Chapter 6 #2
“You won’t have to,” I said immediately. “I’ll make sure of it.”
I didn’t have any sort of plan, but if Eliza wanted to stay in school, I was going to make sure that happened. If she wanted to go to college, I would find a way to help her with that as well. There was so much I still didn’t know about her, but that didn’t matter to me.
“What grade are you in?” I asked when I realized I didn’t even know that.
“We’re going to be juniors,” Miriam said. She reached out her hand and grabbed Eliza’s. “And we are going to graduate together, okay? I’ll make sure of it too.”
I gave Miriam an appreciative smile. “You’re a great friend.”
Miriam shrugged. “We’ve been friends since kindergarten. We might not hang out as much as we used to, but Eliza knows I’ll always be here for her.” She looked at Eliza. “At least, I hope you know that.”
Eliza’s lip quivered, and I could tell she was on the verge of tears again. “I wasn’t sure if this would be too much for you. I got pregnant during my sophomore year of high school. I wouldn’t blame you if you judged me for that.”
Miriam shook her head. “Of course not. It’s not like you’re the only person who has sex at sixteen.
This could have happened to almost anyone.
The only one I’m judging is Brian, who has been walking around school as if he didn’t play a part in this pregnancy.
Everyone knows it’s his baby, yet no one will talk about that.
People always want to blame the girl as if it wasn’t the guy’s fucking dick that caused the problem in the first place.
” Miriam’s face was even more red now than it had been in the car.
Eliza’s lip stopped quivering, and instead, she laughed. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say fuck.” She turned to me. “Miriam is the golden child. I’m the rebel.”
Miriam’s face stayed red, but her glare was replaced with a shy smile. “I wouldn’t exactly say I’m the golden child.”
“Really? Let me see.” Eliza lifted her hand and raised fingers as she spoke. “Straight As, star softball player, no drinking, no boys. Did I miss anything?”
“Nope. It seems you have me pegged.”
“Knew it.” Eliza blew her friend a kiss and jumped up from the table. “Excuse me, ladies—pee break.”
Miriam watched Eliza walk away then chewed on the inside of her lip as she stared down at her food.
When she looked up at me, her face was contemplative.
It appeared like she wanted to say something, but for a moment, she was silent.
I stared back at her and dared her with my eyes to say whatever was on her mind.
“Can I ask you something?” Her voice cracked, telling me that she was nervous.
“Of course. You can ask me anything.”
“How did you know you were gay?” She whispered the word gay as if she was afraid to say it too loudly.
I gasped and put my hand on my chest. “Wait, I’m gay?
” I laughed so Miriam knew I was joking because the nervous look on her face said she wasn’t so sure.
“Just kidding. For me, I realized it when I couldn’t stop thinking about a girl in my class.
I found myself staring at her all day and wished I could be around her all of the time. Is there anyone like that for you?”
Miriam groaned and put her face in her hands. “Is it that obvious?”
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think Eliza has a clue.”
“It could be a fluke though, right? Like maybe I’m just confusing my feelings for Eliza because we’ve been friends for so long.”
“Maybe, but I’ve also found that by the time you start to question this sort of thing, you probably already know the answer.”
Miriam groaned again. “I-I can’t be. My parents would never be okay with it. I’d end up in the exact same position as Eliza—kicked out of my house with nowhere to go.”
“Technically, Eliza found somewhere to go.”
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but did she really find a place or is this all just temporary?”
It was a reasonable question, and I definitely didn’t take offense to it.
I was nothing but a stranger to these girls.
“There’s no way to know what’s going to happen.
Before yesterday, I didn’t even know who Eliza was.
We’re going to take it one day at a time.
I can promise you this—I’m not going to abandon her.
Whatever happens next, she’ll have my and my wife’s full support. ”
Miriam let out a long sigh. “Good. I hear the way people talk about her at school, even the people who still act like her friend. She needs people who support her.”
I nodded at Miriam. “I’m glad she has you.”
Miriam looked down again. “I haven’t been a very good friend lately. I didn’t know what to say, and she didn’t seem interested in talking to me either, so I just let it be.”
“You’re young. You’re going to do a lot of things you regret. Don’t let this one get to you. You’re here now, and that’s what matters."
“Thanks.” Miriam sighed. “I still feel guilty.” When she looked at me, her eyes were wide.
