There are times when questions bring nothing but trigger your thoughts and imaginations. It makes you think, and keep thinking until you get an answer to it. Sometimes wrong, sometimes right.
"Like seriously Joy? Your questions are a little bit far. Why would you say that?" Rachael felt slightly different about Joy's questions.

To her, it was the wrong thing to do at the wrong time. Kevin gently patted her, as she just stared at Joy, who wore a frown.

Andrew, on the other hand, was not angry with Joy's use of words in her questions. It only made him meditate for a while, and for some reason, the scene of Caleb flashed to his memory lane. That only made him hurt, as it felt as if a knife was piercing through his heart.
"Hey, Joy's questions are okay. I can answer them, and thanks to her questions, I have meditated on some things." Rachael finally calmed down after Andrew's gentle words.
It was a good thing Andrew was calm about it. If it were to be someone else, he or she might have taken it personally.
"I am indeed attracted to the same sex, and it can reoccur. I wasn't scared after discovering my feelings for the same sex, but I am sticking to self-control. I choose to control any sexual impulses toward the same sex rather than act on them. I know it won't be easy, but when it comes to my standing before man and God, giving in to homosexuality is a sin, something I want to steer away from," Andrew felt light and slightly relieved as he said those words.
"We will support your decision. I am so proud of you," Joy pinched his ear slightly as he chuckled.
" Feelings can be tricky, but when self-control and discipline are involved they'll fade away with time," Rachael commented, as Kevin nodded.
"You know, I always read stories about same-sex attraction, even tho I felt it was weird. But when I later read a particular novel, it began shedding more light on it. I felt more surprised by the spirit of the main character," Joy stated.
"Can you tell me more about the book?" Andrew questioned.
"It is about a young teenage boy who struggles with same-sex attraction. As he grows up, the more he gets attracted to them. He controls the feeling but it becomes difficult when the same sexes start getting attracted to him, leaving him with two choices. Either to give in to his feelings and become gay or to control them, hoping that one day, it will stop," Joy smiled, as she finished her part of the book.
"Wow. I am speechless. What later happened? Did he give in or disciplined himself?" Kevin and Rachael simply looked on as the two were speaking.
"It is left for you to find out. The title of the book is WEIRD FEELING BY PROF ISRAEL. Do search it up on Google, to know which app you can easily read it from. I am eagerly waiting for part 2 of that book," Joy stated, as Andrew nodded.
"Thank you Joy. Hopefully, the book will help. Thank you, everyone," Andrew appreciated.

The four continued talking but somehow Andrew has a lot going on in his mind.
"Do you still have something you want to tell us?" Joy, noticing a change in him asked.

Andrew was slightly startled, as he noticed others staring at him. For some reason, he does not even know whether to talk about it.
"You can always trust us. We are your friends. A problem shared with the right person is a problem half solved. Don't think too much into it, "Rachael spoke.
"I am just a little bit down recently. I have some more confession," the whole place dropped dead silent as Andrew spoke.
"I feel my stepdad has a hand in my mum's death but was able to frame me, as he has a video to prove it,
"The night my mum died, she came back home but was being called up by her superior to travel back that night. So I did something to stop her from going," Tears slipped down Andrew's face, as that night reminisced in her mind.
"I put a sleeping pill in her cup of water. She drank it, as she sluggishly went to bed. She never woke up to see the next day," Andrew burst into more tears, as everyone seemed quite shocked by his confession.
"Wait. What? Are you sure it was a sleeping pill?" Joy asked as Andrew nodded in a yes tone.
"Andrew, was your stepdad around that night?"Rachael asked.
"Yes. I could remember how he wore a happy expression that night. Somehow, the police investigated, but never saw either a trace of sleeping pill or poison in the autopsy they carried out. And neither did they suspect either my stepdad or me even after going through the CCTV camera at home.
This only left me with a suspicious mind, even tho I kept blaming myself for the death of my mum. After all, if I hadn't added the sleeping pills in her drinking water, maybe she would still be alive till this moment. I caused her death," Andrew let another round of tears down his face again.

The three were dazed for a while. They never expected Andrew was going through a lot. He was the brightest of them all, and everyone that sees him believes that he is probably the happiest person with little or no problems, but with his words, it seems like more is still rolling in.
"Don't ever blame yourself. You cared about your mum and never wanted her to go. But somehow, there is someone in the shadow plotting into the night. There is more to this story," Rachael was more logical, as she sensed an upper hand in Andrew's story.
Wiping the tears off his face, he continued:
"I never got myself, and guilt kept eating me up, not until my hands landed on the sleeping pills again. That was when I realized there was yet an exact match with mine. There was not even a difference except for the touch. That was when I confronted my stepdad, who was quite surprised.
I thought he would kill me that day since I suspected him to have a hand in my mum's death, but he only showed me a video where I took the swapped sleeping pills and how I dropped one in my mum's drinking water. I felt more guilty, as I realized how I killed my mother. It was the worst mistake of my life. One I still blamed myself for till this moment," Andrew felt his body heat up, as he felt his throat choke a little, making him release air from his mouth.

Joy quickly patted him at the back. Tears filled her eyes too, as she felt pity for Andrew. She has never seen him this way. Kevin felt his heart plummeting, as he looked sadly at Andrew whose face was beginning to turn pale.
"Andrew, please calm down. Your stepdad is behind this. He must have swapped the pills, probably figuring out your plan to stop your mum, if she made any attempt to leave you again," Andrew began calming down at Rachael's words.
"A few months later, my stepdad will often come to my room almost naked, with just his pants. He made me know that he is obsessed with me. He tried to have sex with me, but I left home that day.
He remained his cool, and he promised to make me his in due time.
I was afraid, and with the fact that I was attracted to the same sex, I felt he had figured it out. Most of the time, I leave home during weekends since he is often home.
Every weekend, he drops clothes in my wardrobe. With lust in his eyes, he would tell me how he would feel if he could just hug me," this confession left them startled again.
"I always move with a small knife to use as a defense in case he tries something fishy. I could not afford to be raped by someone whom I suspected was behind my mum's death.
I tried finding ways to ensure he never went Scot free, but his plans were fully proofed as I never saw any loopholes. Instead, he was only able to find more evidence against me? The thought alone makes me crazy.
Sometimes I wonder why my life is like this. But one thing I will never do is to give up. I don't know actually, because the time is ticking closely, and I have two choices.
Either to lie down with my stepdad whom I detest the most, or get imprisoned or even sentenced to death with the evidence in his hands? I don't know what to stick to,"
Andrew felt his eyes closing as he fainted.