That night I planned out exactly what I wanted to say to my parents, I got it down to the tiniest detail. In the end, I wasn't brave enough to go through with it. My dreams that night were more like nightmares; desperately running from phantoms of my parents, hearing the disappointment of my father and I could see the look of disbelief on my mothers face. I was glad when I woke up.

I straightened the collar of my red sweater and tweaked the hem so my dark jeans were perfectly aligned, assessing my appearance in my full length bedroom mirror. Katy Perry's beautiful voice played out quietly from my stereo.

"Cause you're hot and you're cold, you're yes then you're no..." I sang to myself as I gathered all my school things into my messenger bag.

'Hakuna matata, it means no worries for the rest of your days.'

The song suddenly began to play from my phone. I grabbed it from my nightstand to see I had a text from Dylan.

'See you in Algebra! Have you said anything to your parents yet? Much love, D :)'

I read the text over twice and smiled softly. I felt bad that I hadn't said anything to my parents, but maybe I could say something tonight. Dylan was being so unbelievably supportive: Efron was missing out on a lot. I pushed my iPhone into the pocket of my jeans and slung my bag over my shoulder as I walked down from my attic bedroom, down the stairs to the lounge. I never usually ate breakfast so I planned to just head straight to school.

“Blaine?” I was almost at the front door when my mother appeared in the doorway to the lounge. My mom was a short woman, which was unfortunately where I got my short stature from, and had her long dark hair pulled into an elaborate braid. I’d never seen her look anything less than amazing, even if she was just doing housework or cooking.

“Yes, mom?” I replied as she walked towards me.

“Need a ride to school? I’m heading into town anyway,” she smiled as I nodded lightly. Maybe I could tell her duri-no, that wasn’t part of my plan.

“Sure, thanks mom” I smiled and held the door open for her, stepping out after my mom had passed through.

We walked down to my mother’s car, which was thankfully a Mini Cooper. It was tiny in comparision to Dylan’s huge Rover. Although my father loved cars, my mom wasn’t too fussed and was content with her little red Mini. I loved the car, it smelt of home and memories from my childhood. We both got in and my mom started to drive, making small talk as we drove.

“So, Blaine, how’s Dylan?” my mom asked conversationally, as we stopped at some traffic.

“Fine...why?” I answered slowly, starting to worry that she suspected something.

“Just asking. Maybe he could come over for dinner tonight?” she suggested, smiling over at me.

“Really? Wouldn’t Dad mind?” I was surprised she was suggesting this. I had made a point of not having Dylan over when my parents were in. I was worried about what my dad would say; my father had never been very good at being tactful.

“Of course not, Dylan’s your best friend. And it would be nice to finally properly meet him,” Mom replied with a smile, glancing over at the school as she pulled up outside.

“Ok, I’ll ask him. Thanks Mom” I smiled, quickly leaning over to peck her cheek before I got out. She waved at me as she drove away. I smiled to myself and headed into school. Maybe today would go pretty well.

***

Algebra was the first class of the day which I was with Dylan for. I spotted him the moment I got through the door, but for all the wrong reasons. I immediately recognised the floppy brown hair and the designer sports bag slung over his back sitting at the back of the class. That was normal, but the huge gang of people crowded around him wasn’t. I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, pushing my way through the crowd to reach him. It seemed like just about everyone in the class was there, gathered around his desk.

“Just leave me alone! I-I haven’t done anything wrong!” I heard Dylan whimper as I pushed my way forward. He looked upset, his hands were shaking slightly as he desperately looked around at everyone.

“Cameron saw you hugging Anderson. You’re trying to turn him gay, aren’t you?” one of Cameron’s idiot buddies smirked.

“Yeah, you just have a huge, creepy gay crush on him, don’t you?” another laughed, earning giggles from a lot of the girls stood around.

“As if, Blaine’s completely straight,” one of the girls who I knew had a crush on me insisted, blushing.

“Exactly!” Cameron Walker suddenly appeared at the front of the crowd, a huge smirk on his face. “So just go sprinkle your gay fairy dust somewhere else. Blaine doesn’t want you, nobody wants you, you pathetic piece of shit.”

“What the hell is going on?” I interjected, glaring around at the crowd. Many of them avoided my eyes, obviously feeling guilty that they’d been caught standing around while the conversation went on. “Well?”

Dylan looked up at me, looking half grateful that I was there, and half terrified that something even worse would be said. I could see the tears glistening in his eyes.

“We were just...” Cameron looked at me, trailing off as he saw the look of anger in my face. I could feel my jaw set, my eyes narrow and my fists clench. Breathe, Blaine.

