"Hi, you must be Henry, I saw your name

on the roster and knew I didn't recognize it. I'm Coach Erixon,' she says, holding her hand out for me to shake it.

"Oh, hi, it's super nice to meet you," I tell

her.

"So have you danced before? l just want to see what your skill level is at and go from there," she tells me, holding a clipboard in her hands as she prepares to write whatever I say on it.

"I've been dancing since I was very young.I also have done gymnastics for the

last three years to focus more on my flexibility to better my dancing," I tell her.

"Well, that's great! I 100% love suggestions and opinions on the routine me and my wife come up with, so never be scared to speak up and tell me something" she tells me.

"I won't hesitate to do so, '' I told her. Jenny comes in just as Erixon starts us off with team stretching before showing us the first routine that we'll be working on for months perfecting for the recitals they hold here at the school four times a year to show off what we've been working on.

"We're going to start with a contemporary dance that will have two groups basically having a conversation between them with two center focuses. It's inspired by Black Swan, so there will be an evil side and an angel side, like black and white." Everyone gets excited when they hear this, but I'm too preoccupied by feeling like someone is staring at me.

 I turn around to stare behind me to see who and I'm met by the eyes of Archie, who is sitting in the audience with Robert next to him with his phone between his hands. Once Archie sees me staring, he

immediately averts his eyes and whispers something to his friend before getting up to walk out.

"How will we decide who is on which side?" Some blonde girl asks, bringing me back to everyone else that's standing on the stage. Jenny comes over and Iinks her arm with me as we all walk up to Erixon's computer where she's displaying the dance.

"We'll separate everyone equally once we figure out who our two leads will be. We'll do what we do every time when I have to make that decision, which is I'll teach everyone the dance and you'll all do it together and I'll pick two of you out" she says.

They all nod while everyone spreads out for her to start teaching us. After about an hour and a half of dancing, she dismisses us and tells us to be ready to perform in groups next time. I pick up my bag and make my way to the nearest bathroom to change into some khaki pants, a white t-shirt with an orange and blue flannel, and some vans.

Once I walk out of the bathroom,

Jenny, Robert, and Archie are waiting for me there. I give them a confused look.

"What are you doing?" 

"We wanted to walk out with you," Jenny says as we start to make our way towards the parking lot. "So how was your first day here?"

I nod my head. "It was okay, not the worst, not the best."

"Did you like the dance team?"

"Yeah, it was good. I like the ideas Coach Erixon has and I think the routine will look amazing if it's executed correctly" I tell her.

"Why'd you get all dressed up?" She says, pulling at my flannel a bit with a small smile playing along her face.

"I'm going to dinner with my family to celebrate the first day, I guess. I don't know too much about it"' I chuckle as we walk out the doors and into the parking lot.

We stop at a black car that looks pretty new and expensive, telling me that Robert must be well off when he pulls the keys out of his pocket before throwing his bag in the back. Jenny reaches Over and gives me a small hug before walking over to the passenger side.

"I'Il see you tomorrow, alright?" She tells me with a questioning look.

"Yeah, of course," I told her and I guess  I could say today was successful because it seems like I made at least one friend since I don't exactly know how Robert and Archie feel about me just yet.

Robert and Jenny get in the car as I start to walk towards my car that is deeper in the parking lot and I notice that Archie's walking a few feet behind me. I realize that he hasn't said even a word to me today even though I've caught him staring at me a bit and even right now, he seems very

tense.

"Why are you so tense?" I ask him as I slow down to be at the same pace as him and his shoulders freeze up even more from us just being so close to each other.

He looked up at me. "Since when am I

tense?"

"Like the whole day" I say with a light chuckle. As I get next to my car and pull the keys out of my bag, I see his arm reach out to grip at my neck as he slammed me against my door. His hazel eyes shift into a bright, electric blue color and my eyes widen as I notice how unbelievable that actually is. I reach up to grip his arm to try to pull it away from me, but I feel his metal grip tighten as I touch him, so I pull my hand away and try to kick

him, but his free hand catches my leg to throw it down.

"What did l ever do to you?" I gasp out as his grip tightens on my throat, cutting off my oxygen supply even more.

"Don't spread your nasty ass gayness on me," he snaps into my ear before taking his hand away and starting to make his way to his car that seems to be a few rows down from mine

.

"It's nota f*****g disease, you asshole!" I scream at him as I feel my throat start to throb and tears start to come to my eyes as l watch his retreating form tense up even more at the sound of his voice.

