Diving In

Floating Away Chapter Six: These Times, They are-a-Changin'

Cameron Wright arrived back to house from Alex's on Tuesday night just as it had started to pour. Had Cameron listened to the forecast, he would've known that it would rain throughout the night. Unfortunately, he hadn't and was still wearing the same t-shirt and jeans he had worn to school. It hadn't rained like this in years. He sat in his car contemplating if he should make a run for it or if he should call his mom and ask her to bring an umbrella out.

He decided to make a run for it. Trying to cover his head with his hands, he sprinted as fast as he could to the front door. However, when he did arrive inside, he realized that he had left his backpack in the car. Once again, he covered his head, ran back to the car, grabbed his backpack, and sprinted back inside. Finally indoors, he nearly collapsed in the front hallway.

"Cameron? Is that you?" Laura called from up the stairs.

"Yeah, Mom!" Cameron called back.

"Thank God, I was worried you got caught in the rain," His mother yawned as she came down the stairs in her pajamas. "Oh, jeez, it looks like you were."

"Yeah," Cameron laughed.

"You should go change into some fresh p.j.'s," She smiled.

"Okay, I will." Cameron nodded and they both headed up the stairs.

"How was Alexis?" Laura asked.

"She was good," Cameron said. "Same old stuff."

"Your father and I know that one of these days, you two are going to get married," Laura laughed.

"I don't think so," Cameron sighed as he went into his room. "Night Mom, love you."

"Night sweetheart, love you too." Laura went into her room and closed the door.

Cameron closed the door to the hallway. He threw down his backpack and kicked off his shoes. He went into the bathroom that connected to his room. After looking at himself in the mirror, he realized how wet he had actually gotten. He pealed of his shirt and rubbed his hair with a towel. Opening his dresser, he slipped off his jeans and put on a pair of pajama pants.

The rain splashed up against his window as Cameron lay down his bed. He placed a hand on his bare chest, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. He was going to be okay.

Suddenly his phone began vibrating from his hamper. He looked over and realized he must've forgotten to take his phone out of his pants. After looking through multiple pockets, he finally found it. He looked at the Caller ID. It said "James". His heart jumped. He flipped it open.

"Hello?" Cameron answered.

"Cameron?" James' voice could barely be heard above the rain- he was outdoors.

"Yeah, Hey, it's me, what's up?" Cameron asked.

"Hey, I can't really hear you, can I come over?" James asked.

"Uh...yeah," Cameron was confused. James then hung up.

That was an odd phone call. Cameron placed his phone on his desk and sat back down on his bed, contemplating why James would want to come over. No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't think of any reason. It was ten o'clock at night.

Cameron threw on a t-shirt and waited for five minutes until James called him back.

"Hey, I'm outside," was all James said.

Cameron opened his door to his room, and made sure his parents were asleep, which they were, then walked down the front steps. He opened the front door.

James was standing there, completely drenched, wearing jeans and a varsity lacrosse sweatshirt.

"Oh my gosh," Cameron pulled James inside. "Are you okay?" When James was pulled into the light, he could see that he clearly wasn't. His eyes were all teary and he looked panicked.

"Yeah," James said. "Look, I...I...I don't want to impose or anything, but do you think I could sleep here tonight?"

Cameron was surprised and confused by all of this.

"Yeah sure," He stammered. "But...are you okay? What happened?"

"My, uh, my mom..." James started. "She walked in on me and Devon."

Cameron didn't know how to react. His jaw dropped, and he realized he couldn't say anything."

"Let's get you upstairs," Cameron eventually said.

They crept up the stairs, careful not to wake Cameron's parents.

Once in Cameron's room, they stood for a moment.

"If we could not talk about it, for right now, that'd be great," James shivered.

"Yeah, absolutely," Cameron nodded. "Here, do you want to take a hot shower? I can't imagine how cold you are. I was outside for like a minute and I was freezing."

"Uh..." James thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

"No problem," Cameron nodded then opened the door to the bathroom. "There are fresh towels over there, and here, I'll give you a pair of boxers."

