Page 85 of This is Me

“Oh?’ I questioned before it clicked in my mind. “Oh! I’m sorry if my joke was inappropriate!” I said quickly, feeling my own face heat as I watched Cooper shake their head.

“Oh, no, no. Not at all. Don’t worry. I’m just an idiot,” Cooper spoke just as quickly as me and looked to the ground.

“Uh, so, uh… he and him?” I asked timidly, unsure of if it was okay to ask that question.

Probably not. I’m a fucking idiot.

“Yes,” Cooper said, and he looked up and smiled at me. “I’m still getting used to this. Telling people other than my mum.”

“When did you tell her?” I asked, regretting it instantly. “I mean if it’s okay to ask that. I’m sorry. Forget it. I’m bad at communication.”

“It’s okay, Pete,” Cooper said with another laugh, and I did a double-take as I questioned how he knew my name.

The video.

“I only told her on Saturday. After I saw your video.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I mean, congratulations? That’s good. I’m really bad at this. I’m sorry.”

Cooper laughed at my rambling before composing himself and wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

“How about we stop talking about it, and you come and sit with Trent and me.”

“You know Trent?” I asked, letting myself be steered by Cooper in the opposite direction of my Leroy.

“Yeah, we met up on Monday. Kind of stuck together. After all, we’re the only other two people who came out as not your average Joe.”

Continuing to walk across the field, I kept scanning in front of me until my eyes fell on Trent, who was lounging on the grass alone. His black hair was waving slightly in the wind, and as he turned to look our way, I saw his green eyes sparkle.

“We would have collected you up, too, but…” Cooper trailed off as he waved at Trent who returned it as he looked at me.

“I’m sorry about that. There was a lot on my mind,” I said quietly, nodding at Trent as we came to stand in front of him.

“Hey, Pete!” Trent greeted me cheerfully, gesturing to a spot on the grass in front of him, and I sat down.

“Hey, Trent,” I said as Cooper sat down beside me.

“How are you holding up? I saw what happened with Leroy yesterday,” Trent said, stealing a glance at Leroy before looking back at me.

“I’m okay.”

“He’s not like…” Cooper started but trailed off, though I knew what he was trying to say.

“No. I don’t think so. He’s just… I don’t know.”

I really had no idea what to say. I didn’t want to think that Leroy was homophobic, but at this point, I had no clue. It sure did seem like he was, but I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to. No matter how angry I was at him.

“Let’s talk about not me,” I said quickly, trying to take the focus off of all my problems.

That’s all that I seemed to have been focusing on for the past few days, and I didn’t want to think about them anymore. I needed a break from everything going on in my life.

“Let’s talk about you guys. Trent?” I asked, looking at the boy sitting across from me, who gave me a crooked smile.

“Uh, well, I’m also okay,” Trent said awkwardly. “Not much to talk about on my end. I, uh, bought a new laptop? Well, my dad bought it.”

“Does he know you’re gay?” Cooper asked, and Trent nodded.

“Oh, yeah. I told my family ages ago. My dad actually bought me the laptop so I could watch gay porn in peace instead of on the family TV.”