Disclaimer:
All other content or otherwise are works of my own
imagination. All events are fictitious in nature.
Any
similarities to persons living, dead, or otherwise are purely
coincidental.
This story contains strong themes of homosexual
content, if this offends you in any way, please refrain from reading
further. If you are not of legal age to read this, please leave
now.
A/N:
I'd like to thank TalonRider for editing this chapter. His
unparalleled excellence and tireless effort applied to my work is
greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I'd also like to thank the
brilliant Librent and kayden for beta-reading this chapter. Thanks!
American
Differences
-By Emulated
Chapter 26: Li
She
knew. There was no way that she didn’t. She’d pieced
everything together and figured us out. That note, that bloody
note! When will I stop fucking things up, when will I…Li
looked down at the piece of paper again. Her eyes scanned over the
pencilled outline of a heart. Her frown deepened as she opened her
mouth, her head shaking in confusion,
“B…But this
was yours…” She stammered, her eyes on Jamie.
Bile
entered my mouth. I swallowed, “Li…”
“No,
I saw you put this in his locker…” She shook her head
again, “I’m sure…”
“Li…”
I began again, only for my mind to draw another blank. What the hell
was I supposed to say to her?
The bell rang out in the hall,
causing everyone in the class to hurriedly pack their things away, Li
included. It wasn’t over. I couldn’t let her get away
without knowing exactly how and what she felt. I couldn’t risk
her suddenly running her mouth. My stomach lurched again.
“Relax,
we’ll speak to her outside class. She probably doesn’t
know.” Came Jamie’s voice, trying to reassure me. I
wanted to laugh.
‘Of
course she bloody knows!’
I thought to myself as I watched her step away from the table. She
crumpled up the note, threw it in the bin, and hovered there for a
moment. I wanted to say something else, to better understand how she
felt. She headed back over, eyes on the floor as she slung her bag
over her shoulder and walked out of class. Sarah, who had been with
the teacher while this was going on, called after her, but to no
effect.
Sarah walked up to us, “Did something happen?”
She asked, looking at me.
“Uh…” I
began.
Jamie shrugged, “We don’t know. She just
walked out.” He replied.
Sarah frowned, before she
walked quickly over to the door and stepped out, looking for
Li.
Jamie tugged on my arm, “We got to go find her
too.”
I nodded, slinging my bag over my shoulder and
following him out. With the school day officially over, the corridors
were packed with kids trying to get from one place to another. I
glanced from side to side, not being able to pick out either Sarah or
Li from the crowd. I stepped to the side and followed Jamie as we
squeezed through, heading away from the doors.
“Why
would she be back in the school?” I asked, looking at Jamie,
“She’s probably outside now, on her way home where
she-“
He held up a hand, “Matt, relax. Please.”
He said sternly, not in an aggressive way, but it was clear that he
was trying to think things through. He glanced around, noting the few
students that were there, with most behind us, “She only saw
the note. It could mean anything to her.”
“I think
she has a good idea what it means. Shit, Jamie, are we really that
obvious?” I asked, lowering my voice.
“You’ve
asked me that before.” He pointed out, as we neared our
form.
“Well, are we?”
He peered inside the
empty room, “I don’t think so.” He turned to me,
“Do you have her number?”
I shook my head, “Not
her new number.”
“Damn, we need to talk to her.”
He said, before we headed through the school again. We’d only
been there about five minutes after the bell, but already the place
was almost deserted, with most kids having left the place straight
away. Li wasn’t in sight anywhere, it seemed that she had also
left instead of hanging around.
“We’ll go past the
lockers again.” Spoke Jamie, answering the question in my
mind.
We turned down the hall and immediately noticed Li
standing next to her open locker, putting some books inside. My phone
started to vibrate in my pocket, making me jump. I pulled it out and
looked at the caller ID, before bringing it to my ear.
“Hey,
you guys got detention or something?”
Came Connor’s voice.
“Erm, not exactly.” I
replied, “We will be a while so you can head home. We’ll
catch up with you guys later.”
“You
sure?” He
asked, “We can
wait.”
Li
looked up, noticing us approaching her, wiping her eyes on the sleeve
of her jumper.