Cameron walked over to his dresser and grabbed a green pair of boxer shorts. He handed them to James.

"Thanks a lot," James nodded.

James took a long shower. Cameron didn't blame him, he probably had a lot on his mind. During that time, Cameron crept over to his parents room and knocked on the door. His mother came out, squinting, he had clearly woken her up.

"What is it?" Laura yawned.

"Hey, I'm sorry to wake you up," Cameron apologized. "It's just my friend James had a pipe burst in his room at home, and he needs to sleep here for the night..."

"That's fine," Laura nodded. "Is that the same boy you did your math project with last year?"

"Yeah, that's him," Cameron said.

"Okay, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow morning," She closed the door and went back to her slumber, not knowing that her son had just told her a complete fabrication.

Cameron got back in his room just as James had turned off the shower. After a few moments, he opened the door wearing Cameron's green boxers. Cameron had forgotten what a nice body James had. He was slim, but had a great build. His abs were completely flat, and had a nice V-line leading downwards. His chest was completely bare, with no hair visible, except some peaking out from under his arms. Cameron stood there speechless for a moment, but then realized that James noticed him staring.

"Oh, sorry, let me get you a shirt," Cameron quickly pulled his eyes away from James' shirtless body, and towards his dresser. He walked over and grabbed a white t- shirt and then handed it to James.

"I really can't tell you how much this means to men," James said.

"James, I told you before," Cameron repeated. "Don't worry about it. I know that if this had happened to me, then you'd be doing the same."

"Yeah," James didn't look at Cameron, he just looked down at the folded white t-shirt.

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Cameron studied James' breathing. He watched his chest move in and out. Cameron felt his heart in his throat. He felt incredibly bad for James, and he wanted to reach out and hug him, but he also didn't want to overstep his bounds. James was with Devon, he had to remember that. But why hadn't James gone to Devon? It was something he'd have to ask later. Cameron couldn't help but life his arm and put it on James' bare back, just letting him know he was there. James sniffled a little bit, wiped his face, and then stood up.

"I'm tired," James said. "Can we go to bed now?"

"Yeah," Cameron nodded.

James stood up and put on the white t-shirt over his head. They both then went to opposite sides of the queen sized bed, and slid underneath the covers. James turned facing away from Cameron, while Cameron couldn't help but watch James.

Cameron didn't know James' family, he had never met them. But knowing the social circles they went with, he knew that they wouldn't be happy about James being gay. And what a terrible way to find out!

James lay on the other side of the bed, thinking about everything that had just occurred and what his future held for him. He couldn't help but feel lonely and scared. It was at that moment that he felt Cameron's hand rub his arm.

"You're going to be okay," Cameron said. "I'll be here for you, no matter what."

James didn't respond, but was certainly comforted.

As they both drifted off to sleep, they wondered what the day ahead would hold.

...

James woke up the next morning, and for a moment he forgot where he was. He forgot what had happened. He thought he would wake up in his room, just as had the day before. However, when he opened his eyes, he remembered everything. He felt a huge pit form in his stomach, and he wished he could go back to bed. Then he realized that his hand was resting on someone's chest. He looked up and saw Cameron, who was still asleep.

For a moment, James decided to pretend he was sleeping and snuggle up closer against Cameron. He smelled him. He smelled sweet, he couldn't quite place what exactly it was, but he smelled good. He closed his eyes, and felt safe.

Without knowing it, James had drifted off to sleep again. He awoke when Cameron's alarm started sounding. Cameron noticed that James was snuggled up against him, and then reached over and turned off the alarm.

James sat up in bed and looked at Cameron.

"Morning," Cameron said. "How are you doing?"

"Okay," James lay back down.

"Good," Cameron nodded. "I'm gonna take a shower. You can probably go back to sleep for a little bit."

"All right," James softly said.

"I can lend you a tooth brush, and some clothes for school and what not..." Cameron offered.

"I, uh, I don't think I'm gonna go to school today," James interrupted.

"Oh," Cameron said. "Right, uh, well, where are you gonna go?"

"I'm not sure," James thought for a moment. "I'll figure something out. If you can just drop me off in town, I'll go to the park or something."