“You were harrassing Dylan, that’s what you were just doing” I seethed, flashing a slighty smile over at my best friend before glaring back at Cameron and the rest of his pathetic friends. “For one, that is just low. Is your life so fucked up you need to find joy in bringing others down?”

Silence as what I’d dared to say filled the air.

“Secondly, at least he’s brave enough to be who he is. Yet you decide to cut him down everyday just because you can. And finally -” I paused to look around at everyone in the crowd. I met everyone’s eyes coolly before I spoke. “It’s none of your business, none of anyone’s business, about who or what I am. So lay off or I may just have to introduce my fist to your face.”

Cameron Walker looked speechless. He spluttered, his eyes looking around for one of his friends to defend him. I just watched as he floundered for a few seconds, finally attempting to pull himself together.

“Whatever, Anderson...” he muttered.

I stayed still as the crowd slowly dispersed, taking my usual seat beside Dylan as everyone settled down. I glanced over at him and smiled weakly, not really knowing what to say. He was looking at me with tears still in his eyes, a look of awe on his face. I raised my eyebrows and mouthed ‘what?’.

“You...thank you Blaine. You have so much courage, more than I can ever have,” he said quietly, smiling slightly at me. I rolled my eyes and shrugged, looking down at the desk.

“Yeah, no problem” I replied. I wasn’t courageous. I couldn’t bring myself to tell my parents that I was gay, and there was no way I’d come out to the school. I reached down to my bag and pulled my pen out.

“Hey, Anderson” Cameron’s unmistakable cocky voice called out to me. I slowly looked over at him, fighting the anger that rose up inside me as I looked at his ugly smirking mouth. “You basically just admitted that you’re gay. So just come out with it, then everyone will know about you and Blackburn.”

I froze. I physically couldn’t move. My hand was frozen in midair, just about to place my pen down on the table. My throat ran dry and I began to feel lightheaded. No, no, no. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

“Oh my god,” the jerk’s voice had changed, sounded shocked. “I was only kidding. Guys, Anderson’s gay!” he yelled. I could feel the eyes of everyone on me. I began to burn under the stares, my breathing hitching. I was freaking out. I didn’t know what to say.

“H-hey,” Dylan bravely called out, trying to save me. “He, he’s not gay, pssht!”

Slowly I willed my body to move. I shook my head agonisignly slowly, every fibre in my body burning in embarrassment and fear. I knew what I had to do.

“I am,” I choked out, my voice coming out hoarse. I registered the look of shock on the majority of the other students faces, the smirks from a few and a few heartbroken stares from some girls. I took a shuddering breath then slowly lowered my pen to the desk.

Much too late, the teacher walked in. He called the class to attention, blissfully unaware of what had just happened. Every now and then, people would turn around and look at me but I kept my gaze firmly forward, refusing to focus on any of the expressions. Dylan didn’t say a word, perhaps realising that I was in a trance and that I couldn’t - not wouldn’t, physically couldn’t - reply or even nod. I knew that the minute I stepped out after class, the news would already be spreading. Soon everyone would know that I was gay. I wasn’t ashamed of who I was, but I was still trying to figure out how to tell my parents. Now possibly hundreds of my friends and peers knew before my parents.

***

Lunch was a nightmare. Imagine your worst possible fear and multiply it by the number of people watching as you freak out about it. I hadn’t wanted to eat in the cafeteria, for obvious reasons; everyone went there. But I had to buy food, and Dylan tried to convince me that it was actually a good idea to ‘face up to everyone’. I didn’t believe a word of it, yet I still walked through the double doors into the fiery pits of hell. The moment my dark blue canvas shoe set down on the cafeteria floor, a hundred heads turned to look at me. Their accusing eyes burned through me, my cheeks flushing dark crimson as they all stared. It was like I was a circus act they’d all come to watch, and I was now expected to perform. I shuffled over to the line, keeping my eyes firmly on the linoleum floor as people shied away from me. I picked up a tray, ignoring Dylan’s reassuring words from behind me and focused on just getting my food and getting out. The queue edged forward slowly, the tension building by the second. I just knew my audience was waiting for something to happen. I could almost hear them all holding their breath. I slowly picked up a bag of ready salted chips and an apple from the tray. I placed them on my tray and picked up a can of Minute Maid apple juice, adding it to my collection. Eventually I reached the part of the service where you told the dinner attendents what sandwiches you wanted or whatever. My throat felt as rough as sandpaper, and dry as a desert.

“I-uh...” I cleared my throat quietly, not wanting to draw any more attention to myself if possible.

“J-just a ham and cheese sandwich, please,” I mumbled, smiling a little as the lady handed it to me.

