Family Conflicts • astronomad53 • 19h ago

Please assist me in getting out of this situation.

Today, I spent some time in my town center hanging out with friends. It's a Tuesday, and for the past few months, I've been lying to my parents about going to college when I'm actually not. While we were hanging out, I kissed one of my friends a few times and started flirting with her. When we got on the escalator, I lit up a cigarette, and suddenly I heard a guy behind me say, "Call Mamu Rashid" to Siri (that's my dad's name). I turned around and realized it was my cousin, whom I hadn’t seen in a year. It took me a moment to recognize him. I decided to ignore him because, honestly, who uses Siri to make calls these days? It felt like he wanted me to overhear him. I was panicking the rest of the day, worrying if he’d tell my dad about what he saw—whether it was me kissing my friend or smoking. When I got home, I noticed there were missed calls from him on my dad's phone at the same time he called out to Siri on the escalator. My cousin’s parents have always been difficult with my family, especially since they never approved of my parents' marriage. There’s a lot of tension between us, and I've always thought they were terrible people. Now, I’m at a loss about what to do. I don't want to come clean to my parents because I know they wouldn’t trust me again. Should I try to say it wasn’t me and that he mistook someone else for me? I could really use some advice on how to get out of this situation. Plus, my parents are homophobic and have no idea I'm gay, and they definitely don't know I smoke.


annanora • 19h ago
How do you feel about the possibility of coming out to your parents, and what do you think would happen if your cousin were to share what he saw?