Conversion Academy [boyxboy]

Conversion Academy {17}

The door opened and I picked my head up, dreading to see Kaz. But it wasn't Kaz.

Mikayla stepped into the room and shut the door. She studied me for a moment before going over to Leo's side of the room and digging around his desk.

"There. He always forgets where he put his phone," she said, picking it up and tucking it into her pocket. She turned to me and struggled for a moment before finally speaking. "I used to really hate God. My parents divorced when I was little and by some miserable stroke of luck for her, my mom won full custody. She used to beat the shit out of us. And Drake tried to make it end, and you know what? He gets locked up and the doctors tell my mom she'll be able to walk again. Then I finally start to get my life back together with the help of Jake, only to find out he raped his own boyfriend multiple times. I never wanted to forgive God."

Wow, okay, this was so much information I didn't have a response to.

"But you're right, I think. I thought coming here was miserable. But then I met Leo, and I wouldn't trade him for anything. Then Kaz came along and we pulled together into this unshakable group. Maybe God did give me them," she said, hugging her arms to her chest. "I think I can make peace with that."

She left the room without waiting for a response from me. I stared at the door after she closed it and slowly shook my head. Had I just helped Mikayla come to terms with her own internal religious struggle?

I groaned and leaned back in the chair. This was such a strange day.

Deciding I needed a distraction, I found myself actually doing my homework, focusing on that instead of my current situation with Kaz. I never thought I'd be relieved to have homework that required me to think a lot.

When I had finished my homework, I got up and left the room. I couldn't hide from Kaz forever. I needed to talk to him about this.

I went into his room, where the others were still gathered. Leo was helping Mikayla with her math homework, Beckett was playing with his yo-yo, and Pete was watching Netflix on his laptop.

Kaz noticed me and motioned at me to come into the room. He'd been texting on his phone, still seated next to Beckett.

But instead of coming into the room, I just stood in the doorway and hoped Kaz got the point. Lucky for me, he climbed off the bed, ignoring Beckett's scowl, and came over to me.

We left the room together and walked out of the building in silence, starting down the usual path. I struggled to come up with a way to start this conversation, and Kaz waited patiently for me to start speaking.

"Why me?" I asked at last.

"You remind me of myself, you know," he said.

"Wow, that was egotistical at all," I said.

He shook his head. "No, I mean...You did all these things, knowing they were bad and knowing you could get caught. But you trusted us not to let you get in trouble. You let us use you."

"That does not answer my question," I said.

"What do you want me to say? That you're a cute piece of shit who should piss me off but turns me on instead?" He shrugged. "You're just different, I guess. You pay attention to things. You just don't always believe them. You knew I had feelings for you. I could tell when you found after Constance got to me. But you just couldn't believe that someone could possibly have feelings for you."