Chapter 1: Coming Out

"ARE YOU SERIOUS, ELAINE!?" Julie yelled out in shock. "Duh! what's the big deal in that, Julie? Why are you overreacting?" Elaine was so calm like it's not a big deal at all to sleep with your boyfriend's sister.

"You're telling me that you slept with a girl who happens to be the sister of the boy you've been dating for 2 years. And you think that's not a big deal at all??"

"Yes, Joe! I don't think it's something that should make people freak out. I came out as bi and I think people should respect my choices instead of making me feel alien."

"I don't know about people but I fully respect your choices. All I'm saying is that you should've told me about it earlier." Julie's tone suddenly became calm.

"what would you do if I had told you earlier?" Elaine said, almost crying.

Watching her sad made Julie feel sorry for her. She was her best friend since childhood and she intended on hurting her in any way because she knew about her condition,

Asthma!

Elaine had Asthma since she was in Middle School and stressing or skipping meals, or anything that could make her breathing difficult, had to be taken care of. She had to keep her inhaler with her all the time.

Recently, she had been dating a girl. Not just a "normal" girl. But it was her boyfriend's sister, Zoey. Elaine and her boyfriend, Darek, had been dating for 2 years now. But Elaine started to realize that she was interested in Zoey. They started spending time together and after a week of hanging out, they did "it". They were in love with each other, but nobody knew that, not even Julie.

After a month of dating Zoey, she told Julie the truth. She came out as a BISEXUAL.

Elaine being bi didn't surprise Julie because she already suspected that Elaine and Zoey were not only FRIENDS. There was much more happening behind closed doors and she was being kept untold. Finally, when Elaine told her, what made her startled was that that girl " Zoey" was actually Darek's sister.

"I could at least stop you from doing that. I could make you realize that it's wrong. I could explain to you how Darek would feel if he comes to know about this. I could at least tell you to break up Darek if you want to be with Zoey, instead of cheating on him." Julie was so tragic whole saying all that.

"You cheated El! You cheated on Darek. You did wrong. You two were so in love with each other. I'm not sure how he will feel after knowing the truth but I can imagine that he will be shattered. It will break his heart to know that the love of her life slept with his OWN SISTER. I already feel sorry for both of you."

Elaine was starting to tear up.

The silence between them was deafening. Both were too afraid to say another word.

They stood still in their spot, neither moving.

Elaine broke the silence by taking a deep breath, "Well, I gotta go now."

She turned around to leave but stopped right before leaving, she turned around to look at Julie. She was still standing there, her head bowed. Her sight was frozen to the ground.

"I'm sorry Julie, I really am. But the truth is, Darek is not the love of my life anymore." said Elaine, and left.

She ran down the stairs hastily. Her eyes full of tears and Julies words echoing in her ears. She stopped at the last step and took a deep breath wiping out her tears. She broke her best friend's trust by lying to her about her new relationship. She felt so bad about that. But she was more anxious about what will follow this traumatizing experience. The next big challenge for her was to tell her boyfriend about her new relationship.

"How will I face him? How am I gonna tell him? How will he feel? What will he say? Oh God! Please give me strength!"

Dare I was out of town for some business work for two months. He will come back this Friday, two days from now. I should talk to Zoey first and think of a plan.

"Hey El," said a voice that brought Elaine back to reality. She looked up to see her girlfriend, Zoey. She smiled weakly at her.

"Hey, Zo. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. What's up? Did you need anything?" Zoey asked, concerned.

"I think so. But not for long." A sigh came out of Elaine's mouth.

"What do you mean? What's going to happen?" Zoey straightened up her posture and looked Elaine in her eyes.

"Your brother!" Elaine's face was pale and her eyes were swollen.