Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 13:19:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tyler Adams <tyleradamsbooks@yahoo.com>
Subject: Almost Straight ch 22

"Phil," my best friend from Quaker Hills High School, Alex Harper,
excitedly shouted into my ear.

Elijah was sitting next to me, and leaned in to eavesdrop when he saw me
smiling.

"Alex. Whoa, what's up?" I asked wondering what was making his voice so
animated.

"I'm getting married!" he gushed.

"What?"

"The Saturday before Memorial Day weekend. I'm tying the knot, Phil. ...and
I want you to be my best man."

"You're in Massachusetts?" I asked without thinking. I had met Alex on the
first day of my junior year of high school and it hadn't taken me
twenty-fours before I was reasonably certain he was gay.

"What? I'm in California, Doofus. University of Southern California,
remember? Why would I be in Massachusetts?"

"Since when is it legal to get married in California?" I asked, thinking I
had missed some news."

"What are you talking about? It's legal to get married in any state."

There was a pregnant pause as we both suddenly figured out what was
happening.

"Phil, I'm marrying a woman. Her name's Beth Ann Caruthers."

"You're kidding," I blurted out, again without thinking what I was
saying. "You used to loathe the female species. Are you sure?" My brain
must have been totally disengaged. ...or maybe it was that I was sitting
next to someone who I was wishing I could call my boyfriend, but before
giving thought, I found myself asking," ...I mean what about ...you
know. What if you can't... Are you sure about this?"

"Phil, if you're worried about that, you can relax. Beth Ann's
pregnant. We're going to be parents by the end of August."

After a long pause, Alex asked if I was still there.

"What?" I asked in astonishment. "You're gonna be a dad?"

"Yeah, we're gonna have a baby, so I figure if I can do it once I can do it
again."

"She's pregnant?" I asked again. "Are you sure it was you?"

I noticed Elijah looked like he was about to say something, but after all
Alex and I had been through together, and after hearing him tell me that
his own conversion to Christianity had altered the path of his life so
dramatically, I wasn't ready to explain to him about the new direction my
own life seemed to be taking.

"Wow. Congratulations, guy. I have to say I'm really surprised."

"You and Ed are the ones who told me that whatever you let your mind dwell
on is what you're going to end up doing. After you led me to the Lord,
Phil, God really changed me, and before I knew what was happening, he sent
Beth Ann into my life, and we fell in love."

"You don't even think about guys anymore?" I asked, feeling both a twinge
of guilt and a pang of jealousy.

"I wouldn't exactly say that, but I feel so alive and happy when I'm with
her. I know we'll be able to make it work."

My voice sounded less than convincing to my own ears, as I assured him with
a favorite scripture verse I often quoted "God can do all things through
Christ who strengthens us, Alex."

"I know, Isn't He amazing?"

"...and full of surprises too," I told him, although I was thinking more
about the surprise I might have for him one day, than I was about his
announcement to me.

"So, is it a yes or a no on being in my wedding?"

"Are you kidding? How could I possibly say no?"

"Great! Beth Ann and I are making out an invitation list."

I almost choked when he asked me if there was anyone special in my life
that I wanted him to include on my invitation.

Alex must have heard me choke, too, or at least sensed my hesitation,
because he immediately asked who she was.

"Who, who is?" I stumbled.

"I'll bet your ears are red." God, does everyone know about my ears? "The
significant other in your life; what's her name?"

I turned away from Elijah again, hoping he wouldn't hear my response.

"Why don't you just add, 'and friend,' to my invitation."

In his excitement, Alex just wouldn't let it go and pressed "What? She
doesn't have a name?"

"Ellie," I finally relented. "But just write 'and friend,' okay?"

I could tell the wheels were still turning in Alex' head, and I just didn't
want to tell him about the turn in my life, before I was actually sure
there was a turn.

"Alex, hey, I'm in the middle of watching a movie with a friend. I've got
to go. I'll call you sometime soon to get all the details."

"Phil? ...just one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"I never thought something like this could possibly happen to me. Thanks
for being my friend, and telling me about God. It feels so good knowing
that I'm pleasing him. ...well mostly anyway. I guess he would have
preferred that Beth Ann wasn't pregnant yet."

"I gotta run, Alex." With that, I hung up.



"Ellie?" Elijah laughed. "Her name? What was that all about? "

"It's kind of a long story."

"We've got all night."

I sighed, and began recounting the story of how Alex and I had become
friends and how I had figured out he must be gay.

