“Connor, wake up!”

                Luka’s voice was firm. He had his hands on me and was shaking me violently, trying to wake me up.

                “Connor Brennan! Wake up right now! I mean it mister!”

                I managed to crack one eye open. “Luka, do you have breasts?”

                He blinked in confusion. He stopped rocking me and shook his head slowly. “No. I don’t have bre-”

                “Then you’re not my mother and you have no right to wake me up!” I said, pulling the covers over my head and trying to get back to sleep.

                “Connor!” Luka whined, trying to yank the covers off of me.

                I held them tightly, determined not to wake up. I hated waking up. I was so not a morning person.

                Luka let out a frustrated sigh and released the covers. I mentally groaned, knowing what his next attempt would be, and knowing that it would most likely work.

                “Connor,” he said, using the Voice. The Voice was his best weapon against me. It was so sad and innocent sounding, that it had me do almost anything Luka asked me to. “Please get out of bed.”

                I groaned and threw the covers off of myself, forcing my feet to hit the cold, hardwood floor of Luka’s bedroom. I managed to get my eyes open and narrowed them at Luka.

                “You cheat!” I growled.

                “Connor, please don’t be mad at me,” he said, still using the Voice. He flashed me puppy-dog eyes and I frowned deeply.

                I pulled Luka into my arms and hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry Luka,” I said, knowing I didn’t actually have anything to be sorry for. But I hated to see him upset, even when I knew it was just an act.

                “I forgive you Connor,” Luka said brightly.

                I released him and he smiled up at me. I leaned down and kissed him lovingly. He kissed me back, wrapping his arms around my neck.

                Luka pulled away and took my hand in his. “No time for that! And don’t give me that pout face because it’s your own fault for being so stubborn about getting out of bed!”

                “Luka, you know I don’t like mornings,” I said as he dragged me downstairs and into his kitchen.

                “But mornings with me are fun!” he protested as he basically threw me into a chair at his kitchen table. He began to dig through the cupboards in search of breakfast.

                I rested my head on the table as I heard Luka starting to make us breakfast. I just wished I could sleep forever.

                Aw man. And we had school today too! I so didn’t want to go to school today. I was not in the mood for people. Maybe if I played dead, Luka would leave me alone.

                “Here!”

                I picked my head up as the table shook a little. I looked down at the breakfast he had made for me and a smile made its way onto my face.

                “See? Mornings with me are fun!” he said, motioning to the plate in front of me.

                He had made me bacon and toast, and had made a face out of them. Two pieces of toast served as the eyes, and several strips of bacon served as the mouth.

                “You’re adorable,” I said, laughing.

                Luka kissed me before sitting across from me with his breakfast. We ate in comfortable silence, me savoring the delicious bacon. Mmm, I loved bacon.

                “Are you driving us to school?” Luka asked curiously.

                “No Luka, I thought it’d be fun to grow wings and fly there,” I said, rolling my eyes.

                Luka pouted at me. “I was just making sure!” he whined.

                He stood up and put our plates in the sink before dragging me with him upstairs. We went into his bedroom and he placed a finger to his lip curiously.

                “What are you going to wear Connor? You didn’t know you were going to stay the night, so you don’t have clothes to change into, and I’m smaller than you,” he said.

                “I’ll just wear what I wore yesterday,” I said with a shrug.

                “Oh! Oh!” Luka cried eagerly, pulling his closet door open and digging around in it for a minute. He reappeared and held one of my hoodies out to me with a bright smile.

                “Are you sure I can take this hoodie back? I know how much you love wearing my hoodies,” I said as I took it from him.

                “It doesn’t smell like you anymore,” he said, his adorable pout sliding onto his face. “When it smells like you again, I’ll take it back!”

                I chuckled as I pulled the hoodie on. “I’ll be sure to spray my cologne on it next time I wear it,” I assured him.

                “Yay!” he cheered, jumping up and down in excitement.

                He grabbed a change of clothes for himself and pulled them on. We brushed our hair and teeth before I grabbed my car keys.

                “What about your school stuff?” Luka asked as we went down his stairs.

                “If you let me borrow a couple pieces of paper and a pencil, I’ll be set for the day,” I said, taking his hand in mine, swinging my car keys around the pointer finger of my free hand.

                We got outside and I released Luka’s hand, getting into the car. I started up the car and pulled out of Luka’s driveway, taking off in the direction of the school.

                “YO I’LL TELL YOU WHAT I WANT, WHAT I REALLY, REALLY WANT,” Luka screamed along with the radio.

                “SO TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU REALLY, REALLY WANT,” I sang back.

                We burst into laughter and began to sing along with the stupid song. Luka turned the volume up, causing the car to vibrate with the music and earning stares from the drivers around us.

                “If you want my future, forget my past,” I sang, snapping in a Z-formation.

                “If you wanna get with me, better make it fast,” Luka sang, bobbing his head in time to the beat of the music. “Now don’t go wasting, my precious time. Get your act together, we could be just fine!”

                I chuckled and shook my head. “Luka, we are the stereotypical homosexual couple. We’re acting sassy and singing along to Spice Girls together.”

                “But we’re a fun stereotypical homosexual couple,” Luka said with a grin.

