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“What happened?” Simeon asked, hovering by Brayden’s side. “What did you—what do you think you did?”
Brayden buried his face in Sheila’s hair, still crying, and shoved his phone in Simeon’s general direction. My heart sank as soon as Simeon cringed. He looked up at me, hazel eyes big and worried, and held the phone out to me.
The original Snapchat image wasn’t on the screen, but a screenshot was embedded in the middle of an article of a popular gossip column the night before. The image was of me and Simeon embracing outside the diner, although you couldn’t see either of our faces. The caption read: My two coaches making out in public. I guess the NFL is more gay and bi friendly than we thought?
I tried to skim the article, which appeared to be a grown-ass adult attempting to analyze everything from our height to our sneakers in order to prove it was us, but my eyes were stuck on the picture. We looked so comfortable with each other. Frankly, we looked fucking in love. If this was a picture of a man and a woman holding each other in the middle of a rainstorm, it would have been a New York One Picture of the Day. Because it was two men, it was call for a full-on investigation and smear campaign.
Fuck them. Fuck all of them. No matter what they said, or how they used it, that picture was beautiful. Even if it got me dragged through the mud by my own team, the media, and my parents. My defiance reared up hot and angry, but the idea of entering the Predators’ locker room once again set my nausea rising.
“Brayden . . .” Simeon softened his tone and his accent, slowing things down from the usual flurry of words. “Did you know what would happen?”
“No!” Brayden finally ripped away from Sheila to face us. His face was swollen and puffy, and his usual meticulous clothing was rumpled. “I don’t even have that many friends on Snapchat! It was stupid, and I was mad, but I didn’t actually think . . . Like, I thought it’d just be us at the Center who would see it.” Another wave of sobs overtook him. “The kids here are the only friends I had, and now they won’t even look at me!”
It was time for me to throw in some comforting words, but I was frozen. I couldn’t think of a single goddamn thing to say. Simeon nodded slowly, but even he seemed to be at a loss for words. He kept looking down at the phone then over at me. His mouth set in a single grim stripe.
“What were you angry about?” Sheila asked, breaking the silence. “They’ve been so good with you. If it weren’t for Coach Bravo and Boudreaux, you would still be hiding in your shell.”
“Yeah, but also if they’d never told my dad that I snuck out and met my mom sometimes, he wouldn’t be threatening to take her back to court.” Brayden hiccupped and ripped an arm across his eyes. “My mom and dad hate each other so much and tried to do and say everything they could to hurt each other during the divorce. And it makes no sense because they cheated on each other. But she’s not supposed to come around when I’m with him, but . . .”
“You don’t have to explain anymore,” Simeon said. “I understand. And we tried to stay out of your family’s business, but when we saw you and your mom at the pier during the storm, we were worried. That you were going to get hurt, but also that you were spending time with an older adult we’d never seen before.”
Sheila nodded beside Brayden. “I would have reacted the same. Especially during such a bad storm. She shouldn’t have even had you on that pier.”
“That’s only because—”
“You don’t have to defend your mother to us, Brayden,” Simeon said. “But what would be nice is if you explained that you’re now fully aware that outing someone against their will is dangerous. And wrong.”
Brayden burst into an explanation, but my mind wandered away. Back to the ensuing conversation with my father, and to the moment in a few weeks when I’d have to face my team. Maybe I should make a statement, I thought dimly. Officially come out as bisexual now that the truth was out. Be an adult and handle this head-on instead of burying my head in the sand for weeks.
Accept the shit storm and do my best to bear the brunt of it before my next game. Everyone would be watching me now. And everyone would be waiting for me to fail.
“Let me talk to Coach Bravo alone,” Simeon said. “Why don’t you go sit with Ms. Sheila in the office, Bray?”
