Page 107 of Theoretically Straight

I open my mouth but close it again.Breathe, breathe, breathe.Mom tries to put a comforting hand on my shoulder, but I flinch away. She winces at that, but I press on.

“Caleb is my boyfriend,” I declare. “He’s the only boy I’ve ever kissed and the only boy I plan on kissing.”

Dad is glaring at me now. “Theo, what are you talking about? You can’t have–are you joking right now?”

“Why would I joke about this?”

“Then why–why are you saying that Caleb is your–” he stops again, unable to say it, and I feel myself being consumed with fury.

“Boyfriend,Dad,” I say through clenched teeth. “Boyfriend.”

Dad’s face twitches as he chokes out another humorless laugh. I stand to my feet, but Mom reaches for my arm. “Theo, please–”

“Caleb is my boyfriend. It’s not a joke,” I say furiously.

“How long has this been going on?” Dad demands.

I shrug. “A few weeks,” I answer flatly, trying to control my breathing again.

Dad finds a place on the table to stare at, refusing to look at me.

Mom speaks up instead. “Honey, you have to understand that this is…a bit shocking for us,” she says gently. “You know how we feel as a family about this. And where the church stands on–” she clears her throat. “–this kind of thing.”

I shake my head furiously. “Honestly, ‘this kind of thing’ shouldn’t really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things, and I think the church needs to get over it.”

“Excuse me?” Dad says, his eyes locking on me again.

“I’ve been talking to Grace, and there are apparently a lot of things that were mistranslated and stuff in the Bible about–”

“Theo, you can’t just take everything Grace says at face value,” Dad interrupts. “She’s going to a very liberal school that is intentionally trying to deconstruct her faith. That’s just what happens when you go to a secular college.”

Now, it’s my turn to laugh angrily. “Oh, so anything Grace says is dumb because she learned it at a secular school? Dad, she’s actually studying things. Researching, using legitimate sources to learn things about the world.” God, I wish Grace were here right now. She’d know what to say. Not that it would matter.

“Are you saying the Bible isn’t a legitimate source?” Dad asks, a challenging tone in his voice.

I take the bait. “Maybe not as legitimate as you think it is.”

Mom gasps. Dad’s face is turning red. I’m still standing in front of my chair, and I’ve never felt a stronger urge to bolt out the door as I do right now, but I’m frozen in place.

“Go to your room,” Dad says quietly. “We’ll continue this discussion later.”

I don’t second guess or question it. Without a word, I make my way to the stairs.

“Leave your phone.”

I freeze. “What?”

“Leave your phone on the table,” Dad says flatly. “You’ll get it back later tonight.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket and stare at it in my hands. Oh, God. Can they unlock it? Are they going to read all my texts? Are they going to see my Twitter? TikToks? Look through all my pictures?

There’s nothing I can do now, so I put it on the table, turn, and leave the kitchen, heading upstairs. As soon as I close the door behind me, I collapse on the bed and cry myself to sleep for the second time today.

* * *

Knock, knock.“Theo?”

I’m pulled from a restless sleep by the soft, sad voice of my mother on the other side of my bedroom door. I don’t answer. Instead, I close my eyes and refocus on my four-hundredth replay of “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear.

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