"Okay..." Cameron skeptically agreed then went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

James used this time to check his messages. He picked up his phone and turned it on. Twelve missed calls, and seven new messages. He dialed his voicemail, hoping that at least one of the messages would be from Devon.

As he went through the messages, he was surprised to see that Devon hadn't called once. He hadn't called to ask if James was okay, or what happened, or anything. All of the calls were his parents warning him to come home right away. His mother sounded worried, but his father sounded angry. He wasn't surprised.

James put down his phone and layback down, looking at the ceiling. What the fuck was he going to do? His parents sounded furious. They would never understand this. James hadn't expected them to understand, but he hadn't expected to deal with everything so soon. As James was thinking, he didn't hear Laura open the bedroom door.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Laura said. "I was looking for Cameron...James, right?"

"Yeah," James blushed as he sat up and extended a hand. "I think we met once last year..."

"Right!" Laura smiled as she shook James' hand. "So what happened to your room? There was a pipe burst or something?

"Oh...yeah..." James was confused, but slowly realized that Cameron had to have told his parents some reason that some kid was sleeping in their house. "It just...burst..."

"That's terrible," Laura looked genuinely concerned. "Are your parents okay?"

"Uh...yeah...they're fine." James nodded.

"All right, good," Laura smiled. "What can I get you for breakfast?"

"Oh, no...It's really fine," James politely declined.

"I won't take no for an answer! You boys need to get a healthy start on the day," Laura insisted. "Do you want pancakes? Eggs? Waffles?"

"Waffles are great, thank you so much" James thanked her.

"All right, sounds good," Laura smiled then left, closing the door behind her.

James was slightly jealous and slightly comforted by Cameron's mother's attitude. She seemed so sweet and genuine, compared to his own mother. He wished things would be easier. He wished that his sexuality didn't have to be this huge issue.

A few minutes later, Cameron came out of the shower. He was already dressed in jeans and striped blue t-shirt. His hair was still wet.

"Hey," Cameron smiled.

"Hey," James returned it. "Your mom..."

"Oh crap," He slapped his forehead. "Did she come in here?! Did she ask why you were here?"

"She mentioned something about a pipe bursting," James nodded. "So I went along with it. "

"Okay good," Cameron sighed in relief.

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

"We should probably get going," James said. "I mean, if you're going to make it to school in time..."

"Yeah, right," He agreed.

"Oh and your Mom mentioned something about waffles..." James said.

Cameron ended up lending James a blue collared polo shirt and shorts. It was the preppiest thing he owned, and James dressed towards the preppy side...as did most of the kids at Mineola High. James said that eventually he would wash them and return them.

They went downstairs and Laura had already made them breakfast. It was nice for James to see a different family dynamic, and it also let him see a little bit more about Cameron. Cameron's mother told one story about how they drove out to see the fireworks every year for July 4th, and up until Cameron was twelve, he refused to get out of the car because he thought it was too dangerous. James actually found himself laughing as Cameron tried to deny the fact that the event actually happened. Laura also said that when he was younger, he would pull down his pants and pee in the pool. They almost wouldn't let him swim their anymore. Cameron rolled is eyes.

Soon Cameron's mother told them that they were going to be late for school, and Cameron kissed his mother goodbye. Laura gave James a hug and insisted that he come over for dinner in the near future.

Cameron exited the house and headed over to the car. James followed behind him.

"She's nice," James smiled.

"Yeah," Cameron agreed. "She's a great mom. However, that story about me and the fireworks wasn't true! And neither was that one about me at the pool..."

"Sure, Cameron..." James laughed.

Cameron opened the drivers seat door to his parents BMW. His parents had two cars, and let him take one to school while they shared the other one. James hopped in the passengers seat. Cameron started up the car.

They drove into town, which was on the way to school.

"You can drop me off anywhere around here," James said. Cameron didn't seem to be listening. "Cameron?"

"I'm not dropping you off," Cameron stated.

"Cameron!" James sounded annoyed. "I'm not going to school."

