Collin frowned in sympathy, “So, you still plan on coming up for Thanksgiving and Christmas, right?”
Timothy smiled, “Yeah, that is the plan as of now. We’ll hang out every free minute that we get away from our families. It’s so weird to be away from you guys.” It really was. If he wasn’t at home, he was with either Collin or Phillip, or both, or Tara. That was their friendship. Timothy was still angry at his parents for breaking apart their friendship. He knew that they were just trying to do what was best for the family but still. There are parts of his life that he was starting to realize about himself, and he would have rather explored them with Phillip and Collin and even Tara around.
Timothy was honestly unsure if he was gay or bi, or whatever. Yet, he couldn’t deny the fact that he had some attraction to Noah. The same went for a few guys back home. Then there was the fact that he spent hours looking at pictures of famous men like Tom Holland or Harry Styles. Yet, he didn’t find that same attraction to men like Collin or Phillip. Could it be because he grew up with them and thought of them as family? He had to think that was the reason.
Then there was Tara. She was beautiful, but whenever they started to get to the sex stages, they always stopped themselves. Or well, he stopped himself. Tara was clearly ready to lose her virginity. Timothy was also ready to lose his virginity. He just knew that deep down, it wasn’t meant to be with her. Was it meant to be with a guy, though? He never looked at gay porn. He really didn’t look at porn at all.
“You missed a killer game after school today,” Collin pointed out.
“Oh yeah? Who beat who?” Timothy asked, genuinely intrigued.
Phillip laughed, “Uh, no one dude. We both suck at ball. You were the only one with talent.”
“Damn right, I am,” Timothy said with a little bit of confidence. Something he had lacked the last few days.
CHAPTER FIVE
NOAH
“So, how was your day?” Cheryl asked her middle child as she put down a plate in front of him at the kitchen table.
Noah shrugged, “Normal.” He lied, sort of. Aside from Timothy, though, nothing was out of the ordinary.
Kelly gave him a dirty look, “I had to walk home again because of you.”
“That’s nice,” he told his younger sister. What did he care if she had to walk home? He had to walk home for years.
Brick sat down, “I think Noah found himself a guy.” He put out his hand to give a high five. Noah gave him a weird look.
“That’s just some new kid. I don’t think he is gay.”
“Well, how will you know until you ask honey?” Cheryl asked as she put a large helping of mashed potatoes on her plate.
All three of her children looked at her, “That’s not exactly how it works in this town, mom. I mean, unless you want to come and pick me up at the hospital.”
Cheryl rolled her eyes, “Noah, you don’t give the people of this town enough credit. Aside from the people who shop at Target, now those people would shoot you.”
He sometimes wasn’t sure if his mother was trying to be funny and caring or if she just wasn’t entirely sure how to handle the narrative of having an LGBTQ teenage son. It wasn’t that Cheryl wasn’t supportive when he came out. The entire family, aside from a few rogue cousins, were. It was the fact that it was clear that unless they were deeply in the closet, no one in the Peters family was ever LGBTQ. Then Noah came along and changed that up for the history books of their easily forgettable family. If anything, his being gay gave them something to discuss. Generations of boring people finally got something—a gay guy.
“Oh, come on, Noah, you clearly had a thing for him,” Brick annoyingly pointed out. Why did his brother have to be supportive of him? Then again, he supposed that this would be how he would be, had it been a girl as well. “You should totally hang out with him a little more.”
“I am driving him to school tomorrow morning,” Noah blurted out. Why did he say that? He figured that Kelly would have said something tomorrow regardless, though.
Kelly gave this evil smile, “Well, then I will get to meet him and find out if he is gay. I have incredible gaydar.”
Noah looked at his younger sister, “That’s not offensive at all. How can you tell if someone is gay or not by just looking at them?” Did people look at him and think that? He had to be honest and think probably. However, heteronomy made him hope otherwise.
Brick looked at his phone, “I just got a text at work. They need me to cover a shift.”
“Oh, come on, Brick, just stay home for the night,” Noah sighed. He wanted to play video games together. As of late, he only ever saw Brick in passing.
“Nah, I’ve got to save every dollar I can for the baby. I’ll be home late.” He sat up from the kitchen table and kissed Cheryl goodbye. He walked out the backdoor.
Their mother sighed, “I’m getting tired of him putting all the effort in the world towards Amber.”
Thank goodness someone else said it, “Do we actually think they are going to get married?” Noah asked?
“I don’t know… I’ll support them if they get married, and obviously, I’ll love my grandchild, but Amber better step up and do something with that damn degree she is getting right now. Why my son has to work two jobs while she gets babied over having a baby is beyond me,” Cheryl stated.
This was really the first time that his mom had ever said anything nasty about Amber since they found out she was pregnant. Cheryl was never a big fan of her when Brick and Amber were in high school dating. Noah had to admit he wasn’t a big fan of her himself. Her family always acted like they were better than everyone around them. It just was bullshit. Their home might have been slightly larger, but they lived in the middle of nowhere, Kansas as well.
* * *
“Finally done,” Noah said out loud as he finished studying for the night. He looked at the essay he wrote for his college entry. He was still a year away from having to worry about this stuff. Yet, his teachers had no common sense, so here he was.
Aside from the summer, Noah knew deep down that there was no way he would be living in Kansas after graduation from high school. He was determined to move far away and start a new life where he could be himself.
He never touched a dime of the money he got from working besides his car insurance and gas money. He saved the birthday and Christmas money he got from family. Noah was determined to move out west come fall of his Freshman year of college, even if he was going to a community college or something.
He thought about the day in general. It was definitely a weird day, at least for him. He wasn’t used to having conversations with people that went deeper on his end. Timothy was different on so many levels than the men and people in general that had been around him. He didn’t think that Timothy was gay. He wasn’t sure. Noah had no idea how to tell if he was gay, and he was nervous about approaching the subject. If he asked, then Timothy was going to think that he was asking him out essentially. If Timothy was straight, then he might blow up a potential friend, and Noah only had a few, to begin with. The blonde boy had to wonder, was it necessary to be in a relationship that could turn out messy? Having a friend is more important. He would find love one day. He was still a teenager, after all.