Michael’s perspective

It shocked me when someone hugged me. I thought I was alone in the bathroom. I see it’s Zack and he is apologizing profusely, but I don’t hear him because I’m so happy he isn’t ignoring or avoiding me. I hug him back tightly. He looks up at me, tears in his eyes. I wipe away his tears. I squeeze my eyes shut and hug Zack tighter.

“Don’t ever do that to me again, Zacky,” I whisper.

Zack nods. “I won’t. I swear,” Zack whispers.

“You better not,” I say, starting to tear up. Zack wipes away my tears.

We walk out of the bathroom, smiling. We walk back to the table with our heads down. We make it back to the table and look at other and start laughing. The librarian shushes us and quietly continue laughing. We get some work done, but not as much as we could if we hadn’t just burst out into quiet laughter suddenly several times.

When it’s time for Zack to go home, he asks me if I wanna stay over at his house for the night.

“I can if my dad lets me,” I reply.

“Okay then. Text your dad!” Zack says.

I text my dad and he calls me. I walk outside the library.

“Whose house were you going to stay at?” My dad growls over the phone.

“Just a friend’s,” I reply.

“Just a friend or someone you’re romantically involved with?” He growls.

“Just a friend,” I lie.

“Fine. Keep your clothes on!” My dad says.

“Got it. Bye,” I say and hang up. I let out a breath of relief. I look at Zack and nod. He hugs me.

“This sleepover is going to be the best sleepover ever!” Zack says with enthusiasm.

We get in his car and he drives us to his house. We go up to his bedroom. We talk about random stuff while playing video games. Eventually, we stop playing video games and listen to music. Zack plays a playlist for both of us to listen to. He tells me to play the “On Repeat” playlist that Spotify makes for its users. I open the playlist and look at the songs. My eyes widen as Zack takes my phone out of my hands.

“I don’t know any of these songs,” Zack says.

I nod. “A straight person probably wouldn’t,” I reply.

Zack starts playing the playlist and ‘Born This Way’ by Lady Gaga plays. I lip sync the words to the song. Zack nods his head to the beat. Soon, the song is over and Zack is smiling.

“You really know that song well,” Zack says as another song starts playing. I recognize the song when Zack looks at the name of the song. “ ‘I Like Boys’ by Todrick Hall? This should be interesting,” Zack says.

I try to grab my phone to skip the song, but Zack doesn’t let me. The lyrics start and I instinctively start singing. Zack listens to the song and smiles as I sing. Trent comes up and here’s me singing the song.

“What kind of song is that?” Trent asks.

I look at Trent dead in the eyes and stop singing. “A very gay song,” I reply and continue singing.

Trent looks at Zack and Zack shrugs. Trent goes to his bedroom. The song ends and I sit by Zack.

“What song is next?” I ask.

“ ‘Ocean Eyes’ by Billie Eilish,” Zack says.

I smirk and look at Zack’s eyes. I start singing the song and don’t break eye contact with Zack until the song is over. We play a few more songs then play Zack’s ‘On Repeat’ playlist. A song called ‘Falling for U’ starts playing and Zack sings it quietly while looking at the floor. I listen to the lyrics and smile.

“This is a good song,” I say.

Zack nods. “Yes, it is,” he replies.

We listen to some more music before just playing Zack’s liked songs. We lay on his bed, facing each other. He falls asleep and pull me towards him. My heart flutters and I wrap my arms around Zack’s torso. My hands wander down to his butt. My hands refuse to move away and I sigh.