"f**k you!" He screams as he gets in his car before speeding away and out of my sight.

I unlock my car before getting in to set my forehead against the steering wheel to calm down my beating heart that's still reeling from the panic that that man, that homophobic asshole, caused me. I sit there for a few minutes before l get the courage to start my vehicle and pull out of the parking lot to fake a smile at my family's dinner and try to understand what the hell just happened.

I woke up with a killer headache and my throat raw from what happened yesterday. I manage to roll out of bed and get dressed in some light blue jeans with some rips, a white t-shirt with the cuffs decorated with rainbows, and black Vans. I finish getting ready and make my way

downstairs where my grandmother is sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a book in her hand.

"Good morning, Gigi" I tell her, kissing

the top of her head before going to the

medicine cabinet to get some for my headache.

"Good morning, pumpkin. How'd you sleep?" She asked, setting down her book that seemed to be How To Kill A Mockingbird. Her and my grandfather are staying in the spare bedroom for a few days until their new house is officially theirs and they can move in.

"Fine, but I woke up with a bad headache" I said, taking two of the pills as she gets up to probably start on breakfast for the whole house.

"My poor baby," she said to me. I picked up my phone and I saw that I have a text from Jenny because sometime yesterday, she had gotten my number and texted me when she got home. We texted a bit last night and I can see that she's really genuine and just really wants to be friends with me, but I honestly don't know if I can

do that if she's going to be friends with Archie after what he did to me.

 What happened between you and Archie? She texted me and I sigh, not wanting to get into it with her right now, so I put my phone in my pocket as Jasmine was coming down the stairs.

She was wearing black jeans, a white t-shirt with a denim jacket, and some vans with her hair done up in a side braid.

"You look pretty," I tell her as I pour. some of the coffee in the pot into a travel mug to help me wake up a bit on the drive to school. My parents come downstairs in their work clothes as Gigi keeps cooking. Once the food's done, Jasmine and l rush to eat before saying bye to everyone and heading out the door for our second day of

school.

"Who was that girl's name that you talked to in the first block yesterday?" I asked my sister as I pulled out of our driveway and waved at Dad who was walking out of the house as we were leaving.

"That's Emilie, she's new too, so she didn't have anyone else to talk to, " Jasmine says and I can see a faint smile on her face, telling me that she might have made a good friend yesterday.

I keep quizzing her the entire way to school just so I could know how she's handling all of these crazy changes in such little time. Once we get to the school, we make our way through the parking lot and once we get inside, someone grabs me and pulls me to the side and Jasmine gives me a confused look.

I look at Jenny who's staring at me and holding my arm before I look back at my sister. "Can you make it to class yourself?" I asked her. 

She looks around before nodding

slightly. "I think so."

Once she starts to walk in the way of

her class, I see Emilie making her way over to her and she immediately perks up, making me feel a lot better about letting her go on her own. I look back at Jenny who is now inspecting my neck to look at the slight bruises.

Henry, I'm so sorry. I would've never left

you alone with him if I knew he would

do this."

"ls there a real reason why he would do

this?"

"What'd he say to you?" She asks and I'm immediately brought back to the moment that has really messed me up since then.

"He told me to not spread my gayness

on him," I say and she averts my eyes

for a second, which tells me that

She knows something that I don't. "I'm so sorry, Robert already talked to him because I forced Archie to tell me what he was hiding because I knew he did something. I just didn't think it would be this way," she says, confusing the hell out of me because this way'?

What the hell does that mean?

"Wait, what do you mean?"I ask and she averts my eyes again before grabbing my schedule that I was holding in my hand to find my first class of the day.

"We both have gym first, so let's go" she says, linking arms with me before guiding me to where the gym is since l had absolutely no clue where anything was.

"Are you going to tell me what you meant?" I ask her.

"Probably not. So the first day of gym, they don't make you change or anything, they just go over everything and then have a game that's optional,"

she tells me, making me roll my eyes because I want to know what she means because there's obviously a secret between her, Robert, and Archie that I don't know about.

   "Good because the only game I play is

foreplay" I told her and she immediately burst out laughing in the middle of the hallway.

Getting along with everyone.

Once she had calmed herself down, we

made our way into the gym where we went and sat down on the red bleachers and I noticed that Archie and Robert also had this class when they walked in and sat with a group of guys that I didn't know. I was sitting with some of the dance girls and we all started a conversation about the routine that was happening this afternoon.

"Hey, how long have you been dancing?

