Unraveling Who We Are

5: Whew...That was Close

(Boy on top is Skyler and girl on the bottom is Spencer, Gracen's siblings)

Gracen's view

I felt a sudden wave of jealousy as this guy puts his hands around Emery. Who is he? Could he possibly be her boyfriend? Oh god I hope not. If he is, I think my gay little heart will break a little. Why am I getting so emotional and dramatic over this girl? I barely know the girl and I'm already acting like a possessive girlfriend. I need to calm down.

The guy sits down next to Emery on her other side and uses her shoulder as a hand rest. She playfully pushes his hand away and I could feel my heart shriveling. If I wasn't already crushing on this girl, I would have admitted they look cute together. I try to focus on something other than my heart shattering, so I pay attention to the conversation that Emery and the guy are having.

"I'm sorry I couldn't drive you and Ethan to school today. I hate making you guys walk," stated Aiden sweetly.

"No worries Aiden. You had to be at school early for Lacrosse," replied Emery.

"See that's why I love you, because you're so understanding, unlike Ethan," smirked Aiden.

"Oh, shut up," laughed Emery playfully trying to push him of the table.

Wow, that made a blow to my heart. I officially have zero percent faith in my gaydar now. Literally hearing those words come from Aiden really hurt, I was really hoping she wasn't with anyone. Then I heard them welcome another boy named Ethan that they mentioned earlier and who looks exactly like Aiden, but I couldn't listen in to anything else because of how upset I felt.

Who was I to get so upset? I just met the girl. At least Emery was nice to me and her friends are welcoming. I tried to immediately change my attitude to be friendly. I want to try to become their friends at least.

Out of the corner of my eye I kept noticing Emery and Aiden playing around. Aiden would keep trying to poke her and Emery would repeatedly smack his hand away making him snicker.

"You guys look cute together. How long have you two been dating," I say with a fake smile. Hey, at least I tried.

Aiden immediately started laughing his ass off, while Emery has a disgusted face for some reason. Then she said,

"Ewww nooooooo!! Aiden is my brother."

I looked at them dumbfounded for a few seconds before the realization set in. My heart skipped a beat and I almost yelled out in pure happiness. I have a tiny chance with her now. Now is my time to figure out if she is in a relationship at all, so I laugh off that revelation and say,

"Oh sorry. But are you in a relationship?"

"No worries and nope," replies Emery smacking Aiden who is still laughing.

YES! I have a chance! Time to make a game plan to win over Emery now, if only I knew if she were gay or straight then it would make things easier.

The bell rings shortly after and unfortunately my last two periods aren't with Emery. However, Emery and her brother's Ethan and Aiden, walk with me to my next class.

I immediately start up a conversation with Ethan who seems like a genuinely nice guy and I have a feeling we are going to be good friends. Then Ethan turns to start a conversation with his sister Emery, as Aiden turns to me.

"So, how's your first day here going, beautiful. Everyone treating you right, like you deserve?" He says giving me a charming smile. Maybe if I was straight, there could have been a chance I might have fallen for his flirting, but I'm gay.

Before I could mentally gag, Ethan chimes into the conversation, "Really bro? Really?" He chuckles, "Do u have to flirt with every girl? Please tell me you're not seduced by his sappy flirting attempts, Gracen?"

I can't help but start laughing. I like Ethan even more now, he is a funny guy. Aiden pouts before saying, "Jeez, hurtful bro. Show a bit of compassion," he says laughing as well.

As Aiden walks to his group of friends, Ethan turns to look at me. "So, in a relationship?" he asks.

I look at him disbelief. And here I thought he and I could be friends, I thought wrong I guess. He notices my expression and quickly adds,

"I'm not hitting on you at all. I promise, I'm as gay as can be. I'm just curious about you."

"Oh, thank god," I reply making Ethan and Emery both laugh.

I'm so relieved he's not flirting with me and I'm ecstatic I found another gay person. "I'm actually not in a relationship now. Might want to tell your brother he will definitely strike out with me, since I'm not interested in guys," I explain.

He cocks an eyebrow up and gives me a smile and smirks at Emery before saying, "Cool another gay person. Aiden is going to be disappointed that he doesn't have a chance, it's going to be so funny."

While in sixth period, Ethan and I are assigned to sit together. I'm glad I have someone to talk to in this boring class, though I'm sad that I don't have Emery with me. However, Ethan and I start a conversation about our families and I tell him funny stories that include Skylar and Spencer. I'm so curious that I must ask how his mom handled having triplets. He looked at me with a shocked and then started laughing because of my confused state.

"I'm surprised Emery didn't say anything, but Aiden and I are actually adopted. Emery and her mom were kind enough to foster us for a while and then adopted us last year. For the first time, it feels like i have a real family," explains Ethan.

"Oh wow. That's awesome. I had no idea, Emery didn't say anything," I reply.

"Yeah, Emery is very shy and doesn't like to talk a lot about personal things, but she's got a heart of gold and she's a great sister. She's always been there for us since the beginning. She was our first friend when we first came to live here and she and her mom always watched out for us," he explained.

His story warmed my heart and it opened my eyes to how much of a wonderful person Emery is. This literature project is the best because I want to know more about Emery.

On my way home from school, I couldn't stop replaying the events that occurred today. I think this year is going to going to be fun. When I get home, I greet my parents and siblings and decide to share my day with them. I think my mom and sister caught on to my new crush though.

"So, you're talking a lot about this new girl, is there maybe something like an emotion you developed for her," asked my mom giving me a smirk.

"Yeah, does my little sister have a new crush," added my sister smiling at me.

My family is so embarrassing sometimes. They could all tell Emery was my crush by now and I'm blushing so hard. I forgot to mention that my whole family is supportive of me being gay. My parents even gave us all gender-neutral names when we were born just in case. So, I have an awesome family, but I know a lot of people don't have that. I just hope that the people who don't, are doing okay now.

(If you guys enjoy the story and want me to continue then please tell me. :)