Underneath The Surface

...in the end...

Julian's conscience was his best friend, advisor, everything. And when it told him not to have high hopes about the supposed conversation with his parents...he shoved it away and decided not to believe in it. That was his largest mistake. He chose to hope that his parents would finally accept him. That they would stop treating him differently. That everything would become normal.

He had walked into his house, head filled up with various scenarios of what his mom and dad would say. They had been sitting in the kitchen, talking to each other in low whispers. It seemed to be an argument of some sort.

" You don't understand," his mom was saying, " There are other children in his school who believe they are gay. I think this is what influenced him. And the internet. The internet promotes such abnormal things and labels it as normal"

His father had snorted in answer " If only he was manly enough, he wouldn't have been influenced by such freaks"

" And...what is your definition of manly ?" Julian had asked loudly, announcing his arrival

" Julian. Baby—" his mother had started but he was already out of the house.

Julian's fists were clenched, nails digging numbingly into his palms as he stomped down the driveway. If he had pressed any harder he would've drawn out blood. He flung open the door to his car and revved the engine to life. His hand automatically went to the radio to turn it up. And when a song he hated with passion started playing...he let it play.

Julian drove around the whole town aimlessly for about two hours. He considered going over to Ren's but Ren would ask him what happened and Julian would have to explain everything and he didn't want to do that. He didn't want to barge in and ruin the peaceful atmosphere in Ren's house. He had done that countless times and it made him feel guilty. It was only when he passed by an ice cream parlour did he remember that he had promised to buy some for Hayden. And when he thought about Hayden, he thought about Wynter. And so he spent all the money in his wallet on about five tubs of ice cream.

When he arrived at Wynter's house he was surprised that he wasn't greeted by the little girl with dark brown eyes. She would usually greet him with a squeal and a large hug to his knees. And then she would wrap her tiny body around Julian's leg and he'd walk inside, simultaneously carrying her too.

According to Wynter she was tired because she had been practising her dance for the play. And she fell asleep as soon as she finished eating a whole bowl of pomegranate seeds.

And now he was sitting next to the dark-haired boy, done with his story. Julian had expected Wynter look at him with pity-filled eyes but he had on a calm expression which the green eyed boy was thankful for. Wynter sniffed a little and cleared his throat " You ever gone star-gazing?"

" Nah...Is it fun?" Julian asked lying down on the couch and throwing his legs onto Wynter's lap.

Wynter glared at him half-heartedly before shaking his head " Not really. It's shit unless you've learnt everything about constellations and all. Plus with all the pollution you can hardly see any stars. I always hated the stars anyway"

Julian frowned, scratching the inside of his elbow while looking at the dark-haired boy " Why? Stars are beautiful..."

Wynter laughed. The kind of laugh that people let out when they find someone or something very naive. He inhaled deeply and looked towards the window " Stars are like life problems. The pollution that blocks out their shine is like your...daily busy life. When you don't have time to sit and think... you just see a fraction of the problems. They look so bright...so difficult and dangerous. But when there's no pollution you realise that you have more problems waiting for their turn to be displayed in the sky"