AR - Curiosity

Outside in the car, you turn on the engine and look over at Adella as she buckles up in the passenger seat.

“Were they flirting with us?” you ask.

“Probably,” she says distractedly.

“It bothers you,” you say. “That she wanted to use you like that. But you knew.”

She shrugs. “I would do the same if I were her.”

That’s fair. It’s not as though you and Adella feel differently. You are on the same page as Stef and Jessica. But maybe there was a better way for Stef to go about this.

Adella shakes her head, then turns to you with that look. Oh, yeah. She’s definitely annoyed if all she wants to do right now is blow off some tension. She wants to throw you down on her bed and keep the whole neighborhood up all night.

“My place?” she asks.

You shake your head. “Mine. I want to talk to my mom about Ellen. You want to come with?”

“Of course,” she says, only looking a little disappointed.

As you drive, you consider what you’ve learned. You already knew the political subtext of Winter Soccer, but Stef spelled it out pretty clearly. It looks like this time around, the stakes are a little higher. Instead of bragging rights, there’s something real on the line. The anti-gay stuff in Gurlberg is little more than an annoyance. There’s only one cop on the town’s tiny **** that bothers to enforce it, and that’s all just citations. So it’s bad, but it doesn’t stop anyone from being gay. It just forces them to be more discreet. It could be a lot worse.

If Ellen were to become governor… she could make that worse scenario a reality. You have no reason to think that’s what she intends, but it doesn’t really matter. As a queer person, you feel obligated to oppose her. Adella probably does too. She doesn’t care about politics, but she does hate cheating. And what Ellen’s up to isn’t fair.

If things are the way that Stef says they are.

You park outside your house and hold Adella’s hand as you walk up to the door. You find your mother having a lazy night in, eating leftovers, and watching Succession in her PJs. She jumps up when you come in, looking pleased to see you, and a little embarrassed to be seen this way by Adella. Not that she should care. Your mom is beautiful all the time.

“Hi,” she says, brushing crumbs off and muting the TV. “What’s going on? I wasn’t sure I was expecting you back tonight.” No, she obviously expected you to be spending tonight in Adella’s bed, and that had been your plan until a few minutes ago.

“Mom, can we talk to you?”

“What about?” she asks, giving you a hug, and Adella a peck on the cheek.

“About Ellen,” you say.

“Oh.” Your mom’s smile vanishes.