Hidden in MacDonald Hall

Coming out to things

Bruno perked up when he heard the door handle rattle before opening. His weak smile faded when he saw it was the group; minus Boots.

"Are you about to lecture me?"

"We haven't prepared enough for that," Elmer huffed.

Wilbur made a beeline for the peaches and tore the bag open, biting harshly into the juicy fruit and chewing like he hasn't eaten in weeks. Chris examined him and moved over to sit on the edge of Boots' bed. The rest all dispersed around the room but faced Bruno on the floor. Their eyes were soft and everyone appeared welcoming when Bruno glanced at the three in his vision; Cathy, Diane and Wilbur.

"He really cares for you Bruno," Diane said softly.

"We do too," Wilbur muffled through the peach.

"Yeah and examining Boots' rush past us in the corridor, makes us feel like something happened. I presume it was something very personal to Boots or else he wouldn't have been crying."

Bruno furrowed his eyebrows at Elmer's statement, "crying?"

"You are too, don't act surprised," Cathy mumbled. Diane put a hand on her knee to hush her of any sarcastic comments in this vulnerable Bruno moment.

"I am crying because Boots, my best friend, basically just confessed how much he likes me as a boy."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"I'm just shocked because I never had the idea wrapped around my head that he wouldn't be into girls. He made it seem he liked you so much," he turned his head from Cathy, who asked the question, to Diane. He noticed the placement of her hand and his perfectly tanned forehead wrinkled even more in confusion.

"Boots and I are just good friends," she moved her hand to Cathy's and smiled warmly, "that happens when you choose not to constantly feud with people."

Cathy looked guilty when Diane glanced over at her and then Bruno again,

"Okay well, I've never liked Cathy in a romantic way so I figured our feuding was a type of friendship."

"You're not exactly wrong," Cathy confirmed, "it's not like I'd go for you anyway."

Bruno scoffed and sat up straight, "rude! I'm the full package. Why not?"

Cathy held up her and Diane's interlocked fingers in frustration and gently placed them back on her lap,
"you really are daft, Walton!"

"Nice vocabulary word," Elmer piped in.

Cathy chuckled at him, while Chris stared at the back of Bruno's head quizzically. Wilbur swallowed part of his peach and pointed the pit in Chris' direction,

"What's on your mind, English scone?"

The group looked at Wilbur confused at the odd nickname, "What? I'm still hungry and thinking about food! You expect a piece of fruit to fill me up? This is nature's appetizer, baby."

Chris shook his head and stood up; circling Bruno. He looked at the boy staring up at him and rubbed at his left eye,

"You're freaking me out, buddy...Say something."

Chris suddenly stopped in front of Bruno and matter-of-factly said,

"you love Boots."

"What?"

"You're in love with him. You're not crying because you're sad that he shocked you with his confession. You're crying because you've kept your emotions so bottled up, the rush of them finally being able to burst out is what shocked you.
You're overwhelmed because you expected them to never be addressed between the two of you. You figured you would set up Boots with Diane and your situation of being in love with your best friend would be solved. He would be happy with a girl and you'd finesse your way through life with schemes,like you normally do, and eventually get out of whatever funk you assumed your sexuality was once you left the hall.
Except you'd never be able to escape it, Boots will be around you forever and you would always be in hiding. Hating yourself for not understanding who you truly are."

"Wow," Bruno squeaked, "I thought the English were supposed to be nice."

"Bruno," Cathy groaned, "is he spot on or not?"

Bruno wiped at his tears that started flowing during, whatever that just was, and shrugged,
"feels spot on."

The group smiled at each other as if they finally completed a mission they've been working on for far too long. When in reality, they really have.

Bruno then sighed to himself as he stood up,
"But if he likes me or whatever, why did he rush out without even letting me explain myself? A good friend wouldn't even do that."

"He's heartbroken," Diane sighed, "he visited us before we came to you. He told us everything."

"That's why we know so much about what just went down," Cathy added.

"Oh, well maybe I should stop feeling sorry for myself."

"That's the spirit," Wilbur cheered and patted him on the back.

"I would like to cry for a bit longer, please? You know, accepting yourself and all that. It'll just be a moment to myself, if you guys don't mind?"

The kids nodded and stood up; they all hugged Bruno individually before walking towards the door.

"Statistically, a lot of people are gay in this generation and 46% have become more accepting of-..."

"Thanks, Elmer," Bruno chuckled and patted his shoulder. Diane paused at the door and turned to Bruno,

"He's in the pool if you need him."

"Nah, I'll leave him be for now."

Diane nodded and followed Cathy out as they ran down the hall; careful not to get caught by George Wexford-Smith III or Sturgeon. Bruno laid down on his bed and sat up for a brief second,

"Chris? Thank you, buddy."

Chris was the last to leave the room. He turned a drawing around to show a very detailed hand holding an anatomically correct bloody heart.
Then left with a nod and not a single word uttered; he was back to his normally quiet self, until another big revelation happened in the hall.

Bruno guessed that was either supposed to be him ripping Boots' heart out or Boots offering his emotions to Bruno. He cringed at the meaning behind it but then wetly smiled to himself as he laid on his back. Because in that quiet moment, Bruno felt a bit lighter.