Play the Game Boy (BWWM)

chapter 11

Faith

They say they only care when you're gone.

Well they were right. Nobody ever really cared about Rob Melançon that much before he ran away from his parents' multi-million-dollar home. Sure, the boy was popular and good looking, but he was just another pretty face in a sea of attractive tanned faces.

Rob was the head of the school council and collected straight A's all year round, making him the embodiment of academic perfection. But people rarely brought up his name while gossiping —he simply wasn't interesting enough. Everything about him had always been meticulously calculated until yesterday.

The site had released his parents' daunting secrets which unfortunately implicated him too. Margaret and Steve Melançon had secretly financed The Silent Doves, an establishment that allegedly specialized in gay conversion, the same year their son had supposedly flown abroad to Venezuela to join a humanitarian organization.

The Melançon's had been trying to cover up their donation when The Silent Doves had been publicly slammed by various news outlets to hide their tracks, but today the website had exposed them. And their son —people around town had put two and two together. Rob had been outed, and in the worst way possible.

When the rumors surrounding his sexuality hit an all-time high last night, Rob had chosen to flee the comfort his parents' mansion, leaving nothing behind but a single note.

It was all people talked about since last night.

"This is getting out of hand," I hushed Brendan's way as we made our way into the firm this morning. He had insisted on driving me there, but it didn't seem like he'd leave until my shift was over.

"Tell me about it," Brendan said as we marched up to the escalators. "Rob was such a nice guy. I can't believe he ran away and I can't imagine how exactly he made enemies. He didn't deserve this. Sure the boy could seem stuck-up, but he never was mean to anyone."

I raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Brendan Wenthward? Showing mercy?"

He shrugged.

"Like I said, Rob was a nice guy."

"I know, he was," I muttered. "He was the best student-body president. Always made sure everyone was heard. And he threw the best extracurricular events."

Brendan nodded, reminiscing on one of those countless school outings and fundraisers Rob had put together with the help of older alumni.

"Remember the trip to the amusement park when we were thirteen?" Brendan said and I scoffed. How could I ever forget that?

Rob, along with older school-council presidents from previous years, had organized the trip that ended with Meghan's ice cream dumped onto Brendan's dirty-blonde head.

That must've been his first rejection, but he took it well, considering how popular and influential Meghan was. Both of them had refused to speak about it, but the school's rumor-mill had already created its own narrative.

"Who could have a vendetta on Rob?" I asked. "All he did was spend most of his time with ex-students outside of school hours."