                I nodded in agreement and we began to laugh and sing along with the radio again. A few minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot of the school and the two of us got out together.

                I grabbed Luka’s hand as we began to walk up the hill towards the school. I mentally sighed, knowing I was about to see Blake and his sad expression.

                We got up to the front doors of the school and I held one open for Luka. He smiled at me as he stepped through it. I followed him and we wandered out into the main lobby.

                “Let’s go to my locker, Connor! I have to put my math notebook away. It’s heavy,” Luka said, dragging me towards the senior hallway.

                I let him drag me all the way to his locker. He put in his combination and exchanged his books, standing up and shutting his locker.

                “All done!” he said, giving me a bright smile and making me think of a little kid.

                My lips twitched up into a smile and I pulled him in for a hug. My adorable little boyfriend. I loved him so much.

                I pulled away from Luka and kissed him gently before taking his hand back in mine. That bright smile was still on his face, fueling my own smile. Luka’s happiness was contagious.

                “Let’s go find Blake and Felix!” he said.

                I nodded at him, easily keeping the smile on my face. I had gotten good at pretending everything was normal.

                We went out to the hallway and Luka began to jump up and down, waving with his free hand. A few seconds later, Blake and our other friend Felix appeared out of the crowd of kids trying to get to their lockers.

                “Hey guys,” they greeted at the same time.

                “Hi Blake, hi Felix!” Luka said with that bright smile of his.

                “Wow Connor, Luka actually gave you one of your sweatshirts back?” Blake asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

                “Only because it doesn’t smell like me anymore,” I said, rolling my eyes and smiling at Luka as he gave my hand a light squeeze.

                “You just smell so wonderfully amazing,” Luka said, leaning over and sniffing me. He frowned, remembering that the whole reason I even had my sweatshirt on right now was because it didn’t smell like me.

                “I’ll have my cologne on tomorrow,” I promised him, smiling at his expression. “I slept over last night, so I couldn’t exactly make myself magically smell good. My cologne was at my house.”

                I saw Blake’s eyes flash when I mentioned the fact that I had slept over Luka’s house. We were all friends here, and Blake loved Luka like a brother, but he still got very jealous over our relationship.

                “I’m going to go use the restroom,” I said, pecking Luka’s lips.

                “I’ll go with you. I have to pee like a race horse,” Blake said.

                “That was way TMI,” Felix said, rolling his eyes. “Well, come on Luka! Come to my locker with me while they relieve themselves!”

                Felix and Luka began to talk as they walked down the hall towards Felix’s locker. Blake followed me to the bathroom and I shut the door, checking to make sure no one was in here before turning my attention to Blake.

                I walked over to him and gently stroked his cheek. “Don’t get so upset Blake. Luka is my boyfriend,” I said.

                “I know. I’m sorry,” Blake said with a sigh. “It’s just…well, you know.”

                I did know. Blake wanted me to be his, and his alone. But we had talked everything out already, and he knew that just wasn’t possible. I loved Luka too much to leave him.

                Blake wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed me deeply. I kissed him back, placing my hands on his hips and drawing his body closer to mine.

                I pulled away from his lips and rested my forehead on his, looking deeply into his eyes. Blake twirled my hair around one of his fingers and kissed me.

                “I love you Connor,” he said sincerely.

                “I love you too Blake,” I said, kissing him again before pulling away from him completely. “But we need to get back to the others. You know it’s risky for us to act like this in school.”

                Blake nodded, looking sad. “I know it is. We can hang out again soon, right? Right Connor?”

                I thought about it before shrugging and nodding. “Yea, we can hang out soon. I just have to find a day where we can spend more than just a few hours together,” I said, giving him a small smile.

                “Yes,” Blake said eagerly. “Just text me and let me know. Any day you want, Connor. Maybe we could go to the movie theater again. That one that’s out of town, so no one will see us. I’ll drive us there.”

                “It sounds like fun,” I said with a nod, heading over to the bathroom door. “Now let’s go meet up with Felix and Luka before they wonder what’s taking us so long.”

                We left the bathroom together and went down the senior hallway to Felix’s locker. He and Luka glanced at us and Luka smiled.

                “Connor! I missed you,” he said with his usual adorable pout.

                “Luka, I wasn’t even gone for five minutes,” I said, my arms snaking around his waist and drawing his body closer to mine.

                “I still missed you,” he grumbled, crossing his arms, his pout getting deeper.

                “You’re too cute,” I said, laughing and kissing his cheek.

                “I am not cute! I am tough and manly,” Luka said, flexing his muscles and glaring at me.

                “Sorry, sorry. You are tough and manly,” I said, trying not to laugh at his pathetic attempt to look tough. Luka was almost 18 years old, but he still held that little boy charm. I honestly didn’t know if Luka had it in him to be a tough guy.

                The bell rang and Luka’s glare disintegrated into another bright smile. “Time for class!” he cheered, grabbing my hand. “Come on Connor!”

                “See you guys in a little,” I said, giving a wave to Blake and Felix.

                “See you around Connor,” Blake said casually. But the look in his eyes reminded me that our next “private meeting” would be everything but casual.