|TWO PLUS TWO MAKES SEVEN THESE DAYS |

"Where are you-"

"Restroom. I'm not uh-feel-uh-ing very good lately," I lied to Lucas as we walked out of the Biology class together. I was sure that he wasn't buying my worst excuse possible but he stood there momentarily contemplating whether or not to leave me alone.

"As you wish," he shrugged tentatively, walking in the direction of the greenhouse while I started walking towards the restroom and soon turned around a corridor.

Students swarmed past me as I walked down the restroom, not before coming to a halt in front of a deserted locker. 

Fuck this, I thought distastefully as I walked towards the school cafeteria with a last glance towards the hallway which led to the greenhouse. 

The cafeteria was placed at the very centre of the school, making it easier to find. The bright blue colour of the doors was visible from a distance as I stood steps away from the cafeteria. 

This will not be for me but the others.

I let out a sigh as I strongly grasped the straps of my bag tightly, taking each step carefully towards the cafeteria. Walking past students who were confused but slightly amused by my presence over there, my eyes never flickered to anyone's faces.

My phone buzzed inside the pocket of my skirt and I knew too well that it was from either of the gang, who would be looking out for me because they would be worried. And I just wanted to make sure that no one hurts them anymore.

Not when I'm around.

It was weird for me to think like that because I was the most targeted student around Pride High and I was supposed to be protected from the nasty people but there I stood, in front of the cafeteria, trying to get to talk to him.

Having a lot of friends indeed made me crazier.

I pushed open the doors without giving it a second thought. Heads turned towards my direction as chills passed down my spine. My heartbeat had escalated twice a fold and all I could feel was the intensity of the glares of the people around me. 

“Look who it is,” someone sneered but I had my eyes set to find the guy to whom I was determined to have a chat and share a piece of my mind. It took me around a minute to locate the guy perfectly who sat around a group of people I had always seen around him.

“Jason Cartwright,” I spoke loudly, summoning his attention towards me. He did a double-take as his green serpent eyes met my fiery brown ones. He grunted to others who sat around him, the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria dying as all the eyes were moving to and fro between me and him.

“I need to talk to you, now,” even I didn’t ignore the edge on my voice and Jace gave me a low nod, trying to push his way out of his table.

“You want to, weirdo?” Then fucking do it over here!” Thomas, who sat right beside him grunted in reply even before Jace could say anything in return. Jace muttered something inside Tom’s ears but he looked nonchalant. 

“Cartwright isn’t your pet whom you’ll control,” Olivia intervened, who had her back faced to me the whole time before she had turned around.

“Look, I don’t want to start another set of irrational trouble, Olivia. What Addison and Nick argued with you earlier is between you three-”

“Your friends downright insulted my girlfriend which isn’t something I’ll let pass under my nose,” Teresa shot back, infuriated for her girlfriend. If it was for other circumstances, I would’ve acknowledged and respected their love and support for each other but the situation didn’t make it favourable. At all.

“Guys, let’s be reasonable. We’ll just listen to her talk?” A very irritated guy who stood with them the whole time muttered rather loudly, earning him a few chuckles from the students in the cafeteria.

“Zach’s been talking smart lately,” someone whistled from a corner, catching Zach's attention.

“Jace,” I started, ignoring the rest of them smoothly for he was the most understanding among them, “We haven’t done any harm to you guys. We just keep our distance and enjoy school. I don’t think it’s justified if some maniacs-” I started, with a slight glance at Olivia. “-think that it’s ‘fun’ to vandalize lockers of the two straights who study in this school.”

“I really shouldn’t be saying this here but how is this fair if I get mistreated both in Bridgeton because my parents are gay and then over here because I’m straight?” Stone-cold stares were blaring into my soul but my eyes were fixated on a stunned Jace.

He cleared his throat as if to explain something but was interrupted by a furious Olivia.

"Really? Please don't act oblivious about our pain," she roared, standing up and slamming her hands on the table. "We don't have any personal issues with you, Kirlia but with your previous school. Do you even know how we were treated over there?"

"At some point in time, all of us studied together before some people thought that it was weird to be seen together with us because we were weird," Jace began, his green eyes shimmering with hate. "We were tagged as weirdos and soon rumours started circulating that we were sinners and talking to us would make others a sinner too."

"We were bullied too because we weren't normal like others, Hemmings," Teresa grunted between her teeth, stabbing the salad on her plate harshly, "we were called words and taunted because we couldn't fall in love with our opposite genders. Because we never found the opposite genders 'attractive'," she air-quoted the word attractive as she had an edge in her voice.

"You know what the problem is? The problem is the fact that people like you keep on victimising yourselves that you just blindsided all our piled up emotions. Each day all of us have to listen to the taunts and struggle till our own families accept us."

"Not all parents are as good as yours. All of us have been witnessing the snarls and resentment from our parents. They hate us. They despise us and hate it if we hang out with them. We don't feel at home when we are in our houses. The only place which welcomes us all is Pride High."

"And then people like you and Lucas have to waltz into our school and remind us how we are different from you. How, at the end of the day, we still fight for people to accept us as who we are. We fight each day against all prejudices and rumours. We argue every day because loving someone can never be a sin."

"And you know who has it the worst? Those who couldn't keep up with all the hate and resentment and think it's better to die rather than be alive and fight it all." Jace's eyes were filled with tears but he stood there in front of me with his head held high.

Thoughts swirled inside my brain as his words pierced through my soul. It made complete sense. After all, it was no different from my reason.

It made complete sense. Almost all of them must have faced something as adverse as I had in Bridgeton. I might have had a perfectly imperfect family who would be delusional almost all the time but many of the students seated in the cafeteria had had worse than I had faced.