" Some girl who I think is named Tyler asked me.

Everyone looked over at me, immediately making my cheeks heat with the attention I was given. "Uh, I started when I was  very young, about nine because I didn't like any sports so my parents put me in dance. I did gymnastics the last three years to focus more on my flexibility to better my dancing."

"Wow, so you're definitely the most experienced out of all of us" someone else said while everyone else looked a little admirable at my experience.I noticed that Coach Erixon was one of the gym teachers, which made me feel good to have a familiar face thrown into all of these new ones.

"We're your teachers for your senior year. This is Coach Erixon and I'm Coach Gordon. We are just going to go through safety and using the equipment and sports teams, then we will play an optional game,' The man said.

We listened as the coaches talked until it was time to play the optional game of two-hand touch football and they announced that it was optional for everyone but football players just to get in some extra practice before the game on Friday.

Archie and Robert got off the bleachers and went to play, which surprised me because they never once mentioned football, even Robert, who surprisingly talks quite a bit once he gets comfortable with you.

"They're football players?" I asked Jenny, who nodded as she watched her boyfriend participate in the game that looked pretty competitive.

"Yeah, Archie was the quarterback last season until he stepped down at practice during the summer because of some personal stuff" she told me.

Jenny and I started a conversation with the dance girls and Coach Erixon about the routine because a lot of them were very confused about some of it. While some girl named Cara was asking a question, Jenny hit my shoulder and pointed over to Archie, who was waving me over to the locker

room.

I shook my head at him, definitely not wanting to be alone with him. "Hey, maybe he wants to apologize for everything that happened yesterday".

I shook my head at Jenng. "I doubt it.

"Just trust me, if anything goes wrong, I'll step in. I promise you" she tells me and I looked down at her with her soft smile that was silently telling me to do it.

I sighed as I got up, making sure that neither of the coaches were watching me. I crossed my arms as Archie walked into the locker room to wait for me to join him.Even after all that happened yesterday, I was still majorly attracted to him. He was wearing some tight dark jeans, an orange t-shirt with a picture of some waves printed on it, and some converse.

"This is so stupid"I muttered to myself as I pushed the door open. He stood against the wall with one foot pressed against it. As soon as the locker room door s**t behind me, he stood up fully and opened his mouth to say something but nothing left it. He averted my eyes and didn't try to talk

again, I wanted to leave, but he finally

caught my attention.

"I like you," he blurted out. I slowly turned around again to look at him and he was fidgeting with his hands while looking to the side.

"But you told me yesterday-" I started

to say.

"Everything I said yesterday was complete bullshit, just forget that ever happened," he said, finally looking up to meet my eyes.

"Just forget it?" I asked, starting to feel that anger rise inside of my chest because everything he did to me yesterday isn't just something I could easily forget. It was very scary and something I've barely ever had to deal with, so having to deal with it by a complete stranger at a new school is not something I had mentally prepared for.

"Yeah, it didn't mean anything" he said, but I knew he was just trying to play it off like it wasn't a big deal when it was a huge deal, at least to me.

"Do you not understand that I had to go meet my family at a restaurant when I was utterly scared for my life?" I snapped at him and his face shifted into a guilty expression that told me that I might be getting through his thick head that he truly scared me.

"I didn't mean to do that, I really didn't, I just didn't know what to do about what I was feeling and it all just-"

"And what were you feeling?" I asked, crossing my arms to show that I was still mad about the whole situation. "I felt like I liked you and wanted to have a connection with you," he softly whispered.

"I thought you were straight," I whispered, my voice breaking from shock and embarrassment because I didn't think l even moved throughout the last few seconds.

"I thought so too."

I cleared my throat. "You don't get to do this, Archie, you don't get to hurt me and then think you can make it up to me by saying that you're questioning your sexuality when you're just another one of those straight guys that will never act on his feelings".

"But I want to, I want to act on them. I promise you. I've never felt this way, never felt such a strong attraction to someone without ever even talking to them" he said, running a hand through his fluffy hair that flopped every time he would move his head too quickly.

"Then why don't you?"

"Because lI'm scared. All my life I've

been known as one thing and I think

completely changing it will mess a few things up and I don't know if I'm ready for it" he told me and I could see the genuine fear building up on his face.

I cleared my throat again, feeling it getting dry every time I looked up into his eyes. "You'll have to do it at one point or another, so why not now?"

He crossed his arms before leaning into the wall. "I don't know." 

