A/N 

6/23/2022 I decided to change the main character's name to Anderson ("Andy") to avoid confusion between the male characters.

"Happy Pride!" Maura Peters declared as I opened the front door. Not only was she dressed in a rainbow leotard, a rainbow cape flew behind her as she held a rainbow flag in each hand. She knew better than to flaunt her gayness in this neighborhood.

And on the front stoop of my parents' house!

My Trump-supporting parents still considered me their perfect straight son. They barely tolerated me as a left leaning liberal. While in the house, I tried to keep my beliefs to myself, but sometimes I couldn't help myself, like when my parents insisted the Orange Man won the 2020 election. I could stand up to them then, so why couldn't I admit the truth about myself? I only admitted it to one person.

In high school, I was nothing but the clichéd in-the-closet quarterback. That was four years ago. In all that time, I'd only come out to Maura.

"Get lost! I don't know you!" I slammed the door on her face.

"Hey, Andy, open the door!"

"I don't know you," I repeated.

"Cut the crap, Andy. It's June fourth. It's time to acknowledge who you are. You graduated from college two weeks ago. Grow up."

I swung open the door and stepped outside, ready for another lecture from my best friend. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because I care. I'm afraid you'll die in the closet."

I'd known I was gay since elementary school. I thought sports would help me grow out of it.

But then something happened my junior year of high school. Jonas Kaplan moved into town. Within the first week, he joined the track team. He was an amazing runner. Everybody loved him.

Thinking about him in his shorts and running shirtless made my heart race and my body burn. The way he smiled that first day in art class, how he said hi to me that first day of track, how I pretended to suck at Math so he could be my tutor. He was the type who was involved in nearly every extra curricular activity. He was a peer counselor and Math and Spanish tutors. No one made fun of him for being a nerd. I bet that if he wasn't such a great runner and beautiful, then people probably wouldn't have liked him so much.

Jonas... I'd never known anyone by the name of Jonas nor would I ever meet anyone like him.

He was officially my first crush, making me realize I would never "grow out of it." We became close friends, so close that I almost admitted to him how I felt about him. I chickened out, afraid he wouldn't be my friend anymore and somehow my family and the school would find out.

I didn't just like him. I loved him.

We lost touch in college. But that was my choice. I couldn't stand the pain of knowing we would never be together. I ignored all of his calls, deleted his emails, and always pretended I wasn't home when he came to the door. Two years ago, I saw him once when he showed up at the ice cream stand with a girl. My insides burned with jealousy. He wanted to know how I was and what I'd been up to, blah blah blah. I kept my answers short and sweet. "School and football."

As the back-up quarterback for the Boston College Eagles, I rarely got to play. I played four games in my four years, so I wasn't all that busy with football.

"Here," Maura said, handing me a mini rainbow flag. "There's a parade happening right now. I thought you'd like to come."

"Why would you think that? When have I ever gone to a Pride parade?"

"I was hoping you'd go today. It's a beautiful day. Besides, you're not getting any younger."

"Are you saying I'm old? I'm twenty-two. You better get outta here before Tyler comes home and sees you dressed up like that."

Tyler was my twenty-six-year-old older brother and as big of a Trumper as my parents. Late one night, I tore his Trump Won flag to shreds. After I cut it up, he didn't speak to me for a week except to mutter "Snowflake" under his breath. Snowflake was a term right-winged assholes used to describe liberal Democrats. I preferred the term snowflake over homophobic slurs, which I'd heard around the house since I was a boy. If I didn't have a girlfriend, he'd call me the f-word. One time he pissed me off so much, I filled two water guns with urine and squirted him in the middle of the night. Although he beat the crap out of me, he never called me the f-word again.

Right now, Tyler was at the gun range with his crazy gun-loving friends. I hated to think about what he'd do to me and Maura if he found out the truth.

Maura and I had been friends since my freshman year of college. She was still in high school when we met working at the local ice cream stand. Three years ago, I confessed to her that I was gay. She burst out laughing, not the reaction I expected. "Ha! I knew it. I just knew it."

Immediately, panic and paranoia hit me. I didn't think it was so obvious. How did she know?

"I have perfect gay-dar," she said. "I have to tell you something, too. I was born a male."

I didn't mean to laugh, either, but it was late at night and we'd been smoking my brother's weed. We laughed so hard we cried. Maura's disclosure didn't faze me or shock me. I always knew her as a female and would never think of her differently.

That was the first time I ever admitted aloud that I was gay. By admitting the truth, I felt good about myself. I wish I had the courage to say it to everyone.

"You worry me, Andy," Maura said, backing away. "You deserve to be happy, a nice guy like you. Don't let fear and shame run your life."

I was always a nice guy.

Before Maura reached her car, Tyler screeched into the driveway. My family had no idea Maura was transgender who identified as a lesbian. As if a terrorist was in our yard, Tyler stormed up the walkway.

"Hey you, get off our property!"

"Nice to see you, too, Tyler," Maura said.

Like a coward, I went inside and closed the door. I peeked out the window to make sure Maura left safely. Tyler kicked the door open.

"You didn't tell me she was one of those freaks," Tyler said.

"She's not a freak." I could have said more, but I didn't. I hid in my room instead.

Deep down, I wanted to go with Maura. I'd never gone to a Pride event and it upset me that I didn't have the balls to go and be out and proud. Maura always took selfies of her at the parade, smiling, laughing, and having fun. She was right: I deserved happiness, but didn't know how to attain it.

As expected, two hours later, Maura sent me pics of her and her friends while I was stuck at home binge-watching Ozark on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. After two episodes, I was crawling out of my skin and had to get the hell out of the house. I decided to go for a run to distract myself.

