Speak up? I haven't said anything. "I-I don't know...what to say." I sputtered.
"Come down, get off the stairs." Mr. Atkins waved with his free arm.
Zeke took a step down, but I felt as frozen as Mrs. Atkins. She didn't look good and I didn't feel good. Was she...regretting? Regretting having me here?
"What did she mean by corrupt? That I'm corrupting Noah?" I asked, voice shaking almost as much as my body.
Mrs. Atkins looked scared.
"I'm not corrupted." Noah spoke up. "Just come down and I'll tell you what they meant."
Both his parents looked down at him.
Noah shrugged. "I'm a teen. I know what they meant. What they implied." He looked up at me and tapped his foot impatiently. "Are you coming or not? Come on!"
Seeing Noah be his usual self helped ease my anxiety. I was scared. If I was corrupting Noah, would Mr. and Mrs. Atkins send me away? I took a step forward. Zeke did as well, not letting go of my shoulders. It was like he was guiding me off a cliff. The people at the bottom were all telling me to come down, and then there was him patiently walking me down like he would catch me if I fell.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, and both his parents looked relieved.
"They were implying that we were gay for each other." Noah said out of nowhere. My jaw dropped. "Exactly. Unbelievable." He rolled his eyes.
"Noah...we could have phrased that a little better." Mr. Atkins told him, letting go of his shoulders. He looked down at me. "Jake, don't mind those kind of people. Even if you were-"
I shook my head vehemently. "I'm not! I'm-I'm not!"
"No need to tell us either way." Mr. Atkins smiled. "We know-"
"Know what?!" I screeched, feeling on edge. "I don't! I don't like boys!" I don't even think I liked girls.
"Jake." Zeke's grip on my shoulder tightened. "We know that." He let out a laugh, almost making me jump out of my skin. Zeke, who hardly shows his emotions, is laughing right now?
Noah was laughing too. He walked over to me and gave me a noogie on the head, messing up my hair. "I treat you like a brother. I assume you're doing the same, aren't you?"
I am? I tilted my head to make him stop touching the top of my head. "I want a brother like you." I whispered.
"And you have a brother like me!" Noah smiled. "I'm your brother. Zeke and the twins can be your brothers too."
Can they?
Mr. Atkins stepped closer. "I was trying to tell you Jake, we know how you feel. We're a family aren't we? We see you like a son. It's only right for brothers to be close to one another. Just look at the twins. They're even closer than you and Noah. Greg and Diana just have twisted minds with warped ideas."
It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, yet Zeke's arm was still there. "So...you're not mad at me? You won't kick me out?"
"Oh, Jake!" Mrs. Atkins sniffled and wiped the corner of her eyes. "No, no, of course not. I was so scared that you would run away after hearing those morons. We wouldn't leave you. We won't leave you. Like Wayne said, you're like a son to us."
"Wow, Mommmm.." Noah stretched out. "I can't believe you just called them morons. What would Jesus think?"
"He would forgive me, of course." Mrs. Atkins smacked him on the head. "But not you. You're just a kid. You shouldn't say that at all. Even if you're repeating after me."
Noah laughed and I cracked a smile.
Then I remembered what they said about Kyle and Marie. My smile fell away. "What about Kyle?"
"Yea." Noah agreed, looking up at his parents. "Will they cut their date short? They aren't going to attack Kyle or something right?"
Mrs. Atkins looked worried again.
The house phone started to ring, making all of us flinch as a group. Mr. Atkins went over to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Yes, something did happen. Come on home and we'll have a talk."
"No, we didn't sabotage your date on purpose."
"We had conflicting views on parenting. Just come home for a talk, okay?"
"Drive safe."
He hung up and looked at us. "That was Kyle. He's coming home. Apparently Marie was called home by her parents." He sighed. "He probably won't take this very well if her parents decide that they can't date."
Noah shrugged. "It's not like she was a good person anyways."
Both of his parents immediately stared him down.
I kicked his foot and gave him a look, widening my eyes. Kyle didn't want us to mention that.
Noah noticed his error right away and started an awkward laugh. "Ha, ha, oh, I mean, she, they-uh..."
"Marie comes off pretty strong like her parents." Zeke spoke up.
"What? We let Kyle date someone like that?" Mrs. Atkins looked at me worriedly. "Did she also say something mean to you? Is that where her parents got those ideas?" He looked to Noah. "Is Kaylee like this as well? I don't want to ban you all from hanging out without anyone, but I pray that you boys can tell right from wrong."
I looked to Noah helplessly. Way to go. Now Kyle is really going to kill us.