The Silent Treatment (open)

[Eddie Davis]

Eddie was not in the principals office because he was in trouble or because he was trying to get someone in trouble, he was there simply because he was a new student. Though, he couldn't shake that sinking feeling that he was in trouble as he normally was in trouble when ever he was in a principals office. The series of events that had led up to him being in Pittsburgh made him feel like he was in store for even more punishment (even more than the punishment of actually being there and not in Philly). Eddie sat across from the principal with a parent on each side of him. The principal was talking about school procedures and other boring things of a similar nature. Occatonally his parents asked questions, but Eddie said nothing; he refused to speak to or in front of his parents ever since they moved to the Pitts. His parents were under the belief that he had given up talking all together and had explained as much to the principal. Not true. Though, that's what Eddie wanted them to think, really, he couldn't wait to get out of their company so he could start talking to people again!

After what seemed like a sit though of all three of the Lord of the Rings movies, the meeting was concluded and Eddie was all that much closer to being set free in a new school. As upset as he was about the whole situation, at least he had a clean slate in this school; it was the one small slice of optimism he had. Before he had even gotten out of the car that morning to enter the school he had to endure a whole speech from his parents about how this was all for his own good. Eddie had yet to see the truth in that statement and doubted he ever would.

Now they were in the office/lobby or whatever, just out side the principals office. Eddie's parents and the principals were exchanging good byes and reassurances. Eddie stood to the side of it all, close to scratching the eyes out of his skull if his parents didn't leave ASAP. They did and Eddie's eyes survived to see another day. Now it was just Eddie and the principal. Well, this was awkward considering that Eddie refused to talked to figures of authority as well. Luckily for the principal, there was a student in the lobby whom the principal promptly asked to show Eddie around. . .

[Tobias Vaughn]

Tobias had been in the office to drop off a few papers regarding the recent fights and drama he had recently been caught up in since he had come out of the closet. It felt like an eternity since the relatively recent events with the wrestling team had occurred, though he was was still dealing with the consequences. Luckily for him, he hadn’t been kicked out of school or even suspended, but right now none of that was even on his list of things to be worried about. His list had turned into the same two words over and over again, filling page after page in his mind: Kyan. Andy. Kyan. Andy. Kyan. Andy. Oh dear god.

He had agreed to go out with Andy, they were boyfriends now… and then he had sex with Kyan. Well, at least, they started to have sex, though neither of them had exactly finished before Kyan had passed out from all of the drinking he had done during the night. He didn’t know what he was going to do, and that was the only thing on his mind. He didn’t want to lie, but he couldn’t tell Andy, and he was dreading the moment where he would run into his now boyfriend in class or the hallways. And Kyan… they had both woken up to Ravi at his door, and then Toby’s parents had come to pick him up and take him and his stuff home, so they hadn’t even spoken since the night’s events. Then there was the awkward situation of being back in the home that he had been kicked out of for several weeks, back with the parents who were NOT alright with the fact that their son is gay. Needless to say, Toby was not having the best of weeks, and so it wasn’t any surprise that he was too distracted to notice he was being addressed in the principal’s office. 

“Mr. Vaughn… Mr. Vaughn?” The Principal was saying, trying to get his attention. Toby’s mind was in a haze, but a hand on his shoulder brought him crashing back to reality. He snapped his head up to look at the principal. “Tobias, we have a new student, and I would appreciate if you would show him around.” Of course, who was Toby to say no to a direct request from the principal, especially since he needed to get back onto everyone’s good side here. 

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” he said, looking over at this new kid and giving him a half-smile as he tried to clear his mind from all of it’s previous thoughts. He could worry about that later, he’d hate to give a terrible first impression here. The principal left, and then the two boys were alone in the lobby area of the office.

“So, you’re new here, then? I’m Tobias Vaughn, but most people just call me Toby. Either’s fine. I’m a Senior here,” he said, figuring he should start by introducing himself. He waited to see if the other boy would do the same.

[Eddie Davis]

Edde looked examined the kid who would soon be showing him around the school; big, muscles, butch hair cut. The guy looked like one of those jocks he had heard so much about and seen in all the teen movies. Eddie had gone to a performing arts high school, so he hadn't been around jocks all too much. All he had to go by was the movies and rarely had he seen a positive portrayal; most of the time the jocks were picking on the nerds or the hipster queer kids like Eddie. They were muscle heads with big egos and small IQs, but Eddie didn't judge. This kid seemed nice, he had to give him the benefit of a doubt. Besides, the jock was probably going to think Eddie was a total freak when the principal explains why the new hipster kid doesn't talk. Ugh.

