Flawsome ✔

Chapter 24 - Confronting

Friday, January 20th, 2017

As restless as I am today, I haven't been since the day Calo decided to try and kill himself. And it's not because something bad happened, it's because I never kept any secrets from my parents.

I never had secrets to keep from them, besides the dark thoughts and the longing to end my life, which I never actually tried.

Thanks to Calo's perfect timing to show up in my life.

But even those thoughts weren't a surprise or even a secret to my parents. It's as if they knew, just waited for me to break every so often to spill them out.

But now we're seated at the dinner table at my grandparents' house and I desperately want to spill out the fact I, Neo Favre, Faulty Freak, have a boyfriend.

But they don't even know that I'm gay. At least, not that I've told them. If I have to believe Dr. Delgado, they must know. Mom must know. She saw me and Calo together on multiple occasions.

But she could easily explain my giddiness and happiness ever since I met him, due to the fact I met him and made a friend.

I haven't had friends since pre-school, so it is a huge deal anyway.

But how do I spill out the fact I now have a boyfriend? That I'm gay, and in love with Calo?

Pyper is sending me worried looks ever since I came home after visiting Calo yesterday. Not because I was unhappy, I was on cloud nine. But during the ride home, I started overthinking all of it, and the fact I now have to go and come out to the world. Maybe not specifically right now, but some day.

I tried calling my cousin Milan, since he already knows I have feelings for Calo and he is into a guy himself too, but his phone keeps going straight to voicemail and a quick text from him told me he is out on the slopes, practising skiing because he's competing in a big tournament in two months.

He reminds me how he expects me to come over in about three of four weeks to take pictures – and inevitably learn how to ski too.

Since he did just send me a text not too long ago, the phone call that comes in right after dinner, is a call I did not expect, at all.

Since I'm closest to the phone, I get up to answer the call, making sure not to touch the phone with my ear, cheek or mouth.

"Hi?"

"Who's this?" Uncle Ricardo sounds upset, surprised, weird. As the confident guy he usually is, he's lacking any calm tone-of-voice.

"It's Neo... I was closest... do you want me to hand to phone to Nana?"

"Yes, eh, no, give it to your grandfather." He hastily tells me, and I do so. "Actually, Neo? Can I talk to your father?"

"Eh, yes, sure." I agree, walking over to my dad, while everybody is frowning since I first moved towards grandma, then towards grandpa and now towards dad. As if indecisive. "Uncle Ricardo wants to talk to you."

Dad's frown increases and my mom clicks her tongue disapprovingly, while Pyper sends me a questioning look.

I shrug in response, but as I sit next to dad, I pick up some words that uncle Ricardo is saying, and they shock and confuse me.

So far, I caught 'accident', 'not good' and 'ER'. I don't know who he's talking about, but I do think he's upset and maybe even crying.

"Rico, calm down and listen. We're getting in the car and we're coming over right now. Just focus on Chantel and especially Milan right now and once we're there, we'll call the rest."