18

                                    

                                          
Mike walked into the house to see his sister Holly watching TV. The 8 year old turned around on the couch when the door opened. 
"Hi, Mike!" She said with an excited wave. Mike waved back with a smile. Seeing Holly when he got home was honestly the best part of coming home, other than that he hated it. He mainly hated having dinner with his family, and usually on normal days he'd be allowed to eat in his room, but today he couldn't because his sister, Nancy, was coming over for dinner. 
"Oh, is Michael home?" Karen yelled from the kitchen.
"Hi, mom." Mike responded as he began trying to walk upstairs. 
"Michael, come here really quick." Karen said. Mike sighed before walking to the kitchen. 
"Yes?" He asked hesitantly.
"Comb your hair before Nancy and your dad get home." She replied.
"Nancy won't care about how I look." Mike responded.
"Well I do, this is a family dinner, you need to look nice." Karen said. "Now go comb your hair." Mike rolled his eyes as he went upstairs and grabbed his comb. He looked in the mirror and combed his hair down. Suddenly the phone rang. He chose to ignore it as he continued combing his hair. 
"Mike! It's for you!" Holly yelled from downstairs. Mike sighed as he went downstairs and grabbed the phone from his sister. She ran back to the couch and continued watching TV. 
"Hello?" He said as he held up the phone to his ear. 
"Hey!" El said from the phone. 
"Oh hi, why are you calling?" Mike asked. 
"I'm just checking up on you. You seemed kind of upset after lunch." El replied.
"Well, I'm not upset anymore. Me and Darren made up." Mike responded.
"Really? That's great." El started, "Well, since you're fine I guess I'll go." 
"Wait! Um.. there's something I wanted to ask you." Mike responded, leaning on the wall.
"Sure! What is it?" El asked.
"Can you talk to Will for me? He's been kind of avoiding me lately and I have no idea why. I figured that maybe he'd tell you why." Mike replied. 
"Oh.. he has been? That's weird. I'll ask him." El responded.
"Thank you." Mike said with a smile.
"No problem." El responded. 
"Okay.. well talk to you later." Mike said. 
"Okay, bye! Love you." El responded.
"Uh.. yeah. You too. Bye." Mike said. He quickly hung up the phone and went back upstairs. He didn't know why those words always made him
uncomfortable or why he couldn't ever really say it back anymore. The more and more he learned about love and romance, the more and more he became unsure. He thought to himself as he stared at himself in the mirror. 
"Why did I even get so upset earlier? Will and Darren going to prom together has nothing to do with me, it's Will's decision." He thought to himself. "Besides, why do I even care so much about what Will does anyways? He's my best friend. I just wish he would talk to me more though, I used to tell him everything. Life has been so confusing lately and I need someone to give me the comfort he gives me." He sighed as he looked in the mirror. "God I need to stop thinking about him like that, I should just talk to El more if I want attention." He looked down and grabbed his comb. He continued combing his hair before he heard the door open downstairs. He heard his family talking to he assumed to be Nancy as she entered the house. And after about thirty minutes he was called downstairs for dinner. He sat and picked at his food as his parents and Nancy talked about random things. 
"Oh yeah, how's Uncle Jay?" Nancy asked suddenly. Uncle Jay was on Mike's dad's side of the family. He had no kids or anything, and he was his dad's only sibling, so most of the family was on Mike's mom's side. Recently he'd been sick and it was a prevalent thing that was usually brought up. But this time Mike's parent's reacted differently. Karen got quiet as a look of uncomfortableness formed on Ted's face. Nancy and Mike just looked at them in confusion. "Is he okay?" Nancy asked. Karen swallowed her food before speaking up.
"We just found out yesterday that he's HIV positive." Karen responded. A look of shock formed on Nancy's face as Mike just froze. 
"Wait, what?" Nancy responded. 
"Yeah, he called yesterday." Karen said. 
"And you didn't tell me?" Mike asked. Uncle Jay was one of Mikes favorite non-immediate family members other than probably Richie and his Aunt Maggie. He talked to him all the time when he would visit for the holidays, and his parents knew how close he was to him. 
"We didn't think it was the right time." Karen replied.
"Also it was a lot to take in, Michael." Ted added. "It's not that big of a deal." 
"Not that big of a deal?" Nancy responded.
"Yeah, he's a queer, he got what he signed up for." Ted said. 
"Ted!" Karen yelled in disbelief. Nancy just sat in shock as Mike froze. 
"Dad, I cannot believe you just said that." Nancy responded. 
"I'm not wrong though, why do you think he has no kids, and no wife." Ted started, "He got what he deserved."
"He didn't deserve it, you.. you asshole." Mike suddenly yelled in frustration. 
"What? Are you a queer too, Michael?" Ted said raising his voice. Mike felt his body tense up.
"Ted, stop." Karen responded.
"Yeah, dad, Michael's just defending a person he cares about." Nancy responded. Ted sighed.
"Look, I just don't want you to end up like your uncle, son." Ted said looking at Mike. "People like him waste their lives being something that isn't normal at all." Mike just stared at his dad, anger and sadness filling him. He looked over at his mom.
"May I be excused? I lost my appetite." Mike said, getting up before his mom could even answer. He stormed up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door shut. He slid down his door, sitting on the ground with his head in his knees. He let out a sigh of frustration as tears filled his eyes. The light crying then turned to quiet sobs. He thought about Will, and what his dad said. He wanted to call Will, but Will wouldn't want to talk to him and he knew it. He thought more and more about what his dad said. His words stung. They hurt. And there was nothing more he wanted to do than to have Will knock on his door or call him asking if he wanted to play D&D or read a comic. He just wanted everything to go away. He just wanted to feel normal again.  
To be continued..