I paid for my food and turned to face the cafeteria. All of the tables occupants were staring at me, some whispering to each other, but most had simply stopped in their tracks to look at me. I stood for a few moments, feeling frozen to the spot by the pressure of their gaze.

“Fag.” I looked around for the person who had just shouted it out, and wasn’t surprised to see Cameron Walker smirking back at me. He was seated at the ‘jock’ table, with the guys who could easily knock me out with a single blow. Although Cameron was hardly considered a jock; he hadn’t even made the first string on the football team and was only ok at soccer, they accepted him. I had never been able to fathom out why, but now I was perfectly clear: they were all grade A assholes.

“Gay boy!” one of Cameron’s jock buddies yelled out, grinning.

“Like it up the ass, hu?” another laughed, nudging some of his friends.

The cafeteria turned into a battleground of insults, all directed towards me and Dylan, who had come to stand beside me. I couldn’t listen to this anymore, I felt like I was going to faint. Even my so-called friends were sitting there laughing. Nobody came to our defence.

“Come on Blaine, let’s go eat somewhere else,” Dylan urged quietly, tugging on my red sweatered arm lightly to make me move. I so badly wanted to walk right up to every single one of these idiots and hit them. But I had to be good, had to remain in control. Maybe if I didn’t react, my dad would still love me for being strong. Maybe.

“Let’s go,” I replied with a nod, stuffing my food into my bag and discarding the tray on a table as I walked out. Dylan was close by me the whole time, shielding me from the full glare and barrage of insults.

***

We ate in one of the art rooms, which were always kept unlocked in case anyone wanted to work on their projects at breaks. Nobody ever did. This made them a great place to go if you wanted somewhere quiet at lunch, if you knew about them. Dylan pulled me into the room after checking it was empty, and we settled onto the floor in the corner. I knew that if I sat on a chair, I’d simply collapse and drop to the ground. I leaned my head back against the wall and stared up at the dull off-white ceiling.

“I hate my life” I mumbled, closing my eyelids, just to try and calm my mind. I wanted utter blackness, not this crazy storm of emotions and thoughts racing through my brain.

“Don’t say that. People are just ignorant idiots,” Dylan replied, leaning against me slightly and patting my knee. “You did a really brave thing, Blaine. I know it wasn’t ideal, and wasn’t good timing, but at least you don’t have to hide any more.”

I opened my eyes as I slowly looked over at him and raised one of my infamous eyebrows. “What are we doing right now, Dyl? Hiding, that’s what,” I stated bitterly, gesturing at the empty room with one hand. “Look at us! Just sat here, like we did something wrong!” I continued, the anger rising in me as I reflected on what had just happened. “We didn’t do anything wrong! Just because we’re gay, what is people’s problem!?”

I sighed and slumped down further, groaning at the helplessness of it all. This was my life now, and I just had to get used to it.

Dylan didn't reply to my outburst and simply pulled out his home-made egg and cress sandwiches  and began to eat. I sighed softly before making a start on my own food. We ate in comfortable silence, each lost in our own thoughts. Just as I was finishing off my apple juice, Dylan spoke.

"They're the ones with the problem, not us. I've had to deal with these...Neanderthals since 8th grade, Blaine. I figured out who I was early on but I was stupid enough to tell people. We may only be fifteen, but we can rise above it, trust me" he smiled wryly and shrugged.

"Why do we have to live in a world of Cameron Walker's?" I mused aloud as I leaned my head on Dylan's shoulder for a moment.

"I'm not even going to pretend to know," he chuckled, resting his brunette hair against my own black hair. "But just know that I'm here for you, no matter what."
"Promise?" I sat up straight and looked at him seriously.

"I promise" he nodded.

"No," I insisted, holding out my hand and extending my little finger towards him. "You have to pinky promise, and you can't break a pinky promise." I continued to look at him seriously, raising my eyebrows. Yes it was dumb, but I just really wanted a concrete promise that I had someone on my side.

"I, Dylan Blackburn"- he began, smiling softly as he twisted his little finger with mine "-pinky promise that I will be there for you, Blaine Anderson, through everything, always."

"And I, Blaine Anderson-" I continued, looking down at our intertwined fingers "-pinky promise that I will always be there for you, Dylan Blackburn, through every little thing."

We released our little fingers and smiled at each other.

"Thanks Dyl."

"Just being a friend," he shrugged with a smile that soon turned serious. "Are you going to tell your parents?"

"Yes" I replied slowly. "You wanna come around to my house tonight?"

"Really?" Dylan's green eyes widened in surprise before he smiled tentatively. "I mean, sure, awesome... but weren't you going to tell them tonight?" he asked in confusion.

"Exactly" I replied with a nod and a smile. If I was going to do this, I would need all the moral support I could get.