"George, are you sure you're okay?"

My father was sitting across from me at the dinner table. My mom had a late shift today, so it was just us two in the house, plus my happy little bean curled up on the couch.

"Yeah, Dad, I'm fine," I assured him for the thousandth time. 

He heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright. Just know that your mother and I support you 100%, and no one should hate you for who you like."

"I know." I took a small bite of my dinner. "He was just trying to provoke us anyway."

"Are you really just going to let this go? I mean, I'm sure I could probably ask the school to punish him-"

"I'm not letting it go, I'm just... Clay and Nick fucked him up bad enough, you know?"

"Language," he said sternly.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"But still... I can't forgive him for calling you those things."

"You think I can? The only reason I'm not suspended too is because Clay got to him first."

We stared at each other for a tense moment before I spoke again. "Listen, Dad, I don't want to cause any more trouble. I've heard his family, like, presses charges on some of the people who fight back. If Jack gets suspended or something, what if Clay or Nick..?"

"That's... I hate to say it, but they are probably in their right to do that. So, you're sure you don't want to do anything?"

"Yes," I said, exasperated.

He sighed, looking defeated. "You're a good person, George."

"Um... Thanks."

We ate the rest of our dinner in silence, and after washing some dishes, I promptly left for my room. My cat followed, hopping down from the couch as my dad sat down next to where he was. As I entered my room, I let my cat dash through the door before closing it. To my dismay, though, he immediately hopped on my gaming chair, curling up on the seat. I tried shooing him off, but he didn't budge, so I collapsed on my bed in defeat.

After contemplating what I should do for a while, I decided to take an early shower. I grabbed my pajamas from my dresser and headed to the bathroom, turning on the water to a fairly hot temperature and stripping down. 

I stepped into the scalding water, happy to be in my own shower for once. I took my time to make sure I was thoroughly clean, carefully scrubbing my ankle that had been twisted. It barely hurt anymore, though, so it wasn't too much hassle.

Once I finished my shower, I stepped out and dried off, turning off the water. I threw on my pajamas and took my old clothes with me to my room, where I tossed them on the floor. My cat had still not moved from my chair, so I scooped him up and put him on my lap as I turned on my PC.

"Baby," I said softly, petting his head. Now that I was here, though, he didn't want to be with me, so he wriggled out of my arms and dashed away.

"Why don't you like me?" I sighed, returning my attention to my monitor. Once Discord loaded, I saw that Clay was offline. He was almost always online at this time of night, so I knew that he was grounded for sure.

Nick, however, was still online, so I talked with him for a bit. We eventually decided to play Minecraft together for a little bit, jumping on Hypixel and doing some casual SkyWars. Neither of us was particularly amazing at PvP, but we did win a few rounds. After one of these victories, we sat in the lobby for a while longer than usual, talking.

"How'd your parents take it?" I asked.

"They pretty much blamed Jack for everything and were chill with what I did, so I basically get a week off," he said, nonchalantly.

I shook my head. "Not really. I mean, you still have work to do."

He winced audibly. "Ugh, don't remind me. Mrs. Blaire's making me go to get my work every day at like 4 PM. Actually, speaking of Mrs. Blaire..."

"What?" 

"I heard her have a huge argument with Mrs. O'Perra the other day. After you went to sleep. I meant to tell you yesterday, but we were separated all day, so I kinda forgot."

"Oh. Who won?"

"I dunno for sure. I mean, it sounded like Mrs. O'Perra wanted to punish you too, but Mrs. Blaire was defending you. I know I heard Mrs. Blaire call her a 'bigot,' though. It was pretty cool."

"Really? I wonder... I always suspected that she had something against me, but I never knew why. But... maybe she's a homophobe?"

"She should be fucking fired," Nick said indignantly.

I was too tired from these kinds of conversations to make a meaningful debate about the topic, so I just hummed in agreement. I heard muffled talking on his end before he suddenly said, "Looks like I have to go. Good night."

"'Night. Talk to you tomorrow." There was a small ping as Nick left the call and I did the same. Even though it was only 9 PM, I didn't have anyone else to talk to and little else to do, so I opted to just go to sleep for the night. As I crawled under my covers and turned my lights off, I thought about how I'd come clean to Clay about my crush. But first, I'd have to wait until we can see each other again.

Here's to hoping that time is sooner rather than later.

--

Monday morning was refreshingly average. I got dressed groggily before heading downstairs to grab some cereal. It seemed like my dad was still asleep, so I quietly slipped out of the house after finishing my breakfast. The brisk morning air bit at my arms as clouds speckled the dim sky. My walk was otherwise uninteresting, and soon, I had reached the large, brick building of my school.

My day seemed depressing without my two closest friends with me. Although I had Bad, Zak, and Alex, they still stayed to themselves mostly and were in a lot of separate classes. This left me alone for most of the day.

Before leaving for lunch, Mrs. Blaire came over. "George, can I talk to you for a second?"

It was phrased as a question, but it seemed like an order. "Um... sure."

"Alright. Bring your lunch."

I nodded, grabbing my bag and following her to her classroom. As we walked in, she took her seat at her desk and indicated me to bring a chair and sit across from her. I brought up the nearest desk chair and sat in front of her, pulling out my lunch and unpacking it. Mrs. Blaire brought out a small Tupperware for herself but didn't open it.

"So, I should probably tell you what's going on. Normally, you'd be having this talk with your guidance counselor, but she's already having meetings with Clay and Jack, so I'm filling in. First, I want to make sure that you're alright."

"What do you mean?" I asked, taking a bite of my sandwich.

"Well... Those words Jack said were incredibly hurtful, so I'm worried."

"It's just some stupid words. He wasn't even putting meaning behind them," I said, willfully.

Mrs. Blaire looked concerned. "There's no shame in being hurt by those things, George."

"I know. They do hurt, but I got over it."

"Well... if you're alright, there's really nothing to worry about. Just feel free to talk to me if you want."

"I will," I assured her, truthfully.

After a little more friendly discussion, we both finished our lunch. The bell rang just as we finished cleaning up, so I grabbed my stuff and prepared to go to my desk for English. I looked out the window and saw that the slight cloudiness of earlier had turned into a full overcast; it looked like it was about to pour.

I sat anxiously through my class until the final bell rang and I dashed out of the school building. It was definitely going to rain, so I needed to get home as soon as possible. As I approached my house, I felt small drops of rain start to fall on me, so I hustled up the road. I had just managed to reenter before the skies opened up, rain slashing the pavement and thudding on the windows.

"Just in time," my dad chuckled, sitting at the kitchen table.

I kicked off my shoes and tossed my backpack by the door. My cat came up to my ankles and purred, so I scooped him up gently and sat down on the couch to watch the rainfall with him.

After a few minutes, my phone buzzed. I checked it and saw that my mom had texted me and asked me to meet her at the door. I assumed she had gotten groceries or something and wanted help, so I stepped to the door and opened it.

My mom was there, but in front of her, face to face with me at the door, was...

"Clay!?"

"George, um... Can I tell you something?"

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