A Good Enough Reason (12 page)

Ellis looked at Dale. “Do you think…?”

“What, that he’s gay? You didn’t know?”

“What? Of course I didn’t!”

Dale smirked. “You’re seriously out of the loop, El. Mr. Shea never made the fact he was gay a secret. He just doesn’t flaunt it.”

“Seriously?” Dale nodded. “And no one had anything to say about it? Everyone is fine with him teaching us?”

“There were a few grumbles when he first started teaching, but it’s not like this is a Catholic school. Teachers can’t be discriminated against for that.”

“
Can’t
being the word that usually causes problems.”

“Yeah, well. I don’t think he’s had too many problems, or he wouldn’t be here.”

Ellis was floored. He’d never thought about any teacher’s sexuality before, and that was how he wanted to continue, at least for most of them. Not that he was thinking about his English teacher that way, of course, but knowing he was gay and that he probably knew what Ellis was going through, knowing he’d probably been through the same stuff when he was younger, made Ellis feel better. He knew he had someone he could talk to if he needed it, someone who would understand him, and that was great.

“So. Project.”

Ellis turned his attention back to Dale. “Yeah, project. We lost a lot of time, so we need to get to work.”

“Speak for yourself.
I
worked on my half while we were in the no-talk zone.”

Ellis smiled and launched himself into another bickering session with Dale. It felt good to be back to normal with him.

“MOM?”

Ellis’s mom turned away from the salad she was tossing. “Yes?”

“Can I have someone over tomorrow afternoon?”

She arched a brow. “Oh. Who do you want to have over and why?”

“Dale, my English partner. We’re going to work on the project and maybe watch a movie once we’re done.”

“Okay. Just make sure you actually do your homework before watching the movie. And no porn.”

“Mom!”

“I’ve been young before you, El. I know how things go. I remember once Roger Grant asked me to go study at his house during our final year, and we ended up—”

“Mom! I don’t want to hear that!” Ellis didn’t even want to imagine his mother doing whatever she’d been about to say. He refused to think he and his brothers were anything but the product of three Immaculate Conceptions. “Besides, Dale is a boy, Mom.”

She gave Ellis a pointed glance. “Exactly.”

Ellis chose to ignore whatever she was trying to say because it felt safer. “So can I tell Dale he can come?”

“Sure. Ask him if he wants to stay for dinner too.”

Ellis gave her a suspicious glance. “Are you going to be here?”

“Of course I am. I have the early morning shift this week, so don’t worry. Your father won’t be the one doing the cooking. I wouldn’t have invited your friend for dinner otherwise. I’m not that cruel.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Ellis’s dad protested. Both Ellis and his mother arched a brow at him and stared until he smiled deprecatingly. “Fine, maybe I am.”

Ellis smiled at his mom and left the kitchen as his dad asked, “And what exactly were you doing at Roger’s house instead of studying?”

Ellis slumped on the couch next to his brother and took his phone out of his pocket. “What are you doing here, Damien?”

“Dinner.” Damien’s eyes never left the TV screen as he answered and shoveled another fistful of chips in his mouth.

Ellis wrinkled his nose at the sight. “Gross. Are you sure you’re enrolled in college?”

“Yeah, why?”

“How many times have you been here this week?”

“Only two including today.”

“That’s because it’s only Tuesday, dumbass.”

Damien shrugged. “Doesn’t mean anything.”

“Suuure. You keep telling yourself that.” Ellis shook his head and let his brother go back to his reality show. He turned on his phone and unlocked the screen, then got into the messaging app and selected Dale’s number.

Still on 4 2moro?

Ellis got out of the app and turned the screen off, but before he could put the phone back in his pocket, it chimed.

Ellis opened it, surprised to see it was Dale. He would have thought the guy too busy with his date to answer right away.

Course.

My mom said ok.

Great.

She also asked if u wanted to stay for dinr.

Fine 4 me.

I’ll tell her then.

Ellis bit his lower lip. He wanted to continue messaging with Dale, but he didn’t want to disturb his date. Still, Dale wouldn’t answer if he was busy, right?

What r u doing?

