He accepted me so quickly that I thought I was dreaming. I almost cried when he said that; almost cried when he said he loved me and that he wasn't disgusted, appalled, by who I was. He took me out for ice cream afterwards, as if he was trying to start making up for what he'd done within the past few years. There was a nearby Dairy Queen so we took Darcy out as well. I was actually beginning to forget about Becca and the soon-to-be problems with Chris and whatever girl he was smacking lips with. It's not like they could do much worse to me; some people hated me because of my sexuality but they just didn't associate themselves with me. I didn't have anything to lose. Jaz and a few of her friends were the only ones who opened their mouths about anything to do with me. Yes, Thomas was kind of my only friend (and now Becca), but if I had any more friends I wouldn't know what to do with them. I should've stopped complaining about not having any other friends before I got exactly what I asked for.

On the walk back to the house, Dad and I caught up. I mentioned that a few girls still bullied me about it, and that's why I never had anyone over, except Thomas.

"Any crushes?" He suddenly asked.

A blush crept up and burned my cheeks. I thought it was sad that just the thought of Becca made me feel like this; like I was so in love that I wouldn't be able to function if she ever kissed me. It made me feel a little dependent and I hated that.

"Yeah I kind of like this girl who goes to my school."

"Is she," he hesitated. "Like you?"

"No I don't think so. But a girl can dream."

"You'll find the right girl Parker. I hope you'll love each other as much as I loved your mother."

I didn't verbally respond, but I nodded. I knew how he felt about my mother, and probably still did. It had been going on three and a half years since she decided that she didn't want to be a part of our family anymore. I assumed that even if he didn't bury himself in his work all the time, he wouldn't be dating in his free time. He was definitely heartbroken. Anyone would be if they started a family with someone they thought was their soul mate, and said soul mate left without a word, without any further contact other than the divorce papers and a copy of a signed relinquishing of parental rights. We both loved my mother very much; I think even Darcy was sad that she was gone.

For the first time in months I fell asleep with a smile on my face, finally happy, finally content.

I was conflicted on how I should've felt seeing Becca in Econ on Monday. Normally I'd be elated, because her simple presence brightened my day, but just yesterday I ruined her relationship. However, I did take notice that she didn't really seem upset to see her significant other cheating on her. That confused me, based on my knowledge of most high school relationships or any relationships really. No one wanted to be cheated on.

My heart finally decided how I felt when Becca walked into the room. It started to pound so loudly I was sure Jaz would say something about it two rows behind me. Mrs. Owens spoke to her before she came and sat in the seat next to me. It was still a few minutes before the bell rang so Mrs. Owens went out into the hallway to make sure students weren't lingering.

"Hey Parker." she smiled at me and put her bag on the ground.

"Hey." I smiled back. "You look great today."

I couldn't believe I let that slip. It was normal for people to compliment their friend's appearance but I wasn't straight and I wanted Becca to be more than a friend.

"All thanks to you. You really shouldn't have bought all this for me."

Like before, it didn't sound like she meant it and someone could take the 'shy' look on her face for a sarcastic smirk.

"I wanted to."

"Wait, are you saying I don't look great every day?" she teased.

My cheeks flushed as I struggled to answer her. I wanted to just come out and say how amazing she looked every single time I saw her; how naturally beautiful she was inside and out. She spoke again, saving me from making a big mistake.

"I'm just kidding Park. Mrs. Owens wanted me to tell you that I'll be tutoring you until you get your grades up. I hope you're okay with that?"

"Oh no that's great."

Who would complain about spending time with you?

"Okay cool. I'll need your number so we can set up times to meet and stuff." She unlocked her phone and gave it to me. I put in my number and saved my contact. "No emoji? How boring."

She tapped a couple times and I assumed she was adding them. My iPhone buzzed on top of my desk and it expectantly was from Becca.

"Wow lesbo finally got a text." Jaz said behind me. "It's probably from her slutty mother."

Before Becca could even open her mouth I stood and turned to Jaz. I held up a hand to stop Becca from saying anything for me when I saw her getting up as well.

"What did you just say?" I asked.

I actually wanted her to say it again to fuel my anger. I wasn't the violent type, and I always tried to not let Jaz get under my skin but saying something about my mom just crossed the line.

"You heard me dyke," she stood as well and our faces met above her desk. "I said you got a message from your whore mother. I heard she cheated on your dad with every man at her job. That's probably not even your real father."

Before she could get another word out my hand smacked her cheek. She was wearing heels again, and lost her balance. I got on top of her, not caring how it looked to everyone else. I held her arms above her head.

"I can take whatever you have to say about me Jaz, but say one more word about my parents and I can't promise that I won't end your life."