And, as it were, that particular instance was only moments away when the jock introduced himself to Eddie in front of the principal. Great. He couldn't very well speak in front of the principal and blow his whole facade of silence, but he was also dying to talk to someone his own age. The only immediate response the jock got out of Eddie was him awkwardly scrunching up his face in a thoughtful/ annoyed manner. Fuck, he didn't know what else to do! Luckily the principal had other shit to do so he quickly explained Eddie not speaking to Toby and left the two of them in the lobby. Eddie was holding his breath until he heard the principal's office door shut then let it out in relief when it did.

But, fuck-a-doodle-daisy, the secretary was still there and the woman had the face of a snitch. Eddie gestured for Toby to follow him out of the office and into the hall way. Once they were both out there, Eddie made sure the door was shut behind them before opening his mouth and letting out a grown of annoyance.

"Sorry about that," he said, rolling his eyes, "see my parents think I'm not talking, therefore, they told the principal that I'm not talking, so naturally he's going to tell the whole staff that I don't talk and not having to answer bullshit question or play the whole 'let's meet the new kid' game in all of my classes is far too great a luxury to pass up." He paused to talk his bright yellow sunglasses out of his back pocket to make sure he hadn't damaged them from all the sitting he had down that morning.

"I'm Eddie, by the way," he continued, "everyone calls me Eddie, except for my three year old cousin that calls me 'Eggy' but your a grown ass man so Eddie will have to do. I'm a junior and I'm from Philly since that was probably going to be your next question." Eddie may have sounded rude if his tone hadn't been so light and personable. He was bold by nature and hated bullshit formalities like the 'right' way to introduce yourself to someone. He figured he'd give people a taste of his personality right of the bat and see what happens.

"Nice to meet you, Toby" he held out a hand for Toby to shake. That was one formality Eddie chose to perform almost as an apology for his bold behavior and to prove that he wasn't a dick even if there was a chance that he came off that way. "I couldn't help but notice that your built like a mac truck, so what sport do you play?"

[Tobias Vaughn]

Tobias saw the look-over that the new kid was giving him, but didn’t mind because, quite honestly, he was doing the exact same thing. Tobias had never really given a whole lot of thought to the particular attire of most people, though if he had to label this guy it would definitely be… oh, what were they calling it? Hipster? Scene? Emo? He didn’t really know the difference between them. Tobias had always thought that categories based on clothing were a little ridiculous though he had never vocalized these thoughts. Instead, he simply chose not to pay them too much attention. It wasn’t like he would ever be put into a situation where he would have to know the difference, right? Most likely not. So he was content to observe what the new kid was wearing but leave it at that. Sure, he formed a few ideas in his head about what he may be like, but he knew better than to judge someone based on appearance. He knew the sorts of things the other boy was probably already thinking about him, and wondered if he would change his mind about those once they started talking. Then again, being a jock was just inherent at this point, and even recent developments couldn’t shake that persona from him.

And then… silence. No reply to his questions, not so much as a nod. The kid just stood there, looking rather pensive but not giving any sort of hint as to what he may have been thinking. It was then that the principal chose to inform him, before leaving, that Eddie wasn’t speaking. “Oh,” Toby said, not sure what else he could say. So what, he was expected to walk this kid around the school just talking at him all morning? If that wasn’t going to be boring as hell… It made him start to wonder what had happened to him. After all, usually people only stopped talking after something really traumatic happened to them. Maybe he had been attacked or something… or maybe he was one of those kids who tried to kill himself, and needed to move to get away from his classmates.

Toby stopped that train of thought straight away, not wanting to put too many ideas into his head before he knew Eddie’s story. Then again, would he really know his story, if he wasn’t going to say anything? It wasn’t like the principal cared enough to tell him anything about the kid he was showing around. As a matter of fact, the principal had just left. But then came the nod, and Tobias followed him out into the hallway. As soon as the door was shut behind them and they were a few feet away from the windows, Eddie began to speak.

"Sorry about that, see my parents think I'm not talking, therefore, they told the principal that I'm not talking, so naturally he's going to tell the whole staff that I don't talk and not having to answer bullshit question or play the whole 'let's meet the new kid' game in all of my classes is far too great a luxury to pass up."

