VICE

| THE STUPID THINGS NEVER LEARN |

Time seemed to have paused as what he had just said sunk in in a series of inaudible echoes through his mind. How could he be so stupid!

He wanted to open his mouth to take back the words but his body parts refused to cooperate with his brain. So he just sat there, frozen in place, only his eyes moving trying to register his parents' reactions.

Austin was not gay, he was so straight he could make a pole seem gay. He even had a very beautiful girlfriend, Lucy Bishop, and he loved her a lot.

It had just been a dare placed on him by two of his friends just to test how big of a wimp he really was. His ego, as usual, wouldn't let him lose. His friends could be a handful if they had anything on him. They would never let him forget it, especially Sam, his number one best friend, wingman, confidant..you name it.

They had nothing against people who batted for the other team but Austin's father did. Once at a Christmas party, Austin's Uncle, Danny, had shown up with his fiancé - lovely guy named Anthony. Thomas had almost had a heart attack. After he had gotten over the initial shock, he had gone full ballistic on his brother-in-law and had almost killed him if he hadn't been pulled off by a few of the guests who were around.

His wife had threatened to leave him if he didn't change his mind set and try to get along with her brother. Thomas, of course, loved his wife enough not to try killing her brother again but he never said another word to Danny after that day. The most they ever did to acknowledge each other's existence since then had always been some awkward nod occasionally.

Sam knew all about that ordeal and the notion that Austin would be scared shitless if he even so much as thought about the subject in the presence of his father had made this the perfect dare.

If Austin lost the bet..he would have to give Sam a hundred dollars. If he won..Sam would have to give him the hundred dollars. Even so, Sam would gain the sight of Mr. McNamara's constipated scowl at finding out his son was 'gay'. Either way,win-win.

Sam was not a fan of Mr.McNamara ever since he started complaining about his close friendship with Austin. Thomas had claimed that such closeness between two boys was a gateway to 'homosexual tendencies ' and that his son was not allowed to even think about such 'disgusting things' that would waste his precious time. Yea, right!

The silence in the dining room seemed to go on forever. It probably lasted a few seconds but in his mind, it felt like a decade.

Suddenly, his mother was on her feet and going round the table to the other side in order to reach her son. As soon as she got to him, she hugged him from behind while he was still seated on his chair and buried her face in his hair.

"I'm so proud of you Austin!" She said, looking like a crazed fan girl . "Finally ,you admit it! What took you so long? I've always known you were gay . It was just a matter of time before you came to terms with it by yourself! Yay !"

By the end of her outburst, everyone in the room was just staring at her like she had just grown a tail. Two tails.

"What!" Austin exclaimed, a little too loud .

"Ohh..this just turned out better than I thought!" Nicky whispered to her phone while she still had the camera facing the others, intending on not missing even a second.

"Yes. I've always known. Trust me, a mother always knows these things." She said, sending a suggestive wink his way.

"But mom - "