Boy Like Me.

"Don't worry he's not gay." Liam said leaning back into the gray leather seat staring out the front window of the red car. He ruffled up his hair with his hands and saw his friend Matt talking to a cute girl. They were currently arguing about something and Liam was just enjoying the show. However that was the least he could say for Matt's mom who was sitting on the driver's side.

"He's not?" Mary, the raven-haired woman, spoke with a bit of relief and confusion. Liam sighed, parents of his male friends always assumed their child to be gay once they found out about his orientation. Sometimes it was just plain insulting and other times it was interesting.

"Are ya kidding? Matt is as straight as an arrow." Liam assured with a kind smile looking to the worried woman.

"I see," she paused and looked to her red manicured fingernails that matched her red lips. "That's a relief." Liam flinched at her words, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Some parents act as if it doesn't bother them, but others don't know what to do. All we really look for is support. We're not different we just like different things like everyone else in the world." Liam said simply shrugging his shoulders sinking lower into the passenger seat. Mary tilted her head a bit, she felt odd.

"I'm sorry Liam," she muttered looking to the boy. He was seventeen years old, very smart, polite, and funny. When she first met him she thought he was a ladies man, but actually he was gay. "It must have been hard to tell your friends and family." She said softly and Liam shook his head.

"It was other people," Liam explained looking up seeing if Matt and his current love interest were still fighting, but it seemed like things had calmed down. The boy in the passenger seat messed with a string that was coming off of his gray sweater. Mary remained silent not knowing what to say. "My dad was bent out a shape about it for a while, but he got over it. Well he got over it once he saw the other kids picking on me." Liam muttered the last bit.

"What happened?" Mary asked. She was a nice woman in her late thirties maybe early forties. She loved her son and she was a bit uneasy around Liam most of the time once she found out about him. However Liam was used to people, parents, being that way.

"Word got out and kids are mean," Liam chuckled softly shaking his head. "My father pulled me out of that school and put me into a public school. After that he had me join wrestling to build up some physical strength. I was somewhat of a sissy." Liam explained to her. Of course now he wasn't a sissy he was tougher and wouldn't take crap from anyone. He flattened out his light brown hair and looked back over to Matt and the girl finding them hugging.

"That had to be hard on you." Mary said. Their eyes met for a few seconds. Liam didn't much care for that sympathy mostly because he'd received it from so many once they knew his story.

"I guess, but it only made me that much stronger," Liam paused when he heard the back seat door open. Matt slid into the middle and leaned forward. His mother smiled at him and Liam nodded once. "How'd it go?" Liam asked.

"It's all good. Sorry I made you guys wait. Don't worry mom as soon as my truck is fixed we won't have a problem." Matt assured leaning back to buckle himself up. His mother nodded and turned on the car. Liam remained silent just thinking about how hard it was for him.

Sure he had friends and they loved him, so did his family, but he wanted a little more than that. The car started rolling and he looked out the window. Everything was just different when you were a boy who liked other boys.