“Also, just so you know, I’m not just doing this because of certain feelings I might have.
Eliza needs a friend, and that’s why I’m here.
I realize she’s straight. I just kind of wish my heart would get the memo. ”
I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “It will eventually, don’t worry. We’ve all fallen for a straight girl at one point. It’s kind of a rite of passage. You’ll move on eventually, and these feelings will be a distant memory. Also, don’t worry, I never questioned your motives.”
“Motives for what?” Eliza asked as she snuck back up on us.
Shit. Think fast. I pointed at the bag next to Miriam. “For this shopping trip. She’s worried that I think she agreed to come along with me—an older, creepy stranger—to get some free clothes. I was just reassuring her that I know that’s not the case.”
Eliza laughed as she sat down. “There is nothing creepy about you.”
Phew. She believes me.
“Just for the record, I never called her creepy or old,” Miriam told her friend. “Those are her words.”
Eliza smirked. “If you’re so old, why don’t you have any kids? You’d be a great mom.”
I knew she was partially teasing me, but the part about me being a great mom, made my heart skip from happiness. “We’re trying. It just hasn’t happened yet.”
Eliza tilted her head and scrunched up her nose. “Why not?”
Oh, to be so young and innocent. “Believe it or not, it’s actually a lot of work to get pregnant. There’s a very small window every month when it’s able to happen, and even then, everything needs to come together perfectly.”
Eliza rolled her eyes. “Lucky me that everything came together perfectly the one time I let Brian convince me to have sex without a condom so it would feel better for him.”
I shook my head. I’d love to have a few minutes alone with Brian to let me know how I really feel about him. “No offense, but Brian sounds like a huge asshole.”
Eliza chuckled. “None taken. He really is. I don’t know what I was thinking. Actually, I do know what I was thinking. I was thinking about how hot he was and how good his ass looked in his football pants.” She let out a long, dramatic sigh. “I’m an idiot.”
“Hey, we all do dumb things,” I reassured her.
“Even you?” Eliza asked as if it was somehow hard to believe.
If she was talking to Carter, I could understand the confusion, but certainly not me. My list of dumb things was very long. “Oh yeah. Once we’re more comfortable with each other, let me tell you about the tattoo you can’t see.”
Eliza smirked. “Wait, wh-”
Her question was cut off by the sound of my phone ringing. When I pulled it out of my pocket, I was surprised to find it was Ethan calling me.
I excused myself from the table and walked across the room, then hit the accept button and brought the phone up to my ear. “Hey, Ethan. What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Everything is great! I was just calling to see if you had any trouble doing the confirmations this weekend. I was kind of surprised I hadn’t heard from you yet.”
“The confirmations?” What the hell is he talking about? I racked my brain, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out.
“Yes.” Ethan chuckled nervously. “The vendor confirmations? For pride in two weeks. You didn’t forget, did you?”
Yes, that’s exactly what happened. With all of the excitement from this weekend, I had completely forgotten.
I wasn’t sure how I had let myself forget after all of the time we had put into this event already.
Ethan normally did the majority of the work for the Pittsgrove Pride Festival, but this year, he was putting a lot of the responsibility on me in preparation for me taking over for him completely next year.
Right now, he was probably rethinking that decision.
“Shit. I’m sorry, Ethan. I did forget. A lot happened this weekend. I actually need to talk to you about it, but I can’t right now. I promise I’ll get those calls made tonight though.”
“Are you sure? If you have a lot going on, I can do it. I know how busy things have been for you and Carter. Life isn’t nearly as busy for us retired men.”
“No, I can do it. Seriously. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get those calls made tonight.” It’s not that I didn’t actually think Ethan had the time to do it, but it was the principle. I wanted to prove to him, and myself, that I was responsible enough to do this.
“Sounds good. Let me know if you have any trouble. And feel free to call or text me anytime about what else is going on.”
“I will. Thanks, Ethan.” He certainly didn’t have to worry about that.
“Of course. Love you, kiddo.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up the phone and walked back to the table where Eliza and Miriam were whispering and giggling together. I cleared my throat to get their attention. “How would you two feel about helping me out with a pride event that’s taking place in two weeks?”
Eliza’s smile dropped slightly. “I don’t have any way to get around, so it depends where I-”