Why I'd Rather Be Wrong

Chapter 8, Part 1: Caught Red-Handed

Jaze D'Angelo

     It's already Sunday, I woke up early to do laundry since my laundry day is every Sunday. Also, none of them really had the courage to wash last night's dishes even though I was out for the night, so I still have to do it today. Washing the dishes is kind of like the best thing I could help anyway and it's not really a problem for me since we have a dishwasher. I still can't believe that the guys literally slept early last night, I was actually surprised that Garrett didn't invite them to go drinking too, since they do that almost every weekend. It's currently 7 AM and at least one of them is supposed to be awake by now, but the house is still pretty silent, just like last night, it's so unnatural. I'm pretty sure they're alive too because I hear minor noises inside their rooms. I'm just utterly worried, but I'm just trying not to pay that much attention.

     Speaking about last night, I had a really hard time trying to make myself asleep because I just kept thinking about that guy, like I'm absolutely obsessed with him. I still can't believe that I actually fell for that guy. I admit, this is not the first time I had been attracted to guys, but this was just so intense, it's not just a simple attraction anymore, because I'm always longing for him.

     I just finished stacking up the plates in the drawer and Flynn suddenly walked out of his room and went here in the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. It's actually surprising that he has his shirt on this morning, like did he go to bed with a shirt on? That's actually so bizarre of him.

     "Hi," I said, and he didn't even turn back on me. "Have I done something wrong? Did I forget to do something? Why are y'all not saying anything to me?" I asked as I pressed my hands against the counter behind me, waiting for an answer.

     He finally looked back at me and shrugged his head "Are we the one that has to tell something?" he said sarcastically then already walked into the dining table.

     Confused, I followed him "What do you mean, Flynn?" I asked.

     "Let's just wait for the guys to wake up, it's not like I'm the only one who knows what you're guilty about," he asked then took a sip of his coffee, and from the way he spoke, I could already tell something is wrong.

     I know I'm not gonna able to convince this man, like ever, so I just decided to do my laundry while waiting for them to wake up. 

     I've already done folding my clothes and I put them nicely in my closet. I just looked down while I'm holding on to both of the doors of my closet, still figuring out what have I done. Could it be that they found out what happened to me and Cassius last night? No, that can't be, that's kind of impossible. I walked out of my room and all of them are already sitting at the dining room table like there's a meeting that's supposed to happen and I'm the only one that has not arrived yet. And for a moment, I just noticed that all of them are wearing t-shirts and tank tops on, like what the heck just happened to them that made them break their record for being shirtless every single morning?

     The silence is just way too unbearable, I ain't used to it. I walked towards them and sat down, then I looked at each of their faces, nobody even dared to say a word. "Okay, I'm open to accusations, what have I done?" I sincerely asked while I clasped my hands on the table.

     I saw Trenton hit Garrett with his elbow, trying to tell him to speak up. Garrett then facepalmed first while trying to formulate his words. "Last night, did you go drinking?" he asked while he looked at me. His gaze penetrated through my eyes and into my very insides as if it truly wants a legitimate answer.

     "Uh... no? Why? What's the matter?" I replied and they just looked at each other as if they confirmed something.

     "Where were you? Last night?" Flynn asked with his petrifying stare while he's leaning back against his chair with his arms on the back of his head.

     I clearly have no other choice but to tell them the truth, and I can't still figure out the reason for this interrogation. "Cassius invited me to have a... a dinner, with his family," I replied and the looks from their faces were not that satisfied yet.

     "Cassius, huh, so that's his name," he said then moved his chair forward and placed his arms on the table. "Do you have anything to tell us? Because, to be honest, we got plenty. Y'know, we never really kept anything from you, it would be so unfair if you'd keep something from us, right? We're a family, remember?" he asked in a sarcastic yet mocking manner while he squinted one eye, and I'm actually starting to feel anxious about what could happen.

     "Just tell me what I did, If I'm actually guilty then I'll admit it," I replied.

     "So, this is actually what happened last night, man," Trenton spoke. "Garrett is actually trying to pull a scare prank on you last night, we decided to join in and we've been waiting for you to get home. I'm sure you're aware of the change in the atmosphere last night, right? When you stepped on the doorstep, Garrett's actually waiting for you to open it, as he was about to scare you, we know you're with that billionaire guy because we saw you walk out from his car by the window. And then, when Garrett was about to scare you, you didn't even open the door, and you even ran away for some reason. Garrett went outside to check it out, and he told us you were chasing that guy's car, he just watched you, and he told us about what happened after that so...we're gonna ask you if that's true..." he explained, and damn, I can't believe that somebody really did saw us... I'm so dead...

     "So, is that true, Harris?" Flynn asked and I was actually speechless, I don't know what to do. "Hey, answer the damn question!"

     "It's true!" I yelled as I stood up from my chair. "So, what now? Are you all disgusted by me now?" I asked. "Am I not allowed here anymore? Y'all don't feel safe around me anymore? As if I would end up harassing you all? Just for the fact that I'm a homosexual?"

     Trenton stood up and approached me "Hey, we never said anything like -"

     I slammed my palms on the table "Yes! Clearly! You never said anything. But look at all of you now, you're all wearing a shirt as if I'm actually attracted to your freaking bodies," I said as I cut him off. "I know, y'all are probably mad that I'm telling this just now but I just figured it out, I just confirmed who I really am. So, just tell me if I'm not welcome here anymore, I'll gladly leave," I said and then sat down, confident with my decision.

     "We don't want you to leave, we just want you to change," Flynn said and he was kind of serious about what he just said which is actually a huge piece of nonsense.