I don't know why the hell I'm helping this kid because he physically hurt me yesterday and I could still feel it on my neck. There was just something about him that made me drawn to him.

It wasn't even that he's godly attractive, even though that's definitely a plus.

"You gotta make a choice at some point, but for now, leave me out of it" I tell him even though it physically hurt me to tell him to forget about me because I don't know how I would even react without him because there was something in my head telling me to get to know this boy and I really wanted to.

"Friday, uh, is the first football game of

the season, would you want to come? He asked me and I noticed how nervous he was by the way he fidgeted with his hands and tried to not make direct eye contact with me.

I completely forget about what I just told him because if he's asking me to do something for him, then obviously he's willing to do something about the way he was feeling. I know how hard it can be to finally make a decision about acting on your sexuality or coming out because it really puts so much pressure on your chest the entire time you're even thinking about it. When I came out, I was off for months because l couldn't find the courage to just get over it.

I nod my head at him, immediately seeing his demeanor change into a form of confidence that I hadn't seen inside of him the entire time we were here. "I'll be there."

"Alright, cool"' he tells me before we sneak back into the gym. He goes back to the game while I go back to sit next

to Jenny. She gives me a look like 'what's going on' while I pretend like I don't see her to make her continue to wonder for a few more seconds.

"You better tell me what just happened or I'll slap you," she threatens and I chuckle, leaning over to her ear to start to tell her all about what was just discussed.

Once I'm done, she reaches over and grabs my arm with a huge smile. I chuckle at her huge expression. "You look so creepy right now, I don't even know what to do."

She giggles. "How do you feel about it? "I mean, I'm still mad about what happened, but I understand more of why he did it now. I'm willing to stick with him and see what happens, but I think he knows now that if he pulls something like that again, I'm gone.

She nods her head. "Yeah, but I do

want you to know that he does care

about you. When we got home yesterday, he asked so many questions about you and felt bad about what had happened. I've seen him struggling for awhile and now that I know that it's because of his

sexuality, I think he just needs to find his outlet and that might be you."

Did she just say 'home' as in they live together? "What do you mean you

got home? Like do you live together or

something?"I asked.

I notice the panic in her eyes before

she pushes it down to shake her head.

"No, I just spend a lot of my nights at Robert's house who is actually neighbors with Archie."

I know she's hiding something, but I push it to the side to take in what she's just told me. "So you don't think that this is just some straight guy trying to experiment? You think that this can be real, right?"

She nods her head. "I know it's real,Henry. The way he talked about you is not how he's talked about all the girls He once dated. He truly likes you and I've never seen him like this with anybody else."I nod my head. "Okay, well, Friday it is,then."

"We'll plan everything out later, but right now, let's just prepare for the routine later today" she tells me as she gets up to join all the rest of the dance girls who are talking with Coach Erixon.

After dance practice, Jenny and I walk out of the gym to see Robert and Archie standing there waiting for us. They're wearing athletic shorts and jerseys while sweating profusely.

Archie's hair is an absolute mess probably from him running around during football practice and running his hands through it.

"How was dance practice?" Robert

asked Jenny who wraps her arm

around his waist.

"It was good, " she says and starts to tell her boyfriend that I can't hear where I was. Archie walks behind me as we walk out through the back door to the parking lot before he comes back next to me in silence while the other two are whispering stuff to each other.

"How was the dance for you?" Archie asks, finally saying something to me since

earlier today in the locker room. l clear my throat before looking up at him to see his soft expression, which is different from how he looks at everyone else that I've seen.

"Good, pretty hectic, but good" I say,not knowing how else to explain it because it was so hectic with all the groups performing the routines and a lot of the girls got lost halfway through during a difficult part and had to step out.

"Uh, excuse me, it was more than good for you, you got the lead' Jenny said with a confused look along with a playful smile.

"You got the lead?" Robert asked in bewilderment because l don't think he quite understood how much dance experience I actually had because I didn't talk about it too much so as to not seem like I'm bragging at all.

"Yeah, the male lead" I tell him. He reaches his hand out for a high five as he tells me 'congratulations' and 'good job, man' while Archie pats me on the back in a silent way of telling me 'congratulations' Jenny  comes over as we reach her car to give me a hug. "I'Il see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Alright," I tell her as I continue my walk to my car along with Archie who was following me, probably not wanting to be with Robert while he says bye to Jenny.

"You have a nice car" Archie tells me as he lightly kicks the tire while l unlock the doors to put my bag in the back, he looks inside to probably see what the interior is like.