I got off of her just as the bell rang, resisting the urge to spit in her face. I'd never been this fired up before. I was back in my seat before Mrs. Owens came back into the room. Mrs. Owens called on Jaz while she began to gather everything for today's lesson. I turned and glared at her with fire in my eyes.

"Uh nothing, never mind."

"Alright well let's start the class then."

At the mall, I thought Jaz understood the situation perfectly. She didn't heed Becca's warning as she should've so the incident was her fault. I didn't really get why Jaz felt the need to out me, or felt the need to continuously bother me about my sexuality. It's not like it was any of her business anyway. I guess when she noticed that I wouldn't do anything to stand up to her, she figured it was okay to keep bullying me. Bullies don't stop until the victim stops it. I hated seeing myself as a victim. I was stronger than that, which I proved today. The only thing I would change was how I handled the situation – through violence. I could only be thankful that she was too snobby to physically do anything; verbal insults were the only thing being thrown at me. I guess what I did was really unfair, because I knew she wouldn't fight back.

After class, I noticed that Becca was waiting for me instead of leaving right away with Chris as she usually did.

"I'm sorry my threats didn't work," She said when we were the only two left in the room.

"It's fine. Now that I finally stood up to her maybe she'll leave me alone."

"I would. Did you hear how hard you hit her?"

"I got her good then, huh?" I asked, gathering my own things and putting them in my bag.

"You definitely did," She and I entered the hallway. "I'm really proud of you Parker."

"Thanks. I can't let you fight all of my battles I think I should have my share," I joked.

"Hey, 'Jaz battles' are a lot of work. You want those back? You can have them." We both laughed and found ourselves walking the rest of our journey in silence.

I found myself frowning when I realized I reached English as soon as I did. Becca wasn't in this class with me, but I knew I'd see her later at Rizzo's.

"Well this is my destination. I'll see you later?" I asked.

"Yeah, see you."

She gave me a heart-stopping grin and walked down the hallway alone. I'll admit I watched her until she disappeared into the sea of students. Gladly, no one noticed. I don't know why I thought someone would be paying attention to me anyway. I sat in my assigned seat, next to some girl whose name I didn't know. We'd sat next to each other since the first day and never had so much as a conversation.

"Did you really fight Jaz Carey?"

"Where did you hear that?" I asked as I pulled my binder from my book bag.

"I saw the video on Twitter."

Well if you saw me in the video why would you ask? I shook my head internally.

"Let me see it," I demanded. She pulled up the video and I watched myself argue with Jaz, slap her, and pin her down.

"Was that real?"

"Yeah," I said curtly. I was literally biting my tongue so I wouldn't say something sarcastic.

"Wow. You're kind of amazing Parker," She held out her hand to me. "I'm Jordan."

"Nice to meet you," I shook her hand, not asking how she knew my name.

I wasn't expecting her to keep talking to me but I took in her appearance while she did. Jordan was white, and her hair was brown and very short. She was following the trend of the shaved side but it looked good on her. Her eyes were brown also. She looked like every other plain Jane around the school, but there was something about her big doe eyes.

"Everyone is gonna bother you now, you know, want to be friends with you," she said, pulling me back to the conversation. She'd probably been speaking this whole time.

"Why?"

"Because you're the only person who's ever fought Jaz, let alone stood up to her. You have balls, and people like that."

"These same people avoid me for being gay."

"It's high school. Everyone's judgmental but if you're popular they forget anything you did wrong in the first place. Enjoy it while you can," She advised.

We didn't speak after the bell rang. I could feel her looking at me throughout the class. She looked like she still had something to say but I didn't and I'd probably have nothing to say back. A few periods later, as I made my way out of the building for the day, I realized that Jordan was right. I was being approached by the same people who laughed at me throughout the Homecoming disaster and shunned me in the halls. The same people who pretended I no longer existed were practically begging to hang out with me this week. I tried my best to ignore them and eventually got to my car where I waited for Thomas to go to work.

"Hey superstar. Nice paparazzi team you have here," Thomas said.

"Shut it Thomas."

We got in my car with Thomas throwing a few wrappers into the parking lot that were in the passenger's seat.

"I saw the video. Didn't know you had it in you."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"I think so," he paused and buckled as I pulled out of the space I'd parked in. "Anyway, why aren't you in trouble? Didn't Jaz say something?"

"She was going to tell Mrs. Owens until I gave her a death stare that probably could've ended her existence if looks could actually kill."

"What's gotten into you?" he asked with pure amusement in his voice.

"Nothing. I'm just done being bullied. Today, she just went too far."

"Did she say something worse than usual? I mean, she can't come up with much; her worst is calling you lesbo or dyke."

"She thought it would be okay with talking about my parents. I can handle her talking about me, but my family is crossing the line."

