I opened the door to my room, and Jackson and I stepped inside. Jackson looked around at my bed, which had the two game controllers sitting on it, as well as snacks and drinks. He then glanced at the TV, which had the starting screen for Monsters of the Valley. 

"I thought we were working on our project so we would get a perfect grade," Jackson commented. I got comfortable on my bed, and Jackson remained standing. I patted the spot next to me, and he carefully sat down. "Marco, I didn't come here to play video games with you. I need to pass this class."

"I know. I want a perfect grade too, but I thought we could refresh our memory and make sure we don't miss anything on our project by playing through Monsters of the Valley," I replied. Jackson glanced at the game controller I set out for him. "You can get comfortable. I don't bite."

Jackson slightly relaxed and picked up the game controller. "Fine, we can play. Besides, there are monsters you can only find when playing multiplayer," Jackson sighed. I booted up a new save, selecting multiplayer, and pressed start. The beginning scene started to play, which I had seen a million times. The main character was going on a quest to defeat monsters, which were personifications of the main character's struggles. I grabbed some popcorn, then glanced at Jackson, who was watching me eat my popcorn. 

"You can have some snacks and drinks," I gestured toward the food. Jackson grabbed a small bag of chips and a can of soda. I noticed that he was hungry yesterday, but he didn't eat or ask for food until I offered it. I made sure to have plenty of food for us this time, to hopefully help him feel less awkward about taking food. "My mom is also making pasta, and there will be plenty if you want some."

Jackson didn't get a chance to respond because the opening scene of the game was over. "Let's find our first monster to fight," Jackson suggested, moving his character through the valley. I moved my character to follow him. The game's mechanics were set up so that our characters couldn't get too far away from each other, so that we would find monsters together. 

The first monster we encountered was the personification of the fear of failure. It was an easy monster to beat, and it would give our characters easy XP points. We faced the monster and defeated it in less than two minutes. I couldn't help but notice that Jackson was extremely skilled at this game. 

"Let's face Prism next," I suggested. 

"Yeah! That monster has an epic design. I'm still not sure what it represents, though," Jackson responded, leading his character through the valley. I turned to face him.

"Wait, do you really not have any idea what that monster represents?" I asked. Jackson rolled his eyes. 

"I don't know every single detail about this game. There's no need to make fun of me for it," Jackson responded, turning back to the TV. 

"No, that's not what I was doing. It's just so obvious to me, but I guess it makes sense that it's less obvious to you. The monster represents the fear of coming out. The main character is queer. That's why you can slightly see a small rainbow in the monster's design. It represents the character's suppression of his sexuality, in fear of what he'll have to face if he is open about it. When you beat the monster, there is a rainbow in the background. It shows that the character can now be his true self," I explained. 

"Oh," Jackson responded. He didn't say anything else, and I didn't push further. He kept walking toward Prism, and my character followed him. It was a harder battle, but we eventually defeated Prism. The rainbow showed in the background of the scene, and I glanced over at Jackson to find him staring at it. I wondered if he just wanted to get this monster out of the way, if he was starting to hate this game, or if something else was going on. He seemed conflicted about something. 

"Let's see if we can find Shane next. He's an easy monster to defeat," Jackson suggested. That monster is the personification of shame. I wondered if that had to do with anything or if he was just trying to play strategically. "After that, we can find new monsters and see what we can discover, since there is more to discover if you play multiplayer." 

We quickly defeated that monster, along with a few more of the easier monsters. Eventually, we triggered a cut scene. "Huh, I've never seen this before," I commented. 

"Me neither. It must be a multiplayer thing," Jackson responded. Our characters stood facing the trees, and a monster that I've never seen before popped out of the bushes. 

It was a sad-looking monster. The monster introduced itself, and as its story went on, I quickly realized it was the personification of the fear of being alone. It explained that the only way to defeat it would be to work together. Our hits would only count against it if we hit it at the same time. This would be hard. 

The round started, and Jackson and I swung our swords wildly, hoping that we would hit it at the same time. We utterly failed, and the death symbol came on the screen. Thankfully, we hit a checkpoint right before this battle. 

"Let's try again. We will have to time our hits, but we definitely have enough experience to defeat this monster," I commented. Jackson was checking his phone and not completely listening to me.

"Shit! I'm going to be late. I have to go," Jackson cursed, quickly pausing the game and standing up. He quickly got up, getting his things together. He frantically ran his hands through his wavy blonde hair, looking around the room. "Have you seen my-" He started. I grabbed his car keys from where they had fallen under the blanket and lifted them up. 

"Another date?" I asked. Jackson turned to look at me. 

"What? Oh! Oh yeah, totally. I can't be late," He ranted. It didn't sound like he was telling the truth, but I didn't want to question him and make him uncomfortable. 

"Well, here. Take some snacks and water. You can keep them in the car for you and your date," I responded, handing him snacks. He took them and put them in his bag. 

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," He finished, sprinting out my door. I could hear his footsteps on the stairs and then the front door opening and closing. I saved our game and turned off my game console. 

A few minutes later, my mom came into my room and sat next to me on my bed. "Marco, you know you can talk to me, right?" She started. 

"Yeah, of course. What's this about?" I asked. I tried to think of anything I could have done to upset her recently or anything I had been keeping from her. 

"I thought Jackson was coming here to work on a project with you," She continued. 

"He is. We're working on our final project for our literature and media class," I explained, unsure of where she was coming from. 

"Marco, you know I'm okay with you being gay. I never want you to think that I don't accept you for who you are. You and Jackson were up here playing video games. If he's your boyfriend, you can tell me," She responded, looking on the verge of tears. 

"Oh, mom, no. You have it all wrong. I know you accept me for being gay, but Jackson and I are not boyfriends. Our project is on a piece of media and how it relates to the real world. We chose to do our project on Monsters of the Valley, and we were playing it to refresh our memory. I promise to tell you if I get a boyfriend," I responded. 

"Oh! Well, if you and he did ever end up together, I would approve. He's a sweet, respectful young man. Plus, he played your favorite video game with you," My mom teased. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. 

"Ew, mom!" I yelled. Carly peeked her head in the door to see what was going on, then looked at my mother. 

"Carly, I was wrong. Jackson and Marco aren't dating," My mom laughed. I looked between them, rolled my eyes again, and made them both leave my room.

When I was alone, my brain started to make up things on its own, and I wondered what it would be like to date Jackson. Would he be sweet and gentle? If we cuddled, would he lie on my chest? He was shorter than me after all. I shook those thoughts from my head. He would never date a guy, and I should not want to date Jackson, of all people. I was curious about what it would be like, though.