Chapter 2

Gina woke up with a big smile on her face. The party last night had been wonderful and she couldn’t recall having a better time with friends who welcomed her as someone who was NOT a geek or nerd to be teased. And to top things off? She had ended up with (to her surprise) a boyfriend.

“I’m gay,” Martin stated.

“Okay. I never would have guessed,” she smiled.

“It’s sort of a secret. I’m so far in the closet that I’m hiding behind the old 1970’s disco era leisure suits my grandfather wore. You have no idea how ugly those things are!”

“I’ve seen movies. But why the secret? You are who you are. You can’t change it any more than I can change my eye color.”

“Self preservation,” Martin sighed. “Look, for some reason I can’t explain, I feel like I can trust you.

Maybe it’s because you opened up to me and told me about what happened to you last year.” He looked around to make sure they were not overheard as they chatted. “When I said earlier that we moved here because of family stuff, it was because my dad is a homophobic asshole.”

Gina took a deep breath at the statement.

“I will spare you the details, but he got involved with a few people who decided that they were going to confront a gay couple that had moved to our neighborhood and ‘set them straight’ so to speak. Doing so involved physical violence. He managed to weasel out of charges. I don’t know what sort of deal he worked out with the police but it was decided that for his own good, it was time to leave the area and stay off the radar.”

“That’s horrible!”

“Yeah. And more than once I’ve heard him with his friends all talking trash over a beer and he often says ‘If my son was a faggot, I would beat the crap out of him and then kick his ass out!’ as his friends all agree with him.” Martin’s face clouded over. “So, for now I bide my time and wait until I’m old enough to strike out on my own and be safe.”

Gina reached over and lifted his chin. “Martin? Kiss me.”

“Huh?”

“I said ‘kiss me,’ you silly goose! You kissed me at midnight. Was it horrible?”

“Not in the least,” he grinned and leaned forward. Their lips softly touched and they both savored the warm sensations shared between them.

“Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Not at all! I like kissing! It’s fun. I just never seem to find a girl interested in doing so.”

“I want to offer you a business proposition. Will you be my GBF?”

“Your what?”

“Gay boyfriend. A lot of girls have one, believe it or not. It’s a special someone they can spend time with and relax and have fun and do ‘date stuff’ without a girl worrying about the guy expecting sex all the time.

That sort of pressure can be hard on a girl.”

“I’m not sure how that would work.”

“Simple. We date. Go out to movies, dinner at places where we would be seen as a couple, spend time together maybe studying after school and enjoy stuff like going to a party together. But we know that the reality of it is not what some might think. I’m starting to get guys pestering me to go out and I have no interest beyond just being their friend. If I’m with you, we can have fun together and nobody is the wiser.

‘Oh, Gina? She is dating Martin,’ and all good.” She could see Martin was giving the idea serious thought.

“And think about this. Tomorrow morning, your father asks how the party was and you say ‘I met a girl and we hit it off and we are going to try dating,’ and your father will think that’s great.”

“And how long would we keep this ruse in place? What if one of us meets someone that we want to date for real?”

“We just be as honest with each other as possible.”

Martin looked off to the distance. “If I agree to this, I have a major condition.”

“Which is?”

“I get to kiss you a lot.”

Gina giggled. “How about we finalize the agreement with a kiss right now?”

Neither of them had noticed that Felicia had been going around the room, taking pictures with her phone, until their own phones chimed and they saw pictures of them dancing and hugging and laughing together.

And, several kisses being exchanged.