“Yeah, Con. I’ll see you later.”
I replied, looking at her.
“Alright.”
He replied, before I hung up abruptly. I’d explain things to
him later.
I slipped the phone in my pocket and stepped up to
Li, “Hey, are you ok?” I asked.
“MmHmm.”
She replied, fiddling about with some books.
“Uh, um...”
I looked at Jamie, flashing him a look.
He stepped forward,
“Li, I think there’s been some misunderstanding.”
He said, “That note is mine, but it was only a joke, you know.
I don’t real-“
“You said it was some cheats
for a game.” She replied, “But I knew you were lying,
even then.”
I shook my head, “It’s not like
that, we didn’t mean-“
“So what, are you
guys like…together or something?” She inquired,
“Seriously I want to know.” She said somewhat
demandingly.
Jamie faked a smile, looking at me, “Together?
Like gay or something?”
She continued staring at him,
“Yeah.” She said simply, “And I don’t care
what you say because I know it’s true.” She added, her
voice quivering at the end, as more tears filled her eyes.
Jamie
reached out with a hand, “Li, you’re getting it wrong,
we’re not…” I touched Jamie’s arm, looking
into his eyes. This was ridiculous. We all knew the game was up, and
frankly…I just couldn’t bring myself to lie again. I’d
been doing so much lying throughout the years that it’d become
second nature, but in that moment I had a choice, I could tell the
truth. But that came at a cost. Could I trust Li enough with our
deepest secret?
Jamie searched my eyes, raising an eyebrow.
I
nodded, “It’s ok.”
Li looked at us, “What’s
ok?”
Jamie regarded me again, “Matt…”
I
checked the corridor. Empty. I nodded again, “It’s
ok.”
Jamie turned to her, taking in a breath, “You
want the truth? Fine.” He paused, “Yes, we’re
together.”
She suddenly stopped moving and stood there.
Seconds passed yet she continued to remain motionless.
“Li,
are you ok?” Asked Jamie, before she started to move again,
slowly at first before she stopped. She brought her sleeve to her
face as the tears rolled down her cheeks. That really hit me hard.
Just seeing her like that reminded me of the time when Josh first
found out. They shared the same look of confusion, of loss, of
sadness. I walked up to her, extending my arms and wrapping them
around her. She rested her face against my shoulder and breathed
steadily. I placed a hand on the top of her back and rubbed her
soothingly, wanting to take away her sadness.
“I’m
so sorry.” I found myself saying, as Jamie walked around and
came into view, “You were never meant to find out like this,
Li.”
She remained silent, sniffling every now and
again.
I lowered my face to her ear, “Is it because of
your coursework?” I asked, recalling the piece she’d
given me weeks before, where she admitted
her feelings for Jamie.
She shook her head, “It wasn’t
my real coursework.” She said softly, “But yeah…it’s
because of that.”
Jamie frowned slightly. Things started
to make sense when she said that. It was clear that she still had
feelings for Jamie, and with her having found out like she did…she
simply wasn’t prepared for it at all.
“I…I
never thought that he’d…” She pulled back, looking
at Jamie, “You don’t seem…”
“Gay?”
He answered, somewhat louder than I’d have liked, “Yeah,
I am.”
My eyes scanned the corridor again. Too much
fiction from the Internet had made me paranoid about ‘scenes’
like those. As though someone was waiting around the corner, hearing
every word. Ok, in reality Jamie hadn’t said things that loud,
he practically whispered them, so that ruled out anyone else
overhearing, but hearing him say it in a public place still freaked
me out a bit.
“And you too, Matt?”
“Huh?”
I asked, noticing Li staring at me.
“Are you gay
too?”
Instead of telling her outright, I opted for a
semi-subtle nod.
Her eyes squinted slightly when I confirmed
what she had been thinking all along. And with my mind already in
overdrive, I confirmed that fact with myself too, ‘Now
she knows. Now she really knows.’
But as soon as I managed to compute that, another alarming thing
happened,
Li smiled at us.
My eyes shot at Jamie,
wondering what was going on.
“I’m not angry at
you, ok?” Her red eyes shifting from Jamie to me, before she
pulled the books from her locker, placing them in her bag, “I
just need to get home.”