Well, that certainly explained it. Sort of. At least he knew why Eddie wasn’t talking in front of the people in the office, but he clearly did want to talk to some of the other students here, at least he seemed eager to talk as soon as he was out of the way. How much longer did he think he could avoid talking every time a teacher was around? And how boring would it be if you couldn’t talk to classmates during labs, or whisper during a boring lesson to the person next to you? The plan didn’t seem to be very well thought out but he wasn’t about to say anything. After all, even if it did only last a few days Eddie was right - it would get him out of all of those new introductions and the ‘say a little something about yourself’ speeches which were always so awkward.

Toby was about to respond when Eddie plowed right along with everything he had wanted to say back in the office but couldn’t. After simply opening his mouth halfway Toby closed it again and listened as he got the introduction he had been waiting for earlier.

"I'm Eddie, by the way. everyone calls me Eddie, except for my three year old cousin that calls me 'Eggy' but your a grown ass man so Eddie will have to do. I'm a junior and I'm from Philly since that was probably going to be your next question. Nice to meet you, Toby. "I couldn't help but notice that your built like a mac truck, so what sport do you play?""

“Nice to meet you too, Eddie,” Toby replied, an involuntary smile spreading on his face. He liked this guy already, after just a few short words. He seemed like someone who was very comfortable with himself, almost to the point of being a little cocky but not cocky to the point where it was annoying. “I’m a wrestler,” he added, answering the new kid’s question. “Was a wrestler, I mean,” he added as an afterthought. Though several people have asked him to come back to the team he had yet to make a decision. “I’m on… hiatus.”

“Philly, eh? That’s cool. I’ve been there a few times before - I have an aunt and uncle who live down there, and we go down to visit and hit up the stereotypical tourist spots. “Seems like you’ve got things pretty well figured out here. So, the cross-state move. I’ve never moved, not even across the city. I’ve lived in the same house for 17 years now. Exciting, or did you want to stay in Philly?”

Small talk seemed kind of lame, but he didn’t know what else to say at the moment.

[Eddie Davis]

'Hipster' was Eddie's preferred label because it seemed to be the broadest term used to describe a person. It encompassed so many looks from hippies to scene queens. But, if you wanted to get more specific with Eddie, one might consider him to look like a contemporary Bod Dylan, with his blue chucks, green belt, and favorite pair of bright yellow sunglasses. And maybe his skinny jeans were a bit more skinny than Bob's, and Eddie's hair was far more tamed.

Yeah, Eddie wasn't really thinking in the long term when it came to his whole 'vow of silence' thing. He never thought in the long term. . . that was one of his problems and probably a contributing factor as to how and why he ended up in the Pitts. With the not talking thing he'd figured he'd stick with it as long as he could. He knew he wouldn't last long; Eddie like to talk and it was only a matter of time before he would slip up. The issue was that the longer he kept with it, the more miraculous it will be when he finally 'talked again'. And then he'd have to explain to everyone why he was doing it. Ugh, Eddie was starting to wish he had thought this through. Oh, well! Eddie was usually the type to just go with the flow anyway. Since he was forced to be in Pittsburgh he intended to at least make the most of it, even if he had no desire to talk to his parents ever again.


Eddie was sure of himself, yes. And he was borderline cocky, yes, but he still had as many insecurities as every other gay teen. He just didn't let them effect him that much, he was almost too lazy to. But, he was most cautious now; Eddie's comfort in his own skin got him into trouble. Though, he planned on not doing much differently in Pittsburgh, he planned on being a lot safer about it.

"Come on, you can show me how to get to my locker while we talk," said Eddie as he handed his locker assignment to Toby and started walking. He had allowed Toby to get in his bit about being a wrestler before suggesting they walk, but he couldn't just stand there; that would have gotten awkward. Why not be mildly productive and get to know someone at the same time? Hell, he could have a new friend by the time he got to his first class and being friends with strong jock couldn't hurt being a new student in a public school.

"Oh, a wrestler you say?" said Eddie with a grin, "no wonder you have such big guns; I hope you keep the safety on those damn things outside of the ring," he teased. Eddie had always seen wrestling as the gayest of sports, even more so that figure skating. Yeah, in figure skating you had to wear sparkles and prance around like a fairy, but at least half the time there was a chick in the mix. In wrestling, it was just you rolling around on the floor with another guy until one of you submits. Kinda kinky when you think about. Eddie couldn't think of a better physical activity that would prepare you for gay sex.