"Oh, thanks, I got it two years ago for my 16th birthday," I told him before walking back to the front where he stood and leaned against my gray car.   

He comes to stand next to me and lean on the car as well.

"I want you to know that I'm trying, I'm trying to find the courage and the confidence to get through this and do what I feel is right,but it's hard. I think you know that it's hard and you're taking it easy on me, I do want you to know that I haven't forgotten what I did and l am so sorry about it."

 "It's okay, I understand more of why it happened. I know how hard it is to deal with your sexuality and you just need to find a time when you feel it is right to deal with it all. I think you are ready to move forward, but maybe not to officially come out and I understand that greatly" I tell him and he crosses his arms before sighing.

"Let's wait until Friday when I have more time to figure all of these emotions out," he says to me. I see the tenseness in his shoulders just like the first day, which tells me that I might've crossed the boundaries and said too much, so I quiet down and let him do what feels best for him.

"Okay" I say and he reaches over to wrap his arm around my shoulder, which sends the wonderful sparks throughout my whole body that I've never felt with anyone but him.

"Thank you for making this easy, I thought you would hate me after what I did. I would've hated someone if they did that to me, he says with a chuckle. What he said was  like heaven to my ears that instantly calms me down.

"If you were someone else that just did it to show your dominance, then yeah, I probably would've hated you"' I say with a chuckle and he nods with a small smile.

"Alright, break is almost up, so I have to get back to football practice, but I will see you tomorrow, alright?" He says as he stands up and starts to make his way through the cars.

"Wait, practice isn't over? Why'd you come then?" I asked him because I thought he was just walking with Robert out here and his car was behind mine so he kept walking with me.

"Well, I didn't want you to be a third wheel with the lovebirds, so I came to keep you company," he told me as he walked backwards to look at me.

I chuckle. "You know, it's okay to say that you wanted to see me, I won't make fun of you for it." He gives me a playful look. "Fine, I wanted to see you."

"Wow, what a loser," I say with an obvious playful tone and he notices it before walking over to me and hitting me lightly on the back of the head to continue the playfulness we were doing.

I see his smile drop slightly as he starts to walk away again and I realize that what I'm about to do is something that I would never do, but I think making an exception for him is the right thing to do.

"Hey, before you go, can you help me with something first?" I ask him as I stand up fully and make my way to the back of my car where I know no one would be able to see us from that point. He gives me a confused look before he follows me to behind my car and once he's there standing in front of me, I feel the butterflies in my stomach ache even more than before because he's right there. I know I probably look like an i***t as I stand there and stare at him, so I lean forward to grab at his jersey.

Once I have the fabric locked in my hands, I pull him down to my height and press our lips together, which is like the sparks that I was feeling earlier are heightened 1,000 times and it's like fireworks just went off. He sets his hand on my waist while I let my hands slide up his chest to rest on his neck and shoulders.

I have to force myself to pull away because l don't want him to get in trouble for being late back to practice. He bites his lip as he looks at me and I can see that his eyes are now that electric blue color that confuses the hell out of me because how do his eyes just change color?

I clear my throat as I remove my hands  from his body to take a step back. " Well, thanks for helping me out with that."

He chuckles before taking the step that I had just taken to be right in front of me again. His hand sets on my waist again as he leans down to press a soft kiss to my forehead, immediately calming my nerves that I hadn't just done something very stupid.

"I'Il see you tomorrow," he whispers before walking away. I make my way into my car and sit there for a few minutes to just walk through what I just did. If that went wrong, then I could've severely messed up how he was doing with figuring out his sexuality.

Fortunately, I think it was perfect due to how he reacted and responded afterward.

Jenny and I sit on the bleachers as the cold air rushes over our faces while the guys in tight, white pants run around with the ball shaped like an eye while they follow the rules that I had no idea how to even understand. I had my arm wrapped around Jenny's shoulder since her hoodie

was thinner than she had expected since cold was not what the weathermen had predicted for tonight.

I'm confused with myself because the first day in the parking lot I was scared for my life, but now, it's like I'm in love with this man. I can't understand how one person could change my mind so much to make me feel so unbelievably attracted to them.

I was literally only here for Archie because I actually hate sports so much. Don't tell Archie that, but I don't understand anything that was going on as I watched them pass the ball through their legs. I don't understand why they kicked it through the goal thing that just looked like a pitchfork missing one tong.

