Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
That got him laughing again as he stopped the car at the light off the exit Waze had told us to take. “I feel so stupid. Here I was thinking you might be too uncomfortable to share it with anyone.”
“Oh, I’m very comfortable with it, Mr. Warner.”
He sighed, then chuckled. “Leave it to me to overcomplicate something.” Smiling, he hoisted himself up slightly in his seat, retrieving a brochure from his back pocket and handing it to me. “That’s what I was going to give you.”
As the light flashed green, he pushed on the gas and kept on our path as I read the brochure title: Staying In or Coming Out? Tough Decisions in the Life of LGBT Youth.
I practically snorted. “This was how you were going to console me if I had a bunch of deep-seated self-hating queer shit?”
He shook his head. “It was easier at my last school because we had a whole program. I was talking to Kendra…sorry, Ms. Eiken, about—”
“About me?”
“No, no,” he said quickly. “I wouldn’t mention your name. I told her I was talking to a student about things that made me think that, and she thought some literature might be good. I don’t know why, but it felt stupid to begin with, and now even stupider that I was concerned.”
The idea of him chatting about me with other teachers didn’t sit well with me, but I pushed the discomfort aside as I opened the flaps on the brochure, scanning over the text on the cheap paper stock that had cartoony graphics complementing the facts and information.
I turned back to James, who had his eyes on the road, shaking his head at himself for having thought a dumb brochure would help me with my issues.
All I could think about was that he’d done that for me. Because he was trying to help.
“It’s cute, Teach,” I said, unable to keep from laughing as I read over some text on the page. “Nice to know I ‘have value.’ I’ll have to keep that in mind. You mind if I keep this, though? Just so I have something to whip out and make fun of you about later?”
“It’s only fair. You can let Taryn and Ben know what an idiot your English teacher is, and—”
“You’re not an idiot, Mr. Warner. And I’m appreciative you even considered me enough to talk about this. That said, you don’t have to worry about me parading this around in front of class or my friends.”
Mainly because the moment I got to talking about him, they would definitely pick up on what I was really feeling.
“But everything else is on the table, Mr. Nipples,” I joked, and God, that laugh. It wasn’t just the resonance as it filled my ears, but the way his eyes lit up and got these little creases…
Had he always been this hot? No, this was clearly something my evil brain was doing to me. Making me think he was hotter than he was.
What the fuck? Stop it, Kyle!
As I was quickly learning, the more I fought it, the worse it got.
“So that program,” I continued, “at your old school? What did they do?”
His expression, which had oscillated between embarrassment and foolishness for the past few minutes, turned serious. “Faculty and peer support for LGBTQ+ students. We tried to make safe spaces and have people the kids could talk to if they needed any help.”
“That’s kinda awesome. You didn’t mind people thinking you’re gay?”
“You shouldn’t become a teacher if you can’t handle students and teachers thinking untrue shit about you. And…” He hesitated a moment before pushing through. “My brother was gay.”
“Brother? I didn’t realize you had a brother.”
As soon as I said it, the was in his comment sank in, and judging by that and the sadness on his face, I knew the reason why it hadn’t come up.
He opened his mouth, but all I wanted to do was suck my comment back in my mouth. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t get what you meant.”
“It’s fine. Life’s hard, but you move on. Let’s just say he wasn’t lucky enough to get the support and encouragement he needed, so I’m happy to be there for anyone who does need that. So if you do need to talk, my door’s always open.”
Damn, as soon as I thought he couldn’t get any more amazing, he had to go and share that shit.
His expression had transformed, and I’d spent enough time contemplating my past as I looked at my reflection in a mirror to know what pain and heartache looked like.
“Sorry about your brother. And thank you for this.” I indicated the brochure before the voice from my app alerted us of an upcoming turn. “That means a lot, James. Just, um, I do have one thing…”
“What is it?” he asked as he took the turn.