“Michael? Michael! Michael, what on earth happened?!”

“I… don’t know.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, boy, who did this to you?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s okay, son, really, whoever it was is not going to hurt you ever again.”

“I… don’t… know…”

“Michael, the other teachers and I won’t be able to help you unless you tell us what’s wrong.”

“He—he’ll find me! I know he will! He said not to tell… He said not to ever tell…”

“Who said?”

“D—Daddy.”

“Hey Michael, congrats to you and your mom for finally earning enough money to bail your dad out.”

“…Thanks.”

“How many loans did he need again, Aaron?”

“Don’t remember. How many loans did you need again, Michael? And still have to pay off?”

“A lot.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when your mom can’t get a job to save her life.”

“She does have a job.”

“I heard she doesn’t keep them for even a month. Is she really that bad?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to go to lunch now.”

“Aaron! You’re okay, sweetie, you’re fine!”

“Mom? What happened to me?”

“Honey, you were in an accident…”

“You were hit by a car and it damaged your legs pretty badly. Unfortunately, we’ve had to surgically remove them.”

“Hold up! You’re telling me my legs are just… gone?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s what was best.”

“Excuse me? How do YOU know what’s best?! They are MY legs after all!”

“Aaron, I know you’re upset, but you don’t need to be so rude!”

“Upset is an understatement.”

“So… what are you gonna do without legs?”

“How should I know, Dary?”

“Well, are you gonna need a wheelchair or prosthetics or something?”

“I’m NOT using a wheelchair, and if I had prosthetics, well, I’d—I’d be a cyborg!”

“…Heh. Right. Well, uh, I should get going… got a lot of homework.”

“You’ve never cared about homework before.”

“Yeah, well, uh… It seemed important today. See you.”

“Dary! What the heck, man, am I invisible or something?!”

“…Hey, Aaron! Uh, how are you?”

“Um, fine. So why have you been avoiding me?”

“Great, great! I, uh… I hope you… get better?”

“…You’re beating around the bush.”

“Sorry bro, I’ve just been… well… I made some new friends while you were in the hospital, and I was just hanging out with them, that’s all.”

“Did you actually see him? Like, before he got prosthetics?”

“Yeah man, it was so weird. They were just… gone.”

“I can’t believe he actually can still show his face around here. Look at him, he’s wearing jeans.”

“Right? He must know everyone just thinks he’s a big freak—Aaron! What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know, Dary, I have as much of a right to be here, at school, as anyone else, even if I’m a freak.”

“Can I sit here?”

“I guess. It’s not like anyone else will.”

“It’s Aaron, right? Aaron Deck?”

“…Yeah. Uh, have I met you?”

“Once or twice. You teased me about what happened to my dad one time.”

“Oh. Right. Uh, sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. We can have a fresh start. I’m Michael.”

“Hey Michael?”

“Hm?”

“We’re—we’re good friends, aren’t we?”

“I should think so.”

“Well… I just wanted to thank you.”

“What for?”

“What do you mean what for? You… you’ve been my friend. My only friend. You know. You know I was popular… Until I lost my legs.”

“Well, if I’m the only decent kid in this school, that doesn’t judge by appearance, then so be it.”

“Michael? What happened to your face?”

“…Nothing.”

“Come on, I know you better than that. Now seriously, what happened?”

“Seriously, Aaron, I’m fine.”

“I didn’t ask you if you were fine, I asked what happened to your face.”

“And I said nothing. Drop it.”

“No! Michael, what has been going on? You—you’ve changed.”

“I—I ran into a pole.”

“A pole? A pole gave you that huge mark?”

“Yes. I—I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Michael, come here. We need to talk.”

“What did I do?”

“It’s not what you did. It’s what someone else has been doing. To you.”

“…I told you Aaron, I ran into a pole, now leave it alone.”

“You did not run into a pole!”

“Well, if anyone would know whether I did or not, it would be me!”

“And if anyone would lie about being abused, it would be you!”

“Aaron, how could you?!”

“It was for your own good!”

“How do you know what’s good for me? For all you know, you could’ve just made things ten times worse!”

“I was trying to help you!”

“It didn’t help! You…”

“Michael, I’m sorry. Stop crying, please. I really just wanted to help protect you.”

“It won’t work. Nothing will work anymore…”

“Dear Michael: I miss you. I hope someday you can see that I really did do what I thought was best for you. I hope someday you’ll be my friend again. It feels really weird when you look away from me when we pass by each other in the hallway. I miss you. I guess I already said that. I hope you’re doing okay. I hope that you’re at least better than you were before. Even though you don’t look at me, I’m happy when I look at you and see that your bruises and scratches are clearing up. Because that’s all I wanted. It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? How I used to be such a bully? I was hurting people all the time, even if it wasn’t physical, and now you’ve helped me get better. I guess it was all the bad influences. And I never met my good influence until after a car ran into me. Maybe it hit my brain, too. Anyway, I used to hurt people all the time, and now look at me. I couldn’t stand seeing you hurt. I guess because I never had real friends before you. Well, I hope you’re at least safe and happy.

And I know we don’t really say this, so I apologize ahead of time for however awkward you might feel, but I love you.”

Aaron

“Michael?”

“Oh my gosh, Aaron? Aaron Deck? …Is that you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… hey.”

“…Hey.”

“So… how’ve you been?”

“Okay. I graduated college, somehow.”

“Heh. That’s great. So did I.”

“Heh, yeah.”

“Aaron… I’m sorry. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to actually focus on my life and what I really want to do. I’ve got a degree in literature now. My dad… he wanted me to be some sort of scientist or engineer. When I told him I wasn’t interested, he got really mad.”

“Oh… wow.”

“That… that wasn’t the only thing, of course, that made him, um…”

“Yeah.”

“I—I got your letter.”

“Oh yeah… I remember that. Sappy.”

“A little. But it made me realize you were right. I guess the reason I kept avoiding you was because I was too ashamed to face you.”

“Mm.”

"So thank you... for giving me my future.”

You realize these feelings are real.

And that terrifies you.

After all, you're destined to be normal. Like everyone else. Normal.

It keeps you up at night. Finally, you can't take it anymore. You have to get it out of your system. You have to tell someone. You don't want to, but you don't know how else you'll get to sleep or do anything else ever again. Your mom is the only one in the house.

You break down, crying, and she hugs you (by default). And while she doesn't love it, you feel lucky that she's accepted you.

Three years later, and those feelings are still there.

Mom thought it was a phase. It wasn't.

Finally, you get the nerve up to join your school's GSA. You basically just came out to the whole school. It was scary, but now you feel free. A weight has been lifted off your chest. And it feels amazing.

You nervously tell your mom. She's not happy.

Hot shots become commonplace, and it upsets you every time.

"You're becoming gayer every day!"

"You want to hang out with gay people but you don't want to learn about God!"

Finally, she breaks down and tells you she's torn between staying true to her morals and supporting you. She tells you her side, and you understand. You don't agree, but you understand. Although you drop GSA, you're not dropping your feelings, and she understands that.

And sometimes, understanding is all you need to make peace.