Bored. To. Death. Steph wanted to see a movie. Chick-flick.

Aren’t you supposed to make out during the movie?

Not Steph. She actually wants to see it.

Sucks.

Yeah.

Ellis smiled, and his phone chimed again. It looked like Dale was seriously bored if he’d rather text Ellis than watch a movie with his girlfriend.

What r u doing?

Waiting 4 dinr. What movie do u want to see 2moro?

Action. Explosions. No romance, please. I beg u.

Damn. I’d already chosen
Pretty Woman
.

Don’t even joke about it. Might die from boredom.

Ellis laughed.

“What are you laughing at?”

Ellis glared at his brother. “None of your business. Why don’t you go back to ogling that girl’s breasts instead of bugging me?”

Damien held his hands up. “Sorry. Touched a sensitive spot, huh?”

“Nope, you’re just annoying.”

Ellis’s phone chimed again.

U still there?

Yes.

Really, what do u want 2 see 2moro?

No idea. Not even sure we’ll have the time between homework and dinr.

Pity. Was looking forward to it.

Ellis thought about their last movie watching and how it had ended, then about what his mother had told him only moments before. Maybe not watching anything was actually a good idea, but he didn’t want to let Dale down.

Maybe we can see an episode of something.

Good idea.

“El? Damien? Dinner’s ready. The last one to get here will do the dishes!”

Ellis jumped from the couch and ran to the kitchen. His brother had to take care of the bag of chips before he could get up because upturning it on their mother’s carpet would be a lot more painful for him than doing the dishes.

Ellis was already sitting at the table when Damien came in and scowled at him. Ellis stuck his tongue out at his brother and quickly took his phone out again to answer Dale’s last message.

At dinr now. See u 2moro.

U abandoning me? Great friend u r, El. ;) See u 2moro.

“Mom, Ellis is texting at the table,” Damien whined.

Ellis hurriedly put his phone away and gave their mother an innocent look when she turned away from the counter to glare.

“Boys, you’re not ten anymore. Behave.”

Ellis smiled at Damien when she looked away. He should have known Damien wouldn’t let it go so easily.

“Sooo, who were you texting with? Your girlfriend?”

Ellis blushed. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, sure. Look at your face, man. You’re blushing like crazy.”

“Leave your brother alone, Damien,” Ellis’s dad said as he sat down at the table.

“Listen to your father, Damien,” their mom added. She looked at Ellis. “So, did you ask your friend if he wanted to eat here tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I was just asking him. He said yes.”

“Perfect.”

Luckily for Ellis, conversation strayed away from him after that, and no more talking of girlfriends.

ELLIS GROANED.
He should have known both his brothers
and
his mom would be home the one afternoon he brought someone who wasn’t Matt there. He was lucky that way.

He glared at the cars parked along the curb. “I’m sorry.”

Dale gave him a surprised glance. “For what?”

“Looks like the only member of my family who isn’t home right now is my dad. That means you’ll probably have to face an interrogation that will make the Inquisition look like a friendly chat.”

Dale laughed. “Don’t worry. It can’t be worse than meeting Stephanie’s family when I picked her up for our first date.”

Just like always when Dale mentioned his girlfriend, a pang of longing and pain shot through Ellis, and just like always, he pushed it away and did his best to ignore it. “I can’t even imagine.”

“What, never met a boyfriend’s family?”

“I’d have to have a boyfriend to do that.”

“True. I keep forgetting.”

“What, that I’m a loser who never had a boyfriend?”

“No, that no one in school has been smart enough to snatch you up yet.”

It was stuff like that that made Ellis wonder, and he didn’t want to wonder. He couldn’t afford to dwell on what-ifs, not when he already had a crush the size of Texas on Dale.

“Okay, sure. Whatever. Let’s go inside.”

Warm, food-scented air greeted them as soon as Ellis opened the door. “Oooh, Mom went all out for you, Dale.”

“It smells good.”

“It also tastes good, believe me. It’s the smell of her lasagna. She doesn’t cook it often because she makes everything from scratch, including the pasta.”

