“What kind of romance writer are you? You don’t even want to hold my hand.”

I wasn’t a romantic but Angelo was making a whole show about this so-called date before we left the dorm. The moment we stepped outside and entered the area where they were hosting the event, he withdrew into himself and would only trail behind me.

“Keyword, writer. I write. I write because I have no relationship,” Angelo said.

“Maybe you’ll be more inspired to write if you pretend to be in a relationship.” I held out my hand to him. “You can either hold my hand or survive alone when we go to the haunted house. It’s your choice.”

His eyes shifted as he stiffly put his hand in mine. My hand instantly let go of his and I wiped it against my shirt before taking his hand into mine again. Angelo seemed distressed by my sudden action and I pulled his hand so he would be next to me.

“Sorry, sweaty hand,” I said.

“I thought you were getting my germs off of you.”

“What? Is this elementary?” I asked him. “Are you going to tell me that you have cooties?”

“No,” he mumbled. “I think the adult version is just STIs.”

After a pause, I nodded. “True. I guess if this were a real date, I would be asking you about your status and if you have condoms.”

“I don’t have any STIs,” Angel said a little too quickly.

“Did you get tested?”

“No, I didn’t,” he said.

“Then how do you know you don’t have any?” I asked.

“I never had sex before.”

“I mean STIs aren’t transmitted just by sex. There are other ways depending on the disease. HIV is blood transferring so any kind of needles or even ingesting blood are other ways someone can contract it,” I said.

“How do you know this?”

“This is basic sex ed that I ended up learning from some gay people I knew in high school,” I waved a hand. “I also researched things heavily before I got my tattoos done. I almost got it done in Thailand with my family just because it was cheaper but everything looked so sketchy that I chickened out last minute.”

“Your family sounds pretty cool if they let you get tattoos and you’re openly out and all,” he said and I tilted my head to the side.

“Out? To my family? I’m not out to them,” I said and he gave me a confused look.

“What? But you got the flag in your room and you don’t hide it,” he said.

“I literally am out to everyone except my family.”

His eyes were wide in concern. He looked like I had just told him we had an assignment due tomorrow but it was for a class that didn’t exist.

“Why?”

“I don’t have this burning feeling to tell them everything about me, they don’t tell me anything so I don’t tell them anything.”

That seemed to only irk him more. “You’re not close to your family?”

“No, it’s not that I’m not close,” I said. “It’s just… how it is.”

“That’s sort of sad.”

I could only shrug at his observation.

“My family is very close.” Angelo’s voice was hoarse. “I don’t think I could hide something like that from them.”

“And your brother?” I raised an eyebrow.

“He sucks.”

I realized we had stopped walking at some point and were just standing in the middle of the walkway to just talk. Angelo looked uncomfortable and I rubbed the back of my neck. My eyes shifted to the events laid out in front of us. They had a stall set up to throw darts at a pumpkin-shaped dartboard, stalls for a variety of food, and there was even an area for photos.

My eyes narrowed in on a sign from a distance and a grin broke out on my face.

“I found it!” I turned to Angelo with excitement.

Whatever malaise Angelo was transformed into confusion. “Found what?”

“The haunted house!”

He paled. “Oh no.”

“Come on, let’s go.” My grip on his became tighter as I dragged him towards the event.

“Can’t we enjoy the other things first?” Angelo asked. “The best thing should be saved for last.”

I paused and looked back at him. “You really want to go when it’s nearly sunset?”

“Um—”

“And it’s dark?”

“Uh…”

“And harder to see what’s trying to spook us?”

My excitement was bubbling over and Angelo could only meet my response with a blank stare.

“So later is a bad idea?” He squeaked.

“No, it’s a fantastic idea. Let’s go see what that darts game is about,” I said, tugging his arm again. “Last time I played darts, I nearly took someone’s eye out.”

Angelo tried to smile but I could tell he wasn’t as enthusiastic. “Oh, great…”