"May 22nd

Dan gave me a welcome to the Rebellion yesterday, who are people that want to escape the camp. They're planning a break out soon. Should I go? If I get caught, I'm a goner. If I don't go, I may never seen Dan again. You're a journal! You're supposed to help me!

"On a more positive note, Dan kissed me! :) <3 (Kinda screamed inside)."

I leaned back, quickly hiding away my book in the drawer. Classes had ended already, and it was almost time to see Dan again. I was excited. He had kissed me!

The bell rang, and I ran to him. He took me to his room and looked sadly at me.

"I'm sorry," he said, "about yesterday. I didn't mean to kiss you. I just..."

I was surprised. "You what?"

"Never mind."

"Dan, it's ok. I don't mind. Why are you sorry?"

"This is a straight camp, after all. We're supposed to be straight. I mean, I'm gay, and I will always be gay, but...."

"Dan," I smiled. "We're all here because we're gay, aren't we? What makes you think I mind?"

He grinned. "Phil, what I'm about is standing up for who I am. If that means I have to break the rules, then I'm going to. And Phil, I want you to come with me because I don't want to go without you."

"It's ok. I'm coming with you," I decided on the spot. "I trust you."

He smiled bigger than I had seen before. "Really?" he said, laughing happily almost.

I nodded and hugged him.

"You'll love it,"he said. "Believe me."

~~~~~

That night, I snuck out of my room for the first time. I had always known about the Rebellion, but never actually went to a meeting. It wasn't hard to escape, actually. At the entrance to the hidden and concealed area in the nearby woods between the boys' and girls' camp, Dan had waited for me.

"Phil," he smiled happily. "You came!"

"Yeah."

"Well, come on!" He led me into a wooded area heavily populated with somewhat quiet teens and younger adults. They all looked so happy and free. One stood up and shushed everyone –Rosa.

"People, please listen," she said, running her hands through her long brown hair. She was skinny and tall, with more pride than I'll ever hope to have. "Ok, welcome back, Rebellion. As you know, we've got a plan for break out! It'll be great! I wish the best of luck to all of you when the night comes. Any questions or concerns so far?"

One person raised their hand. "How do we know we wont get caught?"

"I've gotten a hold of several wires to cameras around the place to be sure we're clear. I'll be able to cut them to limit security risks. And I've also picked the best possible date. All of the guards are going out on meetings or other things like that on the 26th, so we'd have the least surveillance then. I promise, we'll be safe.Remember, they can take our freedom, but no one can take your pride!"

The crowd cheered quietly. Dan stood up and walked to Rosa, pulling me with him.

"Rosa," he said. "This is Phil."

"Oh yes," she admired. "Nice to meet you, Phil. Welcome to the Rebellion. I'm Rosa, the leader, technically. But its not really about me. It's about getting these guys the freedom they deserve from this place. I swear, try as they might, I'm the most lesbian of us here, and I will never have sex with a guy. That's what we're all about here. Tell me about you now. What's your story?"

I smiled at her friendliness. Since I was standing closer to her, I could see the deep looking scar just below her shoulder and almost across her neck. I marveled at the mark, wondering how she got it."My parents sent me here when they found out I was gay."

"That's awful. Dan's did too."

"Yeah," he said, "but I'm never going back to them. Soon as I can, I'm out and onto my own life."

"I'm glad to hear it," she said.

The rest of the night was more of a celebration than a meeting. We danced to good music and ate good food that Rosa had cleverly swiped. It wasn't long until Dan asked me to dance. He took my hand and pulled me in. His brown eyes sparked fireworks in the night. He pulled my body close to his, and I was surprised as his body swayed fluidly to the sound. He put his arms around my hips and guided me to dance with him.

"You're good," I said.

He smiled. "You get a lot of practice when you're by yourself all the time." He held the bones of my hips against his and moved them into the same swaying motion. "You know, Phil, I'm really happy you came to this. Since you're proud of your sexuality too, there's something I wanted to tell you."

My heart flipped and began to beat off timing. I could feel the pulse all the way in my feet. "Y-yes?"

"I mean, I've felt this way about you for a while now, but since I can be sure now that you wouldn't turn me in or hate me, I just want to say... Phil, I –"

"Abort!" someone yelled. "Abort! Back to the cells!"

"Damn," Dan sighed. He took my hand and ran back to where our rooms were as everyone else broke out in a frenzy, silently running and shushing the others. The guys ran in one direction towards their camp and the girls headed the other.

"What happened?" I said, trying to catch my breath.

"Someone saw a guard. They were too close, so we had to abort the meeting."

"Oh." He turned to the direction of his own room. "Dan," I called,"what were you going to say? Back there?"

"Oh, it uh, it doesn't matter. I'll tell you later," he said nervously."Goodnight, Phil."

"'Night, Dan." I could anticipate what I thought he was going to say, so as he turned to the other direction, I pretended to cough. "I love you too," I mumbled, half hoping he wouldn't hear.

He turned back. "Phil, wait!" he called. "What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"No, I heard you. Did you say..."

Though he drowned the words, I knew he had heard. "Yes."

Dan took my hands in his and pulled me close, quickly locking lips with me and releasing. "Goodnight," he said finally. "We need to go before they catch us."

"Ok."

He smiled and caressed one side of my face. "Um, ok. I'm going now.See you in class."

"Ok,"I grinned. I couldn't think of a better word to say. I basically skipped back to my room, where I could barely sleep. I endured the rest of the night remembering the rhythm of Dan's body as it swayed perfectly to the music.