“Sure,” his mom said. “But what the hell does this have to do with anything, Sol?”
“It has to do with the fact that Tarses lies about who he is and you can just see the guilt ripping him apart. You can see it on his face. And he says it’s a mistake that’ll be with him for the rest of his life.”
“Spill it,” his mom said.
“I don’t want to make that mistake, okay? I don’t want to lie about who I am, even if it doesn’t matter. It’s who I am. It’s part of me.”
“What is?” his dad asked.
“I think you already know.”
Not many people would consider Solomon Reed lucky. He had debilitating anxiety, a weak stomach, and he was in love with his straight best friend. But in the parent department, he had won the lottery. So, he’d always known that when he finally told them, they’d make him feel like it was no big deal, like it didn’t change a thing. They’d say they loved him just like he was, that there was no way they couldn’t.
And that’s exactly what they did.
TWENTY-FOUR
LISA PRAYTOR
Lisa hadn’t been over to see Solomon in two days, and she knew he was probably a little thrown off by it. Or maybe he didn’t really need her anymore. Maybe nobody did. But she needed him—at least until she could get out of there for good. Lisa had to be rational about this and stop letting her paranoia about Clark and Solomon jeopardize the entire plan. Whether they were in love or not, she couldn’t let Solomon find out about that essay or he may never recover.
She needed to try, one more time, to convince Clark that keeping it a secret was the right thing to do. It wouldn’t be easy, though, especially if he was keeping a secret of his own. But, for the time being, she was banking on Clark still being hers and that good ole Lisa Praytor charm to make things right again.
Just before she left her house for Clark’s, Lisa decided to check her e-mail. Not surprisingly, it was already signed in to Clark’s account. This happened all the time. He didn’t have a laptop, and he was always borrowing hers when he came over. Half the time, ever since school had let out, she just let him take it home with him.
She was about to log out when curiosity got the better of her and she started to scroll through his in-box. Most of the messages were from Solomon. She wasn’t surprised because her in-box looked nearly the same. Solomon was sort of an insomniac, so sometimes he’d stay up really late and e-mail them links to funny videos or articles about dumb things like that coffee that comes from Asian tree cat feces.
Lisa read over a few of the e-mails before thinking to click on the Sent folder. When she did, the top message was one Clark had written to Solomon the previous night.
Sol-
I was thinking about yesterday and I just wanted to apologize again if I weirded you out. Let’s go swimming tomorrow. With trunks. Ha-ha.
Clark
Lisa thought about crying, for just a second, but her breakdown at Janis’s had destroyed her tear ducts. Instead, she walked downstairs, got in her car, and drove across town to Clark’s house. She stood outside the front door for a few minutes before knocking, trying to talk herself out of dealing with this when it still hurt so bad. She just needed him to confess. If he lied to her, it would break her heart. Eventually, instead of knocking, she opened the always unlocked door and walked back to his bedroom.
“You have something you need to tell me?” she said from the doorway.
“What?” He turned back quickly to face her. He was sitting on the floor playing a video game.
“Why were you naked at Solomon’s?”
“Are you kidding me? How’d you even know that?”
“I read your e-mail. Just answer the question.”
“You read my e-mail?” he asked, getting up off the floor. “Why would you do that?”
“Look, I’m glad I did or you’d try to stretch this out even longer.”
“Stretch what out? Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?”
“You want to explain to me what that e-mail meant?”
“I got to Sol’s yesterday and the dude was skinny-dipping, so I just dropped my shorts and jumped in. I thought it would be funny.”
“It’s not.”
“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “He was just out there swimming around naked. I love that guy. He’s so weird. I figured it wouldn’t bother him. You know I have no shame. I spend most of my time wearing Speedos in front of complete strangers.”
“But he’s gay. Don’t take your clothes off in front of boys who like boys.”
“What are you, my grandmother?” he said. “Just because I’m a guy doesn’t mean he wants to jump my bones.”
“You’re right,” she said. “But he’s obviously in love with you, and I’m not sure the feeling isn’t mutual.”