"We're not going to school either..." Cameron said. "We're taking the day off. I'll call Sharon at the front desk. She likes me from when I did student government stuff with her."

"Where are we going to go?" James asked.

"You'll see," Cameron smiled and continued driving.

...

Alexis Lucas arrived to school early, hoping to hang out with Cameron before school started. However, she was surprised to see that he was no where to be found. She waited by his locker for twenty minutes, before getting bored and deciding to take a walk around.

Alex hadn't walked around school that much this year because she was completely embarrassed about what had happened with Kevin. However, now that she had reconciled her friendship with Cameron, she realized that she really shouldn't give a shit what anyone thought. It was her senior year of high school and soon she wouldn't have to deal with anyone.

The popular girls in the school, who Alex had been friend with this summer, were no longer talking to her. However, they would give fake polite smiles whenever they saw her. Recently, Alex had been ignoring them.

She wanted to go back to how she had been before all the drama with Kevin. She wanted to be the girl that all of the guys were afraid to talk to. Not because she was pretty, but because they were afraid she would kick them in the balls. She needed to regain complete badass status. After thinking about getting her job at The Downtown back, she realized that it wouldn't be that hard to get her life back together.

It was at that moment she saw someone more down than she was.

Travis McCarthy was sitting in front of the library staring at the ground. Alex had heard that Marissa had moved away. Everyone had. But, she had never really thought about how that would affect Travis. Alexis debated whether or not she should say anything.

"Hey," She finally uttered. Travis looked up at her. He was holding his cell phone in his hands, and constantly checked it while they talked.

"Not now," Travis muttered.

"Okay..." Alexis started to walk away. "I just wanted to say that I know we've had our differences in the past, but I don't want to see you upset. And I'm sorry...you know, about Marissa leaving. And uh, if you need to talk or whatever..."

"Yeah," Travis nodded. "Thanks."

"Okay..." Alexis awkwardly noted then walked away.

...

Cameron Wright opened the door to his BMW and looked out at the series of trees ahead of him. James closed his car door and looked quizzically at Cameron. He returned the look with a smile.

"Uh, where are we?" James asked.

"My dad used to take me up here for a week every summer, and we'd go camping. We didn't go last summer because I was...you know...with Matt," Cameron kind of trailed off towards the end. He didn't want to bring up Matt especially when James was in such a vulnerable state. "Anyway, it's a really good place to think. And I figured maybe we could do some thinking."

"All right..." James skeptically agreed. "So what do we do?"

"There's a path right over there that we can walk," He suggested.

"Okay, sure," James agreed.

Cameron didn't bother to lock his car door; it wasn't like anyone else would come out here on a Wednesday in October. They headed over to the path.

"It's not that cold on for October," Cameron noticed.

"Yeah, it's kind of hot actually," James agreed.

There was a moment of awkward silence as they hit the path and started to walk down it. Cameron really wasn't sure how to bring up anything.

"So...have you spoken to your parents since...?" Cameron asked.

"No," James responded shortly.

"Was it only your mom who..." Cameron started.

"Could we not talk about this, right now?" James interrupted. "Sorry, it's just kind of a lot to wrap my head around, and don't want to think about that right now."

"No, don't worry about it," Cameron said. After a few more moments of silence, Cameron finally spoke. "So, how's your year going so far?"

"Nice transition," James laughed.

"Shut up," Cameron smiled.

"Uh, it's going pretty well," James said. "I mean it's a lot different than last year. I haven't been hanging out with Kevin and Ricky really..."

"Really?" Cameron asked. "That's weird...does it have anything to do with the fact that you, uh...you know punched Kevin at prom?"

"Oh man, I completely forgot about that," James remembered.

"Yeah, thanks for doing that by the way," Cameron laughed. "He probably would've literally broken my nose."

"Most likely," James smiled. "No I wasn't going to let him hurt you."

Cameron blushed. He had completely forgotten how romantic it was when James came out of no where and saved him from Kevin.

"No, but that's not it really," James continued. "We talked about it and he apologized for being a drunken mess, and I apologized for...hitting him. I think we stopped being friends, well...I guess because of Devon."