"Was a wrestler? On hiatus? Ok, you know you have to explain to me what the fuck that means." Eddie knew he was being a bit bold considering he had just met Toby, but come on! You don't just throw out something like that and not expect question. Eddie expected a lot more question with the 'silence thing' and had been prepared to answer them if he had been asked. Now Toby had just sparked Eddie's curiosity even more.

"Well, I mean yeah; given the choice I would have rather stayed in Philly; especially consider why I ended up here, but don't change the subject; we were on you and your wrestling thing." Eddie would elaborate on his moving experience if Toby elaborated on his wrestling. It was only fair; Eddie was a very open person, but not with people who weren't willing to share.

[Tobias Vaughn]

"Come on, you can show me how to get to my locker while we talk,"Toby took a look at the slip of paper that was handed to him and looked down at the locker assignment. Eddie Davis. Locker number 248. “Your locker is on the second floor, Eddie,” Tobias explained as he glanced around to figure out where the nearest staircase was. “There’s a staircase just around the corner here, it’ll take us right up to the hallway it’s in.”

As they walked along some more Eddie talked a little more about Toby being a wrestler. The way he spoke about his muscles, calling them guns and asking if he kept the safety on, was starting to make Toby a little curious. He was the last person to assume someone’s sexual orientation based on mannerisms, of course, but he had to wonder if Eddie was bi, or even gay. It was quite possible that some of his cockiness had come from that need to defend oneself that often came with being a bisexual or gay teenager, but he didn’t know that for sure. What he did know was that generally when straight guys referred to muscles as guns they were being 100% serious about it. The tone Eddie was using with him was a taunting one, and it made him wonder.

Of course, he wasn’t left to speculate on that for very long as he found his loud mouth getting him backed into a corner.

"Was a wrestler? On hiatus? Ok, you know you have to explain to me what the fuck that means."

Dammit. This was why he should just keep his mouth shut. Wrestling, he told himself. That was all you had to say. One word, ‘wrestling’. No more than that. But nooooooooo, he had to go and open his big mouth and add that he was no longer wresting. And he couldn’t just stop there, because that would’ve been simple enough. I used to wrestle, but I don’t any more. Who would’ve cared about that? No one. But of course not, he had to continue his bout of word vomit and add the words ‘oh hiatus’. Who the hell even spoke like that to begin with!? Tobias was ready to slap himself, but figured he’d try to distract Eddie by asking him about his home first.

"Well, I mean yeah; given the choice I would have rather stayed in Philly; especially consider why I ended up here, but don't change the subject; we were on you and your wrestling thing."

Damn. Well, it had been worth a try. “I just meant that I used to wrestle, and now I don’t any more. For a little while. Thought it would be nice to take a break for a while, and-” Tobias stopped halfway through the half-lie. “Aw, fuck it.” Toby thought about it for a minute, pausing as they came up to the locker with the number 248. Toby leaned against the locker next to it, hoping the person had already come to get their books. “A little while ago it got out at school that… that I’m gay.” It was still weird to say out loud. He hadn’t said those words to many people yet, most of the world just knew by word of mouth. “A lot of the guys on the team had a problem with it. There were a few fights, some harassment, and I thought it would be best for everyone involved if I just resigned from the team. I never wanted to cause any trouble. I didn’t want to tell anyone to begin with. It just sort of… happened.”

Tobias wasn’t sure why he had been so blatantly honest with this boy he had only met a few minutes ago, but he figured that Eddie would hear all about it soon enough, especially if people saw that he was the one showing him around the school. “I mean, it was a big deal at first, but I think people are over it for the most part. Actually, once the team started losing their first few matches a few people asked me to join back up again, but I’m not sure yet. Not worth the trouble, you know?”

Tobias shrugged it off, looking over at Eddie to see what his reaction would be. He wouldn’t have blamed him for looking disgusted and saying he never wanted to talk to him again - as a matter of fact, he was bracing himself for that as a worst-case scenario.

[Eddie Davis]

Yeah, Toby had started with a rather boring, generic explanation for his hiatus from wrestling; Eddie was almost disappointed by how uninteresting it all sounded. He did tend to wish for dramatic stories behind things when the real explanation was usually something simple. Toby could have gotten injured and couldn't wrestle or maybe his grades just weren't good enough. Either one of these reasons would have been perfectly reasonable, in fact, Eddie was beginning to expect one of them, but then the conversation steered into much deeper territory and it certainly rekindled Eddie's interests.

So, the wrestler was gay. It was odd how it could be so shocking and so expected at the same time. On the one hand, wrestlers were macho jocks, the kind that roll around on the mat with men, but roll around between the sheets with woman. But, then on the other hand, it wouldn't be a far stretch for a wrestler to enjoy male company in both arenas.

