The Boy Inside

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Seth grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t help that he found other guys attractive. Seth is a 5’4” tall, 112 lbs. adolescent guy and the leader of the football team. But none of that mattered to him if he couldn’t be true to himself. He hated to hide that he found guys attractive, but he knew what would happen. A kid in the freshmen class the year before came out and that kid was harassed to no end. It got to the point where the boy was singled out in everything he did. At the home coming dance the entire school voted him homecoming queen and laughed at him.

But the fact of the matter is, Seth found his best friend, Will very attractive. He thought about coming out to his best friend on a daily basis but he and his best friend were the main people to harass the other boy that came out and he was afraid of that wrath turned on him. Even his family would disown him or send him to a residential treatment center if he ever told them his little secret. But what is he to do? Deny himself happiness, pretend to be straight and date girls for the happiness of others. That would never fill the void in his soul that told him he was gay.

Seth went about his day in a daze as he was thinking about his predicament. Just as he left his last class of the day, he was startled by Will.

“Seth what’s on your mind?” Will asked.

“What do you mean?” Seth asked Will.

“I mean, you have been abnormally quiet today what’s going on?” said Will as they walked out towards the bus back to Seth’s house.

Seth pondered for a little while, wondering if this was the opening he had been waiting for. The silence dragged on for many minutes, which was long enough for Will to know that something was bothering Seth.

“Look Seth you know you can talk to me about anything? It doesn’t matter what it is, I am here for you.”

“I don’t think you could understand this one Bro. I don’t think anyone would.”

They both walked in silence for a while. When they got on the bus they sat in their normal seat. They didn’t speak of the subject until they got off the bus at his house. When they got off the bus Seth saw that his parents were gone. He headed upstairs to his room as Will followed him.

When they were sitting in Seth’s room, Will decided to approach the subject again. Will didn’t know what was bothering him, but he was damn sure he was going to find out.

“Look Seth, I don’t know what you meant when you said I wouldn’t understand. But I want you to try me. I won’t judge you if that’s what your worried about.” Will stated.

“Will do you remember that boy last year that told everyone that he’s gay?” Seth questioned Will.

Will squirmed uneasily in his chair. “Well, yeah why do you ask?” Will said.

Realizing that this was the moment that he had to tell his best friend he was starting to get nervous. “Well, what would you do if you had a friend come out to you that they were gay?” Seth asked uneasily.

“Well, I might feel uneasy about it, but in the end I would like to think that I was accepting of it, why???” Will sat patiently.

“Would you hate the person to the point you would make his life a living hell?”

“I believe I already answered that Seth. What is this all about anyways?” Will Demanded.

“Well……. I have wanted to tell you this for a while now but I wasn’t sure what you would do……” Seth started.

“Get to the point; trust me I won’t get upset. I am your friend and always will be.”

“Ok, but remember your promise when I am done with this. Will I like guys, I have for a while now and I feel empty because I had to hide it.”

Will sat there uneasily, not knowing how to react to this statement. He did promise not to be upset, but that didn’t mean he knew how to take his best friend telling him that he’s gay. What would he do, this is his best friend of sixteen years. They had been friends since they were born pretty much and Will never expected to have this conversation with him.

“You hate me now, don’t you Will?” Seth asked the question that was hanging in the air.

“No I just never thought I would be having this conversation with you bro.”

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Comments

Welcome to BC/TS where we all live in our protagonists.

This is a wonderful short story, and I see you marked that it is completed. I hope that you continue your writing, because in this little short story, you have shown a great talent for writing.

"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."

Love & hugs,
Barbara

"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."

The last line [“No I just

never thought I would be having this conversation with you bro.”]says it best about their friendship, and leaves us to ponder on the future for Seth & Will.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Thank you and just a little

Thank you and just a little tidbit I am pondering extending this at some point but its still up in the air. and thank you to every one that has read it

so what happens next?

More please, and welcome to BC!

DogSig.png

=)

Extravagance's picture

“No I just never thought I would be having this conversation with you bro.”
...
"But I'm so happy to hear you say so, because I'm gay too."
*Huggles and Kisses*

SQUEEE!! =D (Of the Yaoi Fanboy variety)

...Well, we can but hope. =)

Catfolk Pride.PNG

Lol I will admit that i

Lol I will admit that i thought about that at first but i think that would be kinda cliche

What's odd is that this

Brooke Erickson's picture

What's odd is that this reminded me of a couple of brothers in my patrol when I was in Boy Scouts. It was not exactly a secret that they "did" each other.

I mean the adults didn't know, but a number of the other scouts knew. And nobody was down on them about it.

Looking back, I sometimes *really* wonder about the town I grew up in. It was the third largest in the state, but was a long ways behind #2. and a friend who worked there for a few years (he was from Portland, OR) called it the biggest "small town" he'd ever run into.

Yet there wasn't much bigotry. Never heard anything worse than jokes about gays, and the few black kids weren't treated that differently.

Of course, this was the late 60s.

Even so, looking back it's *weird* that I managed to escape so much prejudice that seems to have been considered "normal" elsewhere.

Brooke brooke at shadowgard dot com
http://brooke.shadowgard.com/
Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world
"Lola", the Kinks

Yes, Welcome!

laika's picture

A good short stand-alone story that leaves me wondering only one thing...

If Seth and Will "were the main people to harass the other boy that came out as gay",
and Seth has now confessed his own homosexuality and been accepted by his friend;
where does this leave them in the school's culture of homophobia the next time
a fag or dyke is being bullied. Do they join in like total hypocrites?
Walk away, keeping their heads down? Or might they find the guts
to take an unpopular stand without neccessarily outing Seth?
Or maybe one does while the other just can't and their friendship
is challenged over this as they have to figure out who they're gonna be.
Don't mind my kibbitzing, write whatever the heck stories you want,
but I could see that as your sequel if you were to do one,
because it seems like even those in the closet face
ethical and social decisions like this...
~Hugs, Veronica