I watched her. We both knew that
she was suffering over this, “Li…”
“I
said it’s ok.” She snapped, “Just please…”
She began, before she knocked over one of her folders, causing her
sheets to fan out across the floor.
“I’ve got it.”
Called out Jamie, as he bent down to retrieve them.
I opened
my mouth to speak, but she shut me off.
“Matt, I just
don’t know, alright.” She said, “I don’t know
what to think, what to say.” She glanced down at Jamie before
she turned and squeezed shut her eyes, “God.”
Jamie
stood up, handing Li the folder, “I know this is hard for you,
but please try to understand.”
Her phone started to
ring. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out, “It’s
Sarah.” She said, before she inhaled and answered it, “Hi.”
I
glanced at Jamie, wondering what Li was going to say.
“No,
I just had to deal with a few things…” She said, before
remaining silent, listening to Sarah, “That’s fine, you
go collect him from school. I’ll see you later.” She
added, probably referring to Sarah picking up her younger brother.
“Ok, sure, bye.” She finished, hanging up.
We all
glanced at each other, not sure of what to say after the
interruption. Jamie looked up, “Why don’t you come back
with Matt and me?”
Li and I gazed at him, unsure of what
he meant by that.
He nodded, “You can come back with us
and we can talk about it.” He said, “We’re not all
that hard to understand.”
I thought for a moment. It
wasn’t actually that bad of an idea. At the very least it’d
give us some more time to speak to Li, hopefully better gauge her
reaction and to tell her a few things, namely to keep it to
herself.
Li nodded, “Ok.”
I shared a look
with Jamie, hoping that it was the right decision to make.
*
I
looked about his room, taking note of Li sitting on the edge of his
bed, realising that she was the only girl that he had ever brought up
there. I swivelled on his desk chair and faced her. Li was great,
amazing even, if only we could get her to understand.
“But
I thought you just had a girlfrie-“ She began, before she
pieced it together, her eyes piercing mine, “Was it a lie
too?”
Jamie nodded, “Yeah. But you have to
understand, it was the only way we could…I could…”
He paused, “We didn’t want you to know that I was dating
Matt, so we made that up.”
She faced me, “Did you
tell him what I wrote?”
“Yeah.” I replied
plainly, “I couldn’t lie to him, Li.”
She
shot me this look, one that read, ‘Yeah, but you could lie
to me.’
I glanced down to the floor, completely
unsure of how to respond to that.
Li swallowed some of the
Coke, “Matt I can kind of understand you being gay, but Jamie?
Really?”
My head shot up, “What? What do you mean,
‘kind of’?” I exclaimed.
She shrugged, “I
dunno, you seem more…” She smiled, “I can just see
you being gay easier than I can see Jamie.”
Jamie winked
at me, causing me to shake my head at him. Had it been a different
time and place, I’d have walked across and kissed him in front
of her, just to show her how ‘gay’ Jamie was. I shook my
head again at that, as if there were varying levels of ‘gayness’.
That’s crazy talk!
“Sarah isn’t going to
believe any of this!” She said.
That got my heart
racing, “Sarah? No, no, she can’t know.” I said,
waving my hand.
She looked taken aback from my sudden
outburst, “I never said that I’ll tell her.” She
replied, sighing, “But she isn’t as tunnel minded as you
think. You know she used to hang out with Stephen.”
Jamie
looked at me, “Who’s Stephen?”
I shrugged,
“Some guy from another school who’s in our year,
apparently he’s gay.”
“And you’ve
never told me about him?”
“I’ve never met
the guy. Only ever seen him on Facebook.” I replied, turning to
Li, “But it’s different with Stephen, Sarah has known me
since we were tiny.” I said, using my hands for
emphasis.
“And?” She asked. “You think
she’ll stop liking you or something?” She paused, “You
really don’t give her the credit she deserves.”
“You
already know what happened with Max.” I retorted.
“But
he’s a guy!” She cried, holding her hand up to Jamie,
“And no offence, but I don’t think guys take it as good
as girls.”
I tried very hard not to snigger at that one.
I’d be sure to tell it to Connor and Ayo. But it seemed that Li
noticed my face.
