Forever Changed (Gay)

Forever Changed-Chapter 6

“Hey,” he smiled.

“Hey, how were your afternoon classes?”

“They were fine, how about yours?” I replied.

“They were good, no detentions today.” He chuckled.

“That’s good.” I replied as we jogged to catch his bus.

“We only have to ride the bus for a few minutes.” He said.

“Okay sounds good.” I replied and we sat silently until we got to his house.

When we arrived at his house we were politely greeted by his mother and sister. They were actually a family who worked together and were happy together. I had never seen such a family. His mother had dinner prepared and told us to help ourselves. They told us about how their dad left them and they were forced to live independently. It was a sad story that had a happy ending; them. After dinner we helped clean up and then went to his room.

“Nick, I have a question.”

“I have an answer.” I replied.

“What are those bruises from?” he questioned.

                I meant a reasonable question, not one I would have to lie about, “I have an Iron deficiency problem and I bruise really easily.” That was the excuse I always used even though I was usually good at covering them.

                “I can tell you’re lying Nick, just tell me the truth.” He replied calmly.

                There was a long pause, should I tell him the truth? After all I had only known him a day. When I spoke my voice was shaking, “Kyle…h-h-he hits me…”

“Who hits you? Why?”

“M-m-my dad.” I stammered

“Why? Why would he do that to you?”

“Because I-I-I’m”   Should I tell him my biggest secret? How would he react? My voice shook as soon as I spoke, at this point I was already crying, just thinking about my dad.  “Because I-I-I’m gay, he hates me because I’m gay, his only son.”

“Nick I think you should know something. I came out to my mom last year. Nobody knows here because I just moved here, but I’m gay too.”

“Really?” I replied.

“Yes Nick, there’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s who you are,” he said.

Before our conversation could continue his mom walked in his room her eyes dripping tears, but yet she held a smile.

“Kyle, look!” she said. And she held up a piece of paper, “You got a scholarship to Wheaton College.”

The room was silent until Kyle spoke again, “Mom I’m happy, but this is the one I was researching…”

“Is there something wrong with this college?” his mom replied.

“Yes, there homophobic, it’s the number one anti-gay college in the U.S.”

                Kyle glanced at me before speaking again, “I can’t go, there’s no way they would accept me.”

“Just pretend to be straight.” I said.

“That’s a good idea, but I don’t know if I could pull it off. I can do it, but it might take work.” He replied.

His mom and he embraced in a hug, and I felt out of place. They had a group hug, and it made me wish things were different for me. Kyle walked over to me and gave me a hug, “Thanks for your confidence.” He said.

“Don’t worry about it.” I said and broke the hug. In this time, his mom and sister had left the room and it was just me and Kyle.

“Nick, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he said.

“What are you thinking?” I replied.

“We should...” he paused. “Date” he finished.

“Are you a mind reader?” I asked and he chuckled.

“Back to our conversation earlier…” he said “I can’t let you go home to him where he’s just going to hit you some more.”

“I don’t really want to go home,” I replied and pulled out my phone to tell my mother to tell her I would spend the night here. We went down stairs.

“Hey mom, do you care if Nick sleeps on the couch, he has issues at home.”

“It’s no problem honey, is he okay?” she replied

“Yeah I’m fine” I replied with a smile.

Kyle loaned me blankets and I made the couch to resemble a bed and I drifted off to sleep knowing that one day I would have to show my dad my boyfriend