Ezra hadn’t stopped smiling, but his green eyes got all sparkly. “Wow. You got that for me? That’s really thoughtful.”
“Well, it’s a prom. So, I just thought, you know. You’d like it.”
Ezra touched the rose. “I do. I’m just sorry I don’t have one for you.”
“You don’t ever have to be sorry about anything.”
Ezra held out his hand. “Come on.”
So, Jake took Ezra’s hand and followed Ezra out onto the dance floor where the lights were a purplish glow, and then Ezra took Jake’s hand in his, holding them out to the side. Ezra puthis other hand on the small of Jake’s back and gently pushed Jake toward him so they were close together. He’d remembered every single move that Jake taught him, and Jake was more than impressed.
Jake stared into Ezra’s sparkling green eyes as they swayed to the music in silence for a bit. Then he said, “I thought you might have been mad at me, and you wouldn’t show up.”
Ezra’s gaze shifted from Jake’s for a second. “I wasn’t really mad. Well, I was. Not at you. Confused is more like it.” He paused. “I started to wonder if Sean was using me for his schoolwork. I mean, he pretty much told me about this paper he needed to write on our first date.”
It was on the tip of Jake’s tongue to say he’d been there, but he didn’t.
Ezra shook his head. “I felt pretty dumb, honestly. Doing all this for him, thinking he’d want to get to know me more, and that he’d like me.”
“You’re not dumb,” Jake said gently. “You’re far from it, Ezra. Sean’s the idiot. He’s the one missing out.”
Ezra looked at him for a long moment. “Did you really mean everything you said? Were you really into me before I did all this?”
“Yes,” Jake replied. “Absolutely, one hundred percent yes.”
Ezra’s sparkling green eyes got even more sparkly if that was even possible.
Jake’s heart was pounding. “You’re incredible, and I’d do anything to make you happy.”
Ezra blinked a few times. “I never thought I’d hear someone say that to me.”
Jake smiled. “Well, I’m saying it. Because it’s true.”
Ezra slid a hand across Jake’s cheek. “I want to make you happy too.”
Jake’s heart was fluttering like millions of butterflies. “Really?”
Ezra licked his lips. “I thought maybe all that stuff we did, didn’t really mean anything to you. I thought you were just trying to help me. Or a straight guy experimenting or something.” He glanced down at his feet, then back up to Jake’s face. “That last time, when you said I could pretend you were Sean, I didn’t. I was only thinking about you. Not anyone else.” He paused. “I was going to write it on that note, but I thought it might be too weird for you.”
Jake thought those millions of butterflies might lift him off the ground. “I was only thinking about you too. It meant something to me. It wasn’t just practicing to me.”
Ezra blushed a little. “You know, I’m glad Sean turned out to be an asshole. That way I get to be here with you.”
Jake was so happy right now. He knew he had the dopiest look on his face, but he didn’t give a shit.
Ezra pulled Jake’s face toward him for a kiss. It was slow, and sweet, and if Jake had been a cartoon, he’d be floating up off the ground with fireworks in his eyes.
The song ended. From somewhere above them, dozens of balloons came falling from the ceiling, bouncing around. People laughed and caught them, nudging them with their elbows and feet.
Jake and Ezra pulled apart, laughing as a couple of balloons bounced off their heads.
This was the happiest night of Jake’s life. And he let Ezra know that later, when they were alone in Ezra’s bed, because this time Jake could be sure that Ezra wasn’t thinking about anyone else but him.
Prince’s song, “1999” cameon just as there were only a couple of minutes until midnight.
Jake saw the ball lighting up on the big screen TV in the student center and went looking for Ezra. He shouldn’t be too hard to find. He was wearing the exact same hoodie Jake was wearing. Only on Jake’s there was a guy standing in a baseball field, on a base, holding a booklet of music and singing. The caption read,First Bass. And then on Ezra’s there was also a guy holding a booklet of music and singing, only there were no bases or a baseball field, just a stage. The caption said,Am I a Ten-Or What?
It took people a few seconds to get it, but there wasn’t much you could do withtenor. Regardless, he thought it was clever of Ezra, and he loved it. Almost as much as the guy wearing it, which he needed to find before the ball dropped. No way was Jake going to miss out on a New Year’s kiss.
