Free South of Sunshine by Dana Elmendorf

gay, and I’m proud.” I sniff.
    Van sweeps me into his arms. He’s telling me things like how proud he is of me and wasn’t that easy and we’ll figure this out. And I wonder if my mother will say these things to me one day. Will she hug her arms around me tight like Van is doing now?
    I clear the snot from under my nose with my sleeve.
    “That’s disgusting.” Van hops up. “Let me get you a tissue.”
    I chuckle and accept his tissue. “I don’t know what to do.”
    “Just be you.”
    “But what about my mother?” I dab a stray tear.
    “Baby steps. We’re not there yet. Let’s get you comfortable with the idea first, then we’ll figure out our next move.”
    “How’d you tell your parents?”
    He shrugs apologetically. “I didn’t ever really have to. They just kind of … always knew.”
    “And they’re okay with it?”
    “Mom couldn’t care less either way. Dad, on the other hand, he’s still processing it. I think he’s holding out, hoping I’ll grow out of this like I did my unicorn collecting days.”
    “I can’t believe you used to collect unicorns. That’s, like, so … gay.” I exaggerate rolling my eyes.
    “I know.” He yanks me up off the couch. “Now that that’s over with,” he wipes my cheeks one last time, “let’s figure out how we can get Chesty Hannigan’s paws off Bren.”
    “Oh my God, you see it too. It’s ridiculous how she just throws herself on Bren.” I hurl myself onto Van and make a gagging sound.
    “Sickening.” Van detaches me from his chest with two fingers. “Let’s start with letting Bren know you like her without shouting it to the world. And when you’re ready to be more vocal, I’ll teach you how to sing.”
    Van nestles down on the couch with me and schools me in the art of flirting on the sly. It sounds like a plan I can live with. When I start to freak out about what could happen if somebody sees me, or what might happen if people at school find out, or how I‘m going to ever tell my mother, Van reminds me that we’ll deal with today, today. Tomorrow we will deal with when it gets here. One day at a time.
    “Like alcoholism?” I ask.
    Van pats me on the head. “No, honey. Gay is not a disease, despite what some bigots around here might think. All I want you to focus on is letting Bren see the most beautiful side of you. Everything else will just follow.”
    The thought of opening that door for her makes the pit of my stomach all warm and fuzzy. “I don’t know if I can do this by myself. Will you go with me?”
    “Let me get this straight—you want me to be the third wheel on your first date with Bren?”
    I throw my arm over my face again. “When you put it like that … yes. Just hang with us. Let me get past this … whatever,” I beg. Van sighs. “Please?”
    His second sigh is more resigned.
    “If you do this, I promise to watch an entire afternoon of Johnny Depp movies without complaining.”
    He points his finger at me. “That means no gagging when I comment on how talented he is, and no rolling of the eyes when I replay a scene.” I nod vigorously, and he says, “Okay.”
    “Yes, yes, yes.” I sit up, clapping. “Oh, wait. We can’t do it tomorrow night. Sarabeth asked me to sleep over and finalize float plans.”
    “It’s fine. I have a date anyway.” A sly grin spreads across his face.
    “Ooh, what’s his name?” It’s a simple question—one I should have asked long ago but never did. The freedom to talk openly now seems to deepen our friendship to a whole new level.
    “Arthur.”
    “Arthur?” If my scrunched up face didn’t speak for itself, my skeptical tone did the trick.
    A stray couch pillow whacks me in the head. “Oh, because ‘Bren’ is such a hot name.”
    “Oh, but it is. It just rolls off the tongue and makes you want to visit Costa Rica.” My phone beeps, pulling me back from the tropics. “It’s Mother. She wants to know if Hot Flix has ‘turned into an Econo