[11:22 PM] Theo: Kota?
Are you okay?
I can hear yelling from in here.
[11:23 PM] Theo: It sounds bad.
Really bad.
Your dad’s voice is very loud.
[11:24 PM] Theo: Please tell me you’re okay.
I’m really scared, darling.
[11:25 PM] Theo: Is it my fault?
Did I do something wrong?
I knew I should have hid in the closet.
[11:26 PM] Theo: I can’t hear exactly what he’s saying but your voice sounds angry.
I’ve never heard you like that.
[11:28 PM] Theo: Please don’t fight because of me.
I don’t want to tear your family apart.
[11:30 PM] Theo: Kota please answer.
I’m shaking.
My hands won’t stop trembling.
[11:32 PM] Theo: I think I’m going to be sick.
This is all my fault.
I shouldn’t have come here.
[11:34 PM] Theo: I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry for everything.
For the meeting.
For the bed hair.
For being your principal.
For loving you so much it hurts.
[11:36 PM] Theo: Please don’t leave me.
I know I’m a burden.
I know my family is messy and my father is a tyrant and I’m too clingy and too needy and too much.
But please don’t leave me.
[11:38 PM] Theo: I love you so much, Kota.
Whatever happens, whatever your dad says, I love you.
I’ll always love you.
[11:40 PM] Theo: Please…
Kota’s phone sat on the coffee table in the living room, screen lighting up with each desperate message, but he couldn’t see it.
He was too busy fighting with his father.
Theo stood alone in Kota’s bedroom, his back pressed against the closed door, his phone clutched in both hands.
The walls were thin.
He could hear everything.
The muffled rise and fall of two voices, one deep and furious, the other equally angry but tinged with pain.
The words were distorted, but the emotion was clear.
They were screaming at each other.
About him.
Because of him.
His chest tightened.
His breath came in short, shallow gasps.
The tears he had been holding back for the past ten minutes finally spilled over, tracking hot paths down his flushed cheeks.
He couldn’t do this.
He couldn’t just stand here and listen while the man he loved tore his relationship with his father apart because of him.
He needed someone.
He needed to hear a friendly voice before he completely fell apart.
His fingers trembled as he pulled up Sebastian’s contact and hit call.
Sebastian answered on the first ring, his voice bright and eager.
“Sooo how did it go?
I’ve been waiting all evening to hear about the big meeting with your father.
Did Kota charm him?
Did he threaten to disown you?
Did anyone cry?
I made tea specifically for this phone call.
I’m ready for all the details.”
Theo opened his mouth to respond, but what came out was a choked sob.
“Sebastian, it’s a disaster.
It’s all gone wrong.
He hates me.
Kota’s dad hates me.
He’s screaming at Kota right now and I can hear everything through the walls and it’s all my fault.”
Sebastian’s tone shifted instantly from excitement to concern.
“Whoa, whoa, slow down.
What happened?
Why is he screaming?
What did you do?”
“I existed,” Theo whimpered, sliding down the door until he was sitting on the floor, his knees pulled up to his chest.
“I showed up as Kota’s boyfriend and he recognized me as the principal and now they’re fighting and I think I’ve ruined everything.
I’ve ruined Kota’s relationship with his dad.
I’ve ruined my own relationship.
I’ve ruined everything.”
“You haven’t ruined anything.
You’re panicking.
I know panic.
I’m basically made of panic.
But you need to calm down and listen to me.” Sebastian’s voice was firm but gentle, the same tone he used when he was talking a student through a particularly difficult essay.
“Kota loves you.
That’s not going to change because his dad is upset.
His dad is probably just surprised.
He’ll come around.”
“You don’t understand,” Theo said, his voice cracking.
“Kota’s dad is so strict.
He raised Kota to be tough and strong and to stay away from people like me.
He’s going to forbid us from seeing each other.
He’s going to make Kota choose between his family and me.
And I know Kota would choose me, but I don’t want him to have to make that choice.
I don’t want to be the reason he loses his dad.”
“Theo, you’re spiraling.
You need to stop.
Take a deep breath.