      I gave him a confused look "Change what? My preference? My sexuality? As if it's so f*****g easy? If I would ask you at this current point in time, would you rather date a guy? No? Well, I'd rather not too, but I can't do anything about it, this is who I am, I am meant to be this way, it just took some time for me to finally figure it out and to accept who I really am. What you said is pure nonsense, sexuality isn't a f*****g choice," I said then walked out then headed towards my room. I just contemplated about the last words I have said, there's this feeling again, that I think I have said that line before. I also realized how defensive I was because I truly accepted who I am now.

Trenton / Walter Remington

     We just watched Harris walk back into his room "What the hell was that about, man?" I asked Flynn, quietly. "You literally made us look bad too, why can't we just accept and support him?"

     "I'm still trying to decipher everything, okay? I actually don't mean what I just said, it just... slipped right out of my mouth," he said as he stared at his coffee.

     "It's because you're not the one in his situation, you couldn't understand it properly because you're not like him. In fact, there's actually nothing wrong with that," I said.

     "I agree," Garrett replied.

     "Agree with your face, dumbass. You just escalated the situation though, you freaked out so much too that you even wanted us to wear tops from now on, which offended Harris more," I explained while I facepalmed. Harris suddenly walked out of his room wearing a coat and carrying a backpack with his hand. Then suddenly walked out of the house without saying anything. "Well, he thinks we all hate him now. Who knows, he may not even have the urge to come back here soon," I said then facepalmed.

     "What are we gonna do now?" Ian asked, trying to show his presence in the conversation.

     I just rested my head on my elbows on the table "Let's just let him be himself, it'll be tough for us to accept, and yeah, we're gonna need some time to breathe all this in, but it's fine, he's still our friend. Nothing will change though, he's still gonna be the Harris that all of us knows," I said.

     "Except for the fact that we're gonna see him with a man," Garrett added, trying to be funny but none of us even laughed. "Yeah, he's still our friend. But wait, he has a girlfriend, right?" he whispered to us.

     "Let him deal with his consequences," Flynn said then walked back into his room already.

Jaze D'Angelo

(9:19 AM) Me: Hey, Clare, are you free today? There's something I gotta tell you.

(9:20 AM) Clare: Hey, I missed you. Actually, yeah, we could hang out, I'll bring Rose with me.

(9:20 AM) Me: I'm glad, and yeah, that sounds kinda fun. There's also someone I want you to meet anyway. Let's meet at our spot.

(9:21 AM) Clare: Isn't that spot supposed to be for us only?

(9:21 AM) Clare: You know what, nevermind, it's fine, I'll meet you guys there around 12.

     I'm just sitting here on a bench, lonely, under a tree. Thinking about what to do. I knew that me being a homosexual will totally ruin my life, but not because it actually introduced me to something new, something more legitimate. I wanted to meet Clare today because I've already made up my mind to tell her about who I really am so that we don't have to hold on to this falling relationship anymore. I'm glad about our relationship but it's not actually what I'm into, that's why I was kind of unhappy and we turned out that way. We loved each other, and that's what matters. I don't even see the years we've been together as a waste because it's actually a huge part of me, it made me realize and knew myself even more. I don't think I'm able to go back to our apartment at the moment, because I don't wanna feed myself with the unwelcoming vibe that starts to envelop the house now that they found out. I never really knew that I actually have homophobic friends. Well, it's not like I'm actually judging them as homophobic but, they made me feel like they're disgusted with me. I stood up already and walked back into my car, as I'm already going to Cassius's place to pick him up, even though I haven't really told him anything yet. I just reminded myself about something. I still have the money that my friends lent me. Well, I'm just gonna bring it back to them, but how? They might think that I borrowed money from Cassius and I don't want that. I guess I'm just gonna keep it for now, then give it back to them after some time, so they'll be convinced that I actually worked hard for it, or I might just tell them what Cassius did. Ugh, I actually have no clue, I'm so stressed out right now.

     I'm already a few meters away from his house and I'm driving towards the guardhouse now. I stopped right in front of the gate and he immediately opened the door instead of approaching me, what the heck? I drove in and he just saluted at me like I am already on the list of the authorized persons to enter this place. I reached his ginormous house. I went out of my car and walked towards his gate, there I realized that he has a freaking doorbell but I literally just knocked the hell out of this gate last time, that's so crazy of me. I pressed the doorbell and waited patiently outside. After a few seconds, he showed up, surprised, again. He opened his gate halfway and peeked his head.

     "Hi, mind if I barge in? I have to tell you something though," I said in a convincing tone.

     "Uhh... Sure, why not," he said then opened his gate all the way and then signaled me to get in.

     He locked the gate and then led me to the front yard of his heavenly abode. I envy this man so much... He absolutely loves plants as different kinds of them are scattered around every corner. His house is so white, that's why everything is also kinda bright, I'm amazed at the fact that the paint has remained purely white because I know for sure that this house is somewhat old now but it looks relatively new. I'm mentioning certain details about it because I actually wanted a house of my own already, like deadass. He walked inside his house while I tailed him, and I was just astounded at every single thing in his house. He has an indoor fountain, like, what? He has two grand staircases on each side of the fountain, and there are other rooms behind the staircase. The left side of his house upon entering is where his entertainment corner is located. He has a shelf full of books assorted by color. A ginormous sofa, and TV too. We walked towards his sofa and he signaled me to sit. I just sat down and put my bag on my lap, he just stood there, while I didn't even realize that he was actually waiting for me to talk.

     "Oh, yeah," I said right away after I saw him staring at me. "I just wanted to invite you to...meet someone..."

     He gave me a confused look while his eyebrows met each other. He sat beside me, a few meters away. "Who?" he asked.

     "You'll see," I replied.

     You're the actual reason why I'm doing this, anyway...