“Honey, there’s no such thing as an evil person,” Chris explained as his exasperated wife paced back and forth across their bedroom floor. He swore he saw marks in the carpet as she threw her hands in the air once more.

“I just don’t know what’s gotten into her. I swear she was in love with Henry,” Victoria yelled but knew she was lying. Deep inside, she knew Tina only dated Henry because of a dare Kelly gave her and they ended up continuing the relationship because they ‘looked good together.’

She collapsed on the mattress next to her confused husband and tried to control her breathing. It wasn’t right that her daughter was dating another woman. It was inhumane. Wrong. Deceitful. Unnatural.

Chris stared down at his wife, her eyes fluttering as she struggled to find peace. He had respected her faith and ability to find the easy way out in every situation since they met in college but seeing her helpless was sad to him. Since birth, the both of them grew up in conservative Catholic families, using the Bible as their guide to a happy life. It was their rulebook and their key to raising their only daughter Tina. But after hearing about the incident about Bette and Tina sleeping together, he was starting to doubt his religion. They didn’t do anything wrong, he knew his Tina even if she friends with the wrong people, but he knew that all they were doing was sharing a bed. He asked Victoria if they were clothed and she said yes. So what harm was there is a simple sleepover of two teenagers.

Chris suddenly flashbacked to the time when he found out his older brother came out to the family at Christmas dinner.

He was only fourteen at the time but he knew that sleeping with the same sex was considered a sin. His brother was eighteen, a valedictorian and the school’s most loved soccer goalie. He led the team to back-to-back championships since he was a freshman. So why could such a simple two-word confession lead his parents to verbally bash him in front of the whole family, to ruin a time to spend together as a family to make him break down in tears? Chris closed his eyes and remembered that night vividly.