“What? You know what I mean. Some guys
can’t handle another guy being gay.”
I coughed and
nodded, “I agree with you. It’s just not the best thing
to think about when you’ve got a lot of male friends.”
“Yeah,
but most of them already know. Who else do you hang around with,
Dean?”
Jamie nodded, “I don’t think he’ll
take it well, given the things that he’s said.”
“To
you?”
“No, about gay people.” He
replied.
She sighed, “I don’t know, perhaps other
people won’t take it as badly as you think.” She sipped
the Coke again, “Aside from Max all your other friends took it
well, yeah?”
I nodded, “But we were just really
lucky.”
“Or it’s how things will be if you
came out.”
My eyes widened, “Who said anything
about coming out? You found out by accident, and I’m sure as
hell not going to let-“
“Matt.” Called out
Jamie, “I know, we won’t let it happen again.” He
said, trying to reassure me. He seemed so calm about this, sometimes
I wished I had more of his temperament.
“Ok.”
Li
looked at me, “People finding out really bothers you, doesn’t
it?”
“You have no idea.” I replied, “I
wish it wasn’t an issue. We’re just two guys.”
“Yeah,
well some people just have their heads up their asses. They can’t
understand things like that.” She looked at me, “Things
will change, it just takes time.”
I glanced at Jamie,
‘Yeah, well we can’t really afford forty-years or
whatever for people to stop fucking us around.’ I thought
to myself, before nodding, “Yeah, time.”
Li smiled
devilish at me, “This does explain a lot though, especially why
you hate Hayley so much.”
“You mean I didn’t
already have a good enough reason, before she tried to hit on
Jamie?”
She laughed, “No, of course you did, but I
see why you were so pissy with her.”
“Matt gets
like that sometimes.” Smiled Jamie.
I glared at him,
“You’re a right charmer! After all the times I fought
away Hayley you say that!” I grinned.
He blew me a
kiss.
“You two are really serious, aren’t you?”
Asked Li.
We nodded, “You bet.” Said Jamie, giving
me that stare of his.
“Uh, guys?” She called out,
“You can stare at each other all you want in a minute once I’m
gone.”
I looked at her, “Are we grossing you out
that much with our stares?” I joked.
“What? No!”
She said quickly, before noticing my smile, “I’m just
scared that Jamie’s going to dive across me any second to get
to you.”
I grinned, “Oh, I can tame the beast just
fine. Toilet training him was the hard part.”
She
scrunched up her face as she giggled.
“See what I mean!”
Cried Jamie, “He IS pissy!”
We all got a laugh out
of that before Li picked up her bag, “I better head off. Mum
will be wondering where I am.”
I nodded and stood up,
“Sure, thanks for coming back with us, letting us speak, and
stuff.”
She smiled and stood up, “Thanks for
telling me.” She said, before she walked over and hugged me, “I
hope things get better for you, Matt.”
“Thanks,
Li.”
She pulled back, before looking over at Jamie,
reaching her arms out and hugging him, “You take care too. And
take care of Matt.”
He laughed, “I will.”
She
hugged him for a moment longer. I figured she needed some sort of
closure there to accept that Jamie was…well, unavailable, for
lack of a better word. She pulled back and grinned, “Sorry if I
caused any trouble with you guys, with me, uh, with my
coursework.”
Jamie smiled, “Don’t worry
about it.”
She nodded, “Good.”
We
walked her downstairs and to the front door.
“I’ll
see you guys tomorrow then.” She said, as she stepped
out.
“Yep, see you, Li.”
“Bye.”
I called out as she walked down the path, before Jamie closed the
door, leaning back against it. We stood there for a moment, “That
went surprisingly well.”
He nodded, “Yeah, it
did.” He said before giggling, “Surprisingly.”
He mocked, “Jeez, you’re so posh.” He laughed, as
he threw an arm over my shoulder, leading me back to the stairs.
I
nudged him, “Shut up, Dude.” I smiled, “Just
because I’m too awesome.”
He leaned across
and kissed my cheek, “More like you’re too adorable.”
I
faced him, sharing a kiss on the lips. I pulled back as we reached
the stairs, “Listen, I think I’m gonna head off too.”
