Anima and Kishi were lying on their backs, staring at the crusty ceiling in the living room. Neither had said a word to each other ever since Kishi found Anima with Penelope.
Anima only nodded; she couldn’t bring herself to say any words.
“Well, why didn’t you tell us before?” Kishi inquired.
Anima looked down. She couldn’t bear looking at Kishi at that moment. “I was scared what you guys would think of me,” she answered in a scared, quiet voice.
“Anima, Lidiya’s dad is gay, and River is bisexual! Of course we’re gonna be okay with you being gay, too!” Kishi exclaimed. She jumped up onto her two feet and stormed towards her room.
“Does this mean we’re not friends anymore?!” Anima yelped, jumping to her feet with tears stinging her eyes.
Kishi turned around and stared at Anima for the longest time. Then, she did the strangest thing.
“Wh-What are you doing?” Anima asked, her cheeks as hot and red as a volcano, “Why are you hugging me?”
“Because you’re my friend, and I can’t ditch you for something you can’t help,” Kishi answered.
Anima blinked back tears and stared at Kishi for several moments. Friends? They were still friends? “We’re… We’re still friends?”
“Of course.” The smile on Kishi’s face was small but genuine. So, she had been serious. Kishi still wanted to be her friend!
“I…I love you,” Anima said quietly, hugging her best friend ever. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about hugging Kishi, especially since she figured out that Anima was gay in a… less than ideal way.
“I love you, too,” Kishi replied, hugging her right back as if there were no issues. She let go of Anima and said, “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” Anima walked to her room and almost closed the door when she saw Kishi talking to Tessa in the kitchen.
“Hey, would you support a friend who just so happens to be gay?” Kishi asked Tessa.
Tessa nodded. “Yeah, but why are you asking me that out of nowhere?”
“Well, I just found out that Anima’s gay,” Kishi answered.
Anima’s heart skipped a beat as her chest tightened. How could Kishi betray her like that?! Weren’t they friends?!
Thankfully, Anima wasn’t the only one to feel that way because Tessa had a bewildered and disgusted look on her face.
“Are you sure you want to say that in public?” Tessa asked, her eyebrows perched in doubt.
“Wh-What do you mean?” Kishi replied, her eyebrows perched in uncertainty.
Tessa had to put it bluntly and straightforward.
Kishi’s eyes were as big in saucer; she was so concerned. “What do you mean by that?” she asked in a near silent voice.
“LGBTQ+ people still face discrimination in a lot of places,” Tessa explained, “In some places, they can face harassment and bullying, job discrimination, criminal charges, and even the death penalty.”
Kishi’s jaw dropped in horror. “Oh, my gosh… I-I didn’t know about all of that!” she cried, “I’ve never thought about it before.” She took a deep breath and added, “I’m so sorry for doing that! What can I do to help out?”
“Well, the first thing you can do is not out people without their permission,” Tessa answered, “The second, and the most important, thing is to educate yourself. There’s plenty of information about this kind of stuff on the internet. Maybe look up some articles on Wikipedia or watch some videos made by LGBTQ+ people on YouTube. You can learn a lot from other people. That’s how I learned I was bisexual in the first place.”
Kishi nodded. “Thank you for telling me,” she said, “I promise I won’t out someone with their permission again, and I promise to educate myself as much as possible.”
Tessa hugged Kishi and patted her on the back. “You’re a good person,” she said, “Good night.”
“Good night.” Then the two went off towards their rooms.
Anima closed her door and plopped down on her bed. She thought about Tessa’s and Kishi’s conversation. If she heard half the shit Christian Seger had said to her, Kishi would’ve freaked the fuck out. Nobody should have to face any of the shit people like Anima had to face.
And Anima hoped that Kishi didn’t have to face the same things she had faced. It was already hell for her; thing couldn’t possibly get worse, right?
…Right?
ManictheMod 
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