However, taking it all out on me was certainly not the solution. It wasn't me who had caused it all. I wasn't the one who caused them all the pain. I was just an ally who supported the LGBT community no matter what.

"But I'm not like others, Jace. I'm an Ally who supports it-"

But Jace snubbed me disdainfully.

"Using 'ally' to show that you support same-sex love on social media is certainly not a criterion which you've to fulfil to walk in this school-"

"Pride High is supposed to be an institution for all, let me make that clear to you." Addison's voice startled me as much as it did the others.

All heads whipped back to the entrance door, where stood an infuriated Addison, followed by all others. Zeta was the first to run towards me, almost knocking me off balance.

“No one is allowed to snub our friend. Especially you, Jason Cartwright," she growled at his face.

 Jace looked completely taken aback by their sudden appearance as he blinked back the tears that has seemed to accumulate in his eyes. Lucas made a failed attempt to push me behind him as he tried to stand like a shield right in front of me but I didn’t budge.

Addison walked up beside me, squeezing my shoulder lightly. “I meant it when I said that you can always rely on us. But walking directly into the hunter's den wasn't recommended,” Addison muttered into my ears, her words distinct despite the commotion around the whole cafeteria. 

Their presence suddenly calmed my nerves but I could make out how pissed and annoyed the rest were with their presence but Addison looked murderous.

"Jason, I know what you might have sufficed to get in here," Addison jeered as she folded her arms right in front of her chest, "but can we just accept the fact that there might have been something worse that might have gone down for both of them to end up here despised being students of Bridgeton."

"It's all of you trying to humiliate and degrade Kirlia and Lucas as much as others did to you. There's no decency left in it. I swear to God, raise a finger on her again and I won't hesitate to punch the shit out of you."

Behind Jace, Olivia snorted loudly while Teresa grunted, both mocking Addison's monologue subtly. Jace, however, looked touched.

"No one will bother you'll again until there's something wrong with this," Jace begrudgingly promised. Despite how he must have hated all of us by now, he was the school body president and it was his duty to maintain the general decorum.

Addison nodded with some reluctance and took a step back carefully and soon all of us were walking out, without heads held high with invisible dignity. It didn't us all us to walk past our won lockers and reach the stairs in front of the greenhouse.

"Give me a good reason as to why you went there." All of their eyes turned towards me as Addison placed that question in front of us.

All of us were back near the greenhouse with all the food packets they had brought earlier lying unnoticed on the last of the stairs.

I sighed trying to think straight for my actions have been completely out of character and it didn't make sense. I was as perplexed as compared to everyone around me.

Why am I being so different?

Before I could answer, however, Lucas answered the addressed question instead of me. "She was trying to defend us, " he pointed out. " Kaia went to Jace and others not because she wanted to pick up a fight but because she was trying to stand up against them for all of us. I don't think you should shout at her Addison-"

"I'm not shouting Lucas!" Addison was exasperated, her voice higher than it should be as she took long strides towards Lucas. "What if they said something to her which wasn't right or did something to her. Honestly, I was just looking out for her-"

"You don't have to, Addy! Kaia has proved to us that she isn't the timid girl we perceived her to be. She's as fierce as a feline. So, we can stop looking out for her-" Sierra started but Addison had already turned her down.

"C'mon, if we hadn't known where she was, we would have just here chilling while she'd be there alone, fighting for us." Addison looked vivid with anger and frustration but there was something else in her face which felt different yet refreshing.

She was concerned about me.

"Don't worry about me, McRae." All their eyes turned towards me but all their expressions were different just like their opinions. "I'll manage them."

Addison grunted in reply, annoyed with my response but the concern in her eyes for me never wavered.

"Look, Addy, even if they come," Zeta walked towards the food packets, swinging her arms along the way. "Let them come. They nag these two, they nag all seven of us.'

"All of us?" Nick dumbly retorted, earning a glare from everyone except me and Lucas, who made an apprehensive eye contact with me. Felix patted his shoulder in dismay. Instead, Nick chose to focus on snatching a food packet from Zeta.

"Yes," Sierra hopped in, lending Zeta a hand in giving all of us our food packets. "They disturb you two, they irritate all seven of us."

"Don't underestimate the power of all seven of us together," Felix started as he scrunched up his nose in disgust towards Nick, who ate his strawberry at once.

"Yeah, these days it's seven of us against all," Addison theorized. Her eyes were a darker shade of green with the shadows from the greenhouse.

"All because you two are stereotypically normal and the rest aren't," she concluded as she picked up her food packet from Sierra.

Hey you all!

First off, I'd love to apologise for not updating for the past whole month. I mean - I'm as guilty as charged.

I try to be regular with updates. So, one update per week for this week while I tell ya guys when the next chapters would be out.

Because I'm too late in putting up, I'd like to say few a stuff over here.

Thanks a lot for 1.9k reads and 399 votes!

Did I say how utterly blessed I'm in realising how amazing the people who read this book are? I absolutely love you guys.

Second, there are a few facts I thought I'll tell you guys at the 6 month anniversary of Homosexually Straight (which was on 21st October 2021).

• This book was originally supposed to be titled "A guide to be gay" which would be about a guy named Lucas, who ends up in Pride High despite being straight and he's helped by a few people to merge with them ( I bet not many have wondered why the heck is Lucas in Pride High).

Hehe- though I loved the title, I guess I'll work on it as a separate book if- if Homosexually Straight works out (that is, getting 1 Million reads or over 100k votes and lots of love).

Enough for the day, next update the next week.

Ciao,
Sasha Cahill