"I could, Literally, fall asleep right now I told Jenny as I put my hands in my lap and set my head on her shoulder while the crowd cheered as one of the guys ran with the ball towards the pitchfork.

"Me too" she whispered, setting her head on top of my head. "thankfully, it's

is almost over."

I looked at the bright clock that was painted red, the school color, with white LED numbers and letters for anyone within a three mile radius to see. "It says three minutes, that could mean ten."

She laughed at me as she pulled her sleeves down to cover her hands that were now shaking due to the cold.

"Yeah, yeah, just be patient, dumbass."

Fifteen minutes later, we stood in front of the locker rooms, waiting for Robert and Archie to change and come out. I know that we won, but I don't know what the score even was. Jenny was Wrapped in my arms as she shivered against my chest.

I chuckled, tightening my arms around her to help her get even warmer. I looked up as I heard the locker room door open and I saw our two boys walking out with duffel bags hanging from their shoulders. Archie's hair was an absolute mess and he reeked of sweat and Axe cologne

.

"Hey," they said to us as they come closer. Robert  gives me a grateful smile as I shift her into his arms where she can shiver against his chest instead of mine. As soon as she felt her boyfriend's arms, her smile widened and she snuggled against him.

"I'm never coming to another football

game" she whispers to him and I watch as he rubs his arms up and down her back with a small smile while he looks down at her.

"That's alright, I can deal with that" he

says with a soft smile.

Jenny cleared her throat, looking up at Archie. "Do you mind taking Henry home? I'Il probably leave my car here until Monday so Robert can drive me home."

Archie looked over at me before nodding his head. "Yeah, I can take him home."

We all said bye to each other as Archie

Led the way  to his matte black Lexus

that looks like the most expensive car I

have ever seen in all my life. Once he sees my shocked expression, he

laughs as he wraps his arm around my

shoulder. "You like it?" He asked.

"Uh, it looks super expensive and I'm shocked that you haven't told me about it. Don't most guys brag about their cars?" I ask him while he opens up the passenger side door for me to get in. The seats are a black leather that's so comfortable that I could even sleep here forever and there are buttons everywhere that make me want to push them, even though I know I

shouldn't.

Archie gets into the driver's seat before turning to me. "I'm not like most guys."

I nod my head as I buckle up while he starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot. I put my hands in between my thighs to warm them up and when Archie notices that, he turns on the heat to blow directly on my face. I keep my eyes on the road as he speeds towards the way to my house that I had put into his phone so he would know where to go.

"I'm willing to act on how I'm feeling,"he said as he sits back in his seat while we drove on a quiet back road with not too many cars passing us. I could tell he was driving slower than he usually does to either make me feel safe or have more time with me.

"What does that mean?"I ask him,wanting to know what that exactly entails for the both of us. I watch as he thinks for a minute or two about how to word his thought process before looking at me very briefly to look back at the road.

"It means I'm willing to try out the whole thing. I'm not ready to come out just yet, so we would have to be quiet about it if you're alright with that."

I nod at him, even though he can't see me in the darkness of his car. "Yeah,I'm more than alright with that. I just want to make sure you're comfortable in what we're doing."

"l am comfortable as long as we take it a bit slow and don't do too much too fast" he tells me and I'm kind of shocked because he seems like the type of guy that would want to rush into things until we got to a point where we can figure things out at a later date.

This way does make me the most comfortable though because I,personally, haven't gone that far with anyone and probably won't be ready until I have a real, strong connection with someone.

"Okay, that works for me" I tell him with a small smile as he speeds up a bit.

"Have... have you ever dated a guy before?" He asks me, even though I don't think he genuinely doesn't want to know in case I've done something too far with some guy that could make him jealous because I can definitely tell that he's the jealous type.

"I've never dated a guy before, just made out with a few. I didn't have too much luck at my old school with relationships just because I focused more on dancing and gymnastics,"' I told him. "What about you?"

He shakes his head. "Obviously, I've never dated a guy before but back in 7th grade, I kinda experimented with one boy and ever since then, I suppressed it because I saw how he got teased when he came out."

"You didn't deserve that, I'm so sorry. I wish you had a better first experience than that" I told him and he reached over with one hand to run his fingers through my hair on the back of my head. I put my head forward as he started to rub my neck while he drove with one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel.

"It's okay, I stayed strong and didn't push it away too much. Now, here we are"' he whispered, making my heart beat faster because it made me happy to know he wasn't as unhappy as I thought all those years. He still kept the part of him alive deep down because he knew that someone would come along to help bring it back out.