Today was the day.

After several days of getting everything settled to say a final farewell to my family in between taking my midterms (thankfully, I had passed), attending group therapy sessions (which were a bit somber since everyone knew of what happened and offered me words of support), and spending hours on end in isolation (of my own volition to avoid feeling like I was falling apart; I was getting dressed for the event. The night before, I had finished the eulogy that I felt like I needed to write- the one eulogy that would change everything and anything in my future. And after I said yes to Logan's wedding proposal, I knew that I had to do what was right to show my haters and the sheared-sheep known as my family's clientele and friends (Corey and his brood included) that I was not going to be denied the opportunities that were taken from the start. And this time, a whole new kind of Superstorm Wendell was going to take place- one that will be memorable.

I brushed the invisible lines of my suit jacket, savoring the sounds of light rain that was pouring from outside. I was dressed in a simple all-black ensemble that was fitting for a funeral but was comfortable enough for the light humidity. Other than the hidden engagement ring that I kept underneath my gloves and a shield pendant, I wore no other accessory.

"You look amazing, Wendell."

I turned around to see the approving eyes of both Dr. Sellers and Dr. Valenzia, both of them in matching black dresses with the former sporting a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses. "Thanks," I replied, ushering both ladies into the dorm room. "I'm a little nervous for today, given the fact that Corey is planning to off me as well as that Satillo brat if I don't play by either one or both of their rules. But I know that today's going to be worth it simply because I have no regrets on what I plan to say."

"I can tell," Dr. Sellers said, nodding her head. "And the eulogy that you'll be doing, it's not going to be explicit or matching either Braeden's or Bellevue's expectations, is it?"

I shook my head no. "After what I wrote on the day of my meltdown, I can say that I'm more apprehensive," I replied. "But it will stun everyone, especially the two that caught me in a life-or-death situation. This eulogy that I have in mind will definitely change the game forever."

"And does Logan know what you have in mind?" Dr. Valenzia asked me.

"He will once he hears it," I replied, "and after all of that.... I'll drop the big surprise on them."

Both women gave me a small smile. "We already know of the engagement," Dr. Sellers told me. "But are you going to make it official?"

I smiled brightly. "You'll see," I replied, grabbing my portfolio and hat. "And by the end of the service, all will know that Wendell Harding will be free to live his life any way that he pleases. Now, the limo's outside and I bet Logan and his uncle are waiting for us. It's time to shut it all down and let everything be known. Because at the end of the day, what is done and said in the dark will be brought to the light."

We all collected our little belongings and left the dorm room as we made the trek to the rain-laced outdoors where two limousines were waiting for us. I would join Logan and his uncle and Whitfield in the other while the therapists and the Guerro twins would be in the other. Dr. St. Pierre left the other therapists on duty in charge of the daily happenings and warned the other boys to be on their best behavior.

"Are you nervous?" Logan asked me as he handed me a glass of nonalcoholic sparkling water. "I can feel your unease from here."

I nodded. "But I know that I need to do this- close one chapter of my life and begin a new one- one that will guarantee me chasing the sun to a new dynasty," I replied. "I'm not afraid anymore, not after what I've been through the last few weeks. I know that I can still be happy and that the best is yet to come. And it's all because of you, Logan Michaels. It's because of you that I'm able to do this."

"And you have no regrets for-"

I shook my head, cutting him off. "I will make it all clear in my eulogy, Logan. By the time I am finished, you'll know of my intentions and my plans for you and me. I love you, Logan. Always know that."

That was all that needed to be said as the drive to the cathedral continued forward, the silence in the air as thick as the fog on a cloudy day. And I savored the silence because I needed the time to reflect and prepare myself for what would be the biggest day of my life as I say goodbye to the people who tried to break me and abused me like a broken toy.

No more.

The time for me to shine was now and no one, not even the man who broke my sanity or the boy who wanted me to suffer, would stop me.

**********

The funeral service so far was as flawless as I planned from the start- the small group of attendees that were invited (distant cousins, my father's two brothers, and only sister and their families- all of them as ruthless as he was, and the clientele that was chosen alongside the few kids- Braeden included- who wanted to come as a show of support), the soloist who sung Ave Maria and a slow aria from Tosca, and no one being asked to say a few words (by my request, much to my lawyer's dismay).

