Eli watched Sam scan the room. They didn’t gravitate toward the loud laughter or the glittery posters. Instead, their eyes landed on Eli’s jacket—specifically, the small flag patch: blue, pink, white.
Sam walked over. “Mind if I sit?”
Sam smiled, tired and kind. “It does. And it doesn’t. You know how it is. Sometimes you need the whole choir. Sometimes you need the bass section.”
“Let’s go,” Eli said. “But we’re sitting in the back.”
Sam reached over and squeezed his hand. “That’s the culture, kid. Not the parades or the memes. That right there.”
For a while, neither spoke. Then Sam nodded toward the group. “It’s loud in here.”
Eli frowned. “But this is our people. Right? LGBTQ+ means us too.”
“Newbie alert,” Kai whispered. “Think they’re lost?”