Count to ten.
Do that thing where you list five things you can see.”
“I can see Kota’s football posters.
I can see his dresser.
I can see the mess we made on his bed.
I can see my stupid handbag.
I can see the door that’s keeping me from going out there and fixing this.” Theo’s voice cracked again.
“Sebastian, what if I quit?
What if I resign as principal?
If I’m not his principal anymore, then his dad won’t have any reason to be angry.
Then we could just be two normal people in a relationship.
I would do it.
I would do it in a heartbeat.
I would quit my job, give up my title, give up everything, if it meant Kota and I could be together forever.”
“Don’t you dare,” Sebastian said sharply.
“Don’t you dare make that decision while you’re crying on the floor of Kota’s bedroom.
Kota would never want you to quit your job for him.
He’d never ask you to give up your career just to appease his dad.
That’s not love, Theo.”
“But I love him so much it physically hurts.
I would do anything for him.
Anything.
I’d quit being principal.
I’d give up the mansion.
I’d live in a cardboard box if it meant waking up next to him every morning.” Theo’s tears were falling faster now, soaking into the collar of his blazer.
“I just want his dad to accept us.
I want us to be a real couple without all this hiding and lying and sneaking around.
Is that too much to ask?”
“No, it’s not too much to ask.
But quitting your job isn’t the answer.
Give his dad time.
Let him process.
He just found out his son is dating the principal.
That’s a big deal for any parent, let alone one as traditional as Kota’s dad seems to be.
He’ll come around.
But you can’t make decisions based on fear, Theo.
You’re the principal of a high school.
You’re Theodore Hawthorne.
You don’t run away from problems.
You face them head on, even when it’s scary.
Even when your hands are shaking and your heart is pounding and you feel like you might throw up.
You face them.”
Theo sniffled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.
“You’re right.
You’re right.
But it’s so hard, Sebastian.
I’ve never had to fight for anything in my life.
Everything was just given to me.
And now the one thing I want more than anything, the one person who makes me feel alive, might be taken away because of who I am.”
“You’re Theodore Hawthorne.
You’re smart and kind and brave, even when you don’t feel like it.
And Kota is not going to let his dad take you away.
Trust me on that.
I’ve seen the way he looks at you.
That man would burn down the entire school district if it meant keeping you safe.” Sebastian paused.
“Now stop crying and go splash some water on your face.
You’re going to be okay.
We’re all going to be okay.”
Outside the bedroom, the argument had reached a fever pitch.
Khalil stood in the middle of the living room, his face twisted with anger, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“Why the fucking principal, Kota?
Of all the people in this city, of all the guys you could have picked, you chose the one person who holds your entire academic future in his hands?
The one person who could ruin you with a single signature?
Do you have any idea how that looks?
Do you have any idea what people will say?”
Kota stood across from him, his own anger flaring hot and bright.
“I didn’t pick him, Dad.
I fell in love with him.
There’s a difference.
And he would never ruin me.
He’s not like that.
He’s kind and gentle and he would do anything for me.
He’s already done more for me than anyone else in my entire life.”
“Kind?
Gentle?
He’s a Hawthorne, Kota.
Those people don’t do kind and gentle.
They do money and power and control.
His father runs half the school district.
His family owns more property than the city.
And you think this boy is just some innocent romantic who fell for you by accident?”
“Stop it.
You don’t know him.
You’ve never even spoken to him before tonight.
You’re just making assumptions based on his last name and his job title.”
“I don’t need to know him.
I know his type.
I know what happens to kids like you when they get involved with people like him.
They get used up and thrown away.
They become entertainment for the rich and powerful.
They end up as a footnote in someone else’s story.”
Kota’s voice rose to a yell.
“That’s not what’s happening!
I love him!
I fucking love him, Dad!
Why can’t you understand that?
Why can’t you just be happy for me?”
“Because you’re not thinking clearly!
You’re eighteen years old and you’ve got some kind of weird disease that makes you horny all the time and you think that means you’re in love, but it doesn’t.
It means you’re confused and desperate and this rich kid is taking advantage of that.”
