Growing Pains

Chapter 20

Word eventually gets out and Sam's sexuality is soon common knowledge to the people on campus. It's ridiculous and maddening and I don't agree with it in the slightest; but people love to talk. People love distractions, gossip, anything that takes their minds off of their own looming problems.

However, people are far less judgemental than I had thought and none of Sam's friends have treated him any differently. To be honest, a lot of them had already made assumptions that he may swing in a different direction.

"Are you okay? About everyone knowing, I mean. I know you didn't exactly want it to be public knowledge." I ask, interrupting Sam as he rifles through my washing pile in search of his shorts. Our clothes get mixed up more often than I'd like to admit.

"Yeah, it's not how I wanted to handle the situation but I can live with it." He responds, his attention still diverted.

He tugs out my rainbow shirt and holds it up with a quizzical expression.

"Are you actually keeping this?" He asks. I nod quickly, snatching it from his loose grasp.

"Yeah, it's really comfy." I exclaim, holding it to my chest. Sam shrugs, holding his hands up before returning to his mission.

"I'm just saying that you've handled the situation really well, you don't have to act tough around me." I murmur, watching him make a mess as I get back to our previous topic. He sighs heavily, giving up on his search for a minute and standing up straight.

"I know. In truth I'd like to have handled it my way. I wanted the chance to tell people my way, in my own time and I was denied that. I'm more angry than anything else." He says, almost defeatedly and I nod understandingly. It's really nice to hear the inner workings of his mind for once.

"That's perfectly understandable, I'd feel the same way." I admit and he shrugs but smiles faintly. His eyes zero in on a fragment of clothing and he descends on it like a hawk, plucking his shorts from the ground with a proud grin.

"I knew you had them." He says smugly but I roll my eyes at the utter lie that has just escaped his mouth.

"No, you didn't." I argue, watching as his smug grin falters for a moment.

"Well, you had them, didn't you? That's all that matters." He mumbles, tugging off his tracksuit bottoms and replacing them with the shorts. I avert my eyes politely, muttering under my breath but not bothering to actively argue any further.

"Where are you going anyway?" I ask, spinning idly in my desk chair. I hear the clinks of his belt and take it as reassurance that he's decent, turning my head to glance at him.

"I'm going to have coffee with Alice and another guy from Spanish." He states, his eyes flicking back up to mine as I nod.

"It's a bit cold for shorts, isn't it?" I ask but Sam disagrees, his mouth twitching into a cheeky smile.

"They're my favourites and I want to impress this guy." He admits and I suddenly feel my whole mood turn sour as a wave of comprehension washes over me. Oh.

"Take a jumper." I call out and he nods, ducking into his room to grab one. I frown to myself, not exactly liking the situation but not having any justification to feel that way either. I don't like the feeling. It's not logical.

I get up and wander to the top of the stairs, perching on the second one as Sam tugs his shoes on. I glance to the keys sat beside me and sigh, wandering how Sam's keys manage to escape him so often. He pats his pockets, frowning to himself.

"Hey, have you seen my...?" He trails off, already seeing the keys dangling from my index finger. I throw them to him and he catches them in his right hand, grinning at me.