"I'm going? You mean it, mom? And he'll show up? They won't stop him?" I nearly jump out of my seat.
"Yes. Saturday. I'll take you and Tank's mom will take him. As long as one parent is supervising, they agreed to it," mom says.
"And we can be open! And... this is crazy!" I am so excited.
"We will be there to make sure you don't do anything you... well that you wouldn't do in front of us," mom laughs.
"It's super weird to go on a date with our moms. It feels like a weird old timey thing! Who does that?" I was too excited to care.
"Mormons." Mom shrugs. This was her explanation for anything weird we ran across in Arizona.
"I don't care. It's fine. They'll get a chance to see us together and see that I'm good for him. They'll like me. I will win them over," I declare. I am now on a mission.
"Oh honey. Their shit has zero to do with you. They love you. They don't even blame you for him being gay. They're working through their own issues. You are not responsible for that. I don't want you even thinking this has anything to do with you being good enough or not!" Mom looks at me with concern.
"My little one is not the problem," dad echoes.
"And that leads us to OUR condition of you dating Tank," mom sighs.
"What? Conditions? Ok, fine. Whatever you guys want," I am not going to argue when I'm winning here.
"There's a support group for gay youth. They even have a teen group specifically for boys your age across the valley. They have a counselor there and they do fun things. It will be a chance for you to connect with kids your age who understand what you're going through." Mom offers that smile that begs me to accept this.
"Oh... kay," I say.
She knows very well that things didn't go so great in my high school's attempt at a diversity group entitled "LGBTQ and You!" It was supposed to be a mix of the lgbtq kids with straight kids who were allies.
It was messy from the first week when one of the guys who was already dating another guy got friendly with me. His boyfriend freaked out and got the others in the group against me.
On top of that, the alpha-bro-superjock, Sean, showed up in week three. After picking on me throughout grades 6 through 8 he decided to come out in his freshman year. Not only did the group welcome him with open arms, the whole high school practically threw him a pride parade.
We ignored each other for the first few meetings, but then they gave him a bravery award at the first pep rally. He got up there, took the microphone, and then talked about how hard his struggle was. He talked about being worried all through junior high that he wouldn't be accepted. He failed to mention that he had made junior high much worse for me.
I stopped going to the alliance club after that because I'd gotten into the advanced orchestra. Practice just happened to coincide with the meetings so I was off the hook. Since then I had waved off attempts to get me to a group.
"It's a laid-back place. We called and talked to the lead counselor. They are excited to have you! I know you'll make friends there. It will help you to step away from everything going on here. Ok?" Mom looked hopeful.
"I will take you. I wait at the window like I do your first day of kindergarten. Your mean teacher makes us to leave even though you cry. But I wait outside and look in the window until you are playing happy with the other kids." Dad nods his head confidently.
YOU ARE READING
Hayden's Shelter
Teen Fiction[BoyXBoy] - Not-Quite-16 year old Hayden Davis finds himself seeking shelter in the Arizona desert with his mom after his dad's deportation and the fall of the Orange County business Empire his parents had built. He's working with his mom to get th...