He
turned around giving me these cute puppy dog eyes and making little
whimpering sounds.
“Hehehe, what? You’ll see me in
a little while.”
He placed his hands on my hips and
kissed my cheek again, “It’s too long.” He said
softly, resting his forehead against mine, “But it’ll
have to do.”
I closed my eyes and relaxed for a
moment.
“Remember, we still have a date this
weekend.”
I opened my eyes, “A date?”
He
nodded, kissing me, “The sleepover.” He said, his lips
next to my ear, “I can’t wait.”
*
Two
hours later I found myself standing in front of the mirror in my
room, checking out my apparel, which consisted of, a light pink
t-shirt, and a dark pair of faded jeans. I turned sideways on in the
mirror and smiled. I looked quite good! After a few minutes, I heard
the doorbell ring downstairs so I rushed down to answer it before my
parents. Josh was having dinner around one of his friend’s
houses, so he wasn’t about. But that wasn’t a coincidence
there, no my parents gave him the idea so they could have Jamie and
me by ourselves. Not in some kind of malicious or devious way, but
just to limit the things that could mess things up.
I skipped
over to the door and opened it, revealing a stunning Jamie Keller. He
looked so darling as he stood there with his hands in his pockets,
keeping warm. He winked at me again, “Hey, Matt.”
I
winked back, “Come in, Jamie.” I ushered, letting him
inside as I closed the door behind him.
He quickly removed his
jacket and hung it up, giving me the time to check him out. He was
wearing a plain white shirt and a dark pair of jeans, both designer
brands. Not excessively expensive, but the best of his wardrobe. He
was clearly trying to impress my parents.
"It’s not
too much, is it?" He asked.
I shook my head, "You
look great."
He smiled, "You too."
“It’s
good to see you, Jamie.” Came my dad’s voice, as he shook
his hand.
“You too, Mr Blake.”
Dad smiled,
“Joe will do fine.”
Jamie nodded and smiled
back.
Dad looked at me, “Mum and I are finishing dinner
now, it should be done in about half an hour. I’ll call you
guys down once it’s done.”
“Ok.” I
said, as I led Jamie to the stairs and headed up.
We entered
my room, with me closing the door behind us. I sniffed the air. I
paused for a moment before I followed the scent over to Jamie.
“You
wearing some cologne?” I asked.
“Is it too
strong?” He asked.
I smiled, “No, it’s
great.” I sniffed him, “You smell good.”
He
leaned close and sniffed me, “You could have showered.”
I
slapped his arm lightly, “I did!”
We ultimately
ended up playing some Playstation during the twenty-or-so minutes
while we waited for the food to be ready. Part of me was ecstatic to
have Jamie in my room again, but the other half was freaking out,
wondering if it’d be the last time he’d be in my room. A
little extreme, sure, but at that point my mind was going over every
possible outcome. And after our little wait, it was time to get the
night started. I couldn’t wait.
*
“So
you’ve both got exams next month?” Asked Dad.
Jamie
nodded, “Yeah, late next month.” He replied, looking at
me, or better still, watching the face-off between my mum and
me.
We’d been sitting at the table for about five
minutes, but my mum had hardly said five words to me, and even less
to Jamie. I couldn’t figure out what her problem was, much less
figure out a way for her to start talking, even something trivial.
Dad, on the other hand, kept things moving. Sure I didn’t
really want to talk about exams and such, but if there was little
alternative then I’d gladly take that over silence. Still, I
had to do something, I couldn’t afford to let this opportunity
slip up.
“So, mum, how’s work going?” I
asked.
She looked up, “What?”
“Work,
you know, how are things?”
She nodded, “They’re
ok.”
I wasn’t even trying to squeeze blood out of
a stone, I just wanted her to acknowledge Jamie in some way. If the
indirect approach didn’t work, then I’d have to be more
upfront with her.
“You know, Jamie is really good at
rounders. He beat me a few times.” I said, looking at her.
She
glanced at him, “Is he?” She replied plainly.
I
clenched my jaw, ‘But he’s a better kisser though.’
Was at the tip of my tongue. I wanted to just say something that’d
shake things up, but I decided against it. I didn’t want things
to get out of hand, at least they were somewhat controllable
now.
