Kris and Kit

Chapter 27 ~ It Will Get Better

Kris

My eyes were closed, but I heard the sound of birds chirping. I opened my eyes to find sunlight finding its way through my thin curtains. When I looked down, I noticed that I was holding Kit. I vaguely remembered waking up earlier and letting her sleep on me. Smiling, I played with her hair, trying to smooth the parts that were sticking up. A few minutes later, Kit woke up and looked at me, her eyes lighting up as she grinned.

"Good morning," I whispered, kissing her cheek. Kit pushed herself up off of me and gave me a kiss. Then she lay next to me, staring up at the ceiling.

"Last night, I had a nice dream," she told me happily, her hand finding mine.

"That's good," I replied. It was as if she had completely forgotten about the events of last night. "What was it about?"

"Oh! Um... well you were there," Kit answered anxiously.

"I see," I chuckled.

Kit giggled and shook her head. "Don't say 'I see' like you think I had a rated R dream about you. Because I didn't!" she hastily added.

"Well when you say rated R, that could mean a lot of things," I pointed out. "Maybe we fought off zombies together and it was rated R because I kept screaming swear words," I laughed.

We spent a few more minutes in bed before deciding to go get breakfast. Liliana was in the kitchen making pancakes. While Kit found a seat at the table, I went over to my sister to check her progress. She looked up at me and gave a mischievous grin. "So... how'd it go last night?" she inquired, wiggling her eyebrows. I flicked her in the head, to which she replied, "Keep in mind that I'm preparing your food."

When I returned to the table, I found Kit quietly staring off into space. She was slouched over, her hands balled into fists and pushed into her cheeks to keep her head up. "What's up?" I asked, taking a seat next to her.

"I have to go back to my house at some point," Kit mumbled. "I just don't want to."

"Well... you don't have to go back," I disagreed. "You can live here. It'll be fun."

But we knew that it wouldn't happen. If Kit didn't go back home, her parents would make a big deal about it. Kit and I talked about what was going to happen next. Was she out of the closet now, or would she pretend to be straight again. Mr. and Mrs. Lovejoy had a lot of connections around town, so if Kit were to be out of the closet in public, they would know about it. Her parents were prepared to send any gay children of theirs to therapy or away to a camp, and we couldn't have that happen to Kit.

Liliana brought our pancakes over and watched us as we talked, a small frown on her face. Kit came to the conclusion that she would convince her parents that she was actually straight. It sounded awful, but it sounded safe too. In the following silence, I sat in frustration thinking about how all of this could have been avoided if Kit's parents understood her. They were absent-mindedly crushing Kit into little pieces and wondering why she was disappearing.

November passed slowly. Kit stayed at my house for three days before returning to her house. Fortunately her parents were happy to see her. They apologized for yelling at her, but held on to their beliefs about Kit's sexuality. When Kit told them that she was straight, they nodded along and accepted it, assuming that Kit was going through a rebellious phase. Kit continued to hide everything from them. Jo's advice that Kit should talk about boys around her parents seemed to work. If her parents started saying offensive things about the LGBT community, Kit would leave the room, conveniently needing a drink from the kitchen or leaving to video chat with Sherry. She began to hide in her room more often. If something new and interesting happened to her, her parents were no longer informed. It was sad, but Kit was safe.