A warm light shines through my curtains, into my room as my alarm goes off. I quickly turn it off and hop out of bed. I have never understood the stereotype that teens always hit snooze and go back to sleep, but maybe I'm the weirdo. Okay, no matter what, I'm the weirdo, but I can't be the only one, right? It's not like I woke up early; it's already nine.

Anyway, I quickly get dressed in my finest apparel, which means I'm wearing flannel instead of a hoodie. It could be the worst heatwave the Earth has ever seen, and I would still need to cover my arms. There's some psychological trauma in there, but I don't have the qualifications nor the patience to try and search through my problems.

I step downstairs to see if my parents are still home. They're not. I don't mind though; I'm used to them not being home. I just go back to my room and go on my phone for the time being. I debate sending Ben another message, but to my suprise, he beats me to the punch.

You still up to hang out?

It takes me a second to compose myself. Yesterday wasn't just a weird dream, and I'm actually going to hang out with him. I type back.

Yeah.

He texts back quickly. This boy's fingers must be working double time.

Awesome, I'll see you at 1.

He's actually excited to see me. Ask me a couple days ago if I ever thought this was possible, and I would've told you no. I still don't fully believe it. I text him one final message.

See you later.

I rush to the bathroom and just stare at myself for a second. I want to look good for this. Why? I'm not sure, but I want to. I think about every way I could make myself look better, and I realize I can't do anything. Well, I could do it, but I don't want to scare him away.

I look at my phone and start to wonder if I should talk with anyone before going. I debate for a second before sending my friend Gabby a message.

Facetime?

Before responding, my phone starts ringing with her calling me. I answer and watch as her face comes on screen.

"What's going on?" she asks looking concerned about me.

"Nothing, can I not call you?" I respond looking at the little video of me in the corner.

Gabby looks at me for a second before saying, "Sam, I love you, but I can't count on one hand the amount of times you've wanted to call for fun because there is zero."

I try to think of a time to prove her wrong, but of course, she's right. I can tell she knows I'm doing this because she's smirking. Finally, I cave and tell her, "I'm nervous about hanging out with Ben."

"Don't worry; your date will go fine."

"It's not a date!" I scream at her.

She smirks again, "is anyone else going to be there?"

"No," I reply sheepishly.

"And you have a crush on him?" she says, and I'm about to respond when she cuts me off, "Don't answer that; I know you've had a crush on him since the eighth grade."

"I have not."

"Name one thing you know about football besides there's a ball and what position Ben plays."

"Touchdown?" I say like a question even though I know I'm correct. I hope.

"If i was there, I'd slap you. Either way, you're going on a date."

"What if he doesn't like guys? Thought of that?"

She gives it a second before saying, "lets see, every other straight boy who does sports has made fun of you, so I think it's safe to assume."

"But, he's also friends with all of those guys."

"So? Friends don't always have to agree on things. You respect that I'm vegan, and I respect that you have bad taste in films."

"I said I didn't hate Twilight once!"

She looks at me for a second, and I relent, "you're right."

"I know."

We talk on the phone a bit longer, just trying to waste time before I have to leave. Eventually, the clock hits the time where I should go. I wish her goodbye, and she wishes me good luck. We hang up, and I open the door to find that it is blistering hot outside. I brave it however, and I walk to the park.

Once I reach the park, I realize he never told me where to meet him. I scan the park quickly before I feel a familiar hand touch my back, which causes me to jump again.

"You really need to stop doing that," I say as I nearly stumbled to the ground.

"Sorry, I just wanted to surprise you."

"You did that enough just by wanting to hang out with me," I say as I turn to face him, and I feel my breath leave my chest. He's so handsome with his beautifully clear skin, his deep brown eyes that perfectly match his skintone, and a smile that looks so warm and comforting. His shirt is skin tight, which means I can see the body I've found hot for a couple years now. I've always appreciated how he just built muscle for strength, not for aesthetic. That means most people would just brush him off as a dreaded three-letter word that I despise, but I love how stocky he is. Not that it would matter to him; there's no way he likes me.

Eventually, I snap back into reality because, surprise, drooling over a guy isn't the best way to hang out with him. I think he realized what was going through my head because there's now a wave of awkwardness between us. Why do I have to be so stupid?