“If you don’t want me here, Mrs Blake, I can
leave.” Said Jamie.
I turned to him, ready to object,
but he tapped me twice on the leg. I closed my mouth and remained
quiet.
Mum stopped eating and looked at him, “I…this
isn’t easy for me, Jamie.”
“I know, but I’m
trying to make it easy, I really am.” He said, “I just
want to be with Matt, and not upset either of you two.”
Mum
continued to look at him, “I’m sorry, Jamie. It’s
going to take me-“
“Time.” I finished,
“Yeah, we know. But at least have the decency to talk to the
guy, because there’s more to him than being gay and being my
boyfriend.”
We were all silent for a moment, before Mum
looked down at her plate, then to me, and finally to Jamie, “So…”
She paused, and then something passed over her face, “I was
talking to your dad about life back in America, like thanksgiving,
and he was saying what you had to eat.”
Jamie nodded,
“We usually had family come over so we had a huge turkey and
stuff.”
“Just like Christmas.” I
added.
“Yeah, kinda like that.”
He smiled,
“But we almost messed things up last year.” He said,
“While we were busy packing to come here, we had a slight
accident with the turkey..,”
“What happened?”
Asked Dad.
I started to smile, recalling the story when Jamie
first told me.
“I dropped it on the floor.”
“You
dropped it?” Asked Dad.
He nodded, “I didn’t
even notice it, I just walked into the kitchen and the next thing I
know is that the uncooked turkey’s on the floor.”
“Did
you still eat it?” Asked Mum.
“Yep.” He
said, “The floor was clean, we just rinsed it.”
I
grimaced, “I’d never eat that.”
“It
was in the packet, and I remember telling you that part!”
I
shrugged, “It still fell on the floor though.” I said, “I
just can’t believe you dropped the turkey. So heavy
handed.”
He giggled, “No I’m not. You’re
more than I am.” He said, sipping some of his drink.
“Yeah,
all of you and your greatness!” I joked.
Jamie laughed,
causing some of the drink to trickle down his chin and onto his
shirt. He quickly blushed, “Sorry, I didn’t mea-“
I
started to wipe up his shirt, still giggling, “Don’t
worry, Babes. I’ve got it.”
“Thanks.”
He said, before giggling as I wiped his chin.
I looked up to
meet the stares of my parents, expecting them to be frowning, or
grimacing at me for being so physical with Jamie, but they weren’t.
Mum was handing me some proper towels, while dad was wetting one
with some bottled water.
I smiled, taking the dampened towel
and the dry ones, “Thanks, guys.” I replied, before using
them on Jamie’s shirt.
“Try not to spread it
around too much.” Said Mum, leaning forward, and then looked at
me, “If we wash it now it won’t stain as much.” She
looked at me, “Perhaps you could lend Jamie a shirt.”
Jamie
looked at us, “I really don’t want to cause any more
hassle, not while we’re eating…” He began, but my
mum stood up, shaking her head.
“It’s fine, just
head upstairs and put on one of Matt’s shirts. Bring your one
down and we’ll stick it in the machine.”
I didn’t
know whether to jump for joy or bury my face in my hands out of
frustration. On one hand you had Mum talking and interacting with
Jamie, but on the other hand dinner had been completely
disrupted.
“Matt?” Called out my mum, “Jamie
still needs a shirt.”
“Oh.” I said, before
standing, “Right.” I stepped away from the table and
motioned for Jamie to follow me upstairs. We reached the stairs and
went up into my room. I pulled open my closet and peered inside,
looking for something that’d suit Jamie.
“I’m
so sorry about this, Matt. I know you wanted tonight to go well and
now I’ve gone an-“ He began, before I cut him off.
“I
made you laugh so it was my fault, besides, it got Mum talking.”
I said, handing him a shirt.
He nodded, taking it from me,
“Yeah, but talking for all the wrong reasons. I bet she sees me
as a real nuisance now.”
“Or she sees you as a
normal person who makes mistakes.” I suggested, “At least
you’re not on some kind of pedestal now…” I
smiled, “Well, perhaps you’re still on a pedestal…with
a bib.”
