Numb[l.r.h]

.7

It was a few days after Winter admitted to being gay. She had been avoiding Pamela in the halls and had been ignoring her texts. When Pamela and Luke were packing up, he turned to her.

"Are you okay? You've been quiet lately."He said to her. She sighed.

"I just have a lot on my mind, that's all. I'm a bit distracted at the moment." Pamela said, not even looking at him.

Why is Winter avoiding her?

"Well, if you need to talk I'll be here." He told her, but she wasn't listening.

Later that day, she called Winter. After a few rings she actually picked up.

"Winter, talk to me."

"I can't deal with this, Pamela." Winter said sounding defeated.

"What's wrong?" Pamela asked.

"What's wrong? Everything is wrong. I can never be the real me anywhere, and my parents don't know because they shame gays, and I feel so out of my mind every second." Winter said with a slight sob inbetween the last few words. She was usually a very enthusiastic person and to hear her so upset made Pamela so sad. They were quiet as Winter sniffled a little bit.

"What's her name?" Pamela asked her, trying to take her mind off of all the sadness.

"Penelope. She's so nice, you'd like her. She is always so genuine and I just like her a lot." Winter said, and Pamela could practically hear the smile on her face.

"Why were you avoiding me?" Pamela asked the question that had been on her mind.

"I just wanted to avoid all of this, honestly. Avoiding you felt like I wasn't having any problems, but I am." Winter told her. "I'm so sorry, Pam."

"It's okay. Just remember you can always talk to me." Pamela reminded her.

"Thanks, I love you. In a totally platonic way, too." Winter said and they both laughed. They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Pamela had the overwhelming feeling of loneliness take over her heart. She could hear her dad watching some tv show downstairs, no doubt having a few beers.

Her life was so fucked up. Everything had fallen apart and now she just had a bunch of broken pieces that didn't quite fit.

She picked up her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Luke."

"Pamela?" Luke's voice rang through the speaker. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... No. I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?" He asked gently, but she couldn't respond without him knowing she was crying. "Go to the address I sent you."

And then he hung up. She looked at the address and was familiar with the street, so she walked downstairs, passed her dad, and out the door. The drive was a good ten minutes, but it felt longer as she was getting anxious.

Then she pulled into the driveway of a small, white, cozy looking home. The ground was damp from the light drizzle they received earlier, but it was enough to make her hair look a little crazier than normal.

She rang the doorbell and it opened a moment later, revealing Luke wearing the black sweater she loved so much. He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, leading her through a door to a bedroom.

After entering the room, he left saying,"Stay here."

Pamela was still trying to calm her beating heart and get over the fact that she was in his room. There were band posters covering a whole wall, a dresser, and a bed all thrown into the room. Not to mention the insane amount of CDs stacked high. She ran her fingers along the black, soft covers of his bed that tickled her skin. Then she noticed a picture of tiny Luke blowing out the candles of a giant cake with a little bit of icing on his nose. On either side of him were two adults who looked a little bit like him who she guessed were his parents.