“Don’t you dare.
Don’t you fucking dare throw my condition in my face like it makes my feelings invalid.
Yes, I have hyperspermia.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t know what love is.
And Theo isn’t taking advantage of me.
He’s the only person who’s ever made me feel like I matter beyond my cock.”
Khalil’s voice dropped, low and dangerous.
“You think you’re the first person to fall for a pretty face and a fat wallet?
You think you’re special because this principal guy whispered sweet nothings in your ear and bent over for you?
Wake up, Kota.
He’s using you just like he uses everyone else.
You’re a novelty to him.
A big-dicked charity case from the wrong side of town.”
“You’re wrong.
You’re so wrong it makes me sick.
Theo loves me.
He told me he loved me every single day.
He cried in my arms when I said it back.
He risked his career to be with me.
He faced down a school board investigation because he refused to deny what we have.
That’s not using.
That’s love.
Real love.
The kind you’ve never shown me because you’ve been too busy working and lecturing and pretending the world hasn’t changed.”
The words hung in the air like a slap.
Khalil’s face went pale, then red, then something else entirely.
His eyes glistened, and for a moment, Kota saw something raw and broken beneath his father’s anger.
“Your mother vanished when you were born,” Khalil said, his voice suddenly quiet.
“She was there, and then she wasn’t.
Every woman in the world, gone in an instant.
And I thought, okay.
I thought, my son will grow up like men did before all this.
He’ll be strong.
He’ll work hard.
He’ll keep his head down and not get caught up in all this soft, emotional bullshit that’s infected everyone else.”
Kota opened his mouth to interrupt, but Khalil kept going, the words spilling out in a torrent.
“I know it’s not your fault.
I know it’s not anyone’s fault.
But even when you got that hyperspermia diagnosis, when the doctor said you had to have sex or you’d die, I told myself, okay, it’s out of my hands now.
I have to let my son out of his cage.
I have to accept that he’s going to be with someone.
But I thought he’d pick a nice boy from our area.
Our neighborhood.
Our tax bracket.
Like the elevator boy.
Hell, anyone but this.
Anyone but the pompous rich boy who controls his grades and has a mansion and a personal chef.”
Kota’s eyes flashed with fury.
“Don’t you fucking insult Theo like that.
You don’t get to reduce him to a stereotype just because you’re scared of change.”
“Scared of change?
I’ve been adapting to change since the day you were born!
I’ve worked double shifts and graveyard hours to keep a roof over our heads.
I’ve watched the world turn into something I don’t recognize.
I’ve accepted that my son has to fuck his way through life just to stay alive.
But this?
Dating the principal?
Sleeping with the man who signs your report card?
That’s not change.
That’s self-destruction.”
“Shut up!
Shut up!
You don’t get to make baseless judgments about someone you just met five minutes ago.
Theo is the nicest, most caring, most supportive person I have ever known.
He makes me feel safe.
He makes me feel loved.
He listens to me when I’m scared and holds me when I’m sad.
He’s more supportive than you’ve ever been, Dad.
At least he doesn’t treat me like a burden or a disappointment.”
Khalil flinched as if he’d been struck.
His mouth opened, then closed.
For a long moment, he just stared at Kota, his expression unreadable.
Then, without another word, he turned and walked toward the front door.
“I’m gonna get a drink,” he muttered, his voice flat and hollow.
The door clicked shut behind him, and the apartment fell silent.
Kota stood alone in the living room, his chest heaving, his hands shaking.
He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, trying to push back the tears that threatened to spill.
Then he sighed, long and ragged, and walked back toward his bedroom.
He pushed the door open gently.
Theo was standing just inside, his phone lying forgotten on the floor, his face streaked with tears.
He was shaking, his shoulders heaving with quiet sobs.
When he saw Kota, he let out a broken sound and ran to him, throwing his arms around his neck and burying his face in his chest.
He cried hard, his body trembling against Kota’s.
Kota wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight.
“You heard all of that?”
Theo’s voice came out small and broken, muffled against Kota’s shirt.
“Every last bit…”