My mother was out shopping (her usual Saturday routine), Tyler was probably polishing his guns or something like that, and my father was in the back vacuuming the pool. Most people in the neighborhood had one of those robotic self-cleaning vacuums, but my father hated modern technology. He didn't even own a computer and still paid his bills by check.

As I opened the door, I discovered a card attached to a balloon on the top step. The balloon had a rainbow flag on it. The card was addressed to me. If my family had seen it, I would have known about it. I looked both ways down the street, but saw no one except the neighbor's golden doodle barking in their yard. I opened the card and read it:

To Andy:
Come join the block party of the year. Tonight. Pride 2022. Don't be afraid to be yourself. It's a judgment-free zone. Hope to see you there!

I recognized the neighborhood where this block party was taking place. Assuming this was Maura's doing, I called her, interrupting her fun. I didn't stop to think that she didn't live in this town, so why would she invite me to a block party? As I called her, I let the balloon fly away.

"What the hell, Maura? Are you trying to get me killed?"

"What are you talking about?" she replied, yelling over the crowd.

"You know what I'm talking about: the balloon and card. You left them for me on the front step. What if Tyler or my parents found this?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Andy."

"Someone left a card... an invitation to a pride block party on Bennett's Brook."

"Oh, cool. You should totally go."

"Why was I invited? Who told them I was... well... you know?" I couldn't even say the word.

"I have no idea. Just go and tell me all about it tomorrow. I bet everyone in town was invited."

"You weren't."

"I don't live in your town. Geez, Andy, will you go if I go with you?"

I didn't respond. I had to admit that the idea intrigued me, especially since I didn't want to spend Saturday night alone in my room feeling sorry for myself.

"Answer me, Anderson," she said. She always called me by my full name when she was irritated, like my mother. "I don't have all day."

"Maybe."

"That's good enough for me. I'll see you in an hour."

Bennett's Brook was across town, "over the tracks" as my dad would say. We lived on the rich part of town. Bennett's Brook was on the older part of town, where the not-so-well-off people lived.

Instead of going for my run, I took a shower and got ready for the party, which started in an hour. I didn't plan on being the first one there. In fact, I anticipated that I'd chicken out and make Maura take me home.

No. I'm going to do this, I told myself.

Before Tyler or my dad saw me, I ran out of the house as Maura pulled into the driveway. I didn't want to answer any questions.

He was impossible not to notice. As Maura parked behind one of the many cars along the street, I was ready to make her take me home until I spotted the beautiful blond man in lavender khaki shorts. He was shirtless, talking to A few party-goers. I stumbled out of the car.

"Who is that?" Maura asked.

"Jonas Kaplan," I said.

I wondered what he was doing here. Everyone here was as gay as I was. Could he be? I needed to find out.

"How do you know him?" Maura asked as I approached him. "Was he a boyfriend you never told me about? Andy, talk to me."

I noticed Jonas before he noticed me. He must have sensed my presence, though, because he turned around. There was no way of ignoring the painted rainbow on his chest. Jonas's smile faded, but his cheeks turned pink. Usually he spoke first, but today I did.

"Hi," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I live down the street," he said. "I'm glad you made it."

"I didn't know you were--"

"Gay?"

"Yes," I swallowed hard.

"Yeah, I'm gay."

"But I saw you with a girl and..."

"A girl? When?"

"Two summers ago. You ordered raspberry chocolate chip and she ordered strawberry."

"That was my cousin. Did you think she was my girlfriend?"

I nodded.

Jonas laughed hard. I fought back the urge to laugh, but Jonas had such a contagious laugh that I couldn't help myself. In the middle of a laugh, I grabbed his toned bicep and pulled him to me. I kissed his cheek, wishing I had the guts to do that years ago. He brought his arms around me, hugging me as if he'd been waiting years to do that. Reluctant to break away from him, my hands slid up and down his bare back.

"Did you leave the card and balloon on my porch?" I asked.

"I've been leaving you cards for years. I thought I'd change it up this year and leave a balloon, too. This was the last year I'd try."

I couldn't recall seeing any cards. If he was trying to be romantic by leaving cards on the front step, then either they blew away or Tyler tore them up because that was the type of guy he was. He liked to destroy things. 

Maura coughed, getting our attention. I'd forgotten all about her.

"This is my friend, Maura. Maura, this is Jonas. We went to high school together."

"Jonas is the one on the track team, right?"

Maura was also the only one who knew about Jonas. I could count on her to keep a secret until this morning when she showed up dressed the way she did.

"It's nice to meet you," Jonas said, keeping his eyes on mine. "Let's go for a walk." A walk sounded like a great idea. I slipped his hand in mine and the two of us walked past Maura and through the small crowd.

Hand in hand, we walked for two miles, approaching the railroad tracks. I abruptly stopped and turned to him.

"I always had a thing for you," Jonas said. "You were always nice to me. When I first moved to town, I knew no one. You took me under your wing. You made me feel welcomed."

"I had a thing for you, too. When did you come out?"

"A few years ago. Once I was out, I never went back."

A sense of relief and peace swept over me. Smiling, I held Jonas's face in my hands and kissed his mouth. He instantly returned my kiss. Since we were more than halfway to my house, we decided to keep walking. I wanted to be alone with him. In fact, I wanted to take him to my room.

As we entered the house, I heard the TV, but saw no one. I led Jonas up the stairs to my room. Neither of us hesitated, shedding our clothes and falling into each other's arms on my bed. This was the happiest I'd been in my life. I didn't think I could ever feel this way.

As Jonas kissed my neck, I turned my head to find my door slightly ajar and Tyler peering inside my room. "Close the fucking door," I said. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

I figured I'd deal with the consequences later. Tyler didn't storm into the room and beat the crap out of me and Jonas. Instead, he shot me the middle finger and closed the door.