Dirty Little Secret

A few days went by and I was beginning to tolerate Zack; something I never thought I would be able to do. He had stopped bothering me in school, though his friends on the football team still kept up the teasing. That was normal though. I was surprised that Zack and I were getting along now. I mean, we’ve been bickering for four years so it was a little weird to be getting along with him. I never expected to be able to tolerate him. The fact that he is pretty hot definitely helps that...

No. I scolded myself mentally, shaking that thought out of my mind. I couldn’t think like that. That was crazy. That was just hormones talking. Hell, Alex would probably rip my head off if he ever heard me talk about Zack like that.

Anyway, our project was going well and it was due in a few days, so I was heading over his house to work on the report with him. We had slacked off last time and talked instead of working so we were a little behind. I walked up the steps and rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to open the door. I shivered slightly in the cold air; it was nearing the end of November and was beginning to get really cold.

Zack opened the door, yawning and waving at me tiredly, “Hey.”

“Hey. You look tired,” I mused, stepping inside and shutting the door behind me.

“Yeah, I just woke up from a nap. I fell asleep as soon as I got home from school. I didn’t realize what time it was until I heard the doorbell ring,” he said, starting to walk toward the stairs. I kicked off my shoes and followed him up to his room, setting my backpack near his bed. “You can sit on my bed if you want. I’ll fall asleep again if I sit there.”

“Alright,” I said, hopping onto his bed and lying on my stomach. “It’s still warm...”

“I told you, I just took a nap,” Zack said with a laugh, sitting backwards in his desk chair and facing me. “Let’s get this report over with.”

We worked on the report together for a little while, though it was getting extremely boring after a while. I was lying on the bed writing the paper while Zack spewed forth ideas and sentences for me. After forty-five minutes of writing, my phone rang, interrupting us.

I pulled the phone out of my pocket, looking at the caller ID. “It’s Alex. Uh, hang on.”

“I’ll go get us something to drink. I’m dying of thirst,” Zack said, getting up and heading downstairs.

“Hey, Alex,” I greeted, twirling the pencil in my hand.

“Hey! I just went over to your house and no one was home. Where the hell are you?” Alex asked.

“My mom’s out shopping and I’m at Zack’s house. We’re finishing our project,” I replied.

“It’s due Monday – that’s three days away. You guys still haven’t finished your project? Rian and I finished ours a week ago.”

“Well yeah, because it’s Rian. He gets everything done early. Zack and I just need to finish up the rest of the report and we’ll be done,” I said, rolling my eyes. Zack walked back into the room, tossing a can of Pepsi at me. I squeaked as the cold can hit me in the arm.

“You should hurry up and finish so we can go to the mall. I wanted to go check out the music store with you,” Alex sighed.

“Shit, I forgot about that. I’ll come with you tomorrow, okay? You can pick me up and we can bring the other guys too,” I promised.

“Fine. Try not to let Merrick bother you too much,” he said dryly, hanging up. I rolled my eyes and closed my phone, tossing it on the bed beside me.

“What’d he want?” Zack questioned, taking a sip of his soda.

“I forgot that I told him I’d hang out tonight, so he’s kinda pissed,” I shrugged, looking back at the paper. “So, what are we going to write about chromosomes?”

“I dunno. We should just write the paper about sex chromosomes,” he joked, spinning around in his desk chair.

“Then it would just turn into a paper all about sex,” I said, giggling.

Zack grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, “That’s fine with me.”

“Someone woke up from their nap thinking about sex,” I teased, laughing and starting to write a few sentences down on the paper. A few minutes later, I realized that Zack had gotten quiet. I looked up and saw that he suddenly had a curious look on his face. “What?”

“Can I ask you a question? It’s kind of personal,” Zack asked.

I raised an eyebrow, “You better not be about to ask me if I’m a virgin or something.”

“No, that’s weird,” he said with a laugh, shaking his head. “Why don’t you ever get bothered when people tease you about being gay? I noticed that earlier today when I overheard Shane making fun of you.”

I blushed, looking down at the paper and doodling on it as I answered, “I guess I’m so used to it that doesn’t even bother me anymore. Only really mean remarks bother me, and even then it doesn’t hurt like it used to.”

“Have you really been teased that much?”

“Have you been around for all of high school?” I asked, looking at him skeptically. “I’ve been teased since the day I told people I was gay. I’ve just built up a wall around myself and it doesn’t bother me as much as it used to.”

Zack nodded, looking interested in my reply, “Does everyone tease you?”

“It’s really just the football team that’s been doing it for the last two years. After sophomore year, the gay jokes faded away. Everyone grew up and learned to keep it to themselves, except for you guys,” I sighed.

“Hey, for the record, I’ve only made one joke,” Zack defended.

I chuckled, “I know. And I know you feel bad for it, so don’t worry.”

“I didn’t realize that it was only my team doing that to you though. That makes me feel like even more of an asshole than I already am,” he said. I held back a laugh. At least he admits that he’s an asshole.

“It’s not just me,” I pointed out. “It’s Alex, Evan, and Grieco too. Mostly Alex and I because we’re the most flamboyantly gay, but the others too.”

“Well, I suppose I could try to make the others lay off a little if it’s possible. Picking on someone for that is really stupid,” Zack said.

“Really?” I asked surprised.

“Yeah, really,” he nodded, smiling at me, a genuine, sweet smile. I immediately felt butterflies in my stomach and blushed, looking down at the paper. I’m not actually starting to like Zack, am I?

Shit.