I wasn't quite sure what I expected when I walked through the doors, alongside Marco, but it definitely wasn't what I saw. Kids were sitting in a circle of comfy chairs, drinking sodas and eating chips with two adults in the room to sponsor. One or two boys looked like the stereotype of gay, another looked about the same as any other guy, with the exception of a rainbow belt around his waist, and there was one girl with short spiked hair. The rest of the kids didn't "look" gay by any means. They looked about as different as I did. Unfortunately, this didn't make me feel much better.

The woman sitting in the far corner of the room gave me a warm smile. "We're always glad to have new faces. What's your name?"

My throat went dry. Thankfully, Marco filled in for me. "This is my friend, Ellie."

"What's up?" the girl with the spiky hair said.

"I'm David," the boy with the rainbow belt said.

"Why don't you two take a seat?" the woman said. "And we'll begin our meeting."

I took a seat beside Marco, as if hoping that he would protect me. I had been at home while my mother was dangerously drunk, and lying in the bathtub, drenched in my own blood, but somehow this was one of the scariest places I had ever been.

"Why don't we start by telling Ellie a little bit about what we do here?" the sponsor suggested.

She motioned toward a girl with long, blond hair and chestnut eyes who was sitting beside her. "I'm Sandi, and I'm one of the senior members of this group. I'm a sophomore in college, and I'm basically here to talk to anyone who needs to talk. We don't judge anyone who comes here, and while we encourage people to share their stories, we won't force anyone to tell us their sexual orientation. We won't make any assumptions just because you're here, but we do discuss different issues that go along with falling into any of those categories."

"You picked a good day to come here, because today we're going to talk about coming out. What many people miss is that you need to fully come out to yourself before you can come out to others. Sandi, would you like to lead the discussion?" the sponsor asked.

"I found out I was gay a few years ago, I think I was in grade ten. I had been dating a guy named Jeff, for about two months, and he was starting to lose interest in me, because I had never really gotten comfortable with him," Sandi explained. "I didn't really want to hold hands, or hug, or any of that. So…when he tried to kiss me, you can imagine how that went. Anyway, I felt like I was attracted to guys, but I was always really uncomfortable around them. I kept telling myself that I had tricked myself into liking girls because I was terrified of guys, but eventually I realized that I hadn't gone back. It had been about a year since Jeff and I broke up, but I still hadn't really come to terms with why."

Apparently, whoever wanted to share a story could chime in at any time. "I kissed a girl at a party," one girl confessed. "We were playing truth or dare, and I had to kiss this girl I hardly knew. I didn't really enjoy it, but I got curious about the whole thing and started dating girls. It was kind of a weird situation, because my first female kiss was horrible, but I still ended up bisexual."

I raised my hand. "You don't have to raise your hand," Sandi told me. "Just speak."

I nodded uncomfortably. "I was at a party with my boyfriend, and this girl got drunk and kissed me. I started having problems with my boyfriend, and the more he wasn't there, the more she was. She would always use that to keep me interested, telling me that at least she was someone…and that we needed each other because no one else cared. I guess it sounds pretty stupid, looking back on it, but we ended up having a closet relationship after my boyfriend left me, and it turned out she was cheating on me with God knows how many people the whole time. She was the only girl I was ever involved with, and I'm extremely confused."

"You're not stupid," the girl with the spiky hair said. "You just got manipulated. Happens all the time."

"We can't tell you if you're gay or bi," Sandi said. "But you'd have to take a closer look at why you and your boyfriend were having problems, and why you were willing to have a relationship with this girl. It's a complicated thing to figure out…but believe me when I say that you're better off losing friends, and having a parent mad at you, than being in a long-term relationship with someone you don't want to be with."

I sighed. "I doubt my mother would notice, to tell you the truth."

I felt a bit awkward at how easily I was opening up with complete strangers. None of them knew me, but they were still eager to give me advice.

"There are also times when straight people get crushes on people of the same gender just because they like the person," the boy with the rainbow belt said.

"That was what happened with me," a girl chimed in. "I kissed a girl during spin the bottle, and we ended up dating for eight months. Apparently, she liked being adored a lot more than she liked me. It was pretty awful."

"I'm sorry," I said, snapping my rubber band against my arm. "I think my ex-girlfriend liked screwing with people's minds more than she liked me."

After the first meeting, the support group became a part of my weekly schedule. The third time I went, Sandi made an interesting announcement.

"Every Saturday, from six p.m. to one a.m., we're going to open this place up as a hangout for gay teens. You don't have to be gay to come, but it's basically a place for LGBTQ teens, and their supporters to meet people of like mind. Since you were all here today, you each get one free pass."

She handed out rainbow colored flyers for the event. The meeting was adjourned, and Marco immediately asked my opinion. "You think we should go?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I mean…it sounds like fun and all, but…"

"Tell your mom you're hanging out with me," Marco suggested. "It won't be a complete lie."

I smiled. "Marco, you rock."