Page 26 of Hits Different

“Very funny”, I nod to the ‘Sexual Orientation’ heading, where he’s ticked ‘Gay’. “You’d better update that before I turn these in”.

I hand the clipboard back, but Brandon’s hands remain by his side.

“Carter?”

“That part’s not a joke. But I think you already know that”. He slips his hoodie back on. “If you want to talk about it, or to me, then you know where I’ll be. Just don’t give it another three years”.

He’s out the door before I can reply. I stand in silence.Brandon’s gay. This should feel like a bigger revelation than it is. But it’s not. Of course it’s not.

One minute we’re best friends. The next we’re complete strangers. Despite all the weirdness, one truth stands out.

The second I saw him, any thought I had about leaving Summit vanished from my mind.

Chapter 11

New Beginnings

Brandon

Okay. I know. Ticking a box on a medical release form isn’t exactly the mostcreativeway of coming out to your best friend, but the last time I told Parker I was gay it blew both of our lives up.

I can’t let that happen again. Not when things are going so well for him.

I leave reception and head out into the courtyard. I’m so in my head that I don’t even realise that I have no clue where I’m going until I reach a fork in the path. Fuck. Heading back to ask for directions feels like it’ll dilute my dramatic exit.

“Brandon Carter!” a semi-familiar voice calls out. A guy who looks like an older, more lived-in version of Parker, strolls cheerfully towards me. “Long time! Welcome to Summit”.

“Good to see you again, Simon”, I revert to my meeting-dads-friends-from-work voice. It’s rescued me from more than one socially awkward situation. “I was just admiring your facility”.

“It’s something, right? Home to the best and the brightest. Which includes you now, of course. Not that there was ever any doubt. Are you settling in?”

“Parker just ran through my induction with me”.

He frowns. “Parkerdid?”

I blink, and Simon lowers his voice. “Truthfully, I’m glad you’re here. Parker needs a good influence in his life. I take it he told you about college?” he carries on without waiting for me to reply. “His mother is beside herself. Parker, hi”, he waves over my shoulder. “We were just talking about you”.

Parker’s eyes dart suspiciously between me and his cousin.

I move to fill the silence before Simon can make things even more uncomfortable. “I was just saying how I regretted turning down your offer of a tour. I need to get my bags from my car. My sense of direction sucked even before the concussion”.

“Good thing I came to find you then”, Parker says slowly. “Let’s go”.

I nod goodbye to Simon, and hurry to follow Parker toward the car park. Inside, my mind is racing. What the hell happened at Parker’s college? He just said everything was awesome. Why would he lie to me?

I jog up to his side, accidentally brushing my fingers against his. “Sorry”.

He flexes his hand like it’s scalded, and carries on walking.

As we round the corner to the car park, a thought occurs to me. “Uh...Parker?” At the sound of my voice, the tension in his shoulders stretches the fabric of his polo shirt to breaking point.

“What is it, Carter?”

“Now might not be the best time to mention it, but my car’s not actually in the car park”. He stops so abruptly, and I’m so engrossed in, well, everything, that I almost crash straight into him. “I was having engine trouble, and I didn’t want to be late, so I just pulled into a side road and left it there”.

Parker inhales, shoots me a look that says, ‘you are all that is annoying in the universe’, and abruptly changes course.

I scramble to follow him. I don’t really know what I’m feeling, other than this is twice now that I’ve come out to Parker and both times it’s ended up with him walking away.

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