It was a quiet evening in October and we were walking on the beach—not quite holding hands or touching in any discernible way. From time to time our arms brushed together and we shared a knowing wink. Neither of us noticed the gaggle of girls walking along behind us until they called out my name and we were forced to turn around and face them. Saoirse O’Doherty and her motley crew of sidekicks, watching us with unabashed judgment. I didn’t bother to offer a polite smile their way as they stalked toward us, shoving my hands in my pockets while we waited. And as I expected, it was Saoirse who spoke first.

“How’s it going, Ryan?” she asked in that sickeningly sweet tone of hers. “Long time no see.”

I had no time for fake niceties. “What do you want?”

“Play nice, Alex. Aren’t you gonna introduce us to your new friend?”

I raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “You and I have never actually spoken. And you already know who she is. What do you want?”

Saoirse’s plump lips spread into a devious smirk that the rest of her friends tried to imitate. “Just making conversation. We were wondering—” her eyes flickered between us, “—what the story is with you two.”

“What are you talking about?”

She nodded at Julia. “She’s that lesbian from Holy Faith, isn’t she? So—are you together or what?”

The gaggle of girls behind her began to titter and snigger. My stomach clenched and I heard Julia’s sharp intake of breath next to me, felt her concerned gaze penetrating the side of my skull. I refused to drop Saoirse’s stubborn, incredulous gaze even as their sneering laughter grew louder until Julia’s hand grabbed my bicep and she tugged at me to go.

“Let’s just head home,” she muttered, and I nodded, reluctantly tearing my eyes away. I threw the girls one last glare before we began to march away, back in the direction we came, neither of us daring to speak. We left the beach behind and began the short walk back to Julia’s in silence before the hand I hadn’t noticed still gripping my arm moved down to my wrist.

“I’m sorry, Alex.”

“Don’t be. I mean—it’s not the first time I’ve heard some kind of shit like that, is it?”

“Were you friends with them?”

“Them? Christ no. They sat at our table sometimes if there was a hockey match coming up but they certainly weren’t ever our friends. None of my friends ever liked them.”

“Well, I can’t say I blame them. But, Alex—” Julia hesitated, glancing at me, “have you thought about it at all?”

I frowned. “About what?”

“Well, about—you know—coming out.”

“Oh,” I breathed. “I, um—I hadn’t, really.”

“I’ve been thinking…Maybe we should just come out with it. Let them know it’s true, I mean.”

I stared at her open-mouthed, my whole body stilling. “You mean—tell everyone we’re dating?”

“Yeah. It’s just that they already know I’m a lesbian. The school, and my family.” She hesitated, again. “And let’s be honest—most of them think you are too. All the stuff last year with O’Reilly, and then when you fell out…Now you’re hanging around with me and everyone knows that. If we were to just say it outright, there’d be no scandal or rumors or any of that shite. Everyone would know and we can just get on with it, you know? I don’t care what any of them think, and I don’t think you do either, so why not just tell them? They’ll talk about it for a while but when they realize we don’t care they’ll get bored and move on. Don’t you agree?”