Another Way To Love (LGBT)

I

I anxiously refreshed the webpage on my phone, waiting to see a new story posted on The Glossip. The Glossip was a blog being run by the most popular girl at my highschool: Nina Myers.

But she wasn't like the cliches of popular girls you'd see in movies or TV shows. Unlike them, Nina was actually nice.

The thing is, we'd been in the same classes since fourth grade, and I was certain that this girl, always surrounded by friends, didn't even know my name.

But she did. It all started with a poem assignment.

We were supposed to write poems and present them to the rest of the class, which wasn't the biggest deal to me, but it wasn't exactly fun. Who the hell likes presenting something to an entire room of judgy, stick-up-their-own-asshole, teenagers? Honestly, the whole idea just felt like a way to try to lower students' self-esteem as fast as possible.

Anyway, we were supposed to present the poems to the class and—

"Heyyyy, Gary, bestie, best friend to the end, my most favorite—" An arm snaked its way onto my shoulders and I already felt what little patience I started the day with slipping away as it snapped me out of my thoughts.

I shoved my phone into my pocket, already knowing that if there was a new post from Nina, I wouldn't have the chance to read it with this leech hanging over my shoulder.

"Cooper, I'm not letting you copy my answers." I snapped, without even letting him finish.

He let out an offended gasp, as if I wasn't right on the money. "Psshh, Gary, I am appalled. Appalled that you think I would approach for any reason other than to smother you with friendship. Appalled. Hurt even—"

"Cut the crap. Did you even study, or did you give up before you even started?" I questioned dryly.

Cooper's smile turned a tad sheepish. He removed his arm from around my neck so he could fiddle with his fingers. "Well. I was going to do it, but..."

"But?" I dreaded to know the answer.

I watched as he swung his obnoxiously green backpack around and started digging in it; the idiot didn't even zip the thing shut. The only thing worse than Cooper's reckless backpack management was his stupid trapper hat he always wore.

He insisted it was the trend, no matter how many times I told him he looked like an idiot.

He pulled out two movie tickets. "I got us tickets to Bodies in The Water!"

Oh, hell no.

"No. Not another horror movie," I chided. "I went to the last one with you and nearly shit myself. Besides, you promised we could see a movie I like the next time we went."

Cooper's shoulders drooped. "But Gar, I've been waiting for this! Come on, I'll see two of your shitty romance films afterwards, I swear." He tugged on my arm like a child.

I ripped my arm out of his grip. "They're not shitty."

But as usual, he took that as a sign I had agreed, and lit up like a Christmas tree. "Thank you! You won't regret it..." he trailed off in a sing-song tone before strutting away.

The moment he was gone, I scolded myself internally for being such a wuss and not just saying no.

I know it's my own fault for agreeing, but Cooper is just annoyingly difficult to say no to.

Before this goes any further, I should also clarify. My name is not Gary. Never has been. Never will be. No one else calls me Gary, just him.

My actual name is Grayson (Gray for short); Grayson McKinney.