By Friday afternoon I head out to my college campus deciding that I’ll spend some time in the library to study before meeting up with Lucas for the meeting. I was lucky to see Luis after letting him know that I would be on campus and when he arrived he pulled out his laptop complaining about typing an essay. I tried not to show any sort of amusement as I listened to Luis rant about his eight-page paper and how he’s only had two pages done so far. I checked the time seeing there were forty minutes before the group meeting started and Lucas sent me a message saying I can head over if I like since the group is there early to set up. I was going over Luis’s paper when I heard my phone ring and it was Elliot and I quietly answered it.

“Hey, where are you?” I asked quietly.

“I’m sorry. I can’t make it. With the exams coming up and the on-site lab work, some of the people in my class are meeting to go over tomorrow’s test. It’ll affect my grade if I fail and I can’t miss these sessions.” He said.

“Oh,” I paused and saw Luis looking at me. “No, it’s okay. I understand. We can see next week if you’re free or maybe we can hang out with the group outside of campus to know them better.”

“Yeah, maybe meeting them privately would be good. I’m sorry, Michael, but I need to go meet up with them.” Elliot sighed. “I wish I was with you.”

“It’s fine. School comes first and I’m still going to see you tomorrow,” I remind him. “I’ll be madder if you cancel tomorrow.”

I can hear him chuckle, “You’re right… I’ll call you once I have a break.”

“Okay, bye,” I said before hanging up.

Sighing, I put my phone away and noticed that Luis is still watching me. “He can’t make it,” I informed him.

He nods, pushing his laptop away and shifting in his seat to face me, “Do you want me to come with you? I know you were really excited to go with Elliot, but I can go and it’ll be the first for both of us to see this meeting. ”

“You haven’t finished your paper,” I remind him.

“And that gives me an excuse to have a break,” He retorts. “Come on, as your best friend I should have the right to ditch my things to support my friend.”

I smiled for a second before shaking my head, “You're behind on that paper and you don’t have a lot of time to take a break. It’s due in two days and you have so many pages to type.”

Luis looked at me, “You sure?”

I took a breath in and stood up, “Yup. I’ll just head over now and hang out with them before the meeting starts.”

“Alright. But if you ever want me to go with you another time, let me know.” He tells me as he pulls his laptop closer. “I think it’s great that you want to go to a meeting like this and have new friends to connect with.”

“Thanks, Luis,” I said, feeling a bit shy at his comment.

I started making my way to the meeting trying to not let myself feel nervous about being alone. I have never been inside the campus auditorium and I didn’t think the support group would be held here, but it made sense since Andre does run the group and could quickly get permission from the professor. When entering the auditorium, I saw everyone standing on stage with chairs placed around in a circle and everyone was talking among each other like they have been long-time friends. I never bothered joining any clubs in school because I was never interested in them or found a meaning to spend my time going. It’s been a while since I’ve done social interaction in such a large group as this and I know Dr. Brown was pleased when I brought up the topic yesterday.

“Michael! There are stairs on the side to come up,” Genevive said when she saw me and pointed to the left side of the stage.

I made my way onto the stage and found an area to put my backpack when Lucas walked over towards me, “Hi.”

“Hey, I thought you were going to bring your boyfriend?” Lucas asked as he leads me to the middle of the stage

“He couldn’t make it. He got held back at a study session and had to cancel so he’ll come next week if he can.” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“I guess there isn’t much we can do about that, but I’m glad you made it. You want to grab some food and find a place to sit? You can eat while we’re holding the meeting.” He said, patting my shoulder leading the way to a table filled with prepared sub-sandwich and other sorts of snacks.

Leo and Elaine greeted me when they saw me and gave me a plate before walking over to the chairs. I kept close to Lucas or any of his friends since I’ve gotten so comfortable with them, but I was also nervous about how this will go or what will be discussed. Lucas said I didn’t have to share, that it was fine if I like to listen and watch so I can see how everything goes. I’m sure this can be like my therapy session with Doctor Brown, but with a group and having it more casual compared to being in her office. Andre was the first to stand after everyone was seated, and everyone went around introducing themselves; I hoped I didn’t sound nervous when giving my name.