"So, what do you have planned?" I eventually mutter out. My head is angled down, but I can still see through the curtain of bangs I have.

"Come with me, and I'll show you," he says as he takes my hand in his. I feel my heart pounding and my hands are getting clammy. Yet, he still holds on like I'd get lost if he doesn't. He eventually stops at the swings.

"Here we are, come on, sit with me," he says as he sits on one of the swings. I sit on the one next to him and just look at him.

"I just want to say, I'm deeply sorry for how my friends treat you," he says looking at me. His expression mixed with his tone makes it seem like he's being genuine, "I would stop them, but not only would they not listen to me, they would probably start berating me too."

This takes me back as I think about it. Say he does like guys, he could never tell his friends. They only call me names and talk bad about me behind my back. They could assault him if they ever found out, and they could probably get away with it too.

"It's fine, I'm more angry that they figured it out before I even did," I reply trying to lighten the mood. It's true; everyone else somehow managed to figure out I was gay before I did. My fellow students, my teachers, even my own parents were like, "finally you catch up."

Ben chuckles, and we start to kick our feet to get the swings going. It ends up turning into a competition on who can go the highest. I feel grand satisfaction in the fact that I beat Ben by a far margin.

"No fair, you had a head start!" he shouts behind me.

"Sounds like someone is a sore loser!" I shout in reponse, "though that happens when you win every football game you play." This causes him to freeze.

I slow down and check to see if he's okay. He has a surprised look on his face, and that makes me nervous.

He turns to face me with the same expression, "you've seen me play?"

"Every game, why?"

His usual smile comes back across his face and says, "I just wouldn't expect you to be the type to watch sports."

Before I can make the joke about him thinking that because I'm gay, these two little kids suddenly come up to us and ask, "excuse me ma'am, could we have a turn on the swings please?"

Now Ben and I are not heartless, and so we give up our spots to the little kids.

Ben then grabs my hand and, with a little "come on," leads me to a trail in the nearby forest. We start walking and I point out every little detail that I'm aware Ben can definitely see. But, he just keeps his usual smile, so I assume he doesn't mind.

Something then clicks in my head and I scream, "those kids thought I was a girl!"

Ben gives a soft chuckle and says, "to be fair, you look like an adult lesbian."

"Perfect, that's what I was going for."

Ben bursts into a fit of laughter, and I feel like I've completed something big.

We eventually reach this small lake that we take a pitstop at, and we bask in the glory of the sun. I notice a small family of ducks, and I, being the wisest of decision makers, throw a rock near them to spook them. It's now my turn to grab Ben's hand as we run away from the duck that's chasing us. We run so far that we reach the end of the trail, and we're out of breath. We're laughing and bumping into each other, and I've never felt so happy in my life.

"You know, my friend was right; I did really enjoy this 'date,'" I put air quotes around date to make sure he doesn't actually think that I thought this was one. Even with this, his whole demeanor changes. He suddenly freezes again, and I'm hit in the chest with a wave of awkwardness. "I didn't think this was a date, I promise," I try to reassure him.

"I didn't think you did. I just... I need to go," he sprints away and out of the park. I feel awful. I messed everything up, and I was so close to having a jock friend.

I drag my feet as I walk out of the park. I slowly make my way home, mentally beating myself up. Why can't I just make a friend with one jock?

I open the door to find my parents, who got home while I was gone. I told them last night about where I'd be, so they weren't worried.

My mom notices my expression and comes up to ask, "did something bad happen, sweetie?"

"I think. Everything was going so well, but then I made a joke about how Gabby said that it was a date. That's when everything changed, and I don't know what I did wrong."

My dad comes up to me and places a hand on my shoulder, "don't worry, bud, boys are overrated anyway; ask your mother."

I chuckle at his joke, and tell them, "I just want to go to my room right now; I'll come down for dinner." With that, I walk to my room, and as I walk, I debate texting Ben or maybe Gabby. That is until I reach my room, and when I check my phone, I got a new message from Ben. I guess I didn't mess anything up too bad. I open my phone to read the message.

Max is holding a party tomorrow, and I want you there with me. Meet me at the park at 7; I really need you there.