Yanking His Chain

“What’s this all about, Matt?” Steve growled, his face red with anger. “How could you do this? After all these years! You’ve been lying to me! I thought we were friends, and now this? You disgust me!” Steve stopped pacing back and forth in front of the lockers and sat down on a bench, burying his face in his hands. 

“Steve, man, I’m sorry,” Matt began, but Steve interrupted him.

“Sorry? Sorry?! Sorry doesn’t cut it, Matt! Geez! I can’t believe you!”

“Oh, get off your high horse, Steve!” Matt had lost his patience. “You had to know something was different about me. We’ve known each other for what, 15, 16 years, and you’ve never seen signs of it before? And you never questioned me till now? NO. You just went along with it like it was no big deal. Save me your precious fake anger. What’s the problem, anyway? Just because I feel differently from you doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, does it? C’mon, Steve!”

“All right, all right,” Steve conceded. “Maybe I’m overreacting a little. I guess that deep down, you’re still the same guy you’ve always been, but I, I just never expected to learn this about you, Matt. Sure, I’ve seen the signs, but I didn’t want to believe that it was true, so I’ve always pushed them out of my mind. Still, why now? Why announce now how you really are?”

“Steve, we’re best friends, aren’t we?” When his friend nodded, Matt continued, “And best friends should be able to trust each other with their deepest secrets, right? To know the worst and best about each other still support each other, right?” Steve agreed again, so Matt said, “Well, I’m coming cleannow because I haven’t been honest with you. I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be my friend if you knew the truth about me.”

“Gosh, Matt, I’m angry because you’ve been lying to me, but it’s not the end of the world! I mean, seriously, just because you’ve come out of the closet as a Yankees fan after pretending to be a Red Sox fan all these years isn’t going to end our friendship!”