Chapter 6

This was ridiculous. Nothing had ever caused Davey to feel like this, or act so unfocused. It just felt so bad lying all the time. Davey knew that he had great friends and that they would accept him, but coming out still felt so daunting. They would never look at him the same way again.

On Tuesday, Davey decided to call Crutchie for some advice. Crutchie was always quick to answer the phone, and picked up after it rang just once.

"Hey Davey! What's up?" Crutchie said with his usual enthusiasm.

"I want to tell them." Davey said, getting right to the point.

You could tell, even through the phone how shocked Crutchie was, "Woah really? That's not a bad thing by any means, it's just most people are very hesitant about telling others at first."

"Yeah I know, but they're my friends. I feel like they should know."

"Don't tell them just because of that. You have to be comfortable enough to trust them, and feel like they can accept you."

"You're right, but I do want to tell them. I hate keeping secrets- especially from our friends."

"Okay, well how about you tell them Friday? We're all going to Race's."

"Uh- yeah I guess so. I just got really nervous all of a sudden."

"Yeah that's normal, you just have to breathe, and remember that your friends love and accept you no matter what. And none of us are straight so no one's gonna be mean about it, or desert you."

Davey laughed, "You're right. Thanks again Crutchie, I'm really lucky to have you as a friend."

"Of course Davey. See you tomorrow."

Thursday at lunch, Jack and Crutchie were sitting next to each other, but Jack had his back turned to Crutchie, talking to Race. Crutchie decided to get up and move next to Davey, who was sitting quietly, hunched over a textbook.

"Hey Davey?" Crutchie said hesitantly.

"Hey Crutchie, what do you need?"

"Well, I was just wondering. When you were with Jack over the weekend, did you guys talk about me at all?"

"Talk about you? No, of course not. We never talk about each other behind our backs, you know that. Why are you asking this?" Davey asked now slightly concerned.

Crutchie began hesitantly, "I dunno, it's just recently, it seems like he would much rather be with you or anybody else that's not me."

"Crutchie, that's ridiculous. You're Jack's best friend, there's nothing he wouldn't do for you, and he's definitely not ignoring you like you think he is."

Crutchie sighed, "Then why does it feel like that?" He said shyly.

"I would just talk to him about it, he probably doesn't even realize he's doing it." Davey said.

"You're right, I will. Thanks Davey."

"Anytime, but now I really need your help with History." Crutchie smiled, and began going over information with Davey.

Finally Friday. Finally the day. The day that Davey would finally come out. Honestly, it was incredibly nerve-wracking. Some of his friends had come out before to them, and everyone was accepting. So why would it be any different with Davey? He just had to get through school, and get to Race's and everything would be fine. Everything always works itself out.

Except the day went by unbelievably slow. Classes that he usually enjoyed seemed to drag on, and he couldn't focus on any assignment. Davey was lucky there weren't any tests today.

After school, he asked if he could get a ride from Specs because he would be too distracted to drive himself. Specs kept talking the whole time, and while Davey responded to show he was listening, he really wasn't. His mind was in a completely different place, anxious about what was to happen.

When everyone got there, Crutchie managed to get everyone in one place and get them to stop talking, "Alright everyone, Davey has something he needs to tell you guys." Crutchie sat down, and Davey stood up.

"Hey guys um, well, I wanted to tell you guys because you're my friends, and you're all amazing and I just don't want to keep anything from you guys, so, well… I'm gay." Silence fell across the room causing Davey to grow even more anxious. That was until Jack stood up to meet him. He didn't say anything at first, he just hugged Davey.

Then he whispered in his ear, "I'm proud of you."

Davey smiled, "Thanks Jack."

Then Race stood up, "Considering no one in this group is straight I'm not surprised, but we all know what this is like and how hard it is to do. We're all proud of you." That's when the whole group stood up, and surrounded Davey in a group hug.

When everyone pulled away, they realized that Davey had started crying, "I'm sorry, I'm just really happy, I don't even know why I was nervous."

"It's okay Dave, come on it's movie time now!" Jack said.

*Seize the Day groupchat*

*11:45 PM*

Race: while I love movie night, can someone else host next time?

Jack: pls

Race: the basement was a mess!

Jack: popcorn was everywhere!

Race: i kicked over a completely full but open can of soda

Specs: …

Romeo: Whoops

Finch: Next time, no one leaves until everything is clean

Albert: Agreed

Race: Thank you

Race: But we're still not hosting