Even though Toby had just dropped a verbal bomb shell, Eddie just kept his casual demeanor like nothing unusual had been said. Eddie was queer, so the first kid he met at a new school being queer was just conformation that Pittsburgh may not be so bad. At least now they had something to talk about other than how to open Eddie's locker.

"Well, what you know; we just met and we already have something in common," said Eddie with a grin. He leaned against his new locked, facing Toby, "the whole queer thing that is. I mean, when I came out at school no one really gave a fuck because I went to a performing art school and half of the kids were gay anyway, but I could understand a wrestling team being uncool about it. It's just human nature for straight guys to be uncomfortable rolling around on the floor with a gay guy, especially at our age. You can't expect them to immediately be cool with it, even if they've known you for a while. Actually, it's probably worse if they've known you for awhile; they feel like you've been lying to them. And that's a weird thing I've noticed about people; if you don't tell them your gay when you introduce yourself they think you're lying to them. Ugh, privacy is dead."

Eddie had spent some time in his life studying people, not in libraries or anything like that; he simply liked to observe. Eddie liked to think that most homophobic tendencies had perfectly reasonable explanations, like the whole wrestling team thing. People were just made uncomfortable by things they didn't understand. It's like if you're in an elevator and the only two other people are speaking a completely different language; all you can think about is whether or not those two people are talking about you and it freaks you out.

"School was fine for me, but it was my parents who had a problem with it. . ." Eddie began. Toby had shared something really personal about himself so it was only fair that Eddie return the favor. "I was able to keep it secret from them for a while; I had plenty of chick friends who would pretend to be my girl friends when my parents were around, but them coming home a day early from a weekend trip to the Poconos to discover me in bed with another guy kinda blew my cover just a little bit. And the fact that my parents are crazy Christians didn't help either so it was either Jesus Camp or Pittsburgh, so I picked the option where it would be less likely that I would want to kill myself." Eddie shrugged like the who ordeal had been nothing but a minor inconvenience, but it hadn't; it had been the most traumatic experience of his life, but that didn't mean that Eddie had to be a whiny little bitch about it. He refused to give his parents the satisfaction.

"Well," said Eddie, letting out a deep breath, "this has certainly turned into a heavy conversation in a matter of moments. We've known each other for five minutes and we practically know each other's life story. I doubt I'll be absorbing nearly this much information in my classes today." Eddie paused to awkwardly scratch the back of his head. Ga, he hated awkwardness. "So! Know of any gay bars or clubs then? I need to see what this city has to offer."

[Tobias Vaughn]

What in the world had come over him? First he had to go and open his big mouth and get Eddie asking all sorts of questions. And then, just when he had been about to make up a boring answer that Eddie would’ve believed in a heartbeat Toby had to go and tell the truth. And not a simple version of the truth, but a rather in-depth explanation of what had happened.

Based on the sorts of comments Eddie had given him about his muscles, Tobias was fully prepared for some form of harassment or taunting along the lines of ‘rolling around with other guys all day will do that to you’, or ‘bet the team didn’t appreciate when you ‘accidentally’ hit the wrong spots, eh?’. But none of that happened. As a matter of fact, Eddie didn’t even let it show on his face that he was surprised, if he was surprised at all. Maybe Toby was more transparent than he thought?

And then it all made sense. Eddie was gay, too. “A performing art school? Bet this’ll be a change, then.” There were a few performing arts high schools around Pittsburgh if Toby remembered correctly, he wondered why he hadn’t gone to one of those. Then again, if his parents were hoping the gay thing was just a phase, a performing art school was probably not a good place to send a gay boy. “I’m sure some of the team will come around eventually, but there are enough of them who are pretty set in their ways that I’m not sure any amount of time will help. Just sucks that it had to happen my senior year, you know? It wasn’t a matter of privacy, it was one of those… I just didn’t know, you know?” Well, maybe Eddie didn’t know. He seemed like one of those guys who knew exactly who he was from the day he was born. Tobias hadn’t been quite so lucky, though he couldn’t blame the guys on the team for thinking he had been lying to them.

He didn’t have much longer to wait to find out that the reason he had to move was because his parents had found out he was gay. “You don’t have to tell me about parents,” he agreed. “Mine haven’t made me move… yet. But my dad did kick me out of the house for a while. I actually lived at work - stayed in one of the offices at the grocery store down the street until a friend noticed and let me stay with him.” WHY AM I STILL TALKING, DEAR GOD, SHUT UP TOBY! “And I’m sorry, I have no idea why I keep telling you all of this,” he added, cutting his story short.

