“Hey, Scottie,” his sister, Tina, said as she came in from volleyball practice, “did you hear about the Halloween party they’re putting on down at the VFW?”

“I heard something about a party, but no details.”

“Cindy’s mother let her know more about it yesterday after seeing a notice on the community board.”

One of the nice things about living in a small town was the informality. The local paper would have something later, but most of what was happening in town first aired on the board on the side of the municipal building.

“Just teens?” he asked.

“No, adults too, though how many are going to show up at a dry party?”

He chuckled as he nodded his agreement.

“Sounds like you want to go. Any ideas for a costume?”

“I do,” she said, turning a searching look on him.

“Okay, but why are you looking at me that way?”

“Because you may not like it. Please give it some thought, though. I’m thinking of going as Scott Anderson, accompanying his older sister, Tina.”

His first thought was to shout at her. She was the one who was gay, not him! Still, he did as she asked and gave it some thought. The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed, until he was laughing out loud.

“Uh, that’s not the reaction I was expecting.”

It took him a moment to get it under control, but when he did, he said, “Sorry, sis. It’s just that it’s no secret that you’re gay, and hopefully people have come to grips with the fact that I’m not. If we do a really good job with the costumes, I can just see the gay girls hitting me up and the straight ones going for you.”