The Bright Side Brigade by Elaine White

Author:Elaine White
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Encompass Ink
Published: 2019-02-20T05:00:00+00:00

The End

Anonymous

Chapter 1

Karsyn zoned out of his father's lecture once again as he packed his bag for another day at school. He understood that his father was worried and unhappy about what he was doing, but he didn't have much of a choice.

This was Chance Harbour they were talking about; pro offers didn't come along every day. And although he knew that the majority of his teammates were accepting, they weren't the ones he was worried about. It was the rest of the world that scared him.

“I'm serious, Karsyn. I can't stand to see you go through this. Every time you walk out the door, I'm terrified of whether you'll walk back in it or not,” his father said, pacing the floor behind him.

Karsyn tried to ignore it as he pulled out his wallet and checked that he had enough money for a decent lunch and maybe to disappear for a while after school. It was Wednesday, six weeks since Harrison and Austin started dating and spending lunch hours away from school, and he'd opted out of the new RPG game, after getting his rugby schedule in and realising he couldn't make time for both this term. So not only did he have a quiet lunch all to himself, but he still had two days of classes to go before he was free for the weekend.

“I'm not going to run away,” he promised. He might get away for a few hours, but never run. He loved his parents, but sometimes they just took the whole 'supportive' thing too far.

His dad grabbed his shoulders and turned him so that they were facing each other. “I looked it up online. Thirty percent of all successful suicides are related to sexuality and orientation. I won't let you become another statistic,” he insisted, arguing with him as if those statistics were his fault.

Karsyn wouldn't tell him what he was really thinking; that number was probably a heck of a lot higher than anyone knew. What about all the homeless people who were kicked out by their parents because of who they were? What about all the kids that turned to cutting and suicide who died, leaving behind no one who even knew they were gay? The men and women who married just to keep their families happy or because they were too terrified to come out.

Just because the statistics said one thing didn't mean they were right. There were a whole lot of people out there that the statistics had no idea even existed or fitted into their 'categories'.

“I'm not going to kill myself,” he said, shaking those depressing thoughts off. He knew it wouldn't work. His mind would be stuck on that all day now, scanning his fellow students, wondering if anyone else was at risk from the inequality of life.

“Karsyn.” His father hugged him and he hugged back. He hated that he'd been dragged into this conversation, but he understood that it wouldn't be over until his dad was convinced he was okay.

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