Page 107 of Pride High 3: Yellow

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Ricky walked alongside his father, who was pushing a shopping cart down the aisles of Wilbur’s Smart Mart, a local grocery store. Ken had insisted on picking him up after school, although not as a punishment. Ricky could guess why, and as they wheeled into the bakery section, his dad headed right for the counter.

“Well, well,” Ken said as the cart stopped next to the laminated catalog of specialized cakes. “What do we have here?”

Ricky resisted an eyeroll. He understood why his dad would expect him to get excited, because getting to pick out his cake was usually a highlight of each birthday. But this year felt different.

“What’s it going to be, son?” Ken said, starting to flip through the pages. “Why, it’s the Little Mermaid! I wonder if her cake is fish-flavored.” He elbowed his son, trying to get a reaction out of him. “The Aladdin one looks neat. You get four figures with it. What do you think?”

Ricky sighed. “Wanna know what Ireallywant for my birthday?”

“Name it,” Ken said, continuing to flip through the pages.

“I want Diego to be at my party.”

His father froze. “You know you aren’t allowed to see him anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter. I do anyway.”

Ken turned to him, seeming more surprised than angry. “When?”

Ricky shrugged. “We manage. You guys always say that I should be honest. I’m still dating Diego. And I’m not going to stop.”

“Does your mother know?”

“Not yet, but I’ll tell her too. I don’t care how angry she gets.” Ricky furrowed his brow at a display table of prepackaged cookies. “Remember when you were my age? Think of the hottest girl in school. The one you never had a chance with. Now imagine if she actually liked you. As inreallyliked you, enough that you went all the way. Except grandma and grandpa didn’t want you to see her anymore. What would you have done?”

“If it was Heather Everly?” Ken said, his gaze unfocused as he traveled into the past. “Mom and Dad would have had to chain me up. And even then…” His father blinked, returning to the present. “But it’s not a fair comparison. Heather didn’t do drugs. That I know of.”

“Neither do I,” Ricky insisted. “I’m willing to take drug tests if that helps. As many as you guys want. I won’t complain, I swear.”

“Even if you passed every single one,” Ken said, “we would still worry about Diego being a bad influence on you.”

Ricky huffed in frustration. “What if it works the opposite way around? What ifI’ma good influence onhim? He used to show up to school drunk. Not anymore though. Because of me. Diego has a really bad home life. His dad died a long time ago, and his mom… I don’t know. She neglects him. He needs someone who actually cares, like I do, but you guys are trying to take that away.” Ricky swallowed. “From us both. Because I need him too.”

“Umm…” Ken glanced at the cake catalog, as if hoping it would still be able to distract his son.

“I guess what I’m asking for is one more chance,” Ricky said. “Just let Diego be at my birthday party. Please! I don’t need a cake or any presents. That’s all I want.”

“I’ll have to talk to your mother,” Ken said, sounding uncertain. “But we’ll be right there, so even if she has reservations about it—”

Ricky didn’t let him finish. He hugged his dad, grateful that he would advocate on his behalf.

“I can’t promise anything,” Ken warned.

“I know.” But he also knew that getting one parent on his side was often enough to tip the scales in his favor. This was going to be the best birthday ever! Although… Ricky looked to the catalog with longing. “So no cake this year then?”

Ken seemed relieved by the change of subject. “You can’t have a birthday without a cake, son.” He flipped another page. “Look, they haveEek! The Cat. Whatever that is.”

“It’s a hilarious cartoon!” Ricky said, jostling closer to see.

This brought them back to more comfortable territory, but his heart kept circling around to a dream where everything was right again. Or even better, because he wanted more than mere permission to date Diego. Ricky hoped to welcome him into the family, so his boyfriend would finally have the love and support that he deserved.

CHAPTER 18

April 8th, 1993

Mindy sifted through the clothes on the theater wardrobe racks, her speed increasing as she continually failed to find the leather jacket she had borrowed from her sister. After a ridiculous amount of begging. Jessica wanted it back now and had made a big deal about it at the kitchen table this morning. After a second pass failed to yield results, Mindy began glancing around the backstage area in desperation.