New Place, New Feelings | Horrid Henry x Rude Ralph

[5] Bullies

Henry lay down on his bed, trying to think of a new plan. He was usually quite good at coming up with plans, but something at the back of his mind was bothering him and he couldn't figure out what it was.

A comic slid off Henry's bed as he rolled over, aggravated by this unknown thought that was distracting him. He sat up and grabbed the comic off the ground. "Maybe this will help me think of a plan..."

It happened to be one of the old Gross Class Zero comics, one of his favourites actually. Henry hadn't read it for a while, so he was quite happy to be reading it again.

As he turned the page, Henry heard a knock at his bedroom door. "Come in," he spoke, not looking up from his comic. The door opened for a brief moment before clicking closed again, and someone walked over and sat on the end of the bed. Henry could tell it was Peter from his soft footsteps.

"What is it, worm?" he asked in a rather friendly tone, placing his comic down.

"Er... I have a question," Peter mumbled awkwardly.

"Well what is it?"

"What does gay mean?"

Henry raised an eyebrow at Peter. "Where'd you hear that?"

"W-well... Mean Mike said it to me at break today... and I heard you say it earlier too, when I came back from getting the biscuits."

Henry blinked. "Mike called you gay?" Mike was the tallest boy in Peter's class, and was mean to everyone - though Peter was known to be one of his main victims. He had no friends, but that didn't bother him.

"Yeah." Peter confirmed. "What does it mean?"

"Er, it means when a boy likes a boy," Henry answered.

"But almost all boys are friends with other boys!" Peter replied, causing his older brother to facepalm.

"Not like that, you idiot! I mean in a... well... a love sort of way."

"Oh," said Peter, now understanding. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, I suppose it isn't. But some people don't like it." Henry started to feel a bit... strange. He had never really thought about this topic before. He just grew up with the idea that being gay was 'weird' and that was that. But thinking about it now, he didn't understand what was so bad about it.

"Why don't people like it?" Peter asked. Henry shrugged.

"They're called homophobes, and they want everyone to be straight and 'normal' or something like that."

"Is straight the opposite of gay?"

"Yeah." Henry looked at Peter. "Why do you keep asking so many questions?"

"I'm just curious," Peter replied, looking out of the window. Henry picked his comic back up and continued reading.

"Wait," Peter said suddenly.

"What is it now?"

"Did Brian think you were gay?!"

"...yes."

There was a short silence. Peter looked at Henry. Henry looked at his comic.

"...are you?"

Henry moved his comic down slightly so he could look at Peter.

"Am I what?"

"Are you gay?"

"Er, no," Henry looked back at his comic awkwardly. He had never been attracted to a girl... then again, he was pretty certain he had never been attracted to a boy either. That would be weird.