"Oh, right," Cameron tried to act like he wasn't uncomfortable by the mention.

"Just because I've been hanging out with him mostly," James thought to himself for a second. "That'll change once lacrosse season starts in the spring. Plus, I still go to their parties, and they all know Devon, just because when he was a freshman and we were juniors we were all in the locker room together."

"That's cool," Cameron nodded.

"I mean, Devon's great and everything. But I don't know..." James began. Cameron brightened up. "I guess I'm just really mad that he just left me yesterday. He didn't call me to make sure things went okay with my parents or anything. He just left."

"Wow, yeah," Cameron didn't want to seem overzealous.

"What's that?" James said.

"What?" Cameron looked up and saw a huge cliff ahead of them. He had completely forgotten about it. "Oh man!"

Cameron ran over to the precipice and looked down. It must've been at least a thirty-foot drop into the lake below.

"Wow," James kicked a pebble off the cliff.

"I forgot about this," Cameron explained. "My dad and my cousins always used to jump off of it. I was always so worried that they were going to hit their heads on a rock or something."

"Did you ever do it?" James asked.

"Nope," Cameron looked down. "I always get freaked out about this kind of stuff. I always think like, this is how accidents happened."

"Hm," James thought for a second. He then bent down, and untied his shoes. He kicked off both of them.

"What are you doing?" Cameron asked.

"C'mon," James smirked.

His smile slowly disappeared as he lifted his shirt (or technically Cameron's shirt) over his head. Cameron felt his heart beating faster as James unzipped his shorts and pulled them down until he was only wearing his boxers.

"I don't know about..." Cameron began to say.

"You'll be fine, Cameron," James smiled. "C'mon, I'll go first."

Cameron was about to protest, but for some reason he decided to trust James. He reached down and untied his shoes. He then unzipped his jeans and slipped them down revealing vertically striped blue and white boxers. He then pulled off his shirt. He felt James' eyeing his shirtless body.

Cameron's body had definitely changed since the last time James had seen it. Because of swimming, he had become much more toned. His stomach was flat, and his arms were slightly bigger. He had also developed a small only slightly visible patch of light brown chest hair in between his two pecks.

So there they were, standing in their boxers, pretending to be looking at the cliff, while they were really only looking at each other. They stood for a moment.

"Okay," James took a step closer to the edge. "Here I go..."

"Wait, James, you know..." Cameron began, but it was too late, James took one giant leap off the cliff. Cameron rushed to the edge and looked down. He saw James crash into the water. For a moment, he didn't come up, and Cameron began to freak out. He called his name but nothing. A few seconds later, James resurfaced.

"That was awesome!" James yelled. "Wow!"

"You were under for so long! I thought you died!" Cameron called.

"I know! I purposely did that to freak you out!" James laughed.

"You're an asshole!" He yelled back.

"Okay, your turn!" James shouted. Cameron did not feel ready to do this. It looked pretty dangerous. However, he knew that if anything happened, James would take care of him.

"Okay!" Cameron yelled. He stood there for a few moments not doing anything.

"C'mon!" James shouted.

Cameron closed his eyes and took one giant leap. For a moment he felt like he was floating in the air. He knew he was falling, but he felt like it was for way too long. When he opened his eyes to check, he was just hitting the water. The water came over him like he had never experienced before.

For a moment, memories came flooding back to him. He saw imagined Mark, the man who had tried to molest him. He remembered trying to swim away from the boat. The drowning. The overwhelming water. Suddenly, Cameron couldn't see anything. He couldn't think. The swimming pool had been different, this was real. Suddenly, he felt someone wrap their arms around him and pull him up. He flashed back to reality, and realized that James was carrying him to the surface. Their warm bodies touching, Cameron felt chills go down his spine. He felt safe.

"Are you okay?" James spit out as they finally reached the surface.

"Yeah," Cameron collected his breath.

"At first, I thought you were playing a prank on me!" James explained. "Then you were down there for a while and..."

"Sorry..." Cameron said. "I just haven't been in this deep of water in a while."

