The Skeletøn Bøy

THIRTY-SEVEN

"That saddens me, but I'm not here for that. I want to talk about Elliott." Another wave of anger hit Brent at the pretty boy's name.

"Well, I don't."

"Well, I do. And I heard, from a reliable source, that you've been getting pretty chummy with him."

Brent turned on Natasha, daring her to say more. Daring her to say what Brent knew she was going to say.

"Are you gay, Brent?"

For a moment, Brent felt like he was on a fence. If he told her no, that she was ridiculous, things would go back to normal. Normal as in he'd be a soccer jock who wasn't known for stellar grades or anything besides sports. He wasn't important. He wasn't interesting.

If he told her yes, then news would spread. Everyone would know, and everyone would ridicule him for sure. And even though Brent knew he wasn't gay - Elliott was in fact a girl - Brent didn't want to say no. While he was extremely angry at Elliott and this situation, he knew saying no would be worse for Elliott.

Elliott would be made fun of if Brent said no. And even though Brent wanted to hate Elliott, he couldn't. He couldn't make Elliott suffer another day.

"Yeah, I am."

Natasha just stared at him for a moment, her eyes wide in disbelief. "For Elliott?" She finally sputtered out, looking bewildered. She had expected Brent to say no.

"Yeah. So what?" Brent turned away from the redhead, his stomach tightening into nervous knots. Everyone was going to know, now. And everyone was sure going to crack jokes, but Brent could handle it. He wasn't sure Elliott would be able to handle the same.

"So what? Are you kidding me, Brent? Were you gay the entire time you dated me?"

Brent needed to escape. He needed to find his siblings, understand why Elliott would ever betray him, and get on with his life. Dealing with Natasha, however, wasn't on his list of things he needed to do.

He walked towards the locker room. "No, I wasn't. But I found out that I'd much rather date Elliott than you. And I like him, so what? So fucking what, Natasha? It shouldn't matter to you who I like. It shouldn't matter to you about anything, since you broke up with me."

Natasha stood there, her mouth wide open. "You aren't the same, Brent! Something's wrong with you!"

It took everything in Brent's willpower not to hurt Natasha, but he did turn towards her. "No, Natasha. That's where you're wrong. You're not the same. And there is something very, very wrong with you."

* * *

"Another person knows," Elliott mumbled to Wes at work. Anna didn't think Elliott could handle work, not with the broken ribs and stitches, but Elliott was adamant to go. She didn't think she could handle being cooped up all afternoon.

"Well, that was inevitable. I mean, the guy practically threw himself in the ambulance with you." Wes rubbed his head and blew out a sigh. "Elliott, I didn't mean for that kiss to make things between us awkward, okay? We can totally forget about it."

Things between Wes and Elliott had been awkward as of recently. Elliott relished in Wes's presence, but she felt embarrassed due to the kiss. Her very first kiss.

"I was the one who kissed you first. It's not really a big deal." But, it was. Elliott felt like she laid her heart on the line, and while Wes responded positively, Elliott didn't feel any better about it. She liked Wes, a lot, but recently, she wondered if she only liked Wes because he was her friend. It was a plausible case. After all, she'd never had real friends before Wes, Natasha, and Brent. And Wes was undeniably attractive - Elliott felt that developing feelings was bound to happen. But, Elliott wasn't sure they were the right feelings.

Do I actually like Wes, or do I like his attention? It was a line she didn't know if she'd crossed or not. She didn't know how love worked, or how happiness worked. She didn't know anything about love. All she knew was from what Mother taught her, and that wasn't much.

Elliott battled this with herself a lot, but in the end, she told herself it didn't matter. What mattered was that she was feeling better, happier, and getting better. The urges weren't as strong as before. She felt like she belonged at work and at school.She was finally feeling human.

And it was all because of Wes, Natasha, and Brent. The three of them had opened their arms and welcomed her.

"Elliott, I like you. I really do. But, I think you're very confused right now. I've heard from my dad about certain things from your past. And I think you need to focus on other things that don't involve kissing."

Elliott knew he was right. Wes seemed to always be very level headed in these situations. And what he said didn't even make her sad - it made her realize that he was right. Elliott needed to focus on getting rid of Mother for good. Or, at least getting rid of the hallucinations.

The rest of work went by quickly, almost too quickly, and Elliott was heading back home before she wanted to. Anna was almost overbearing now, because she was so worried, which Elliott didn't necessarily mind. For once, she liked Anna making sure everything was alright. For once, Elliott welcomed it.

When she walked through the front door, Mat and Adrian were sitting at the counter, eating dinner. Anna was humming some tune, one Elliott didn't recognize, and Elliott felt an overwhelming sense of home. Like this was where she belonged.

Sure, she still had a lot of issues. She still had to deal with Mother, with school, with her gender, with everything. But, for once, she felt like things were clicking into place. Her family was happy. Mat and Adrian were safe. Anna was forever grateful to have children, even if Elliott was one of them.

She sat at the counter and smiled at Anna. It was rare, coming from Elliott.

"How was work? Do you feel okay?" Anna fluttered by Elliott's side, concerned. "I made mac and cheese, cause I know you like it."

"Work was... fine." And it was. And for once, Elliott didn't mind sharing it.

"Good! I'll get you some food."

Things were going well, but Elliott was well aware it was the calm before the storm.

* * *

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