365 New Days

Chapter 16

"So, how should I do this?" Jacob asked Alex on the phone. He had been planning on telling his friends at some point but he would make excuses and as time went on he had forgotten all about it. It took a text from Alex to get him to remember and a lot of questions to get him ready.

"Just be casual. The others won't mind, obviously."

Jacob probably should have thought about that before he made himself overthink. There are two people in the group that are in the same boat as him so why was he so anxious?

"You sure you want to do this now? You have plenty of time to think it over."

"N-no, I want to get it over with and I'll probably just forget again anyway. This'll be good."

"'Kay, see you soon then Shy guy. You got this!"

"Yeah, I got this. Bye Alex." He hung up and continued walking to the playground.

Jacob found his friends on a table in a wooded area. It was fenced off from the rest of the playground and looked like it hadn't been touched for years. The trees towered above them and many branches that had been lost in storms or high winds had fallen to the ground. The ground was covered in long pine needled that had turned a light brown. It made a perfect hang out spot even with the frost covered seats. Dan was the first to notice him walk up the hill. "Hey man! What's-" he stopped and stared at Jacob. His eyes fixated on his hair. Everyone was looking at him as he sat down anxiously.

"W-what?"

"You cut your hair," Tina said stating the obvious. Everyone nodded.

"So?"

"So, you didn't tell us," Toby added. "Looks good though."

"Thanks? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Dan shrugged. "We kinda tell everyone everything here. So it was a surprise when you just showed up with the haircut."

"Well, I mean, I also didn't tell you I'm gay so, uh, if you don't really keep secrets, I guess I might as well let you know now..."

There was a collective cry from his friends."WHAT?"

Alex shot him a look from the other side of the table.

"You said to act casual!" He said with a shaky voice. "That was casual!"

"Not that kind of casual you dope!"

"I. Don't. Know. What. That. Means." He put emphasis on each word and put his head in his hands.

There was a long silence before mark said, "Ok, well, uh, we support you of course so there's no reason to worry about that. Does your Dad know yet?"

The mention of his father made his stomach churn. He got his music box out from his pocket. "No. Today was like a practice run. I didn't know how it would go and I figured telling you guys was easier than telling him. I-i don't know ok? This is just really confusing."

Alex walked behind him, hugging him with strong arms as he tensed up. Jacob soon gave up on being scared of her after a moment and sank into her hold, his head rested on her arm.

"Well, you did it." She said.

"Yeah..."

"You ok?"

"I'm fine."

Dan cleared his throat and got out a bag from his mom's bakery. "Want a cake pop?"

"...Sure."

"Hey! What about us?" Tina complained.

"Jacob gets his first."

The shaking boy let out a small laugh. "Was it like this for you guys too?"

Mark thought for a moment. "I was so scared I couldn't talk. It took me a while to actually get the words out and when I was done I'm pretty sure I started crying. Happy Tears though!" He added when he saw Jacobs face turn sympathetic. Tina, Toby, and Jacob looked at Alex for her story.

"They figured it out." She said simply gesturing toward Dan and Mark. "I don't know how but they did. I told Tina and Toby when they joined the group."

"Cool," Jacob said. "You're all cool."

Alex took a pop from the bag "You bet we are."

"Can I join the hug too?" Tina asked. Her normally peppy, the hyper attitude was now cautious and uncertain.

Jacob smiled, held out his arms and she ran to embrace him. He never hugged multiple people at once like this and he never felt comfortable enough to tell people about things as important as this. But in the cold woods, with his friends around him, he decided he could make a few exceptions.