The Pros and Cons of Being Outed | Peterick

Chapter Four

The rest of the school day was pretty much the same as it had been earlier, except Patrick was left feeling a little bit better. He was still not confident enough to speak to anybody, and he kept directing his attention strictly to his teachers.

Honestly, it did wonders when it came to learning. It turns out that when his friends aren't distracting him and he can focus, he can pretty much understand most, if not all of the stuff his teachers were talking about. That was a blessing, especially with his math class.

When he got home that day, he decided that he needed to talk to his parents. Patrick needed to know if they somehow found out about the post, otherwise it would eat him up inside. However, he had to be subtle on how he did this. They'll be worried if he's too mysterious.

He slid over to the living room after dinner, knowing that his mom and dad would be distracted by the TV. It would be a good thing, so they wouldn't think about this too much. "Hey, mom? Dad?"

"Yeah, Patrick?" his mom answered, her eyes still locked onto the TV until she glanced over to give him her full attention.

Patrick cleared his throat and wiped his hands on his jeans, desperate to get the sweat away. "H-Have you been on my high school's website recently?"

His mom frowned, wondering why he was acting so odd. "No, we haven't. What's on there?"

Patrick was immediately relieved that they haven't. There was no reason to doubt her answer. There was no reason for her to lie, as well.

However, he was caught off-guard by the question. "Oh, there was this post about this girl scout at the school who said they were selling cookies," Patrick said quickly.

It wasn't a lie. That post did exist, and Patrick had been interested in buying some cookies. It was just not what he really was asking for, so he didn't feel too guilty about it.

"Oh," his dad suddenly chimed in, "I want cookies. Yeah, maybe some Thin Mints? How much are they?"

"I don't know," Patrick answered, "but I can ask."

His mom and dad nodded. That was the end of the conversation.

As Patrick turned and walked away, he couldn't but feel so relieved that he didn't have to explain himself to them. He knew he was just delaying it, but he didn't want to come out to them until after he moved out. That way, he could support himself if things go horribly wrong.

Patrick wasn't sure if things would go wrong, though. Yes, his parents would prefer him to be straight, but he thought that they could still love him if he wasn't. At least that's what he believes, because the topic doesn't come up enough for him to draw a conclusion. He's still so scared about it.

Patrick flops onto his bed, grabbing his phone from his nightstand. His friends were still texting him a lot about the situation due to his lack of response, so he clicked on their group chat.

It was really messy. From yesterday, he saw his friends crazy messages to each other in disbelief about the whole thing. They weren't hateful towards him at all though. In fact, they kept calling the guy who leaked the messages an asshole.

With that knowledge and his sudden boost of confidence, he scrolled down to the most recent message.

Pete💚: Patrick, you know we see that you've read these right?

Pete💚: Answer us, please. Was that post true?

His fingers typed the word reluctantly.

PS: Yes.