If I'd beenstanding up I would have taken an instinctive step backwards. "When youkilled Patrice," she said simply, "you absorbed her energy. As a nor...alhuman, you do not possess the life energy to maintain your body andabsorb the energies you acquired from her. Because of this, Patrice'slife energy has taken that place within you and made you an Outsider. Itis her energy which now maintains your body and heals your injuries."I stared back at Marissa, trying to absorb what she'd said but having. I was evidently straight, open-minded, and scared shitless of women seeing me naked. I nodded my head. Over lunch I decided to be blunt. “Brett, what’s it like to be gay?” He asked me what it’s like to be straight, and I didn’t have an answer. “Well, it’s what I am.” “Same thing here,” Brett said.” It’s what I am.” Hmmm, what do I say now? Brett told me he had pretty much always known he was gay. He didn’t come out until his senior year of high school. He was afraid that everyone would hate him. The patio was alittle slippery and Neil was very glad of Clarissa's arm as he limpedhis way to the little wall that separated it from the several acres ofgarden. It was here they sat down. The great lawn was a virgin sheet ofwhite, broken only by the footprints of the others, who were strollingslowly into the distance. The trees were sprinkled with frost, thestonework shone with the ice that hung suspended, somewhere betweenfalling and not falling, over the sides of the stately architecture.The. I took my time strolling down the hallway, noticing the tell tale stains on the floor of each booth – some dried, some fresh – and noticed the hard plastic chairs hastily shoved into each booth. When I reached the end of the hall I noticed that the chair in the last booth was plush and inviting. Since none of the booths were in use I grabbed the comfy chair. I quickly stripped off my boy clothes and threw some money in the video machine.I scrolled through the videos until I found one of this.