We talk for over an hour. About school, about work, about everything. I learn that he plays baseball, and that he likes to read. I tell him about my inhuman obsession with plants, and how my sister got me to love webcomics.

He tells me about his grandma, who he lives with, and his dogs - a golden retriever named Benji and a Bernese mountain dog named Jeremy (Jerry for short). I tell him about my moms and our absentee cat, Charlie. He talks about his favorite sports teams, and I talk about my favorite musicals.

I’m beginning to see how we fit the stereotypes of straight boy and gay best friend. Not that I’m his best friend; we just met. And not that I’m assuming his sexuality, but it’s pretty obvious.

He is cute, though. It’s a shame how blatantly heterosexual he is. 

He’s got this energy, and I don’t know what to do with it. Not to mention how he does it, though I suppose he does work in a coffee shop. He gets excited at everything; when I say I love plants, he immediately asks about my favorite kinds. I’m not used to people being this… nice. Especially jocks. No, especially straight guys. 

But Liam, he’s …different. Better, maybe. 

Or maybe this is all just because he doesn’t have his baseball friends here to egg him on, or something. But what do I know?

When you strip a person of their personality, their hobbies, their habits, everything, all you have left is a shell of a human being. Maybe I’m judging him too harshly. 

But there’s always a possibility that I’m not, and that scares the living shit out of me. If I’m going to try to befriend this guy, there has to be some kind of trust there. How do I know that he’s trustworthy?

…What makes a person worthy of trust?