Michael's POV

Wow. Just wow. I've known I actually like Connor for like, seven hours, and I'm already a gushing mess. Oh my God. He is such a dork sometimes, it's adorable. I honestly don't know why, but I somehow find him being kinda awkward kinda cute. And there's that laugh and those eyes. The way they sound and look... I just...

I could barely tell Jared about that without breaking into this just massive smile. The fact that... I just... I seriously need to calm down. How can I talk normally to my roommate if I'm just the blushing, gushing, total mess I currently am? I can't, that would seem strange if I talked in my current state. I just need to get over the fact that I'm totally crushing on Connor before I do anything else.

That realization though. I like, realized that immediately. Not that it was terribly difficult, I've had crushes before. I recognized the fluttery feeling immediately when I thought of him. If this was a video game, dating sim or something of that sort, this would probably be the point where my 'character sprite' would start blushing when talking to the player's character.

Only that player's character actually has a 'canon' name. That being Connor. I felt myself smiling. I haven't really played a whole load of dating sims but I know what they generally entail. You get to know the character and they eventually fall for you. The main character usually is silent so you can make up yourself what they're saying. Okay, I seriously need to stop thinking about Connor and dating sims if I'm gonna calm down. I need to stop thinking about Connor and dating in the same sentence.

Just chill Michael, I told myself. Just try to calm yourself down. Isn't there that new AOTD game coming out? Maybe you can play that with Jeremy? I looked down at my phone.

Hey Jer, wanna kill some Nintendo zombies together? I typed and then sent it to him. I knew it was kinda late being like, 7 PM maybe even later, but maybe getting out of the room would help me calm down.

Dude, you know I'm always up for that! I could just hear Jeremy laughing. But, should I come over to your place for that or you come here?

Um, I actually kinda want to get away from my room for a few hours. It's nothing bad, I'm just... I just want to get away for a while.

You have feelings for your roommate, don't you? I stared blankly at my phone screen. How did he..? As if anticipating me to question it Jeremy added in a separate text, I'm assuming at least, I could be totally wrong on that front. It's just, well um, you've kinda mentioned him a lot previously. And also that um, you don't really uh, have like a proper reason for wanting to get away a while. What am I even saying? I don't really know either, I could be totally wrong... The text didn't really have much of and end to it. I took a breath.

I mean... you are right, about one thing at least. I do have a crush on Connor. I wanna get away for a while so I can stop being this mess I currently am. I'd hardly want to talk to him when I'm currently in a state, would I?

Yeah, you can come over, was all that Jeremy typed back. I sighed I pocketed my phone and then went to fetch my car keys. I passed by Connor's room on the way to mine and saw the Clyde plushie on his bed. I felt myself smile. I shook myself, I'm trying to free my mind of Connor to just calm down. Once that has been achieved, I can just pretend to not like him as anything more than a friend while secretly actually liking him. I... have kind of become a pro at that. God, that sounds depressing. I walked into my room and picked up the Cruiser keys. I locked the door behind me and then left the building.

The drive to Jeremy's house was quiet, mostly because I hadn't decided to put the music on. I pulled up into the driveway and turned off the car. I entered the house, throwing a hello at Mr Heere before finding Jeremy in his bedroom. He smiled at me and left his bed. "Hey man," he greeted. He walked over to the TV in his room and sat down on one of the chairs in front of it. "I kinda expected it," he said simply, causing me to blush.

"Can we not talk about Connor right now? I'm trying to stop thinking about him so I can stop gay panicking." I said, sitting down on the other chair with a flop. Jeremy merely chuckled, giving me a smirk before picking up one of the controllers. I rolled my eyes and picking up the other controller. "So, you ready Player Two?"

"Michael," Jeremy stayed flatly. He then just looked at the TV screen, I just smiled at him. "But, yeah. I'm ready. Let's kill these zombies!" I looked at the TV screen myself, seeing that Level Nine was selected.

"Have we seriously not completed this level yet?!" I laughed, gazing at the screen. Jeremy gazed at me.

"No. We managed to complete it at your house but not on mine. At least um, I think so." Jeremy shrugged. "That's kinda weird though. That that ended up happening." I shrugged.

"I guess it is kinda weird. Though, there was that whole time period where we weren't friends and you had kinda blown me off and called me a loser. So maybe that's why." Jeremy put down his controller and looked at me, looking guilty.

"Yeah, maybe..." he trailed off and just picked up the controller again. "Anyway, Nintendo zombies?"

"Nintendo zombies." I selected the level and we both loaded into the Cafetorium. The zombies started coming in waves and Jeremy and I starting killing them. After a while of doing the same old, I decided to open my mouth. "So, how have classes been going for you?" I asked.

"They're boring honestly. I don't want to spend three hours on theatre history. I just wanna do the like, practical stuff. Actual plays or musicals or something." I laughed a bit.

"Wow, you've gotten really into musicals and stuff," I commented. Jeremy just looked at me and shrugged.

"I guess." I decided to look at my phone. Holy shit it was late. I looked at my best friend.

"Okay, it's late. Jer, can I stay over? It's not like I can't go back to my dorm on campus, I can. I just... I don't want to like wake up Connor if he's sleeping. Some nights he only gets home at 4 in the morning which means he doesn't sleep terribly well-" I was rambling, I knew as much. I probably wasn't even making sense to Jeremy even if he'd been my best friend since we were four. Jeremy just smiled.

"Michael, calm down. Of course you can stay over," he chuckled. He stood up and walked to his door. "I'm going to go sort everything out, but you should tell your roommate that you'll be out for the night." I nodded and took out my phone. I had been doing a real good job there of keeping Connor out of my mind but then I go and think about him again! Crushes fucking suck.

I would know as much.

I gazed at my phone, eyes hovering over Connor's name. I took a breath and then sent him a text. Hey, Con. I'm just at my friend's house and since it's late I'm gonna be spending the night. I'll see you in the morning, good night! I debated on whether to take out the 'good night' before I sent it but then ended up sending it anyway. I put my phone away and then helped Jeremy sort out everything for my staying over.