Jamie swatted my arm, “You bitch.”
I
slapped my ass, “I try.”
He sighed, “Stop
teasing me, otherwise I’d need to borrow some of your boxers
too.”
I laughed, “See? You’re always trying
to get into my pants, literally.”
He nodded, “Funny,
Matt. Real funny.”
*
Five
minutes later we were back downstairs sitting at the table,
continuing with our meal. Jamie was wearing my shirt, while his one
was being washed, and my parents seemed to be a little more lively
than before. So all in all it was a good moment to restart the night,
so off we went; onto ‘round two’.
“How is
your mum, Jamie?” Asked my mum, looking at him.
He
swallowed, “She’s fine, thanks. Starting to get used to
life living here.”
“That’s good to hear,
“She replied, “It must be quite hard to adapt.”
“Yeah,
some things are really different, but some are the same. We’re
all coping though.”
I smiled, listening to him speak of
the culture change, but part of me couldn’t help but detect a
double meaning to their words. I’m sure Mum was interested in
how his mum was coping with his sexuality, however, Jamie’s
answers were also cryptic. ‘Coping’? I wouldn’t
have said that they were ‘coping’ with life in the UK,
but they were with his sexuality. They were ‘coping’
bloody well with that!
“And Sam’s on the netball
team, right?” I asked, wanting to steer the topic in a
different direction.
He nodded, “Yeah, she’s been
put on that.”
Mum played ball with that one, adhering to
the new subject, “Is she? So you’re both quite sporty
then?”
“We’ve always been into sports,
mostly because of my dad.”
My dad nodded, “Noah’s
always trying to get me interested in baseball.”
“And…”
Asked Jamie with a smile, “Is it working?”
Dad
laughed, “Perhaps a little bit, but football’s always
going to be my thing.”
“You play?” Asked
Jamie.
“Not anymore. I used to play for a local team
just before Matt was born, but I had bigger priorities after that.”
He replied, winking at me.
I beamed at him, flashing a
smile.
“You could always take it up again.”
Suggested Mum, “At least it’ll get you moving
about.”
“What?” He exclaimed, “You
make it sound like I’m overweight.”
“No, but
it’s always good to stay in shape.” She pointed out.
Dad
laughed, “You mean I should visit the gym with Noah?”
“Your
Dad goes to the gym?” I asked Jamie.
He nodded, “Yeah,
a few times a week.”
Mum smiled, “It’s just
an idea. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“It would
to me. Noah’s used to it.”
She nodded, “And
it shows. Always taking the stairs instead of the lifts at
work.”
Dad covered the side of his face, pretending to
stop her from hearing him, “She means that he looks
younger.”
Jamie and I laughed aloud, “Yeah, that
would be true, “I began, giggling, “But all male Kellers
are blessed with good looks.”
Mum and Dad quietened down
a little quicker after that. Ok, perhaps I shouldn’t have
thrown that one out there, but it just seemed to fit. I looked at
Jamie, expecting him to be a little pissed, but instead his cheeks
were flushed slightly.
“Are you blushing?” I asked
aloud.
His eyes widened slightly, as his cheeks flushed again.
Who would have thought that Jamie was susceptible to public praise? I
took a mental note of that.
“Leave the guy alone, Matt.”
Smiled Dad.
“What? It was a compliment!” I said,
looking at Jamie again. He looked so cute sitting there in my shirt.
I wanted to take him somewhere and get all loved up!
“You’ll
have to forgive Matt.” Began Mum, “He always gets a
little excited when at the dinner table.”
Jamie laughed,
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that too.”
Mum and Dad
both laughed aloud at that one, giving me these little glances,
before looking at Jamie, still giggling at my expense.
I
smiled at the two of them, before I started to laugh myself. We
carried on in hysterics for a few minutes, giving me the chance to
look at the four of us now that the ice had officially been broken
through by the laughter. We still had a way to go, but maybe,
just maybe there was some hope for us after all.
And that
meant everything to me.
I hope
you enjoyed reading this chapter of American Differences.
Any
comments and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated.
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it's just to say, “Hi!”
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Again!
Emulated
Copyright © 2009 By Emulated