Moving Forward

Chapter Eleven

"Good morning, Zachary!" was the first thing I said when I entered the classroom. I saw him jump at my sudden greeting and I laughed before taking my seat next to him. "Beautiful weather we have today, don't you think?"

"Well, the sun is partially out today so that's a good sign," Zach said, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. I rolled my eyes at his seriousness. It can be difficult for him to distinguish sarcasm or joke from a serious tone. "Could you just get straight to the point?"

I chuckled nervously. Sometimes he can be a little too observant. "I've no idea what you're talking about, Zach." The dead look he gave me was enough to make me give in. "Okay, fine. I do have a question to ask you?"

"I'll answer it as honestly as I can," he replied. He always says that whenever someone doesn't ask him right away.

"Right," I cleared my throat. Here goes nothing. "Are you really okay with us?"

"I'm your friend. Of course I'm okay with it. I don't see it as an abomination like certain people." At that, he shot a look behind his back at every student seated.

"Good!" I said, still unsure. "Then, um, could you tell me why you always seem uncomfortable during lunch?"

This time Zach tensed up. He averted his gaze to his notebook and fiddled with his pen. If he dares lie now he'd be breaking his statement. I know Zach hates lying and breaking promises or the sort. Which is why he created his statement. "I... It's been obvious?"

"Yep," I nodded. He sighed before opening his notebook and tearing out a piece of paper having dictated the reasoning is too bad to say out loud. Now I'm worried. A few seconds later, he slipped the page to me.

'Remember how Kade and Kaleb had left lunch early because of tutoring?' His neat handwriting said. I picked up my pencil after I thought about it and scribbled back my response.

'Yeah, why?' I watched Zach write something down, change his mind and erase it, write again, erase again, and so forth. Until finally after about a full minute he gave it back.

'The classroom right across from the one you and Sandra had gone in was occupied by them. I was leaning on the wall beside their door and heard rather peculiar noises... Curiosity got the best of me and I peeked inside through the small window.'

'And so... ?' Zach's face seemed scared and nervous while he wrote down the next thing.

'The lights were off so I wasn't able to see much, but I know what I saw. They... were doing it.'

Staring down at the paper, I almost failed to see Zach's face turning red at the memory. I was confused as to what he meant by 'doing it' until I noticed his face. My eyes widened as well.

"My brother--!?" I started beyond shock. My older brother was having sexual relations with my ex? No, he must be mistaken. Kupkake is straight and if I remember correctly when I would first bring Kaleb home, he would glare at him and give him the cold shoulder. Seeing Zach nod furiously while staring at his desk made me think even deeper. After a few weeks, I had rejected Kaleb's request for sex. Kade had to intervene when he almost got violent and drag him out of the house. As far as I remember, Kade had to knock him out cold and was ordered by our parents to take him home since he was the one who harmed him even if it was for my sake. He didn't come home until the next morning and he avoided all of us when he came back. He simply locked himself in his room and refused to come out until a few days later. Since then, he never seemed as confident as he used to be...

And he's been at Kaleb's hip like a lost puppy.

I gritted my teeth in anger. Kaleb had to have threatened Kade. Kade used to be the captain of the football team but because of his sudden lack of confidence, the torch was passed to Kaleb. Whenever Kade wants to be on his own, Kaleb always follows him and Kade comes back more frightened than before. Kade's grades had started dropping to low B's despite his clean record of straight A+. I wouldn't be surprised if by the time I was disowned to now his grades drooped down to C's. Mom and dad would be furious which would not help Kade's situation. Why did Kade lose confidence? Why is he so insecure? More importantly, why is he doing that with Kaleb, a guy?