“Yes,” she says, simple, matter of fact. “Donovan is gay.”
I try and let the words sink in, but they don’t, I just don’t understand this…
“Wait, did something happen to him at Winbrook? If someone’s done something to him—”
“No. Jesus Christ, that’s not how it works, and you know it.”
“What else am I supposed to think? He goes there, and two months later, apparently he’s gay.”
“This isn’t something that happened at Winbrook; he’s always been gay; he just kept it hidden.”
“And how do you know that?” I ask.
“It’s one of the reasons we became such good friends after we met.”
“What?”
“We were partnered together on a project for English class, so we started spending time together. One day, I wore a Pride t-shirt; we got chatting and he told me that he was gay, but that no one knew. We’ve been best friends ever since.”
My chest tightens.
“You’ve known thiswhole time?”
Elizabeth
“You’ve known this whole time?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“You’ve been lying to me?”
His voice is full of hurt, and I get it. He’s hearing this for the first time and finding out that I’ve known for over six months, I can understand why he feels betrayed.
“I haven’t been lying to you,” I say gently. I reach for his hand again, but he yanks it away. “It wasn’t for me to tell you, this isn’t something that I had any right to share, I’m only doing so now because he asked me to.”
He scoffs and shakes his head. I feel bad for him, but I’m also getting annoyed, knowing that if the tables were turned, he’s got plenty of people in his life that he’d keep a secret for.
“Angel—”
“Don’t, Elizabeth.” He stands, moving away from me. “Don’t fucking talk to me.”
“No,” I say firmly, standing up as well to face off with him. “You don’t get to be like that. You of all people know what it means to be loyal and keep a secret. Look at the fucking club, and all the stuff that’s said behind closed doors. No, you do not get to be angry at me for not telling you.”
“Don’t compare this to stuff you don’t know shit about, Elizabeth.” Anger crosses his face, his eyes turning dark. “Yeah, I understand loyalty, and I know how to keep a secret, but not this. This is something I needed to know.”
“Why? Why did you need to know this? How the fuck does this even affect you?”
People are looking at us now, our voices no longer quiet and private; it’s clear we’re having a heated argument.
“Of course it affects me; the club has rules. Do you know what could happen if people find out that my brother is fucking gay?”
“You’re not serious?” I ask, “Donovan told me about your shitty homophobic rule; but after getting to know you all I assumed it was something that would never actually get acted upon.”
“We take the rules of the club seriously,” he says it so bluntly, like their stupid rules veto any logical thought.
“So what? You’d disown your brother because of who he loves, and choose the club over him?”
“I wouldn’t have a choice! Shit, he’d be lucky if I just disowned him. If Frank was still El Jefe, I’d have to put him in the fucking hospital too.”