We were at a light that turned red. We left later than our usual time and if lights kept turning red, we'd be late for our shift.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked slowly.

"Go ahead," I replied. A little Q and A would allow a distraction from the fact that our time was running low.

"What happened to your mom?"

"She's gone," I answered simply. It wasn't a lie at least.

"Gone where?"

"You said something, as in one thing. If I wanted to play 21 questions, I'd let you know," I snapped.

That kept him silent for the rest of the short drive. I felt a little bad but he was butting into my private business that wasn't any of his concern.

"Sorry I wanted to know something about my best friend," He muttered as we got out of my car.

I pretended not to hear and went into the back to change my shirt. I groaned when I realized I left my name tag at home. Hopefully neither Will nor Michaela would notice. Thomas and I were quiet in between the strings of customers that flowed in. The silence was making me uncomfortable; we hardly ever fought, and when we did it never resulted in the silent treatment. I was about to say something regardless of the fact that he was probably mad at me but Becca came in to order her drink.

"The usual?" Thomas asked before she spoke.

"Yeah, I guess I should've known you guys would know my order by now."

She laughed a little, smiled too, and Thomas and I kept straight faces. The shop was quiet today so the only sound was me pouring and mixing the drink, and the light jazz in the background.

"Is everything okay? I mean, I know Jaz-" Becca asked when I got to her table.

"No it's not Jaz. I'm fine," I said.

"You two are pretty quiet today."

"Yeah," I agreed. I wasn't going to say anything else. Becca liked answers though, and I knew she wouldn't stop until she got them.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I guess this was her way of prying without demanding answers in an obvious and rude way. She seemed so caring as she asked me this.

She is caring. You like that about her, why are you being skeptical? She doesn't have ulterior motives.

"No I'm fine. Just a little argument."

"Little?" I turned when Thomas nudged his way into the conversation. "I asked you one question and you're acting like I asked you to kill someone for me. I know you're a private person but it's normal for someone to want to know things about their best friend."

"Come on guys, don't fight. You two have been best friends for a very long time. Maybe she just isn't ready to share what you want to know," Becca said, trying to justify my actions.

"Becca..." I wanted to warn her before she too got into an argument with Thomas. Once he started there was no stopping him. He'd always been that way, which is why I tried my best to avoid confrontation with him. That included steering him away from conversations about my family.

"Rebecca I suggest you stay out of this. This is not your business," he said.

"I'm not trying to pick a fight I just want to help."

"Your help isn't wanted sweetheart. Go put your nose into someone else's problems, or rather, don't you have problems of your own you should be paying attention to? Actually, I've been meaning to ask, how's that boyfriend of yours? Chris, right?"

One thing I hated about Thomas was his mouth when he got angry; he had no filter. I could only be thankful that no one else happened to be in the shop. Thomas would be fired for sure.

"Thomas, stop." I knew he said that last part to really hurt her. It wasn't just about this conversation but about Chris cheating on her. I felt like it was only right for me to try to protect Becca.

"Why? She wants to help; I'm letting her know where she can be helpful. It's definitely not here. This is between me and you, is it not? When she gets rung into our problem circle I'll politely drag her in. For right now, she needs to butt out. For someone so smart she should know when she's not wanted."

I yanked on his arm and pulled him from behind the counter into the back.

"Are you serious right now? I know we're fighting but don't bring Becca into this."

"Why not? You're practically in love with her, she probably knows all about your secret life. In fact, why don't we go ask her?"

"Stop it Thomas, she doesn't know anything. She kind of asked about my mom too and I didn't tell her anything. She was right though; this is something I'm not ready to share. My personal life is the only thing I have control of. But even that isn't entirely mine; Jaz ruined that. I will tell you when I am ready. You'll be the first to know but even if you can't forgive me, you need to go out there and apologize to Rebecca."

He rolled his eyes but went out to do it anyway. I was glad he knew his words were uncalled for.

"Rebecca, I am truly sorry for what I said to you," he sighed. "When I'm angry, I don't seem to... choose my words carefully. I don't really mean what I say."

He was lying, but he was doing it to be a good friend to me. When he was angry, he was like the drunk who said exactly what was on their mind.

"I'm sorry for interjecting. It's a problem I have; sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. I was only trying to protect Parker. It just seemed like you were attacking her."

"Amends?" He stuck out his hand for her to shake. She shook it, and gave him a small smile.

"Good, now that we're all made up, we can get back to work," He said and returned to his space behind the counter.

"We're made up too?" I asked.

"Yes we're made up too. I realized how unfair and rude I was being when we were arguing. But you know me, once I start."

"You don't stop," I finished for him.

"You know me too well."

"Well, maybe that's why we're best friends."