Page 106 of Theoretically Straight

The table is silent for at least a minute as I slowly pull my carton of fries and foil-wrapped burger out of the fast-food bag. It’s not really warm anymore, and the fries feel more like Styrofoam, but I eat them anyway. If I can make it through this lunch, everything will be fine.

At some point, Nathaniel breaks the silence by standing up. “Thanks for lunch,” he mumbles. “I’ll be in my room.”

“Okay, hon’,” Mom says with a smile. Is it just me, or is her smile forced?Breathe, Theo, breathe.Nothing is happening.

I return to picking at my Styrofoam fries, very intentionally controlling my breathing and any facial expressions that might betray how I’m actually feeling. Surely, the Sienna thing was a false alarm. If something was up, my parents wouldn’t wait this long to–

“Theo, your mother and I need to talk to you,” Dad says abruptly, his voice terse. Strained. Frustrated.

Shit.

“About what?” I ask, refusing to look up at him. I stare intensely at a fry on my plate and focus on my breathing again.

Mom moves to sit beside me, leaning in. I know I shouldn’t, but I look up at both of them and regret it immediately. Dad’s expression is stern and serious. Mom’s face is…shit.Mom’s face is sad. Worried. Anxious.

“Sienna told us what she saw you doing, Theo,” Dad states very calmly. “I didn’t get the impression she was lying, and I can’t think of a reason why she’d lie about something like this, but we want to hear your side of the story and go from there. Okay?”

I swallow, still trying to breathe. “Okay.”

“She said you were with one of those new friends you’ve brought over a few times. Caleb, wasn’t it, Kora?”

Mom nods.

“She saw you two riding the Ferris wheel together, and from where she was standing, it looked to her like–” he hesitates, his voice halting abruptly as if he can’t even say it. As if the very idea of what we were doing is so repulsive that he can’t even speak of it.

The agonizing silence feels like it goes on forever, but Mom eventually chimes in. “Kissing. Sienna said that she saw you and Caleb…kissing.”

I look up at Dad and notice his jaw clenching. Mom puts a comforting hand on his forearm, and it makes me feel sick.

“Well?” Dad asks. “Is that true?”

I stare at him, my heart hammering violently in my chest. I want to bolt. I want to scream. I want to cry. But I’m paralyzed. I can’t move. I can’t speak. I just stare.

“Theodore, I asked you a question,” Dad says, the volume of his voice rising just slightly.

“Michael–”

“Yes,” I finally croak.

Dad’s eyes widen, and Mom’s mouth hangs open. They’re both silent for a moment, so I say it again.

“Yes, that is what Sienna saw.”

Dad finally snaps out of his shock to give me a very disdained look. “Okay, so it sounds like we need to have a talk then, don’t we?”

“About what?” I ask, a little more aggressively than I probably should, but this is all uncharted territory, and I have no idea how to traverse it.

My dad barks a nervous laugh, but then the room goes silent. No one moves or makes a single sound. I don’t dare even breathe.

“Theo, I’m being serious,” Dad says. “We raised you better than that.”

I feel my blood begin to boil. “Better than what, Dad?”

“Better than to go around Specter kissingboys, that’s what.”

I clench my fists, tears pricking at the backs of my eyes. “That’s not–that’s not even remotely what I’m doing, Dad!”

“Then explain to me exactly what you’re doing, then. I’m listening.”

---