Cameron pushed away from James and began to wade water on his own.

"That was fun, though," Cameron admitted.

"Yeah, for me at least," James laughed. "Oh also, please don't pull your pants down and pee here..."

"Too late!" Cameron joked and splashed him with water. "I just splashed you with pee water!"

"Ew!" James splashed him back.

The two of them swam in the water for over an hour. They raced from one side of the lake to the other, played Marco Polo (which was difficult with just two of them), and jumped off the ledge a few more times.

Eventually they both swam towards a sandy patch off the lake and collapsed onto it. They both lay on the sandy patch for a moment, their boxers clinging to their wet bodies. James put his arms behind his head, showing his curly brown hair under his arms. Cameron placed a hand on his own chest, feeling his heart. Neither of them said anything, they just listened to their panting breath.

"I'm completely fucked," James eventually said.

"No you're not," Cameron assured him.

"No, I am." James corrected. "You don't know my parents. This is the last thing in the world that they'd want. They would honestly rather me lose a limb than be...this way."

"I'm sure if you talk to them..." Cameron started.

"I know what's going to happen," James interrupted. He sat up. "They'll say it's only a phase and then try to convince me out of it. They'll be so incredibly upset, and probably depressed for the rest of their lives. It just sucks because I never even thought about telling them. I'm no where near ready to deal with this."

"You are though," Cameron said as he too sat up. "You don't realize that in a year, you'll be in college and away from them. And I'm sure they won't be nearly as bad as you think they will. And even if they are, you'll be okay. You'll still be alive, and life will go on. And I'll be here for you. You won't be a lone in this."

James looked at Cameron and smiled. They held the eye contact for a while. Cameron's heart began to be faster. He wanted to kiss him. He imagined himself leaning in, placing a hand on James' chest and kissing him.

"We should get back," James finally said, breaking the gaze, and Cameron's fantasy. "I mean, it's kind of a drive, and..."

"Yeah," Cameron agreed.

They both got up and realized that they had to run up and get their clothes from up top. After doing that, and changing back into what they were wearing, they headed back to the car.

"Should I take you home?" Cameron asked.

James thought intently for a moment.

"Yeah," James finally said. ...

Devon Sanders was freaking out. He had been for the past seventeen hours, ever since James' mother had caught them together. The night before, Devon had rushed past Mrs. Winters and ran down the stairs and out the door. He didn't want to be a part of whatever was going to happen with James and his parents. He ran down the block, and then soon realized that he had nowhere to go. He ran north, which was the general direction of his house, but it would be an extremely long walk. He decided that the long walk would be fine, as opposed to having to call his father or brother and have them pick him up. However, a few minutes of fast walking and it began to pour, almost instantly. Devon eventually decided to phone a cab.

He arrived home and said nothing to his brother and father who were, as usual, watching television. He said nothing to them. He was terrified that somehow James' parents would find out Devon's last name and inform his parents as to what they were doing.

He got barely any sleep, and couldn't help but freak out. He didn't want to talk to James. The hope that James wouldn't say anything was all that he was clinging on to.

The next day at school, he had expected to run into James and find out what had happened. However, James was no where to be found. No one knew where he was. Devon asked Kevin Trainer and Ricky, but they hadn't heard anything. Devon was petrified. What if James' parents were calling Devon's father and informing him right now?

Devon periodically called his house throughout the day, to make sure that they hadn't, but the fear was definitely still there.

At the end of the day, Devon arrived at swim practice, happy that he would be able to talk to someone about what he was going through. Cameron would make a perfect resource.

Devon got changed into his suit, and waited as all the other team members filtered in. However, Cameron was nowhere to be found. As practice progressed, Devon hoped that Cameron would come in, but nothing. Cameron was missing as well. Something was going on, and Devon didn't like it.

...

James was awaken by a hand shaking him. He looked over and saw Cameron sitting in the drivers seat. He must've dozed off on the ride home. He looked out his window and saw that they were across the street from his house. His heart sunk. The day had ended, and now he had to face his parents.

He wiped his face and eyes, and looked over at Cameron who was looking back at him. Cameron reached forward and grabbed James' hand.

