Page 60 of Theoretically Straight

“I can respect that you’re keeping a secret for him. You’re a good friend, Theo. I just worry about you sometimes, and you haven’t been yourself.”

“I know,” I say softly. “I’m sorry I’ve been off lately. I’ve got a lot on my mind, and…yeah.”

Harrison and I sit in silence for a while, my mind still churning with thoughts of Caleb. I need him to know I’m not mad at him. Or disgusted or anything bad like that. I was just…scared. Confused because of my shit, not his. He deserves that, at least.

“You still need to apologize to Elise, though,” Harrison says, shoving an elbow into my side as he comes to sit on the bed beside me. “She’s pretty pissed off at you.”

I offer a half-smile. “Yeah, I figured she would be.”

“So, now that all ofthat'sout of the way,” Harrison says after a few beats. “Can wepleasetalk about the Triple H stuff now? You know, the episode that came out four entire days ago where Hudson literally gave you a shout-out, and you still haven’t responded to it!?”

“Shit,” I mutter, raking a hand through my hair in frustration. “Yeah, we really, really should.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and sigh. “Just…give me a minute first, okay? There’s something I need to do.”

First, I type out a simple text to Elise apologizing for being an asshole.

The next text is a little trickier.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, but anyone I would want to talk to at this point is already in the room. Wren digs through drawer after drawer, gathering supplies while Freddy spins in the make-up chair. He’s still in his clothes from soccer practice, and his socks are covered in dirt and grass stains.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join in on the fun?” Freddy asks, hanging his head over the back of the chair. “And by fun, I mean two hours of being poked and prodded, then washing all of Wren’s hard work down the drain.”

“I’m sure,” I reply, sinking deeper into my spot on the sofa. “I’m really just in the mood to chill.”

Wren comes up from their drawer spelunking long enough to add, “You’ve been really low-key since the weekend. What’s up, buttercup?”

I haven’t told either of them about my fuck up yet. I don’t know why. Maybe I keep thinking that I’ll wake up and the whole thing was just a terrible dream, and Theo doesn’t hate me or think I freaking assaulted him.

But most likely, it’s the horrible shame that’s twisting my guts.

“I’m fine,” I say, staring into the opposite corner of the room because one look at my face will probably give me away faster than telling the truth. “Everything is fine.”

“It must be boy troubles,” Freddy jokes. But then neither Wren nor I reply, and he sits up straight in the chair. “Wait, is it actually boy troubles? What the hell, Cal? You’re having boy troubles, and you don’t come directly to me?”

“I’m not having boy troubles.”

“So, things are okay with you and Theo?” Wren asks.

“Theo?” Freddy echoes. “Wait, like, straight-church-boy Theo?”

“Everything is fine,” I repeat myself. “Can y’all just drop it?”

Freddy spins to Wren, bracing himself on the armrests as he pulls his legs under him. “Is something going on between them? How’d I get left out of the loop?”

Wren squeezes a tube of foundation onto the back of their hand. “Well, you’ve had your head up Andrew Rhiner’s ass for the last week, so you may have missed a few things.”

“First of all, leave Andrew’s ass out of this. It’s perfect and blameless. Secondly, what the fuck? You guys can’t just leave me out of these things! That’s so rude.”

“You haven’t missed anything because there’s nothing going on,” I say, shoving my head between the cushions of the sofa. Wren and Freddy’s voices are muffled now, and I don’t care if they continue talking about me so long as I don’t have to listen.

This is such a mess. As if I haven’t felt bad enough the few times Theo and I have locked eyes at school, now I’m getting shit from Freddy. Why does everything have to be so fucking complicated? Why can’t I just like a boy who likes me back, and that’s all there is to it? No skating around religious prejudices or lying to my friends to spare myself the heartache. No misunderstandings or misread flirtations that cause me to make a completeassof myself.

God, I was such an idiot for kissing Theo.

Someone touches my knee and I flinch, pulling my head out of the cushions. My vision is blurred with tears, so I quickly wipe them away. Freddy pulls his hand back, his usual smirk absent. Wren stands on the other side of the sofa, their arms folded across their chest.

Freddy scoots closer, pulling me into a hug. “Oh honey, there is not a boy on this planet worth crying over. And I was only playing. I’m not upset with you.”

I wrap my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder. “I did something stupid.”

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