After Corey had finished his own reflections on my family and his buddy Marco, it was my turn to speak. "Remember, runt," he hissed in my ear. "Anything that I find unpleasant is when I will kill you on the spot."

"Bite me," I spat back before I faced the crowd. I saw the ominous face of Satillo, his eyes saying a similar message: Read the family for filth and dump Logan... or die. He could bite me as well, I didn't care. Today was not about him or Corey. It was about me and setting everything straight. I took a deep breath... blowing bubbles in my mind like I was back at Pop-Pop Mack's farm.

Showtime.

"Dearly beloved," I began, "I stand before each and every one of you as I lay my family and Mr. Artenzio to rest. And despite the nerves that are rattling inside of me right now as I face your stares and glares, I know that I have to do this to be at peace with myself.

"Louis Damian Harding and his second wife Antonia Patricia Wilder-Harding- two well-known people around the Seattle-Tacoma area. Gregarious, powerful, and never afraid to keep all their haters in line while running their Harding Automotive dealership.

"Then there's their daughters: Alicia Madelyn Harding and Bianca Madisyn Harding; smart, beautiful, opulent, and the apples of their mother's eyes. Then there's the ladies' chosen beaus: Marco Dominico Artenzio, who joins them as their own brother, and Corey Bellevue, the one person who is the sole survivor who saved his life because of an important business meeting that kept him from the love of his life. Him missing that meeting is what became his salvation."

Corey nodded, smiling a little.

I took a deep breath. "And then, there's me: the one sole thorn in the family legacy that never got with the times and ended up being excommunicated from their American dream for life. In their eyes, I was the lost cause who was too smart and smart-mouthed for my own good, spent way too many hours in books and watching RuPaul's Drag Race, and hated them for all they stood for," I continued. "In their eyes and your own, I was always in the wrong and I got what I had deserved for who I was. Everyone here agreed with my family and their friends that I needed to do them a favor and just do away with myself. And come to think of it, I thought of doing just that, to make them happy and give them the peace that they deserved.

"And if I knew better, you guys are thinking the same thing right now- why wasn't I the one to die instead of them? Maybe then, my family would be alive and joined you in burying me in a shallow grave without a ceremony or last rites before throwing endless parties for years on end. But I guess fate had other plans, am I right? Right."

I saw that everyone's face remained neutral, while Braeden's eyes held impatience to get to the good part already. Hold on a little longer, I said inwardly. You'll soon see the good part.

"Dearly beloved, I asked myself a lot of questions on what I did wrong to earn everyone's scorn just because I was different from all of you," I said, looking out into the crowd. "I thought of many ideas on why I wasn't taken seriously. Maybe I didn't be more fake enough. Maybe I didn't try hard enough. Maybe my emotions gave way to the poker face that my ex-father forced me to learn while keeping my collapsing world from falling. Maybe I wasn't more of a man enough to be seen by the women in the family. Maybe I didn't give all that I had. And then it came to me: maybe I HAD given all that I had and everyone had overdrawn on my patience and kindness yet still wanted to more out of me."

I saw a few people shifting uncomfortably, Braeden smirking in the back. Now the REAL fun begins, I knew that he was saying to himself. It is beginning, Satillo, but not like you planned.

"What the fuck are you-" Corey hissed from behind me. "You little-"

I cut him off with a glare of my own. "Step off," I said flatly. To the congregation, "Anyway, I knew that I was out of time, out of patience, and at the end of my sanity even after all of y'all continued to cry out 'More, more, more.' Well, it was no more after I began to unleash my entire fury on the school and everyone that got in my way of tearing everything apart with a baseball bat and fighting back against everyone. Back then, I thought I was in the right after being outed and betrayed by Mr. Bellevue, the one man who I thought would rescue me from a lifetime of misery. But as I began a new chapter at Cartier Valley, I realized that I was hurting myself more than I had hurt them, even though I had good reason to hurt all of you. And right up to this very day, I began to see everything in a clear light- you all will continue to say that I am always wrong; but in the end, I would come out a stronger and more confident version of myself. And it was all because of my family who started it all.

