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“It was mean. I did it to hurt him.” I lifted my arm. “He got angry and dragged me off the dance floor.”
“That’s assault!”
I shrugged. “Mom, it’s done. It’s over.”
She clenched her jaw. “If he shows up here again, I’ll kick his ass myself.”
I laughed softly, lifting my glasses to wipe away my tears. “That’d be something to see.”
“Do you think he’ll come here?”
I looked down at my bruises. “I don’t know. He might.”
“He’s not welcome in this house.”
I nodded. “No, he’s not.”
We sat together in silence for a long time. She stroked her fingers over my wrist, and I soaked in the quiet of home.
“What are we going to tell Dad?” I asked.
“The truth. From now on, in this house, we always tell the truth.”
***
Despite the lackof sleep, I woke by nine the next day. At least it was Sunday so I didn’t have to deal with my first day of classes or going to work at Robert’s.
When the phone rang, I was wary about answering it.
“Hey, Peter. It’s Mike.”
I sank down on the floor against the kitchen wall, a surge of adrenaline making me dizzy. I’d been afraid it might be Adam, but Mike wasn’t much better. The rush of feelings from the night before poured through me again, leaving me shaky.
“I wanted to make sure you got home okay.”
“Yeah. I did. Thanks.”
Awkward silence fell. Mike cleared his throat and finally spoke again, “Listen, we need to be completely honest with each other right now, because I’m trying to decide what to do about Leslie.”
My throat went tight. “Sure. I’ll be honest with you.”
“Here’s the deal: Sarah and Adam went into clean-up mode after you left last night. Adam’s letting Leslie believe he freaked out about you being gay, and Sarah’s encouraging that, citing examples of Adam’s supposed past discomfort with gayness. Leslie’s less than thrilled, but she’s convinced Adam’s going to learn from this and grow.”
I sighed. It was hard to believe the things Sarah and Adam could convince people of, but I’d been in Leslie’s shoes before. The power of their charisma was hard to resist. Especially when love was involved.
“And what about you?” I asked. “What are you telling her?”
“So far? Nothing. I was going to call bullshit and out Adam, but…”
“But?”
“I have my own relationship to maintain, and ruining Adam’s with Leslie would piss Sarah off. A lot.”
“So you want my advice?” I asked incredulously.
“No, I want your assurance. It’s over between the two of you? For real?”
I swallowed thickly. “Yes.”
