Chapter 1

"My Dad's moving out."

Kevin just stopped in his tracks. Bobby kept walking down the forest trail, oblivious to the effect of his words. Kevin quickly caught back up, matching his stride to that of his oldest friend. He looked at his face. It was ... well, you just never saw Bobby looking like that. All serious and such. His blue eyes were always so happy under that blond tangle of hair. Kevin replied the only way he could.

"What?"

"He's moving out." Bobby kicked a rock. It bounced down the trail. They were wandering the woods near home, paths as much a part of them as the boys were a part of each other. Usually they rode through the dirt trails, adventuring far into the well known unknown. Today, the bikes were parked and locked to a small tree.

"Why?" Kevin kicked a rock as well. It bounced a few times before settling back on the path. As his steps brought him to its new resting place, he kicked it again. This time, it bounded to the left, out of reach.

"He came to my room last night, talked to me. He..." Kevin heard Bobby sigh. "Dad's gay."

Kevin blinked. He couldn't have heard that.

"What?"

"He said he's gay. He's always been gay."

Bobby's father? Gay? Couldn't be!

"You're kidding! But ... I mean ... wow."

"Yeah. He said Grandma and Grandpa made him go to therapy, made him get "cured", but he can no longer deal with that crap. So ... he told Mom, and she said to get out."

"Wow..."

"Yeah."

They walked in silence for a few minutes. A brown squirrel stopped its search under a maple tree, standing on its haunches to watch the boys pass. Kevin nodded to it. It was always good to be nice to squirrels. You never knew when you might need a favor done in return.

"Your mom really told your dad to get out?"

"That's what he said." Bobby sighed. "Mom hasn't said anything to ME yet. Dad said she was going to talk to me tonight."

"Man..."

"Yeah." Bobby looked over at Kevin. "Does it bother you?"

"What?"

"Dad being gay."

Kevin thought about it. Did it bother him? He knew Mr. Stanfield. Had known him since forever. Liked him. He was a cool dad, as much as Mrs. Stanfield was NOT a cool mom. Not as cool as Vicky's, that's for sure. On the rankings, Mrs. Miller beat Mrs. Stanfield, but it was Mr. Stanfield over Mr. Miller by a wide margin.

"It does bother you, doesn't it," Bobby said, sadly. Kevin shook his head.

"No. It doesn't. I mean, he's still the same dad, right? He's not going to act different. Apart from, I guess, marrying a guy. But he's the same guy. He's not a fag or anything."

"I'd kill anyone who called him that!"

"Me too!" Kevin agreed, nodding vigorously. "He's not like the gays on that sewing show Mom likes to watch, the ones who talk weird and move their head and hands. He's ... well, he's just your dad."

"Yeah..." Bobby slowly nodded. "Yeah. You're right. He is just my Dad." He kicked another rock. "Are there different kinds of gay people?"

"Must be," Kevin answered. "I mean, there's different kinds of boys, and girls. Especially girls. There's some girls who are, you know, really girls..."

"And then there's Vicky!" They both laughed. Kevin put a hand up, Bobby high five-ing his friend.

"Yeah! So, gays must be the same way. There's the girly ones, and the ones like Vicky!"

"I'm telling her you said that!"

Kevin grinned as Bobby punched him in the shoulder, as if giving the punch Vicky wasn't there to deliver. His friend was happy again. It was going to be a good day.

"They fought last night."

They sat on a bench at the edge of the park playground. Some elementary kids were playing on the wooden fort thing that had been built last summer, while a few girls from their school were on the swing set. Vicky was still away at her Grandma's. Kevin looked at his friend, the stick in his hand drawing Godzilla in the dirt.

"Bad?"

"I've never heard them fight." Bobby erased what he had drawn, moving his stick back and forth violently between his feet. "I don't like it. Mom yelled."

"Man."

"Yeah."

There was silence. Just the sound of kids yelling and playing.

"Did your mom talk to you?"

"Yeah. She ... she just said her and Dad were having some problems, that it's not my fault, and that he'd be living somewhere else for awhile." Bobby paused. "She never said anything about him being gay. When I asked, she..." he swallowed. "She yelled at me."

"What?" That made no sense! Bobby nodded.

"She yelled, then left my room and went and yelled at Dad. That's why they fought. She didn't know he had talked to me. Hadn't wanted me to know he was gay. I mean, why?"

"Don't know," Kevin shrugged. "Maybe she thinks he can be cured, still. Like his parents did."

"Maybe."

Kevin sensed movement. Looking up, he saw the girls had abandoned the swing set, and were coming over. He knew them, somewhat. They were from his school, but not his street. Jeanie had been in a number of his classes over the years. The others he only knew as the girls who hung out with Jeanie. Jeanie herself was, well, your average cute blonde. She had curves now, but not enough to be able to compete once they all started high school. Mind you, it would be the same for him, with regard to the guys, but he wasn't top dog now so didn't care. Jeanie came to a stop in front of them, her coven arrayed on either side. She smiled.

"Hello, Kevin!"

There was a sing song quality in her voice Kevin had learned to distrust over the years. She wanted something, something she was willing to be friendlier than normal to get. Not that she was usually unfriendly, true. It was just...

Someone sat down next to him.

Kevin turned, surprised. At first he assumed it was Vicky. After all, that was her seat. Bobby always sat down to his right, Vicky to his left. It was the natural order of things. But, no. It wasn't his second oldest friend. It was a girl, though. She was slender, small, although he knew she was in his grade. She looked like almost like an elementary kid, apart from the bumps on her chest. He knew her name, somewhat. Was it Neeta? Needa? Something like that. She was Indian, at least partly, her light brown skin and green eyes somehow exotic. Her black hair was short and silky, parted right down the middle. A light blue t-shirt bared her tummy, just a bit, as did all the girl's outfits, her dark blue shorts VERY short.

Kevin responded as any boy would.

"Umm..."

"You don't mind if Nitya sits there," Jeanie asked, grinning, "do you? She hurt her foot."

He looked down, eyes traveling down smooth brown legs, to dainty feet clad in sandals. Her toenails were painted pink. Eyes going back to her face, Kevin saw her smiling nervously. Why SHE was nervous, he had no idea.

A familiar hand touched his right shoulder. He looked at Bobby. His friend's expression was annoyed, eyes firm.

"Let's go."

Kevin sighed. Bobby was always like this around girls. Apart from Vicky, naturally, but that was different. She was Vicky. Apart from her, though, Bobby didn't seem to want to have much to do with girls. Hell, if some boys were joking with Kevin, Bobby seemed to get a little ticked off. Kevin had other friends, and the trio would do things with other kids all the time, but Bobby was kind of ... well, Bobby. This time, though, Kevin understood perfectly. He stood.

"Sorry," he said, looking down at the girl, honestly sorry. Her eyes widened in ... was that hurt? He shrugged awkwardly, smiling a bit. "I am sorry, but it hasn't been a good day."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jeanie put her hands on her hips, surprised and pissed. He ignored her, following Bobby off towards the bike racks. He fell in next to his friend, their strides automatically matching.