I approached Justin’s home a few blocks down from my home in the neighborhood. I knocked on the red painted door and waited for a response. Footsteps slowly approached the door and when it opened, I was greeted by Justin’s mom.

“Kim, hello,” she said through the crack of the door. She had it closed as much as possible, which was unusual.

“Hey, Justin wasn’t at school today. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, he’s grounded.”

“Oh shit,” I said and scratched the back of my head. “Can I see him?”

“Umm,” his mom hesitated and looked back. “Only for thirty minutes or less.” She concluded and opened the door for me. 

“Thanks,” I said and headed straight up the stairs at the door. I turned right and down the hall, then into the bedroom on the left side. 

Justin jumped, startled at my presence, and then smiled. He closed a book and rushed over to me with a big hug.

“Girl! I have been dying to speak to you.”

“No shit,” I said and instantly teared up. It was a flood of relief hearing that Justin missed me, and wanted to speak to me. When Justin pulled away, he saw my tears. 

“Bitch, why you crying?”

“Language!” His mom shouted from down the hall. Justin rolled his eyes.

“Today has been shitty… I was all alone.”

“You’re telling me!” He returned dramatically and fell back onto his bed. “All weekend I have been stuck at home with no phone or access to the outside world.”

“What happened to you?” I asked and sat at the foot of the bed.

“Dad busted me kissing a guy at homecoming…” He moaned. “I got grounded and have to read up on the bible and purify myself, or some stupid shit.”

“What the -”

“I don’t know,” Justin sighed and rubbed his face. “They had me go to church and be purified and prayed over and some stupid cult shit… I’m just glancing over this stupid thing.” The book he was reading was a Bible and he tossed it onto the ground. “I’m tired of this. Can’t wait to graduate and go live my own life with my own choices…”

“Damn,” I sighed and felt bad. Justin had it worse than me. His religious parents didn’t know that he was gay, and for a good reason. Now, he’s grounded and punished in a terrible way, worse than I had. 

“How is it that you got caught? You kept it away from them for like, five years?”

“Dad came to pick me up early from the dance and I was making out with Ted. The plan was to text him when I was ready, but he came when the dance ended exactly.”

“Damn…”

“Anyways, enough about my sin. What happened to you?”

“I got busted too…”

“Busted over what?” He sat up and looked at me with wide eyes.

“My dad didn’t come pick me up, so Parker walked me home.”

“Oooo, didn’t think he would be a gentleman like that.”

“Ha, right,” I laughed dryly and rolled my eyes. “When I got home, I thanked Parker and may have pecked him on the lips.”

“Oh my god!” Justin exclaimed.

“LANGUAGE!” His mom shouted firmly from down the hall.

“Oh my goodness,” he said with a glare. 

“Mom pulled up right when that happened and grounded me for walking home with a guy that I then made out with on the front lawn.”

“Dang, that sucks. I mean, why didn’t your dad pick you up though?”

“He was drunk.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I know right? I never thought he drank…”

“I haven’t seen or heard of him doing that either. Hmmm.”

“Yeah, so because I didn’t tell my mom about that, she grounded me for not telling her and going against the rules.”

“Rules? Your dad broke the rules.”

“That’s what I was thinking!” I exclaimed. “But, it’s my fault… I chose to walk home with Parker. I mean, I really wanted to.”

“So,” Justin scooched closer to me and nudged me. “Does he like you back?”

“I don’t know…” I muttered and frowned. “He never messaged me, and he wasn’t at school today.”

“Damn, ghosted you after you put yourself out there. What a dick.”

“Okay,” Justin’s mom came in through the door and held her hands up. “Kim, I’m sorry, but you need to go home now. Justin needs time alone to -”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I muttered and stood up. “Purify himself or whatever you’re doing to him.” I strode past his mom and through the door. She glared at me for once in my life. “See you whenever,” I called back to Justin and left the house.

I felt alone again, knowing that my best friend was basically unavailable to me as I walked back home. When I entered the house, I was taken aback to see dad on the couch again. In his hand was a glass of what looked like water, but I really couldn’t tell. I walked to my room, ignoring dad, and I retreated to my homework that needed to be done for the day.