Page 18 of Behind the Lights

He sat back, rubbing his palms on his pants. “I came out to my mom a couple of months ago.”

“You what?” I yelled bolting up. “You could have fucking told me! Remember me, your best friend?”

“I didn’t tell you for the same reason you didn’t want to share your little Lucas Shane sob story with me. So fucking what? You saw a hot dude and you popped a boner. Still doesn’t explain how you got sent to the principal’s office.”

“How’d you know you were, you know, into dudes?” I asked.

“How’d I know I was gay? That’s a long story for another day. Quit stalling and tell me what happened.” Seemed I hit a nerve, I’d have to tackle that question some other time.

“Well, while I was staring at Lucas and dealing with my hormonal blip, Mr. Reed called me up to finish whatever he wrote on the chalkboard. I panicked and told him ‘no thanks, I’m good’ and he handed me a pass and told me to go to the office, which I obviously didn’t do.” Frustrated, I sat back down.

Stoli was laughing his ass off. Literally grabbing his sides and rolling over on the couch. “That’s so great.”

“That is so not great and stop laughing, asshole.” I couldn’t help but smile. In hindsight, it was a stupidly funny story. “Dude, seriously, you’re gay?”

“Yeah. You okay with that?” He eyed me, challenging me to answer otherwise.

“I just told you I got a hard on for some random guy and you’re asking if I’m okay with you being gay? Didn’t I just basically tell you the same thing about me?” I hollered back at him.

“Yeah, more or less I guess. You could be bi.” My suddenly outgoing best friend was showing a shy side I’d never seen before.

“I’ve never gotten a rise from a female before so that theory still stands to be tested. My dad is gonna freak when he finds out.” The thought of telling my dad made me want to pack up everything I owned and run away.

“Highly unlikely. Would you feel better if you talked to my mom first?”

Stoli knew his mom had a way of calming me down. I should probably tell my dad first, but Mary would help me figure out the best way to handle that situation.

“I guess. I’m nervous as hell about anyone finding out.” My palms were sweaty, and my mouth was dry, but I knew she’d be able to help me.

We walked slowly next door, far too slow for his liking. “Come on, you’ll see you are way over thinking it.”

“Dude Brett’s here.” I stopped and pointed at his car in the driveway.

“So what? Trust me, he’s cool and he lives here now. Remember?” He trotted ahead of me.

When I reached the door, he was already holding it open for me. My heart was racing, and I thought I was having a heart attack.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” Brett asked as we stepped inside.

“Good. Where’s my mom? Joey needs to talk to her,” Ricky told him.

“I’m in our room, be down in a minute,” she hollered from upstairs.

“It’s gonna be fine,” Stoli whispered from beside me.

I nodded, more to myself than to him.

“Hi boys, what’s up?” she asked us.

“Joey wants to know if he can talk to you about something.” He spoke for me, which right then I was thankful for. Now if I could only get inside his head and tell him what to say next.

“Okay, have a seat.” She pointed to the loveseat as she joined Brett on the couch.

“Uh, so, um I sort of need your help. And since you’re kinda like a mom to me, I was hoping you could give me some advice on how to handle my dad,” I began, purposely keeping the details vague.

“Handle your dad with regard to what?” She was skeptical, and I understood why. “Are you in trouble?”

“Nah Mom, it’s nothing like that,” Stoli told her.

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