"You're going to be okay," He assured him.

"I hope so," James bit his lip. "The more I think about it, the bigger pit I have in my stomach."

"Look, I know your scared," Cameron started. "But right now, will be one of the biggest things you'll have to face in your life. And guess what, you got the bad part over with, they know. Now you just have to deal with the consequences, you know? And I'll honestly be here to help you with that."

"Thanks Cameron," James smiled.

"I mean, I kind of wish I was in your position," Cameron continued. "You don't have to worry about telling your parents anymore."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," He laughed.

James looked back at the house, then back at Cameron.

"Well..." James took a deep breath. "Wish me luck."

"Yeah," Cameron smiled as James opened the passengers seat door. "Call me after to let me know how it went."

"I will," James said and then closed the door. He turned to face the house. Both of his parent's cars were in the driveway. They must've waited home all day waiting for him to come home.

James walked up the pathway and stopped at the door. He turned around and saw Cameron sitting in the car looking back at him. It was good to know that Cameron was still there. After taking a long deep breath, he wrapped his fingers around the doorknob and twisted it open.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, he heard his mother get up from her seat in the kitchen.

"James?!" She yelled.

"Yeah," James muttered.

His mother sprinted over to the front door and gave him and huge hug. James had not been expecting that at all.

"We were so worried!" She cried. "You just left and...you should've called! Why didn't you answer your phone?!"

"I-I-I'm sorry..." James wasn't expecting this, so he didn't know how to respond.

"Here, here, come into the kitchen, we have a lot to discuss," She finally wiped away her tears and escorted him into the kitchen. James sat down across from her at the table. "Trevor! James is back!"

After a few moments, James' father came down the stairs. His mother stared at James, her eyes filling with tears just looking at him. His father didn't share the same emotion. He looked angry, just as James had expected.

"Hello James," His father politely nodded as he sat down at the head of the table, next to James' mother.

"Hi," He said back.

"Now look, James, we..." She started talking. "Your father and I...what I saw upstairs..."

"What your mother is trying to say is that, whatever happened upstairs with that young man, shouldn't happen again," His father interrupted. "I understand that at your age...apparently, you can be curious about your peers, and some Ôexperimenting' can happen, but..."

"I wasn't experimenting." James stated. His father looked confused. "I've been...dating him for a while."

"What?" His mother looked heartbroken.

"James..." His father tried to talk.

"I'm sorry, Mom and Dad, but it's the truth," James admitted. "I'm gay. I know that's hard for you guys to understand, but..."

"But how can you be sure?" His mother cried. "Especially at your age! You need to see more girls!"

"Mom..." James began to talk.

"And what about all those girls you said you had crushes on?!" His mother reminded him.

"I made it up, Mom," James said.

"You couldn't have..." She said in disbelief.

"Look, either way, James, you have a lot you need to work out," His father began, attempting to maintain his composure. "We have a lot to work out too. So, I think it's best if you start seeing a psychiatrist. I looked up some today, and I can make an appointment as early as Friday."

"Dad, I'm not..." James started to protest.

"No, James, you owe it to this family," His father said. "You owe it to me, your mother, and your sister."

James started to protest, but decided not to.

"Can I go now?" James asked.

His parents looked at each other hesitantly.

"Yes," His father finally said.

And with that, James got up and went upstairs. He didn't cry, like he thought he would. It would be annoying going to see a psychiatrist, but at least the issue was out in the open now. The first thing James did, was turn on his phone with the intention of texting Cameron. However, as the phone turned on, he saw that he had many new missed calls from Devon. Finally Devon had made an effort to get in contact with him. However, it had been almost 24 hours since everything first happened.

James contemplating calling Devon back and letting him know what had happened, but he texted Cameron instead, telling him that things went well and that he'd talk to him tomorrow.

As James slowly drifted off to sleep, he knew that everything was going to change.

...

Thank you so much for reading! Send me comments on your thoughts, ideas, or suggests! I love getting e-mail from everyone! You can reach me at Ryanwest25@yahoo.com .