"He had just lost his brother and was pretty down, so the first day of
school, I made it a point to talk to him. We went skate boarding that
afternoon, and had so much fun, I invited him back to my house for
supper. Later, when we were doing homework, it seemed like every time I
looked up from my school book, I caught him checking out me."

"Oi, gevald! That must have been so embarrassing."

"It was. But after I figured it out, I really kept my guard up. ...except
for once."

Elijah looked on with interest.

"He was really feeling bad about everything at the time. His first
boyfriend, if you could call him that – who was also the guy I had
messed around with when I ran away from home, took what he wanted from
Alex, and then dumped him. ...no, it was more like, body slammed him into
the ground. Anyway, he got really messed up at a party and ended up in the
hospital. The next day he told his mom he was gay, and she went nutzo. He
lived with my family for three weeks while his parents went to marriage
counseling, and one day he was feeling down, so I tried to tell him about
how important it was to be touched by another person."

"You told him?"

"Well... that's kind of where I made my mistake, because I hugged him for a
really long time until he kind of calmed down. That's when he kissed me. I
was like in total shock until he tried to really kiss me.

"He totally respected me after I explained to him that I wasn't going to
allow anything like that to happen to me ever again. ...I mean doing gay
stuff with guys. Even after he met Eddie Herrera, he used to shield me from
Eddie's advances. That guy was a total horn dog. In the end, it's what
caused them to break up. Alex wanted a partner, but Eddie just wanted to
have a good time with anyone who would say yes.

"I moved the summer before our senior year, and didn't get to see Alex much
after that, but I know he had another boyfriend. I think they even lived
together on the guy's dad's farm. Then he went to college and his boyfriend
split with him. That year, he spent the winter holiday break come with my
family, and I told him about God. I was so surprised when he decided to
become a Christian that first night home during winter break. You could see
he was a totally different person after that, but he told me the next year
that he still caved in to his desires for guys once in a while.

"I guess I feel really confused about you and me again. Like if God changed
Alex to where he's marrying a girl, then maybe Shelly really should be the
one for me. ...or maybe I just need to hold out, and trust that someday,
God will bring the right girl into my life."

"Or the right guy, Phillip. When are you going to accept that maybe God
brings two people together to be special to each other, and that He isn't
hung up over their gender?"

"Maybe never," I honestly answered him; my mind feeling like it was nothing
but a ball of fuzzy yarn. "...maybe never."

Elijah started the movie and snuggled up close, wrapping his arms around my
flaccid body, and pulling me in. I felt his lips nuzzle to my cheek, but
then pull away. My heart was overwhelmed at the moment, thinking about how
wonderful it would be to have a life partner who was so sensitive to my
every need.

We must have both fallen asleep during the movie, because the next thing I
knew, we were startled awake by Sarah and Mordecai noisily entering a
room. I felt my ears turning red as I watched them pawing at each other and
disappearing into the bedroom.

Elijah went over and turned the lights off again, then offered his hands to
lift me from the sofa. I almost broke my own rule as our lips came within
inches of each other's before we both looked away. I lie on my bed a few
moments and wondered if Elijah's ears ever turned red. Maybe one little
kiss wouldn't hurt anything, I thought to myself. I'd have to get him to
pull his hair back into a pony tail first though, so I could see his ears.



Elijah walked, half asleep, into the kitchen the next morning. "I read in
my bible this morning that God's people should greet another person with a
holy kiss." He looked uncomprehendingly at me as I approached him, and
hastily greeted him with a quick but firm kiss to the lips. "It makes sense
to me now," I told him as I watched the bleary eyed mask which had been
covering his face twist into that patented ear to ear grin.

"You should pull your hair back into a ponytail," I told him.

"Like this?" he asked as he held his hair behind his head.

"Something like that," I answered, disappointed that the top of his ears
remained hidden from my view. "Ready to start the day?"

What I had done must have just sunk into his hazy mind. "Did you just do
what I think you did?"

"They say rules are made to be broken."

"Okay," he said, his voice becoming more animated. "I've get a new rule for
us. When you greet me next time, no prying my lips apart with your tongue."

"You, are one sick puppy. I'm not agreeing to any rules you make up before
you even drink a full cup of coffee," I told him as I handed him the mug I
had just filled. But I did give him another quick kiss as I allowed myself,
for maybe the first time, to imagine what it might be like for us if what
Pastor Wallace had told me really was true.