Nate

part 1

It all began with a simple statement. Words coming out of my mouth before I had even processed them. Something I thought would've been simple and accepted led me to the point I'm at right now: walking down the sidewalk of a very busy road late at night with no place to call home. Before we go any further allow me to introduce myself: my name is Nate. I'm 18 years old, and fresh out of highschool. I work at a shitty fast food place for just above minimum wage in a small town in Florida. So why is such a young budding member of society homeless you might ask? To put it bluntly it's because I'm bisexual. Not only am I bisexual but I am a freshly outted bisexual who thought telling his religious parents was a good idea. Mom cries. Dad walks out and slams a door. You can imagine how it goes. I've never really been a negative person but right now its hard to stay positive. Left, right, left, right. I repeat over and over and over in my head the process of one foot in front of the other. Walking to the only place I can think of: the restaurant. Left, right, left, right. 1 mile becomes 2, 2 becomes 5, then finally after a nice 7 miles of marching in a straight line I'm sitting in the booths towards the back of the restaurant. Sweat beads still remaining on my head from the hike I took just now; at least I'm getting my calories burned. I put my backpack that was stuffed with whatever I could fit inside before leaving to my side and tried to piece everything together that had happened in the past few hours.

Once the words had come out there was no taking them back. I had confessed to my parents that the person I had gone on a date with was the same sex. That I had fun and that we did kiss and that I hoped he'd ask me out to another. My mother with her angelic look had a tear slip down her cheek, on this night she wore a gray sweater with some jeans and a look of confusion. No. Not confusion. She looked like she was grieving. My mother looked at me in a way I hadn't ever seen from her. She looked hurt and the love in her eyes was non-existant. My sweet sweet mother that cut the crust off my grilled cheese and bought me M&M's when I was sick looked at me like a stranger. Then my dad. Oh my God I can't describe how he looked. He said not a word as he stood and stepped out of the room. With the deadly glare he gave me I knew I had no support.
"Dad... Please." I reached for him but he pushed my arm away.
"I... I can't even look at you." he says with disgust. He wipes the tears from his eyes. "I need you to get out. I can't have you in my house"
"You don't have to do this please dad!"
"You have 1 hour to get out!" He screamed.
I left it to that. Packing clothes and a blanket I left and marched.

Here we are, a crying and sweaty kid in the corner of a fast food joint in the middle of the night. I wipe the tears from my eyes as I hear footsteps approach.
"Nate, is that you?" I hear from behind. It was Olivia, a lady in her late 20s that normally does mornings with me. I nod as an answer to her question and sniffle.
"You look like shit. No offense." She takes a seat across from me an hands me a napkin. I laugh at her comment just a little.
"Yeah um... Having a little bit of a rough night haha" I say with a little bit of a smile.
"Talk to me." She says as she unwraps her burger. "I wanna know what a kid is doing crying alone with all his shit stuffed into a single backpack"
I shamefully looked to the floor.
"My parents uh... They kicked me out..."
Olivia took a bite out of her sandwich.
"You doin something illegal?" She says after taking a gulp of soda.
I laugh more and look up just a little.
"No, no it's nothing like that. They just... They don't like that I potentially have a boyfriend?"
"Damn, you're gay? I never knew... huh."
We sat in silence for a bit. She sipped her drink and ate her food, sliding me a fry or 2 every now and then. Olivia was half Cuban, half Black, with beautiful dark curly hair, a cute little nose that paired with a small but noticable tooth gap, and small patches of freckles across her cheeks and nose.
"So you got no where to go?" She says once she finishes her sandwich.
"Yeah. I think for tonight Ill just sit here and I'll figure out what to do in the morning"
She finishes her drink this time.
"So I'll give you a couple options here: you can stay like you talked about and do your thing, or you can come home with me and crash on the couch for a couple nights. I don't mind."
Rain begins to pitter patter along the glass windows. The poorly lit parking lot was vacant save for a few cars belonging to employees waiting for their time to clock out.
Should I go? Do I even have an option? I know nothing about Olivia outside of work. I stay silent for a minute thinking.
"Look kid." She begins.  "I'm just trying to make sure you know you don't got to worry about being on the streets. My conscience wouldn't let me outlive it. I know you don't know me, but I know your position and I don't want you to struggle." She softly grabbed my hand and stroked it with her thumb. "You're gonna be okay."
She had convinced me. I nodded my head and stood with her as she led me to an almost Brunswick-Green Ford Excursion.
I sat in the passenger side as she starts the large SUV and hands me an aux cord.
"Better not play any trash." She says as she backs out.
I smile and scroll through my long song library. What was my mood today? Softly sad but at the same time loved I suppose. From artists to Queen, then A Night at the Opera, all the way down to the perfect song. The speakers softly echoed the graceful piano as Freddy Mercury's golden vocals sang out:

"Love of my life, you've hurt me..
You've broken my heart, and now you leave me?"

Olivia smiles as Freddy sings his beautiful ballad.
"This is the music you like? I never would've thought."
"I listen to whatever my mood is," I reply. "Sometimes I need something slow and heavy, other times I need something I can bounce to, you know?"
"My pops was a big Queen fan. He would play the Live Aide concert all the time... Told it was 'the greatest rock concert of all time!' And he'd get this sparkle in his eye." She smiled in obvious memory of what once was.
She keeps using past tense. I think to myself. I think back to how she said she was in my position before. I decided it was best not to ask.
"I can't thank you enough." I say softly. "I haven't been treated so nicely by... By anyone really."
"Don't worry about it kid." She parks the car outside of a small one story house.
"Well, this is it! My abode! My secret lair!" She giggles and it puts a smile to my face. I get out the car with her and follow her in as she shows me around. "Your bed is right here she says pointing to the couch. Oh! The bathroom is down here so you can shower. I'll get you some sheets while you wash up." I nod and close the bathroom door behind me.
I wipe my curly hair behind my head as the shower pours down on me. My thoughts go to Jake. The way he caressed me before kissing me and how he lifted the armrest to lay his head on my shoulder afterwords. His fluffy brown hair was so soft and he really made a night I wouldn't forget. God I missed him. I was scared to tell him what happened. Scared that he'd feel responsible. So so scared of something unpredictable and uncontrollable. I dried off and examined myself in a steamy mirror. The stress caused me to breakout a bit but I'm sure it'll ease in a bit. I'd lost some weight recently too causing a few new stretch marks to show up on my arms. I wasnt looking as bad as I expected honestly. I put on some shorts and a tank top as I stepped out. Oliva was around the corner at a dinner table reading some murder mystery.
"I've got it all set up for you," she says motioning to to the couch. It had sheets and a blanket with some pillows ready for an unexpected guest to sleep on.
"Thanks a ton Olivia... I really owe you"
"You don't owe me nothing, kid." She smiled to me. "Now get some rest cuz it's late"
I laid on the couch and fell asleep quick. Dreaming of what tomorrow would be like.

To be continued.

Author's note:
Hi guys! So I really felt like it'd be nice to write a bit for therapeutic reasons and get a story I really really like out. I hope you guys enjoy this because I am loving it :)