Robbie sat in his room trembling with fear and despair as his parents paced outside his bedroom in the hallway. The phone rang continuously and his mother snatched it quickly.

"Who?" he could hear his mother say. "Listen hear, Alex, you little faggot, let's get one thing clear: you are never seeing my son again. I don't care if you think he's your boyfriend or God knows what else, but do not call here again." And the phone slammed down.

"This is your fault! You coddle him!" his father bellowed.

"Well maybe if you'd spent more time with him... "

"You little bitch!" Robbie heard a loud smack as his mother uttered a scream and knocked over framed pictures as she hit the ground. Robbie began to sob quietly, waiting for another round of bruises on top of the ones that hadn't healed yet. He wished he could call or text Alex, ask him for help, ask him for advice, but his parents had taken his cell phone away. He would jump onto Facebook and cry out for help or even email Mr. Parker and tell him he was sorry and that he didn't know what to do, but his parents had taken away his computer. He looked out the window and wondered what life on the other side was like. He hadn't been allowed to leave the house for two weeks and for most of it he barely left his room for fear of his father's wrath.

"... but they do electroshock therapy or worse!" he could hear his mother say.

"It's either that or I beat the gay out of him," his father said. "Pastor says he's sent lots of boys to this place and they come back regular."

"What if we just talk to him? Or send him to a shrink?"

"So what? They can tell him that everything's alright? That what he feels is normal? No, we're sending him to this place and that is that."

Robbie ran to his door and locked it. He pushed his chest of drawers in front of it and collapsed to the floor, sobbing hysterically. When he first realized he was gay, Robbie scoured the internet for a way to be normal. He found stories about conversion places like his dad wanted to send him to. People submerged in ice water, shocked with electrodes while being shown pornography. It sounded like Hell.

What could these people at this place think they could do that he hadn't tried himself? Didn't they think he'd try to cure himself, pray the gay away? But God hadn't heard that prayer nor the prayers for this nightmare to be over. Desperate, he realized there was only one way out of this life. Out of this nightmare. To stop all the pain at home, the pain with his father. The confusion, the fear, the anger.

He ran to his bed, gathered his sheets, and fashioned a sort of rope out of them, then looped it around. He looked and measured exactly how much he would need.

He needed out, once and for all. And this was the only way.

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Just joining us? Catch up here:

Volume 1 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 2 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 3 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 4 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 5 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five


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