4am | c.h.

Chapter two

"You talked to the freak across the street?!"

These are the first words to leave my best friends mouth as we sit in the food court eating our food. My eyes widen and I signal with my hands for her to quiet down,"Yes, I did, and don't call him a freak. That's rude, Alli." I've just finished explaining to my friends everything that had happened this morning and while Allison is immediately trying to pry answers from me, Luke has remained surprisingly quiet. 

"Fine, whatever. I just can't believe that you finally talked to him. Did you ask him why he always stares at you?" She asks this as she shoves another french fry in her mouth. I can tell from the glint in her eyes that I'm not going to get away from her without answering at least a few of her questions,"No, I didn't. All I said was that smoking is bad for him." 

Luke speaks up after being silent for a majority of my explanation,"Did he say anything to you?" There's a strange tone to his voice that I don't quite understand but I shrug it off and slump in my chair,"No. He just stared at me."

Maybe deep down I was hoping that speaking to Calum first would break the ice and this strange dynamic of ours would stop, although I realize now that insulting his smoking habit probably wasn't the best way to do that.

I groan and rest my chin on the palm of my hand as I pick at my salad,"He probably thinks I'm a judgmental bitch now." A light laugh comes from Allison who has now relaxed,"Ri, you're one of the least judgmental people I've ever met in my life. I mean, come on. Your best friend is a lesbian and her little brother is bi."

This is true. Allison had come out to Rilee in the 10th grade when Rilee asked her if she had a crush on any of the older guys at their school. It wasn't really a big deal to her that her best friend liked girls. There were more important things to worry about. In fact, Rilee was the first person that Allison had come out to. 

Luke was a year younger than them but that didn't make him any less of a friend to Rilee. He'd always been close with his older sister so when Rilee started coming around it was almost like they'd known each other forever. Luke came out to Rilee and Allison at the same time, though it took him a little longer than it took his sister.

He'd only come out to them six months ago when he showed up to Rilee's in the middle of one of their movie nights in panic mode. He explained how he'd kissed this boy and how he'd actually liked it and he was scared. 

Allison hadn't told her brother about her sexuality until that day and it had taken a lot of convincing but he'd finally accepted that it was okay to not be completely straight, contrary to what their parents believed.

You see, Allison and Luke come from a very... conservative family. Their parents hate anything that they believe goes against God and his written word — that includes homosexuality. So it's very obvious that they'd tried to drill it into their children's heads that it was wrong. It's kind of funny that they have no idea that their children actually like the same sex. 

"That's not the point, Allison. He doesn't know that!" I don't know why I'm so upset over the idea of Calum thinking negatively of me, but I am. I guess I've always worried about what people think of me. It's like it's hardwired into my brain.

Luke rolls his eyes at our banter and slouches in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest,"I don't see why you guys are freaking out so much. He's just a normal guy."

Allison huffs in response and points one of her fries at Luke as she speaks,"Normal people speak." Luke's eyes narrow and he speaks in a clipped tone,"Did you ever think that maybe he has a good reason? Maybe he's sick of being judged so he just doesn't want to give people more reason to do it by talking."