Apparently, neither of us were done with trading insults.

After dinner, I liked one of his more modest Insta posts and left a single word comment; Narcissist!

He deleted it almost immediately and used the Messenger to write back.

<Hey, Instalurker!
<Did your crush come and thank you yet? <✊🍆💦

<Nope.😂😂😂
<He wouldn't make it past the door.
<My mom's still pissed that I got detention.

<Yeah, so's mine.
<I've been grounded for a week.

<Oh, fuck!
<That sucks, dude.
<Hey, I never did ask you what you did.

<No, you didn't.
<But you had your chance.
<Shall I show you something that noone knows about?

My heart suddenly skipped a beat.

<Sure.

<Did you just suck in a breath?
<Are you still holding it? 🤣

What the fuck?!

<Better stick to pretty and shallow.
<Mysterious doesn't suite you.

<Fuck you, dude! 🤣

<OK!

And there it was, a stupid joke that had flowed naturally from the convo. Between any other guys this wouldn't even have been a blip on the radar. But I wasn't just any other guy and today I realized that neither was Jackson.

I stared at the screen, desperately wishing for him to ignore it like when I "accidentally" called him gorgeous.

Please, please, please.

Nothing! No smart remark, no telling me to back off, just digital silence. It felt like a physical stab but worse.

Jackson knew my secret.

I never gave him Charlie's name, but it wouldn't be too difficult to figure out. My class knew that I liked guys but Charlie didn't need to find out that I liked him.

Fuck! I wanted to scream. How had this happened so quickly? Should I try to explain? Would he believe me if I said it was a joke?

Was it even a joke? Jackson was hot, any horny teenager would love to get their hands on him and why should I be any different?

Fuck! Still no answer.

I threw my phone onto the bed and started pacing nervously. As I processed all possible consequences, I came to an unexpected conclusion...

I had really enjoyed talking to Jackson today.

Then my phone buzzed. I was terrified and excited at the same time. Why had he taken so long to write back? Was it even him?

<Hey, sorry.
<My dad confiscated my phone.
<Maybe detention was a bad idea. 🤣

<How are you texting now?

<My brother gave me his phone.

<Why? 😆

<I made an offer he couldn't refuse. 🤵🏻🐴

<WTF?! 😂😂😂

And just like that we were texting again. My ten minutes of self torturing hell evaporated instantly.

<So does texting do the same thing to my brain as what you said Insta likes do?

<You mean release addictive chemicals?

<Yes.

<I don't know.
<Best be careful...

Fuck! I had almost done it again!

<...or I'll get addicted to texting you?

I should just stop participating in society and hide under a rock until everyone forgot I existed.

<That's not what I was going to say!

<Liar 😜

<We still don't fully know how technology affects brain function.

<You're hiding behind science? 🧐

<No.
<I just don't want to say anything that'll weird you out.

<???

<Don't make me say it!

<You'll have to because I'm clueless.

<I like dudes.
<You're a dude.
<I don't want me liking dudes
to weird you out.

<If approx. 3% of a high school class identifies as queer, statistically speaking your class was bound to have you.

<What is it with you and statistics?

<Numbers are my happy place.

<You are using numbers to
validate my existence?

<I'm using numbers to try and convince you that you are probably the only queer kid in your class.

<You already told me that my crush was unlikely to be into guys.

<I don't care about your crush.

<Huh?

Now he had totally lost me.

<Dude!
<I'm
<Not
<In
<Your
<Class! 😈

I almost dropped my phone. Was he trying to say what I thought he was? That he, Jackson Holmes, was...

Queer?

Holy fuck! My palms suddenly became sweaty and my fingers trembled as they hovered over the keyboard.

<I wasn't supposed to be in detention.
<I was chatting to Hoser.
<He mentioned his bs excercise but then...
<I saw your name on his list.

<Now you're fucking with me!

<I'm not. 😂
<I even asked him to pair me up with you.

<WTF?! Why?

<Dude! Isn't it obvious?
<We were both in detention for a reason.
<But mine wasn't Charlie Paulson.

What the fuck?! There was no way...

<How could you possibly know about Charlie? 😱😱😱

<Because I've seen how you look at him.
<It's probably the same way that...
<I look at you!

This time I actually dropped my phone. He had to be fucking with me, this couldn't be real.

Why would he be interested in me? He was Jackson frickin' Holmes!

<Are you OK?

<Don't mess with me like this!

<I'm not.
<Look, I'll prove it to you.

<You have a picture of me?
<That's kinda stalkerish.

<I couldn't help myself.
<I think you're cute.
<Do you believe me now?

I wasn't sure if I actually could.