The New Kid Ch. 03

"Hey dude, where were you last night?" I heard his roommate say. I followed Corey into the room and a pair of blue eyes fell onto me.

"Hi." I muttered. There was silence, his roommate clearly waiting for Corey to make the introduction.

"Oh um, Scott this is Kyle. Kyle this is Scott my roommate and best friend I guess." Corey finally said.

"Oh um hi." Scott said getting off his bed. Scott wasn't as tall as Corey, roughly my height. He had short blond hair, which accentuated his bright blue eyes. He was pretty handsome too and had a decent body. Don't misunderstand me as checking him out. I was absolutely sure he was 100% straight. "So you're a friend of Corey's?" He asked me. I nodded. "Well then nice to meet you. It's good he's making new friends." He said, motioning to Corey.

"Well then I'm gonna start packing." Corey said.

"Sure. Mind if I use your bathroom?" I asked.

"Sure." Corey replied, getting out his bag to place his clothes. I walked over to the bathroom, closed the door and stood at the sink. I didn't need to use the toilet; I just wanted to get out of that room. It was getting a little awkward. I could hear Scott's voice outside talking to Corey. At this I couldn't help eavesdropping.

"So you haven't told me where you were last night?" He asked.

"Oh um I crashed at Kyle's. Played video games and such." Corey replied. I don't know if it was just me, but I could hear a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"And you're packing for?" He pursued.

"Heading back to Kyle's. More video games you know." Corey made up.

"Oh...I see. So is this that new kid in your class you were talking about?" Scott asked. This intrigued me. I hadn't known that Corey had mentioned me to anyone, especially his roommate whom we didn't even share classes.

"Yeah. I caught up with him yesterday and he's pretty cool so we decided to hang." He said. At one point I could tell his voice shake noticeably. I figured that this was time to re-enter the room before he cracks.

"So is he..." Scott was cut short when I walked out the bathroom door.

"What're you guys talking about?" I asked casually, pretending I have not just been listening in on their conversation.

"Nothing important." Scott said. "I'm heading down to the vending machines. You guys want anything?" He asked. We both shook our heads and he got up and headed to the door. He left and I waited a few second to make sure he's gone before talking.

"You are really bad at acting." I said. Corey spun around, abandoning his packing.

"What?" He inquired.

"I could hear you through the door. You were clearly getting nervous." I said.

"Shit. Really? You think he suspects anything?" He asked, taking a seat beside me on his bed.

"Nothing in particular but he's probably suspicious though, seeing as your were acting a little unnatural." I said.

"Oh...well I was never a really good at acting so..."

"Sure...if you're so bad at acting you wouldn't be able to hide that you're gay until now." It was true. No matter how masculine you were, you needed at least a little acting and lying to make people think that you were straight, especially when people talk about girlfriends and stuff.

"Yeah well..." He said, getting up and resuming his packing. A minute later, Scott came back. "What did you get?" Corey asked, I guess in an attempt to try to seem more natural.

"What? Oh uh...nothing. They didn't have what I wanted." He said, not making eye contact with Corey. He kept glancing at me though, which I found a little weird.

"Argh, dude do you know where my sweatpants are? I can't find them." Corey said, rummaging through his dresser.

"No." Scott deadpanned. I could see the gears in his head turning. He was thinking about something, I just couldn't tell what. "You're always misplacing your clothes." He said, finally looking up. "You need like a walk-in closet or something." He was up to something, I could tell and it couldn't be good.

"What? I don't need a walk-in closet. I just need to be a little more organized that's all." Corey replied, oblivious to Scott's behaviour.

"I think you do. You know a big one that you can go into...or I don't know, come out of when you want to..." He said. It came to me like a brick wall, he knew and he was trying to get it out of Corey.

"Um...can we go?" I interjected. I mean it would have been good for him to come out to at least one of his friends, but being outed like that couldn't have been good for someone just coming to terms with this.

"Nah, you guys have to stay...you know hang here. I have video games too. It would be fun." Scott said.

"Um...nah it's alright." Corey stiffened up, he had figured out what was happening too.

"Oh I get it...you know. Other kinds of fun." I stared at Scott. The gig was up. He definitely knew.

"I don't get..." Corey began but Scott cut him off.

"Just stop the excuses alright? I know okay. Maybe next time you should make sure your best friend isn't outside the door when you start talking about secrets. Yes I heard it, all of it. I mean I knew you were acting strange since you stepped into the room, but I didn't expect this." Scott said. It was clear he was a little pissed, about Corey being gay or not I wasn't sure.

"Scott, can I speak to you for a moment in private." I asked.

"No, whatever that needs to be said should be by him, not you." Scott shouted. He probably hadn't meant to shout at me but he was obviously angry.

"Fine, you want me to say it? I'm gay alright? Happy?" Corey said, a little loudly. I wondered if anyone in the other rooms could hear. "If you're not happy about it I can move out okay, just don't come jumping on me when you don't know anything about my situation." Everyone was silent. Corey was panting and I sat there totally shocked. Soon Corey came and sat next to me. "You don't know how it feels like."

Scott facial features softened, and he collapsed onto his bed as well. "Yes I don't know anything about your situation, but that doesn't mean I don't know how you feel alright? I wasn't angry at the fact that you're gay, I was angry that you didn't think you could trust me enough to tell me. I'm your best friend dude."

"Well I'm sorry if I didn't feel I was ready to tell anyone yet. Just..." Corey paused, thinking about everything happening. "What did you mean by you know how I feel anyway?" He asked. I was curious too.

"I'm not gay if that's what your thinking. My brother is, so I know how hard it is to tell anyone. I was the first person he ever told and he broke down soon after. I was happy that he could trust me enough to tell me and I helped him with it and everything. So yeah I know how tough it is." He said.

Corey lay down on his bed, in thought about all this. I sat at the foot of his bed, doing the same. I never expected any of this when I asked to tag along. I was starting to feel that maybe I should have stayed home, and Corey would have been spared all this, at least for now.

"So are you two dating or something?" Scott voiced. I waited for a response from Corey. When none came I nodded and Scott smiled. "Good. You two look good together." He said, before staring at the ceiling again.

"So we good?" Corey asked, looking over at Scott.

"Yeah...your secret's safe with me too." Scott replied.

"Thanks." He said before looking over at me. "Two confessions in two days. I would say that that is pretty good progress don't you think?"

"Yeah but maybe the next one, you actually plan that you are going to come clean and not let it happen by accident." I said.

"Well it yields the same result so what does it matter." He smirked.

"Yeah but need I remind you that your acting sucks?" I laughed, Scott joining in.

"Will you two stop picking on my acting?" He exclaimed. The laughter died down and it was clear that both Corey and Scott were thinking. I just sat there playing with Corey's feet in my lap.

"Mind if I ask why are you guys still here?" Scott asked, looking at the ceiling. "I mean we both know that you guys have other plans and activities you wanna do together." You could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

"Are you gonna be like this all the time?" Corey asked.

"Pretty much." With these words I knew that things between Corey and Scott were gonna be exactly the same as before, maybe even strengthened their friendship.