When Love is Wrong

18. Who's Gay?

MITCH PRESENTDAY:

Scott helped me sit on a kitchen divider stool while he got out the eggs and finished making the omelets.

"Okay, I have a question," I said softly.

"Great! Shoot," Scott said while still cooking.

"When... I mean... how... or ... who...."

"When did I discover I was gay?"

"Yeah."

"I guess I always knew. Around 14, I just started fantasizing, you know, and it was with guys. In my dreams, it was guys. I did kiss some girls and well, nothing."

"Fourteen! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I was ashamed. I was worried I was sick like everyone says. I was going to tell you but then you got taken away and when you came back, it just seemed you would not be very open to it."

"It is sick," I said sadly looking down at my hands that were folded on the divider.

Scott slid the omelet off the pan onto a plate and put it in front of me.

"Mitch." He paused while I looked up from my plate to look at him.

"Mitch, you're wrong. They're wrong. It's not sick."

I looked back down and picked up my fork to play with my omelet. I was hungry but unhappy.

Scott sighed and turn around to start on making his omelet.

"You actually know quite a number of gay people, not to mention lesbians."

"Lesbians?! Oh my God, who?!" I practically yelled.

He turned to look at me. "I'm not sure I can tell you without their permission. Let's just say some of my covers, I was returning the favor. I was a cover for them too."

"Kirstie?" I whispered, my eyes huge.

"No, Kirstie is hetero and so is Jeremy. Their relationship is real."

I let out a breath I was holding. I looked back down at my plate and ran the word "lesbian" through my brain again. "Ewwww."

Scott turned to look at my omelet.

"No, I mean lesbian."

Scott's face broke into a smile and he returned to his omelet that was finishing up in the pan. "Ha, yeah, that's kind of their reaction to our junk." He slid his omelet off the pan onto a plate and sat next to me shoveling huge fork fulls into his mouth.

"Can you tell me about anyone else?"

He looked out in front of him, obviously trying to decide and said, "Alex."

"Alex what?" I said confused.

He turned to look at me. My thought bubble burst.

"Oh my God that's not possible! He's a model! He's gorgeous. He has abs! How?!"

Scott shrugged and returned to his meal.

"Who? Who else?!" I needed to know! "Avi?! Kevin?!"

"No. They're both straight. Although Kevin was forced to go to a camp."

"I didn't know that. But why? He doesn't seem gay."

"Mitch, I know this is all new to you, but you should know there is no "type." Gay and lesbian people come in all shapes and sizes. But in Kevin's case, he was sent because he was set up. Some kids at his school didn't think that a black kid should be at the top of every class grade-wise. So they got together and concocted a story that he had approached one of them to get rid of him."

"What?! That's awful."

"There aren't any studies on it, but from what I've heard about half of those "selected" aren't gay.

"Shit. Who else? Who else is gay?"

"Well, you know Adam Lambert."

Yeah, Adam was a good friend of ours. He was doing great as a successful musical artist. Pictures were leaked and he fled to Germany where they don't care if you are gay or not.

I looked back down at my plate.

"There are gatherings." Scott said softly.

"Oh my god, like speakeasys?"

"Well, yeah, kinda. That's a good analogy."

"Can I go? Do you go? When? Where?"

"Mitch. I don't know if you should go."

"Why?" I was a bit insulted.

"Your annual."

Shit. I hadn't thought about that. At every annual, they ask for names.