“You’re gay, Noah?” Timothy asked, trying not to smile but also trying not to be weirded out.
“Yeah… Sorry if that was something I was supposed to tell you,” he said, sounding offended that he asked.
Timothy gulped, “What? No, I don’t have a problem with gay people.” He looked at Ned and Lily, “Do you guys have a problem with gay people?”
Lily laughed, “I love Noah! We have been friends since forever. I know God has a place for him somewhere if he repents.”
“What the fuck do I care?” Ned asked, not really looking in anyone’s direction.
However, Noah looked mortified at the thought of someone asking if they were ok with him being gay. “I have to go to the bathroom,” and he stood up from the table and left his tray.
Timothy had a bad feeling that he might have said something stupid.
CHAPTER THREE
NOAH
He just needed a moment alone. Noah wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about this Timothy kid asking him about his sexuality. It was just weird. He had gone so long being known as the homo or queer kid and not queer in the reclaiming sense that he was put off by being asked if he was gay or not. Especially by a boy like Timothy. A guy with really nice eyes and a really hot voice.
The door opened, and Noah quickly turned and looked up to see who it was. He was sort of shocked. “Um, hey,” Timothy said.
“Uh, hi,” he said back.
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable out there,” Timothy explained.
Noah shrugged, “It’s nothing. I’m just used to people already knowing and either tolerating or hating me because of it.”
Timothy leaned up against the sink, “Don’t people just downright accept it?”
“I mean, my family does. The woman who owns the book shop is cool with it. Otherwise, not so much. Do you know Mrs. Barker? She is lowkey one of the bigger homophobes of the school,” Noah explained.
“That somehow doesn’t surprise me. Your friend Lily is um interesting,” he explained.
The blond boy rubbed his forehead again, “Yeah… I mean, we’ve known each other since preschool. I’ve known Ned since preschool, and yes, they have always been like that. I’ve got good news for you. You’re probably going to find your forever soulmate rather quickly around here. Probably at church,” Noah explained.
The brown-haired boy laughed, “Well, I go to Temple, not church. I’m Jewish.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t tell people about that around here. Regardless if you tell people, be expected to get invited to a lot of Christian youth groups,” Noah explained.
“I think I’m good. Do you go to one?” Timothy asked back.
Noah nodded his head, “Sort of, I mean, I’m not anti-religion, like people for whatever reason assume. My youth group is a little more accepting, though, as opposed to the mega church that meets in the auditorium on Saturday and Sundays.”
“Is that even legal for a church service to be held at a public school?” Timothy asked.
Noah shrugged, “Not entirely sure, not going to be the one to ask, though.”
“So, when did you come out as gay?” Timothy wondered.
Noah felt weird talking about this with someone who was practically a stranger. Especially a really cute stranger. He was not sure if Timothy was straight or not, and he was uncertain of how to approach the subject of the brunet’s sexuality. Yet, he wanted to ask. He really wanted to, but he had grown up in a community where you didn’t ask those kinds of questions. He came out on his own terms. Asking someone else if they happened to be gay was not socially acceptable. At least not in Kansas, unless the person asking had a ghost costume at home. “A couple of years ago, I just got sick of people asking me why I didn’t have a girlfriend,” Noah explained. Apparently, Noah was considered attractive enough to have a girlfriend. He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. He didn’t know if it meant that he was considered above average in the looks department or if he was just not ugly enough not to have a girlfriend.
“It’s cool that you are able to express yourself for who you are,” Timothy said with a smile on his face.
Noah looked at himself in the mirror, wearing a rather generic outfit. He owned two pairs of cowboy boots back at the house. His purple shoes were a little showier than most, but otherwise, there was nothing about him that screamed queer or queer culture. “I guess I am,” he said with uncertainty.
Timothy smiled at him, “You are able to be yourself. That’s more than most people.”
“I’m going to be honest. I’m shocked that you didn’t find a new group of friends in the last mod to have lunch with. On rare occasions, I’m made a study buddy for a new student, and they always find a new group rather quickly.” Noah didn’t even think it had anything to do with him being gay. He thought it had to do with the fact that he wasn’t entirely over-enthusiastic about anything.
The brunet boy started to laugh, “I mean, I hope it is ok that I had lunch with you today.”
“Oh yeah, no, it is perfectly fine. I just wish that Lily and Ned hadn’t been there.” Why did he just say that?
“Yeah, I’m not going to lie. They seem a little off, to be honest,” Timothy admitted.
That was the understatement of the century. Noah was not entirely sure if he would consider Ned a friend or just Lily’s boyfriend. He was not even entirely sure why he continued to spend time with Lily. When they were younger, they had been close, but by eighth grade, Noah had turned into her gay best friend even before he had come out. He was not her best friend but her gay best friend. Her parents were definitely fond of him for that reason. Yet, at the same time, they were. They clearly wanted him to be Ned. In the sense that they wanted him to be with Lily instead of Ned. Why? He assumed because they would not be having sex.
Apparently, Noah could be gay so long as it meant he would not have sex with their daughter.
“Lily means well, I guess. Ned is… I don’t know. They will probably get married before twenty-one. Just like my brother and his girlfriend will,” Noah explained.
“Oh, your brother is married?” Timothy asked.
Noah sighed, “No… Not yet, but I’m going to be an uncle in a couple of months.”
The East Coast boy nodded, “Oh… That’s cool.”
“That’s this town for you…” He was sure that in a month, Timothy would have some girl all over him day and night, and they would be on the verge of marriage by the end of their senior year and probably expecting a child of their own. He was sure that in Connecticut, that would be horrible to think. Here, it was also horrible to think, but why prolong the inevitable to your thirties when you can just get pregnant outside of high school? That’s what happened to Brick. Brick was actually a pretty smart guy, which was the sad thing.