“So, we’re going to start today’s topic on participation and interaction that is dealt with in our daily lives. In easier terms, let’s put ourselves in situations that require us to inform people about our orientation, gender, and pronouns, or how we should react towards people that don’t quite understand us.” Andre said reaching for a folder he left on his chair. “We can start with family events: have they reacted any differently since coming-out or friends, bringing our partners, and have there been any sort of reaction? Informing family to be referred to as he, she, they or them and a came you refer as then your given name. This is for anyone to share if they please and there is no need to share your whole story if you are not comfortable.”

I thought about this, recalled when I came out to my dad, and everything that happened during those years between us; the reason why I came out and how he reacted. I sat back listening as everyone was putting in their experience and other thoughts about their family reactions. It was exciting hearing about their own family members coming-out as well, or how welcoming their parents were towards their partners. Genevive talked about her family welcoming Elaine to family events like weddings and BBQ; which reminds me of when Elliot met my family. There were stories of people who had experienced as I with parents rejections or family members ignoring them once coming out, and as upsetting to hear it was also comforting knowing that I wasn’t alone.

“Have anyone had any issues when going to public places with their partners?” Lucas asked as they changed topics. “I remember I went out with my partner in high school… I had a lot of people staring at us and it was a little uncomfortable having them stare like we were aliens.”

“I had a lot of people stare at me as well, not at my partner, but by the way, I dressed and how loud I can be,” Andre said in the calmest manner I’ve seen him. “Which will never change, but it’ll be nice if people can accept my expressive-attitude as normal and not an attention seeker they think I am. I may be a drama-queen, but I am human too.”

A few people chuckled and some cheered at his speech.

“Andre, you mentioned that you’ve been bullied before, right?” one of the members asked.

“Bullies find anything to pick a fight and I gave them many reasons. They see the loudest gay black kid and think they have more power over you.” Andre replied sitting up in his chair and made a gesture as if brushing something away. “They can beat me up as many times if they could, but I will always be me.”

Andre might not know it, but there was a connection between us by these experiences that we’ve had and I think it's something that I wanted to share with them as well.

“Add me in as well for being a mixed child and a lesbian,” Genevive said. “Boy’s always teased that I just haven’t found the right guy and offer themselves like I need to experiment. It’s so stupid.”

“If anyone has problems out in public, just have Leo beat them up,” Elaine shouted, and everyone laughed.

“Just because I look strong doesn’t mean I’m a fighter,” Leo said, sitting up in his seat looking around at everyone. “The only reason I got into fitness was that I was bullied for my looks, I was a very scrawny kid, and that made me self-conscious. After some time, I felt like I had to change my appearance. I put myself under pressure to always work out and that led to how I am now, but I like how I look. It’s just been something that I let my body get used to after a few years going to the gym and I try to help others when I can.”

“Andre helps me keep that Oscar-winning body so anyone needs a trainer, ask him,” Andre added in.

“So you think this can also fall for the same reaction while being judged out in public, Andre?” Lucas asked.

He shrugged his shoulders as he looked over at Leo, “I didn’t think about working out and breaking a sweat when the bullying got to me, but I have to say that I’ve thought about changing my appearance just to feel like I fit in with those judgy people out there. Who am I to change myself so that they can call me normal?” he responded. “If they want me to act normal then I shall act it out in the theater.”

“You sought your revenge well,” The person beside me said.

“There shouldn’t be revenge,” Lucas said standing up and stretched out his arms. “I think people have difficulties figuring out why we are so-called different and not realize that we are still just as human as they are. The people we have close can be just like that, but we all just need to show them that they should just be proud of standing beside us and having them to lean on.”

Andre placed his arms over Lucas's shoulders and looked at everyone, “Thank you, Buddha Lucas. We’ve been blessed by your wisdom and shall reflect on them for the rest of our life.”

Lucas sighed and gave everyone a smile like he didn’t hear a thing, “We’ll end it at that and we’ll be here again next week.”

Author's Note:

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to give a heads up.

I've been depressed for the last two months and now it's been a challenge for me to get out of bed. I feel like maybe it has already reflected onto the story with the state that I am in and I don't want that...

I already have a schedule set up to post up to Chapter 17, Dec. 16 and I'll let it continue to post since I literally made this decision about 6 hours before this could post. From there, you might not expect another chapter going until  New Year Jan 1 since that lands on a posting day. 

I'm working on a Christmas Special or maybe I'll use it for New Year but I do want to share that with you guys. It's called The Wedding.

If you sign up for my Patreon, there is a preview to be posted I believe today or tomorrow and I'm going to continue to post early-access chapters before they post on tapas.

Anyway, that was all I wanted to say... thank you.