Chapter 7

Mom comes in. “I talked to Dr. Tilton. He said the same thing as Poison Control. He’s probably going to be all right but we’re supposed to take him to the emergency room anyhow. They may want to pump his stomach. You probably know all that already but you were too busy for me to ask you. And I’m—” here she glared at me, “—out of my pills now and I really need one. Why on earth do kids do this sort of thing to us?”

Then she sees the computer. It’s back to Steven again…

Mom sinks onto the bed beside me. Yes, her cheeks are red with anger but I see that’s she also been crying hard. She takes a deep breath. “Is there something you want to tell us?” she asks as cool as a cucumber.

“Noooo, not really,” my cowardly little voice speaks for itself. “But, maybe, like, uh, I’m gay?”