October, 2009...

Shelby was eating in the cafeteria of West Portland Elementary School. It was third grade. A short boy with glasses walked over to her and sat across from her with his lunch.

"Hey, little Barry" Shelby said, teasing him.

"Shelby, don't call me that!" Barry yelled "You know I hate that!"

"I'm sorry!" Shelby said. "I can't believe it! Cyd is absent!"

"Yeah I heard she got the flu or something." Barry said.

"Well, I miss her," Shelby said. "It totally sucks that she's wasn't in my class to talk with me."

"Wow, you two are inseparable." Barry said. "Unlike Ronaldo and I. I need some space from him. Especially since he's less science oriented."

"Yeah, we're the best of friends," Shelby said, sad. "I really like being with Cyd. It's fun."

Barry looked at how sad Shelby was talking about Cyd's absence.

"You look so sad." Barry said. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing." Shelby replied.

"You're acting like how my mom acts whenever my dad leaves for a business trip." Barry said. "She always acts so sad and misses him, it's like you and Cyd are a couple."

"Wait, what?" Shelby was confused. "What do you mean couple?"

"You're acting like my parents, who are a couple."

"But, we're both girls…" Shelby said.

"Well yeah, girls can be couples too." Barry said.

"That's possible?" Shelby asked, "My parents always said love is between a man and a woman."

"Of course it's possible." Barry said. "You never heard of gay couples?"

Gay? Shelby had only heard that word when it said something about that on the news, about "gay marriage." She remember her parents were angry that it was being legalized in some states. But she never knew what it was.

"So, what is it?" She asked.

"Gay is the opposite of straight." He said "It's when a boy dates a boy and girls date girls. There's even a gay relative in my family."

"Well, what's so bad about it?" Shelby asked.

"Well, in my opinion, nothing is wrong with it. But, some people think it's a sin because of religion."

"Hm, well my family is Christian" Shelby said. "Maybe that's why they don't approve of it."

"Maybe, yeah." Barry threw his tray in the trash. "Well, I need to go check on my science project, see you later."

"Bye Barry." Shelby said. "This gay thing… Is it possible I could have a crush on Cyd?" She thought.

Later, after school, it was dinner time in the Marcus's living room.

"Hey mom, thanks so much for dinner." Bret said.

"Yeah, this chicken is delicious!" Chet said.

"Thanks boys," Astrid said, then kissed Bret and Chet's heads.

"So, Shelby, anything interesting happen at school?" Norm asked.

"Well, a kid told me about this thing…" Shelby said. "It's called being gay"

"Excuse me?" Norm said, as if Shelby said something inappropriate.

"And he said it's where you date someone of the same gender." Shelby said. "Also, sometimes when you guys watch Fox News they talk about something called Gay marriage too. And you get angry. Why?"

"Listen Shelby, it's not okay." Norm said. "Marriage is between man and a woman!"

"Yeah, gay marriage is WEIRD" Chet said.

"Really gross" Bret said.

"Honey, remember when you learned about the creation of the world in church? It states that God created Adam and Eve, he created man and woman to be together." Astrid told her. Then she picked up a bible on the shelf.

"Like this verse, Leviticus 18:22-23 'You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.' and also, this one. Lev 20:13 "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death."

"Put to death?" Shelby was a little scared.

"Well, I don't think they should be killed," Astrid said. "They should be converted into straight,"

"Uh… But what if they don't want to?" Shelby asked. "It doesn't sound bad to be gay."

"Shelby." Norm looked at her straight in the eyes. "You can go eat dinner in your room now. We will not talk about this anymore."

"But!"

"Bedroom! Now!" Norm said.

"Fine daddy!" Shelby took her plate into her bedroom.

"Don't worry Hun," Astrid said to Norm. "Sometimes kids do go through a gay phase but she'll forget it."

Shelby ate her chicken then she lay on the bed.

"This gay thingy… It, it doesn't sound that bad…" Shelby said, "I wonder if there's anything online about it."

Shelby searched Globo-Google-Dyne's search bar for "gay marriage."

From there, she learned about homophobia, the gay rights movement, the LGBT community, and even read some people's coming out stories. She read one that really made her sad.

The post read: "I came out as gay to my parents in 1995, and they yelled at me so loudly. They told me I was an abomination and kicked me out of the house. They told me I was never welcome in their house ever again. I had to go to my aunt's house where she helped me graduate high school."

"That's horrible…" Shelby said to herself. "I wonder, do I feel about Cyd romantically? I might? N-no! Yes? I don't know. I know one thing. I just won't talk about this ever again to my parents. They won't yell at me like ever again!"

"Hey Shelby," Bret yelled. "MOM WANTS YOU!"

"COMING MOM!" Shelby yelled, then came downstairs. "What?"

"It's your turn to clean the dishes." Astrid said.

"Okay." She then started the dishes. But she couldn't get Cyd out of her head.

"Maybe I do have a crush. But I can't tell anyone." She said in her head.

This is my first story on here, please give feedback! I'll take suggestions for next chapter too. It will take place in the present time, where they have time travel powers.