out and say it. After I ask this. You would still be my friend no matter what right? If I changed in any way?" Chad asked, his eyes darting around nervously.

  "Of course... Did you murder someone, Chad?" I giggled. "You can tell me. Don't worry, I won't turn you in. We can go on the run together."

  He smiled weakly, "No... It's just," he took a deep breath. "I'm gay."

  I shrugged, taking another sip of my frappucino. "That's fine with me, I've never had a problem with gay people, you know that."

  "Yeah I know," Chad said, smiling. He looked relieved. "You're the first person I've said it out loud to."

  "Are you going to tell your parents?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. I wasn't sure how they would take it.

  "That's what I need your help with," he replied, looking at my with sad eyes.

  We both knew that him coming out to his parents would be a difficult task.