Chapter 17-john's pov
"Who was that?" Alex asked.
"Martha," I said.
"And what did she say?" he asked.
"She's queer. That's it," I said.
"Well shit," he said.
"My thoughts exactly...Now, what do I do? Do you think she knows not to tell Henry?" I asked. I was panicking and had no idea how to help her.
"I've only talked to her a couple of times and all of them were last week but she seems smart. I'm sure she will be fine and will also know how to stay in the closet," he said.
"I hope you're right," I said, my mind still racing.
"Let's go on a walk," he said.
"What?" I asked.
"You look like you're going to blow up. Let's go on a walk and hopefully you can destress a bit," he said.
"Ok fine...but I'm not stressed!" I said.
"Yes you are now let's go before it gets too dark, although I think it's already quite dark out," he said while looking around his room for something. "Here!" he shouted while holding up a flashlight.
"But what if she tells him? Or what if he somehow figures it out?" I asked.
"Don't think about that now. Think about something else, Peggy for example," he said.
"But there are so many ways that everything can go wrong and everything will fall apart and then she'll be depressed or suicidal like me!" I said.
"And that's why I'm changing the subject. She will be fine for the weekend and you can help her with everything on Monday. She's not going to kill herself and Henry isn't going to hurt her," he said with so much conviction that I almost believed him.
"Ok fine, Peggy. What about Peggy?" I asked to humor him.
"Well think about something good between the two of you," he said.
"9th grade, we met in science class. It was biology and she didn't understand it at all. I helped her study for the upcoming test and she got a b-. We became fast friends and I introduced her to Herc and Laf and she introduced us to Maria, Eliza, and Kitty," I said. Alex was happy that I wasn't talking about Henry or issues surrounding him anymore so I guess it worked.
*timeskip to Monday after school brought to you by gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay oh my gosh i open my mouth and a little purse falls out*
3rd person pov
Maria, Peggy, John, and Alex went over to John's house after school. John had told his friends about Martha. They all agreed that he needed to calm down and he was far calmer than before, well not really but he acted like it. When they got there, Martha was already waiting by the door.
"Hi," she said while trying to avoid eye contact. Heys and hellos filled the space. John and Martha went to Martha and Mary's room while Maria, Peggy, and Alex went to find the other children.
"Hey Alex, come with us. You probably know more about staying in the closet than I do," John whispered the last part once Alex got closer.
"How did you make that assumption?" Alex asked.
"Well, you were in foster care and orphanages..." John trailed off when Alex started laughing.
"Well, yes I was but I came out to some people in Nevis, and soon the whole town I lived in knew. Once I got to America, I told my first close friends I was bi and they told their friends and soon the whole orphanage knew. It spread to school and then every kid in every family I stayed with knew and when their parents heard them asking me about it or bullying me, they would try to get rid of me. I didn't really care though since some people were nice about it like the Washingtons, and Laf. And I have always been fairly open about it, I don't learn from my actions I suppose," Alex said.
"Ok. Martha, do the opposite of what Alex did," John said, glancing concernedly at Alex but deciding that now wasn't a good time to address that issue.
"I know not to tell dad," Martha said.
"That's good," Alex said.
"What exactly do you mean by queer?" John asked.
"I don't know...I like girls," Martha said.
"Cool! So do I but I like boys too," Alex said.
"Ok, and why won't you look any of us in the eye?" John asked.
"Especially Peggy," Alex added.
"Well you see- it's just that I well-" Martha tried to explain.
"You have a crush on Peggy?" Alex and John asked at the same time. Martha nodded slightly. Alex and John started laughing.
"Dad would love that if you were me and I were you," John said through his laughter.
"You aren't mad?" Martha asked, shocked.
"No, of course not! It's just funny," John said.
"Yeah, and I'm sorry to say but she's like 4 years older than you and has a girlfriend," Alex said.
"I know, Maria's really cool too," Martha said. She had a little crush on Peggy but not one that she cared too much, she mostly just couldn't talk to Peggy without turning red. Peggy had noticed this and connected the dots as soon as John said she was queer(although she had suspicions prior to this), but decided to spare Martha and let her tell John.
Martha, John, and Alex talked and made jokes until John wanted to go spend time with his other siblings. Martha and Alex continued to talk.
"Thanks for getting John to laugh. I was worried that he was going to blow up from stress by the time he got here today," Alex said.
"It was fun, and it was nice to talk to you for more than just a moment," Martha replied.
"In all seriousness, don't tell people that you like girls unless you're ready to deal with everyone else's opinion. If you do tell anyone, remember that no matter what anyone else says, you are valid and still a great person, you're not going to hell for it and you aren't any less of a person. Don't tell your dad though, it's safer that way," Alex said.
"Thanks. I won't tell dad, I know how he treated John," Martha said sadly. Alex was in between wanting to yell at her for not telling someone what was happening to John(although he knew it wasn't her fault and that she couldn't have done anything, and he didn't blame her for any of it at all) and wanting to hug her and tell her everything would be ok even though that probably wasn't fully true. He did the latter.
Before leaving, Alex and Martha exchanged phone numbers so that she could talk to someone if she ever needed to. Alex just got her's since he now thought of her as a friend.
Word Count: 1163
A/N: Hi! I hope you enjoyed that! Thanks for reading it! I have nothing else to say so have a great morning/noon/night and have a gay day!