“Well, there you go. Pretty library boy is gay too. Ask. Him. Out.”
“What if he knows who I am?”
“What if?”
“Tommy, I’m serious.”
“I am too. You can’t hide forever. Famous people find love all the time. Some for a few days, others for years. And if it gets serious, even if he doesn’t know you, you’ll have to tell him eventually. You’ve got two songs finished. You just need another eight to make an album. Maybe this guy will inspire you.”
“Or break my heart.”
Tommy shrugged. “You’re only seventeen. If you don’t reply, how long will you spend wondering what if?” He shook his head. “No. The Ryunoski Nakimura I know doesn’t fear a challenge. He laughs in the face of fear.”
Ru sighed and glared at the screen. He quickly programmed Adam’s number into his phone, once again wishing he had a picture of the guy. Tommy grabbed the phone from his hands. “Hey!”
Tommy typed out something and hit send. Ru nearly swallowed his tongue.
“What did you send him?”
Tommy threw the phone back, and Ru glared at the screen.
R:Yes M is my idol. Want to get together some time?
Ru was going to die. “You’re trying to kill me, right?”
“Don’t be such a sissy. He’ll either say yes or no. Either way, you’ll know.”
Ru stared at the screen, expecting an answer to come back instantly, but nothing happened.
“It’s almost 1:00 a.m., Ru. The guy is probably asleep, like I’d really like to be.” Tommy reached over and grabbed his hand to squeeze it. “And no matter what the guy says, you’re worth it. You’re amazing. And all those kids who meet you at these shows still think you’re pretty fucking fantastic.”
“You’re not going to start reciting the whole ‘it gets better’ thing, are you?”
“Nope. In time, you’ll do one of those on your own,” Tommy said as the car stopped. They got out and headed inside. Ru prayed that Adam would return his text, even if it was to just say “thanks but no thanks.” Maybe they could be friends. Even that would be better than the loneliness he lived with every day.
* * *
Adam woke up late the next morning, rushing to shower and to find fairly clean clothes that didn’t make him look too prissy, since his parents insisted everything fit well and not be baggy, as was the style in school. His mom appeared downstairs and handed him a breakfast sandwich as he swept up his backpack and practically ran for the door.
“Eat!” she called after him.
“I know, I know. The most important meal of the day,” he grumbled at her, then stuffed the sandwich into his mouth before struggling to put on his coat, walk, and carry a book bag all at once. Adam’s phone flashed that there was a text he’d missed. He nearly tripped over his own feet and swore his heart skipped a beat. The text was from Ru:
Yes M is my idol. Want to get together some time?
OMG. Yes, all capital letters. The acronym should have been flashing in giant fluorescent pink letters over his head. There was a second text after the first:Sorry so late. Was working.
Both texts had come after 1:00 a.m. Where the hell did the guy work? Maybe he was a college kid after all. But that meant he was out of Adam’s league.Crap. He should have just called him. Nothing was stopping Adam from doing it now other than his own utter lack of confidence. He wrote back:
A:NP. Have fb practice after school. Maybe pizza l8r?
When the reply didn’t immediately come, he had to force himself to stop glaring at the screen and get to school. If he didn’t get moving, he’d be late, and detention would eat into his practice time.
At lunchtime Bas sashayed through the lunchroom, drawing more attention than Adam ever dared. Nate, Jonah, and a bunch of other jocks sat around Adam, pretending they could be gay too, waving hands and talking with an exaggerated lisps. It made Adam frown and shake his head. Bas might be what the world called a true “queen,” but he was a thousand times more intelligent and confident than all of them combined.
For all his craziness, Bas knew who he was and was happy being that guy. The jocks were just trying to live up to their fame while they still had it since they had nothing else to offer. None of them were good enough to make big teams or even some of the college recruitment. Adam didn’t know if any of them were headed for college. The fact that they all went to Northern with him, which was a public school, meant it was unlikely they’d be paying their way through an Ivy League university. Adam knew Bas had scholarships offered from several big name schools. Nothing got a high school kid bullied more than being either super smart or gay, and Bas was both. Adam wished he could find some of Bas’s confidence to just be himself anyway.
Nate was rambling about how far and at what pace they were going to run tonight, when Adam felt his phone buzz in his pocket and nearly fell over the table pulling the damn thing out. The text was from Ru reading:
