Chapter 27

“And why not?”

“Because I have to tell him about…about Natasha.”

Silence.

After a minute, Aunt Kerry turned the burner even lower, and pulled up a stool opposite Anton’s. “Alright,” she said quietly. “So he doesn’t know?”

“No,” Anton whispered.

“But you want to keep dating him?”

“Yes.”

“And he—right now—seems like he wants to date you?”

“He asked me,” Anton croaked. “He asked me first, and I thought he was straight, and he said maybe he’s not then, and he said maybe he’s bisexual but he doesn’t really know anymore because of me, and I—he—we kissed a bit, and I have to tell him, but I can’t.”

“Of course you can,” Aunt Kerry said softly. “You told your mum and dad before you even knew what it all really meant, honey. Of course you can tell this Jude now you understand.”

“But I can’t,” Anton insisted, and heard—to his horror—his voice crack in the middle of it. “How am I supposed to tell him that, that he’s dating a girl when he thinks—”