There were a lot of words. Whispers.
I rolled my eyes and Liv shook her head.
But when I listened closer, I realized it wasn’t our names they were saying.
“Max and Ruben slow-danced at prom,” someone said from behind us.
“Did you hear about the gay prom in Fort Wayne?” a voice came from the side. “Jared said he went with his boyfriend from Fayeville and it was ten times better than our prom last year.”
Liv looked at me, brows raised. I stared back, mouth hanging open in shock. They weren’t talking about us. Not only that, but there were others like us – gay kids, gradually climbing out of their closets. Was it because of us, or was it time for Freedom High to evolve anyway? Did we spark the change?
My ego wanted to believe we did – that my laying my head on Liv’s shoulder in English class months ago had started a revolution. Maybe it was presumptuous, or conceited, but I didn’t care. Because it gave me hope. The pain we’d been through was worth something. Maybe we paved the way for others after us. My brother, his friends, kids being born to new impressionable parents – maybe our coming out would spare them the difficulty of being the first.
Some looks were still hateful – the gym teacher, Grayson, Miss Troy. Liv said they stemmed from insecurity. Others were warm, like Nick, Taylor, and Miss Robson. Even Gabby seemed glad I was back to myself, despite things not working out with Nick.
“What the hell is going on?” Liv whispered when we stopped at my locker.
I glanced around us, watching students pass by in the hallway. “I think they’re over it.” Shuffling through my locker, I grabbed the books I needed for the day. “We’re old news.”
“Huh,” she stated, leaning up against the wall. “Weird.”
“Maybe Miss Robson was right.” Smiling, I placed my hand in Liv’s and looked into her eyes – the eyes that had changed me, that taught me another way to think and feel and love. “Maybe it does get better.”
About the Author
Justice Serai is a multi-published, multi-genre romance author. She uses the name Justice for a variety of books that don’t quite fit neatly into a genre box.
She has two kids, a haunted house, an ugly dog, and too many tattoos. To learn more about her, you can visit her website or facebook page at:
www.JusticeSerai.com
www.facebook.com/AuthorJusticeSerai
More by Justice
MENTAL
Hope is an illusion meant to convince the broken to keep on living. That’s me. Broken.
My father pays heaps of money for doctors at the Norfolk Psychiatric Center to fix me. I’ve spent six months of my prime teenage years at this residential facility – a place for teenagers who’ve gone mental.
That’s me. Mental.
Just when I begin to feel myself fade away, a boy with a wolfish smile and mischievous eyes reels me in. Julian is broken too, but he believes in me enough for the both of us. Through him, I begin to experience this thing called hope. Doctors can’t fix me, my parents can’t either, but maybe it’s not me who needs fixing.
After all, mental is only a state of mind. It all depends on who’s doing the thinking.
"MENTAL is a frightening yet hopeful story about a girl struggling for a little bit of normal with a fragile mind that's anything but. Set in a hospital, Lucy meets Julian, who teaches her that normalcy is relative." - Patty Blount, author of TMI and Some Boys.
" I would recommend it to anyone looking to understand serious mental illness better, but need a ray of light to keep them going." -- Under the Covers Reviews
Table of Contents
Almost StraightBy Justice SeraiAlmost Straight
Almost Straight
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
About the Author
Almost Straight Page 20