Page 45 of Open Water
"There's a photo going around. Of me and someone. Kissing."
Silence. Two seconds. Three.
"Okay…" she said.
"Someone took it and sent it to a bunch of people on the rowing team."
Her voice was careful. "And who is the person you're kissing?"
"Alex. My doubles partner."
The name sat there on the line between us. Not just a name. The name. The blond-haired boy from TV. The doubles partner. The rich kid at the marina I told her about.
"Alex," she said.
"We've been together for a while, Mom." My voice was steady. I'd expected it to shake and it didn't. "He's not just my rowing partner. He's my —"
I stopped. He wasn't my boyfriend. But it was more than just a hook-up.
"We're together," I said. "And someone outed us last night and now everyone knows."
Silence.
Long silence.
"Mom?"
Nothing. Then a breath. Shaky.
"I'm here," she said. "I'm here, baby. I'm just —" Another breath. "Give me a second."
I gave her a second. I gave her ten. I lay in my narrow bed in my cinderblock dorm room and tried not to fill the silence with all the things I was afraid she was thinking.
"Honey it's okay. Whoever you want to be with. I'm here for you." she said finally.
The tension left my body instantly. The one person that really mattered was okay with me being with a guy. With Alex.
"Okay," I said.
"I'm just… confused. What about Emily?"
"I like both. I'm bi."
"Okay. Liam honey… why didn't tell me?"
It wasn't a question. It was the same voice from the phone call about the Charles. Not angry. Hurt. The specific hurt of a mother who kept finding out her son's life from other people.
"I wasn't ready," I said. "I didn't really know —"
"Liam." Quiet. Firm. The voice that cut through everything. "Have I ever given you a reason to think you couldn't tell me something?"
"No."
"Have I ever made you feel like you had to protect me from who you are?"
My throat closed.
"No," I said. "But this is different."
