Bravery

“Cassidy, will you please come down here?” Cassidy Evans mother asked her sullen daughter.

Cassidy sighed.

“Sure mom.” she mumbled.

Cassidy Evans was your typical teenager. Sullen, sarcastic, and rude. She often rebelled and her style is somewhat unusual. She likes dying her hair different colors and having it cut in different styles. Her hair is currently long and black with snow white streaks and dark blue tips.

After Cassidy ran down the stairs, she sat in front of her mom and gave her a look.

“Yes?” Cassidy hissed.

Josie (Cassidy’s mother) sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Cassidy, your brother told us.” Josie said and looked away.

“Told you? Told you what exactly?” Cassidy asked suspiciously.

“Told us your secret.”

“Well, exactly what secret is that mom? I have tons of secrets.” Cassidy explained in a worried tone.

Josie took a deep breath.

“Cassidy, your brother told us that you’re… a lesbian. But that’s not all he told us.”

“Well what else did he say?” Cassidy asked angrily.

“He also told us that you’re a Wiccan.” her mother said in a disapproving tone.

Cassidy’s mouth dropped open. She didn’t expect these two secrets to get out.

“Cassidy, your father and I arranged it where you’ll stay with Anna until this is forgotten about.”

“Mom, why do I have to go live with someone else? In a new town?” she asked. By this time, Cassidy was near tears.

“Sweetheart, you know how small this town is. If word gets out that you’re a lesbian, you could get killed. It’d be even worse if they found out that you’re Wiccan too. Anna’s town is way bigger and the laws aren’t as strict; you’ll be safest there.” Josie explained.
Cassidy sighed.

“Well, if it’s safest…”

Josie smiled.

“Mom, when do I go to Anna’s?” Cassidy asked.

“In the morning. You’ll leave at 4:30.”

“Is dad mad at me?”

“Sweetheart, your father is just a tad disappointed. You know how homophobic he is. But he doesn’t hate you.” Cassidy’s mom explained.

Cassidy sighed and turned her face away so her mom wouldn’t see her cry.

“Well, I guess I better pack my things and get ready.” Cassidy whimpered.

“Yes, you do that sweetie. I’ll make dinner. It’ll just be you and I tonight. What do you want?”

“I don’t know. We have fruit. Can you make me a fruit salad?” Cassidy asked her mom.

Josie smiled.

“Of course, sweetie.”

Cassidy ran up to her room and slammed the door. She fumbled around in her nightstand for her razor. AKA her “best friend”

Cassidy started cutting. She made 3 marks on her left leg and all of them were medium sized, she made 4 marks on her right leg and all of them were kind of big, she made 10 marks on her right arm, those were small, then she carved on her left arm, “worthless slut”. The carving wasn’t deep though.

After she basically tortured herself she did her routine of purging before eating. Since she ate a small chicken salad that day, she wouldn’t allow herself to eat before purging. Then, she took a bath. The bath hurt like hell though because she had just cut herself and the warm water was burning her cuts.

After Cassidy was done cleaning herself, she put on her pajamas and got her stuff ready and then went down stairs for dinner.

Cassidy put on a fake smile (as usual) and sat down at the dinner table with her mom. Her mom didn’t like them eating in front of the TV while they ate. She thought that it was distracting. Plus, Josie thought of dinner as “family time”.

Dinner time tonight was unusually quiet. Josie and Cassidy was both just kind of picking at their food. They were nervous about tomorrow.

“So, um… how was work today?” Cassidy asked, finally breaking the ice.

“Oh, it was… good.” her mother mumbled.

“That’s good.” Cassidy replied back.

Cassidy stood up from the table.

“Mom, I’m not feeling so well. Can I go to bed early?

“Of course, darling.”

Cassidy walked upstairs and into her bedroom on the right. She shut the door and got on her bed and cried. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

Her father, Paul Evans, came in from work at 10:30 that night and sat on the couch next to his wife.

“So, did you break the news to her?” he asked gruffly.

Josie sighed.

“Yeah, I did.” she mumbled.

“How did she take it?” he asked.

“Well, she was obviously upset. I heard her crying up in her room after dinner. She finally stopped crying so I assume that means she fell asleep.” Josie explained.

Paul sighed.

“I don’t know how this is possible. I mean, we raised her right. I don’t know how she can choose to be gay after all we taught her. And to top it all off, she’s Wiccan too. That just makes it worse.”

Josie nodded.

“I know, dear. But what can we do? She’s convinced herself that being gay isn’t a choice. And you know how stubborn she is.”

Paul nodded in agreement.

“I know. I’m really glad that Jason told us. Maybe Anna’s family will be able to get Cassidy help. One can only pray.”

Cassidy’s mother smiled.

“True. I’m going to go take my shower. I have a busy day tomorrow.

Paul smiled.

“Okay, beautiful. I’ll be up there later.”

“I love you.” Josie said as she kissed Paul.

Paul smiled.

“I love you too.”

Josie headed upstairs and took a shower.

Tomorrow would be a busy day for everyone, especially Cassidy and Josie. But they can handle it.

As Josie was taking her shower, she started thinking about Cassidy. Like, why couldn’t Cassidy be “normal” and “pure” and “why did Cassidy have to be such a disappointment on the family?”

As Josie was thinking these thoughts, she became more ashamed. Not only of her self, but of Cassidy as well. She knew that she was suppose to love her daughter no matter what. But still, she couldn’t shake the old fashioned bible teachings that her mother instilled in her.

Josie was finally done showering and got dried off and her pajamas on and hopped into bed.

Tomorrow would be a hard day, but Josie knew that she could handle it.