"He asked me! Me!" I angrily pointed at myself and continued, "If I'm homophobic. Would you believe that?" A few hours passed, but my indignation was still the same.

Kathy looked very amused by my outrage. And obviously not just because of my reaction.

That witch! She must have known. Max said he did come out, and after my first day here, I was sure he was still pretty popular, so people had to know. At least people close to him, and I was positive that there were many of them. Besides, Misthall was a town of rumours.

Kathy could have warned me, but instead, she let me figure it out for myself. A really wonderful surprise.

"Gosh, I missed this," Kathy chuckled. I gave her an ugly look of distaste. She was seriously amused at my misfortune, while I felt like the whole world had been turned upside down. But I had to admit that I missed this. She and I with our endless conversations and breaking down the latest gossip. However, one thing has changed compared to the past. Before, when we sat like this, I usually had tears in my eyes and despair in my soul rather than anger.

"I'm glad you're having fun," I replied ironically, and she chuckled confirming the truth of my words.

We were currently sitting on the stairs of her house. She wanted to go inside, but I couldn't hold in my anger any longer and freaked out the minute we stepped in front of her house. I was quiet the whole bus ride, which was extremely hard since I desperately needed to vent, and I didn't trust anyone more in this town than Kathy.

"It's irony. What you want me to say? Of course, I knew. Everybody does, but since Max's still a golden boy of this town, no one gives a shit." She shrugged and tilted her head even more so she could fully expose her face to the sun.

It was so stupid how this town worked. People could condemn something one day and do a complete 180 the next day when they found it suited them. I still remember how they condemned abortion until Millie Sommers got pregnant at sixteen and suddenly it was okay because she had her whole life ahead of her and was too talented to be a mother and throw away her promising future. I had no idea what had happened to her now, but I probably didn't want to know either.

"This is ridiculous. And you know what's even worse?" It was basically a rhetorical question. Of course, I was going to tell her since I really needed to get it out of my system.

"What?" She still asked anyway. She was a true friend and cooperated even though she knew I was exaggerating.

"Apparently, his friends were trying to hook us up," I said in the most disgusted tone I could, but she reacted exactly the opposite. Of course, she started laughing. And not just weakly, but full-on with hooting, tilting of the head, and all that.

"That's not funny!" I shouted, throwing my hands in the air like proof of my annoyance. In one school day, I managed to experience nightmares that I had no idea existed. I knew exactly what it was like to have Max's attention, but this time it was different. And I wasn't sure it was any better.

"It sounds like a novel plot, though. Which means you can either try to fall in love with him or get revenge, nothing in between,” she stated with certainty.

I stared at her as if she was crazy. Probably because she was. I certainly wouldn't fall for him, and I was too smart to not toy with someone's feelings. It was basic decency and whatever he did to me in the past, I wouldn't hurt him for it. Maybe he deserved it, but I wasn't going to be cruel to him. If karma was going to get him, it had to do it without me. Breaking hearts just for fun (although I still doubted Max had any) was too much.

"Oh, I know that look. You're thinking into this too much," Kathy sighed and stood up. She quickly dusted down the imaginary dirt from her jeans. She was obviously done with this conversation, and I had no choice but to be too.

"I think I'm going to avoid him. It's for the best," I decided. It was the best thing I could do. It meant no more conversation, which also meant no more unwanted surprises. Plus, if it didn't work out, I could still pretend I was a homophobe after all, and he would avoid me. That is, if he didn't decide to punch me in the face.

"Yeaah," she stretched the word as if she was still thinking about her answer before she continued, "I think it's too late for that."

I frowned at that. There was no way he'd actually want to be friends with me, was there? Before I could think about it any further, the front door opened.

"Hey, Kath! How long are you going to stand outside? I literally saw you come like ten minutes ago." This girl peeked out of the door and shouted, clearly annoyed. I blinked twice just to be sure. Was it Rachel? Was it possible for a little kid to grow up so much in a short time? I have changed extremely, but I was also an extreme case.

"Fuck, Rachel, I'm coming." Kathy gave me a quick glance before she added: „We're coming."

My conclusion turned out to be right. The girl really was Kathy's younger sister. The last time I saw her, she was barely 10, so now, she must be somewhere around 14. I had to admit, she aged beautifully. She and Kathy looked so much alike and so different at the same time. But still, it must be obvious to everyone that these two were siblings.

"Wow, you finally brought a boyfriend. Mum will freak out," Rachel commented, and this time, I was the one laughing. Rachel gave me a surprised look but didn't say anything else. She was obviously pleased that Kathy didn't immediately refute her claim.

"Shut up, kiddo." Kathy gave her a nasty look, and then she turned to me. "Come on." She gestured for me to follow, and this time I did.

Rachel disappeared inside, and we were right behind her. We went inside, and I was glad to say that not much changed at Peters' household. The walls still held a colourful vibe, with many family pictures and postcards from their friends and family and contrasted with the dark carpets that were practically everywhere. I always adored how their house felt like a true home. Everywhere you looked, you saw a piece of this family, from baby pictures to glass containers full of shells they found on their vacations.

"What I just heard about a boyfriend?" A man came from the right and stood in front of us. I immediately recognized him as Kathy's father. He looked almost the same except for a few grey hairs and thicker frames of his glasses. Of course, I had no doubt that he had absolutely no idea who I was.

"No boyfriend, dad." Kathy rolled her eyes. I guessed it was up to me if I wanted to introduce myself. Well, if I wanted to introduce myself as myself.

