Equations of Dance (boyxboy) ✔

Chapter 14

Trevon Carter

I tried to sneak away to my room after dinner was through - I wanted to talk to Arthur - but Jasmine grabbed my arm before I could head up the stairs. Everyone else was still in the dining room.

"I just want you to know I thought you were very brave tonight," she said. "It can't be easy to come out like that."

"Thank you," I said. "I wish I had been braver earlier. I've known for a long time that I was bisexual. My best friend, Alex, never hid that he was gay. I admire him a lot for that. Actually, I'm not sure I would have found the bravery to come out if I didn't have his example."

She smiled. "He sounds inspiring."

"He is. So," I said, "Aiden Kinsington huh? His little brother is my other best friend. Have you met him yet? Vincent?"

"Not yet," Jasmine said. "Aiden talks about him sometimes. He really cares about him but doesn't know how to express it. He hasn't told me everything, but from what he's told me his family sounds weird. I haven't figured out why he feels he needs to put some distance between him and his brother."

That was a new perspective I hadn't heard about before. But Jasmine had a tendency to see only the good in people so maybe she was reading too much into it. From what Vincent told me, I wasn't sure his brother really cared about him that much.

"You know their mom is racist, right?" I asked.

She sighed. "Aiden warned me. The way he describes her, I'm not sure she realizes she is racist. I'm not worried though. If I come to really like Aiden, I can handle her."

"Do you like him? I admit I've only seen him from the perspective of Vincent, but I haven't seen much to like."

She smiled. "He's sweet to me. He says he can be himself with me."

My mom and dad came into the foyer.

"I'm going home now," Jasmine said to them. "Thank you for having me."

She gave them each a hug as I started up the stairs.

"Wait a minute," my dad said to me when the front door closed. I was almost at the top of the stairs. I paused and looked at them. My father waved me to come back down.

I came slowly back down the stairs. I just wanted to speak with Arthur. My dad wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me tight into his side. "I'm proud of you, son," he said. My mom smiled widely at the two of us.

"Thank you," I said.

"Be true to who you are," my mom said. She took my hand while my dad still had his arm around my shoulders.

"We love you," my dad said.

"I love you too," I said and then the three of us were standing there in a group hug.

"Okay," I said when we pulled away. "I'm going to go call Arthur."

They nodded and indicated for me to be on my way as they stood there side by side with their arms still wrapped around each others waists.

I bounded up the stairs. Standing in front of my bedroom door were my sisters and their fiances. I briefly wondered how they could get up there so fast and then remembered there was a back set of stairs that I never used. It was closer to their rooms, but the front stairs was closer to mine.

"See," Brittany said, "it all went according to plan."

My sisters hugged me at the same time. Their fiances wrapped their arms around them encasing me in some strange hug. "Thanks," I said. I tried to push their arms off me, but all four of them just squeezed tighter because they were weirdos.