“Oh, wow. I can’t even remember the last time I ate a homemade meal. My mom works late most of the week, and I have to make do when she does. She cooks a lot during the weekend and freezes everything, but it’s not the same. My dad cooks, but I don’t see him often.”

Ellis avoided the kitchen and the living room, heading for the stairs instead. “I know. Mom’s a nurse, and when she has the evening shift, my dad cooks. Let’s just say I’d rather eat a frozen meal than what he comes up with.”

“That bad?”

“Worse. He likes to
experiment
.”

They entered Ellis’s room. He put his backpack on the desk. “So, this is my room. Nothing much to see.”

“It’s nice.”

It was. Ellis loved his room. His parents had let him decorate it like he wanted when he turned fourteen, and he’d taken advantage of it. It had taken him an entire day to write his favorite quotation on the white wall over his bed in black paint. The other three walls were painted in green tones. The desk was under the window, the bed to its right, and the wall behind it full of shelves that held Ellis’s books and DVDs. In front of his bed was the bathroom door and next to it the closet.

Ellis had his own bathroom thanks to the fact that Damien lived at college most of the time. Both their rooms opened into it.

The room was mostly neat since Ellis had cleaned the night before. His laptop was on the desk instead of on the bed, there was no dirty laundry in sight, and Ellis had even dusted. His mom had watched him with a knowing look in her eyes when she’d caught him doing it, but he’d ignored her. It was a lot easier than actually talking to her.

“Do you want to go down for a bit before we start?”

“Sure.”

Ellis knew his mom was in the kitchen, so that was where they went first. “Hi, Mom.”

She turned away from the steaming pot of sauce she was stirring. “Hi, hon.” She put the spoon down and wiped her hands, then offered one of them to Dale. “You must be Dale.”

“Yes, ma’am. Nice to meet you.”

“No ma’am, please. Call me Sarah.”

“Sarah. I’ll try.”

She smiled at Dale before turning to Ellis. “How was your day?”

“Fine. How long before dinner is ready?”

“A few hours, and you won’t have anything if you don’t give me details on how your day was.”

Ellis groaned. “Can I tell you over dinner?”

“You better. Do you two want something to eat before you start working?”

“That would be great, Mom.”

Ellis took milk and orange juice from the fridge and put them on the table, then added four glasses while his mom moved the cookie jar from the counter to the table and called his brothers.

“Damien! Connor! Do you want cookies?”

Loud steps answered him, and Damien burst into the kitchen. “Are they chocolate chip?”

“Sit down, and take a napkin. Don’t be your usual pig self. We have a guest.”

Connor entered the kitchen at a more sedate pace and extended his hand to Dale before sitting down. It seemed to remind Damien of his manners, and he cleaned his hands on a napkin before doing the same. Soon the four of them were munching on vanilla and chocolate goodness while their mom disappeared from the room, probably to do some other chore.

Ellis mentally counted.
One, two, three—

“So, how long have you been Ellis’s friend?”

“I don’t know. A few months I guess.”

“Aren’t you in the same year as him?”

“Yeah.”

“So why only a few months?”

“Do you know everyone in your year?”

Damien scowled and dunked his half cookie in his glass of milk. “No, but it’s different. I’m in college.”

“You were partnered with Ellis for your English class, right?” Connor asked.

Ellis shot him a grateful glance. The last thing he wanted was to have to break up a fight between Dale and Damien. Connor winked back at him and stuffed a cookie in his mouth.

“Yes. We have to work on a project together. Prom rights for same-sex couples.”

Connor arched a brow at Ellis, and Ellis looked down at his hands. What was it with his family? How could they know he was gay if he hadn’t told them? More importantly, why was he still waiting to tell them? It’s not like it would be a surprise, at least not for Connor and their mom. Ellis didn’t think Damien and their dad knew, though.

“Why did you choose that one?”

Ellis’s eyes widened at Connor’s question, and he looked at Dale, praying the guy would remember he wasn’t out to his family yet. Dale gave him a little smile before answering, “One of my cousins is gay, and he wasn’t able to go to prom with his boyfriend when he graduated. It was a few years ago, but now it’s my turn to graduate, I started thinking about it.”