"And now, as I stand here, facing the coffins that held my family and Mr. Artenzio, I can only say that I forgive them for all of the pain that they unleashed onto me," I went on, ignoring the stunned and confused whispers. "I forgive them for all the wrongs that they committed against me and that I still love them. I love my father, who wasn't afraid to fight the people who dared to push him to the limits. I loved my stepmother and stepsisters who showed their cattiness and shade-throwing skills while hurling insults at them- even if they are far from being Bianca Del Rio or RuPaul themselves. I loved Marco for being more daring and for being chivalrous. And I even have some semblance of respect for Corey who showed me how not to love someone and for teaching me that being an indecent human being would lead me to unhappiness and despair. It's little wonder that I feel grateful for dodging an unwanted bullet because I would be unhappy to the point of suicide if I dated him behind Alicia's back."

Now, THAT caught everyone's attention, my troop of supporters looking surprised and even Braeden fighting to hide his laugh.

"Anywho, I forgive my family because I know that while they never really loved me from the start, I knew that they taught me valuable lessons in life. And even after Grandma Lillie Jean and Pop-Pop Bobby Mack passed away, I was still learning a lot about how to be a real man. But I never really learned how to truly live life in a manner to be proud of. Sure, I knew how to survive and exist in your world of power and deception, but I never really knew how to be alive and authentic with all of you."

I smiled brightly, knowing that this was the moment that I let them have it. "But it doesn't matter because the people at Cartier Valley taught me all about that. Thanks to Raymond Atelier, I was given a second chance to reclaim my life while learning to let go of all the hate. And it was then I met some amazing young men who were in my shoes or had a semblance of what I was going through in their version of trials and stories. In losing one family, I gained another full of supportive therapists who made sure that I didn't slip back into nasty habits of popping pills or being a total brat towards everyone; other teens who became mentors and close friends; and I even gained a wonderful boyfriend who is also my roommate and one of the main factors of why I'm even doing this in the first place."

I saw Logan giving me a wide grin as Braeden's face warped into a mask of anger. "Break up with him," the red-headed teen hissed. "Break up with him, or else!"

I ignored the threat. "And it's because of my little-ole outburst back at McHenry South that my real journey began. I thank all of you and my late family for setting everything off. You guys are the reason for helping me embrace a new future- one that doesn't include all of you, especially Corey who threatened to shoot me if I didn't do his eulogy the right way or even Braeden Satillo who's out for my blood if I didn't break up with Logan. And just so you know, Satillo? I'm not even breaking up with him. In fact..."

I slipped off my gloves, revealing my hands with my right one bearing the diamond engagement ring. "Logan asked me to marry him," I drawled delightfully. "And I said yes."

The crowd gasped in shock,  Braeden's mouth dropping in shock and horror.

"That's right, folks. I'm getting married to the roommate that I knew for only a few weeks but has made me the happiest man alive," I cheered. "And yeah, I know that my family wouldn't have approved, but they're not here to judge me anymore. And none of you all can't, either. This is my time to be happy and say goodbye to my family. And with that said, I say my final goodbye to the people that raised me to live in despair and a whirlwind of self-loathing. And I am saying hello to a new chapter full of hope and promise. Farewell, everyone. Farewell to my father, the stepmother, Alicia, Bianca, and Marco."

I turned to the now-furious Corey, who was standing up with his fists clenched. "And Corey, this is for outing me," I finished, swinging my fist back and landing an uppercut that sent him sprawling onto the surprised bishop. "Have a good life."

I stepped off the stage and joined my gleeful entourage, Logan pulling me forward into a kiss. "I knew you'd say yes," he said. "And nice punch, by the way."

"Thanks," I replied, wincing in pain as I rubbed my knuckles. "If given a chance, I'd do it again too."

"What the fucking hell?"

We all whipped around to see the raging Braeden Satillo as he was crying. "Harding, you're going to pay for this," he seethed. "You're marrying MY boyfriend?! You're going to die, you fucking shit!"

He whipped out a silver gun, surprising everyone. "Have you lost your fucking mind?!" I said angrily, placing my hands on my hips. "Logan doesn't want you and neither does his father. Move on and find someone else before-"

"SHUT UP!!!" Braeden screamed, pulling the trigger.

BANG! BANG!

The last thing I remembered was hearing Logan screaming my name before I fell to the ground. And as I closed my eyes, the last thought on my mind was how I was going to reunite with my grandparents soon.

Or...will he?

If you thought that this story would end right here, then you got another thing coming! There's more tea to spill and shocking secrets to be revealed! Plus, it'll be injustice to have Wendell be killed off right here and now! So drop the pearls, boys and girls! All will be made clear in the next chapter as I have BIGGER plans for Wendell and the others!

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