Smile...Tell Me Your Secret

Chapter 9

I wanted to write the whole dinner thing as one chapter but I'm having a really good day so i decided to post some now...because I haven't posted in a while.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shelley asked me questions the whole ride to the restaurant.

“you didn’t tell me that she was Theo’s sister?”

“when did I have time to do that?” I say pulling out of the school lot. “You had your game. And besides I just found out.”

“what do you mean?”

“She thought I was avoiding her, and I told her I was because I was worried about what Theo told her.”

“He’s not a homophobe.” She interrupts.

“I know that now, but I was worried and you can’t say I don’t have good reason not to be. Besides Elli stressed that even if he had a problem with me being gay she doesn’t.” Shelley shut up, and stared at me. I look at her then back at the road.

“what?” I say.

“you told her you were gay? Just told her.” she said the words slowly as if she didn’t believe me.

“yes?” I match her skepticism.

“just told her, like walk in the class room hey Elli I’m a big les.” 

“no,“ I say with a laugh “not like that, more like head down say it barely audible. Look up to see her laughing.” she gives me this-no she did not-look. “before you go jumping to conclusions, she was laughing because I thought she wouldn’t accept me.” she gave me one last skeptical glance before dropping it.

“it’s probably because you got Lance Bass on your shirt.”

“what? No I don’t!” I say. I didn’t even own a Lance Bass shirt. I wasn’t really all that into N-Sync when they were hot.

“yeah you have him, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and JC Chasez.” I look down quickly then back at the road. I went through the whole day not aware that I’m wearing my N-Sync teeshirt from a concert I went to in the fourth grade.   

“that explains Dom.” I mutter.

“what explains Dom?”

“the shirt. He was being…nice? He acknowledged me for the first time today. He wouldn’t meet me eyes, so I guess he was looking at the shirt.” 

“so?”

“I went to the concert with him, back when we were kids. He begged me to go, because he didn’t want to admit that he liked them. So he told his friends that I dragged him along.” I remember that. We used to hang out all the time back then. His mom came home with tickets, we were sitting in the living room. She told him that he had a surprise for him, and when she told him he was so excited. He had secretly wanted to be Justin Timberlake for the past year and a half. He only told me though. His mom told him that she bought an extra ticket so that he could bring a friend. She suggested that he bring little Scotty Dewer. And she would have no problem calling his dad to ask permission. Dom nearly killed himself getting off that couch to stop his mom. He told her that I was going with him. She smiled at us muttering something to herself and left. After I made him beg and promise me half of his Halloween candy for that year before giving in. I laugh a fourth grader worried about his rep, but then again that was Dom he liked having people like him. The following day in school I told a few people that I went because I wore a T-shirt from it. They only had adult large left, by the time that we got in line for them, so it was huge on me, and why it still fits today. Dom told all his buddies that I forced him to go, and that he totally wasn’t into it at all. I let him, after all half of his Halloween candy was so worth it.