“Guess we really do know each other’s life stories now. 5 minutes, that has got to be a new record.” There was a brief moment when neither of them said anything, and Eddie broke the awkwardness by asking about gay bars and clubs around town. 

“Where do you want me to start?” Toby asked, laughing a little. “I haven’t been ‘out on the scene’ ,as the case may be, for very long, but I’ve got a friend - Kyan. He knows all of the best spots around town. I’d say Babylon is the best place to go, but there are a bunch of other bars and clubs, mostly along Liberty Avenue. But I’d definitely start with Babylon if you like the club scene.

Bet the Principal had no idea that when he picked Toby to show Eddie around that this was the sort of tour Eddie would be asking about, and that Toby would be properly equipped to give it!

[Eddie Davis]

Eddie had expected his old school to seem interesting to the students at the public school. Performing art schools were always glorified on tv and in films. It was pretty fabulous, yes, but people really didn't burst into song as much as you'd expect. "Yeah, I mean, it wasn't like that stupid Fame movie or anything, and it's still too soon to tell what the major differences are. I had assumed that there would be less queers here, but I'm starting to think I was wrong about that." Eddie couldn't help but let out a small laugh; he had to admit how ironic it was that he had expected to search for queers like he was in a Where's Waldo book, only for the first person he met to end up being gay. "My parents made me go there, by the way. I'd say half of the kids were there involuntarily, not that I didn't enjoy it. I just found it humorous that my parents didn't realize it would be full of queers, but they learned their lesson and now I'm here."

Toby really seemed depressed by his situation with the wrestling team, but it didn't seem like there was much he could do about it. People weren't going to change their opinion on homosexuality over night, especially teenage boys. Based on what Toby had told him, Eddie really didn't think there was a chance that Toby would be welcomed back on the team. It sucked and it wasn't fair, but that was the reality of it. "Well, hopefully their discomfort won't go any further than the mat and you can still be friends with them." Eddie said reassuringly.

Eddie truly felt bad for Toby when he told Eddie how he'd gotten kicked out of his own home. Unfortunately, he'd heard the same story all too many times before with some of his friends and just other random gay kids at this old school. Stories like that were always a sharp reality check for Eddie before he had gotten caught by his parents. but now he had his own story to add to the list. His experiences had only made him all that more sympathetic towards others. It also made him a little bit envious; sometimes, he much rather have gotten kicked out of the house rather than constantly having to be on his guard with his gay antics for fear of being sent to a Christian 'queer fixing' camp.

"You don't have to be sorry about telling me all this," said Eddie, "I'm quite used to it; for some reason, at my old school, I was kinda the go to guy when it came to other peoples' problems. I dunno, I guess I give good advice?" he said uncertainly, " Maybe it's because I don't really judge and I know how to keep things to myself. I never really minded any of this though." Eddie shrugged. It was odd how even in a new school he was already hearing the problems of his peers. Oh well, if what ever he had to say on the matter made people feel better, than why not come to him?

"I wish my parents had kicked me out," he admitted, "it would be better than this 'pretending to be straight' bullshit. . . At least then I could have just stayed with some friends in Philly. . . and running away wouldn't have worked because my parents would have looked for me and gotten the cops involves and all that shit. Of course, the ideal situation would be for them to just accept me, but that's never going to happen." He had tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but it was proving to be difficult. Eddie was pissed off at his parents and hated the situation he was in, there was no hiding that. Still, he was determined to make the best out of it.

Eddie snapped out of his bitter daze a little when Toby started talking about the gay scene in Pittsburgh. "Babylon?" he repeated with amusement, "well, that sounds like a fun place. So, I'm assuming this Kyan guy is gay as well? Damn, there's a lot more of us here than I thought. You'll have to introduce me to him. . . Maybe we can all go out sometime." Eddie was eager to find a new group of queers to go clubbing with; he had a well established clan back in Philly and he felt like the sooner he had a new clan, the sooner he would adapt to Pittsburgh. "Either way, I'll probably have to explore the area tonight. It was Liberty Avenue right?" Eddie new that it was inevitable that his parents were going to discover him being just as gay in Pittsburgh as he was in Philadelphia, so he intended on having as much fun as he could before he was forcefully shipped off to some Jesus camp.