I don’t know how to answer that. ‘I don’t not like him,’ I say. ‘He’s cute, yeah, but –’

‘But nothing. It has to be him. It’s either that or Owen is a closet case.’

I consider that for a moment. ‘Do you think he … could be?’

‘Absolutely not.’ Kellen laughs. He doesn’t even need to think about it. ‘Even in his rainbow outfit, I have never seen someone so unbendingly straight. It’s Josh. I’m certain of it. Maybe it’s time for you two to have a little heart-to-heart?’

‘I’m not good at those!’

‘What are you good at?’

OK, ouch.

‘All right, fine,’ I finally say. ‘I’ll talk to him. But I’m not doing a “heart-to-heart”. We’ll just have a normal conversation. Like two regular guys.’

‘Don’t forget to say no homo.’ Kellen rolls his eyes. ‘You know you’re allowed to talk about your feelings, right? You don’t have to be this emotionless robot all the time.’

‘Emotionless robot?’ I say. ‘I’m plenty in tune with my emotions!’

‘You’re about as tuned as a grand piano that just fell from the Empire State.’

I scowl, but I know that there’s a little bit of truth in that. ‘I’ll talk to him,’ I say. ‘Just give me a couple of hours.’

‘Take your time,’ he says. ‘I’ve got some business of my own to attend to.’

‘Business?’ I look at the dirty sock still hanging on the door. ‘Oh … business.’

‘Let me know how you get on?’ He turns back towards his room. ‘We’re in this together, Zach. Everything’s going to be OK.’

‘Hey, Zach,’ Owen says as I approach him and Josh on the grass outside. My palms are already sweaty and I haven’t even said anything yet.

‘Hey! Good morning!’ I say way too enthusiastically. What are you doing, Zach?

‘Someone’s excited,’ Josh says. I remember him saying something like that in the shower.

‘I mean … it’s our last day, right? Of course I’m excited!’

Owen laughs. ‘It’s good to see this side of you, Zach. You normally walk around campus like some emotionless robot.’

OK, that’s the second time I’ve been called that. How am I only just learning this is what they all think of me?

‘Well, speaking of emotions …’ I say. ‘Mind if I steal Josh for a second?’

‘That sounds ominous,’ Josh teases. ‘Not gonna confess your undying love for me, are you? If you wanna play the beast-with-two-backs again, then just say so!’

This is a nightmare. How am I supposed to have a heart-to-heart with the class clown? Even when we hooked up, he was making jokes during. Though I have to admit I did kind of like that. It eased the pressure a little. Made it seem a lot less serious.