"Yeah, no boyfriend, just me. Not sure if you remember me, though," I said even when I knew he most certainly did. Well, he remembered Taylor Clark. After all, I spend half of my childhood in their house.

"He's still the typical dad who doesn't know the names of his kids' friends," Kathy told mostly to me but did it loudly enough for her dad to hear.

"Of course, I do, right honey?" He glanced beside him where somewhere probably must be his wife. She took it as her sign to join us and came from around the corner in a second. One look at her, and I knew that unlike her husband she quickly realized who I was.

"Oh my god, Taylor Clark! Look at you! You're such a handsome young man!" She immediately went for a hug, and I let her. I wrapped my hands around her and chuckled. I once loved this family with my whole heart, and it was uplifting for me to know that they still cared about me. My disappearing years ago wasn't sudden, but I clearly remembered my promise to reach out to them as soon as I could, but I never did. Fortunately, it didn't look like they were holding it against me.

"It's Peyton, now," Kathy corrected her with a smirk. Mrs. Peters let me go but still held me close to her. She looked very happy about Kathy's statement as the biggest smile appeared on her face.

"Richard finally popped the big question, huh? I'm glad. They were basically born for each other." Her words caused the same wide smile on my face that she had.

"Of course, they were," Mr. Peters entered the conversation again. "Don't look at me like that, kiddo. I was just testing you. I recognized you the second you stepped into this house."

"Sure, you did," Kathy and her mom both said at the same time. I couldn't help but laugh. It felt good to be back.

---

Eventually, I stayed for dinner. Mom didn't mind when I called to tell her. She was actually more than happy that I reunited with Kathy and told me to come home whenever I wanted, just not too late cause I had school tomorrow.

Right now, it was almost 8 pm, and I was walking home. Mr. Peters offered me a ride, but I politely refused. I wanted to check for myself how much this town changed in those years I wasn't here. I knew the streets around Kathy's house by heart, so I was pretty sure that I wouldn't get lost even when I lived in a different part of the town now.

It was quite dark outside by now, but I wasn't scared. It was Misthall. Nothing bad ever happened here. It was an ironic line, you often heard at the beginning of horror movies, but it was true when it came to Misthall. Yes, townspeople judged you, and they even might bully you, but that was it. No robberies, no murders. It was a calm bigoted town.

Currently, I was passing by one of two supermarkets that were open 24/7. At least there were only two of them when I used to live here. I was quite sure that not much did change, though. It was a traditional town, after all. People really cared about how it looked to the outside world. They wanted to save the history of the town and at the same time give it something new that would fit in. This town was supposed to be a paradise for families with children. No big department stores, no noisy bars, just traditions.

Stopping by and buying some sweets was basically a tradition of mine. The neighbourhood where I lived before had a small shop where I used to buy lollipops for Kathy and me when we were hanging out, and when I moved out and lived in Gladwater, I did the same, except the sweets were for Asher and me.

I went in and immediately aimed for the candy alley. It was a quick trip – see it, take it, and leave. I found my favourite shelf right away. Surprisingly, I wasn't the only one looking for it. A guy who looked a little older than me was standing close to the shelf. He was scanning all those candy boxes with his eyes as if he was looking for something.

"Wanna help?" I asked politely, hoping he won't mistake me for a store employee because of my question. The guy turned his face to me, looking surprised as if he just realized he wasn't here alone. I gave him a half-smile, and his confused frown turned to one too. He quickly straightened up and turned to face me.

"Yeah, I guess I have bad luck. My favourites are always sold, and I was kinda hoping I find like the one lost piece. It's stupid." He smiled, awkwardly rubbing his head. For a guy who looked like he was in his twenties, I had to say he was cute.

"Favourites are favourites, right?" I beamed at him, so he wouldn't look so ashamed anymore. It worked. He gave me a bright smile and moved the things he was carrying from one hand to the other. I was bewildered by his action at first, but when he reached out his hand in my direction, I quickly understood what he wanted to do.

"I'm Marcus," he – I mean Marcus – introduced himself. Straight away, I reciprocated the gesture. It never hurt to have friends in this town. Also, it wasn't sure if we would ever see each other again since, as I said, he looked older than me.

"Taylor."

"So, Taylor, I guess I leave you to it. I hope I don't bring you bad luck, too," he chuckled.

"Yeah, not happening. I'm too basic for that," I said, and reached out for the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. "See?" I raised my hand higher so he could have a good look at them.

"Favourites are favourites," he repeated my line. I couldn't believe I was having a nice conversation with a stranger in Misthall. It was a pleasant surprise, but come to think of it, Gabriel was also more than nice.

"I should go, but it was nice to meet you." It was already late, and even when I was enjoying this small talk, I was thrilled to get home and talk to my mom about my first day. It might sound weird coming from a teenager, but I loved talking to my mom. I often thought of her as one of my friends, and even when I made a bunch of new ones, I still kept her updated. She was my friend before anyone else, and that was something I would never forget.

"See you at the candy alley," he gave me a last smile before I turned to leave.

"See ya," I told him over my shoulder as I looked back and waved at him.

He returned the gesture.

I went straight to the cash desk and paid for the candy. There weren't many people at this hour, so it was quick, and I didn't have to stay inside for long. I went out of the door and breathed in the fresh night air. I had to admit - today, although it brought a lot of unwanted memories, wasn't that bad. With this thought in mind, I smiled for myself and headed home.