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‘You’re not Rosaline,’ Rowan informed me, to which I nodded.

                ‘I’m not,’ I agreed.

                ‘But I heard you... You told the ticket girl you were Rosaline!’

                I bit my lip nervously. ‘Yeah. Rose is my cousin. She didn’t feel like coming tonight so she gave me her ticket.’

                Rowan let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair wearily. ‘You’re the kitten guy,’ he said, randomly.

                I frowned. Was that a veiled homophobic comment that I hadn’t heard before? ‘What?’

                ‘On Facebook? Your profile picture is of kittens.’

                I scowled; I hadn’t checked my Facebook in over a week. Stupid Nate. I bet he’d hacked my account and changed my picture.

                ‘Right,’ I mumbled, embarrassed. He probably thought I was creepy now. ‘Why were you on my Facebook page?’

                ‘Looking for Rosaline, of course,’ he told me distractedly, barely paying any attention to me.

                ‘Of course,’ I mumbled again. So he’d been flirting with me all night, told me he had feelings for me, and then kissed me. It felt massively unfair that that should all amount to nothing now that he knew I was a boy, but it did.

                ‘Look, I’m really sorry,’ Rowan said suddenly, looking down at me earnestly. ‘You must think I’m a complete psychopath or something, nothing about tonight must make any sense to you.’

                ‘I think I have a fairly good grasp on it actually,’ I told him wryly. ‘I’m just a little perplexed at why you thought I was a girl in the first place.’

                Rowan scrunched up his face for a moment. ‘Now you’re going to think I’m even weirder,’ he told me, ‘but I guess I owe you an explanation. I found out online about what happened to your cousin – her parents, and then being basically homeless for a few months.’ I nodded. ‘So I figured maybe she was just really messed up over it... Or whatever. I don’t know. Maybe I was just so single-minded about what I wanted that I didn’t pay enough attention.’

                ‘I’ll say,’ I muttered. ‘I know I’m slightly effeminate but jeez.’

                Rowan laughed. ‘I really am sorry. And I’m sorry I kissed you. But you’re... Gay... Right?’

                I looked up at him sharply; nobody outside my immediate family was supposed to know that. ‘How do you know that?’ I demanded.

                Rowan chuckled. ‘You kissed me back dude,’ he said, and I burned red. I had kissed him back. Like an idiot.

                Still, I glared up at him defensively. ‘If Rose had wanted to be a man forever, would you have been okay with that?’

                Rowan shrugged. ‘I guess we’ll never know. Plus now I have to think of some other way to get her to go out with me – which will probably be even harder once she realises I made out with her little cousin.’

                ‘I won’t tell her,’ I muttered.

                Rowan blinked at me. ‘Really?’

                I shrugged. ‘Sure. I don’t wanna ruin anything for you. But,’ I added, ‘you should know she’s pretty fucked up. I don’t think she’s looking for anything; I don’t think she’ll be looking for anything for a long time.’

                Rowan nodded like he’d suspected this as well. ‘That thought had occurred to me. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since I first met her.’

                I bit my lip and nodded again. ‘Okay. Well. Good luck, I guess.’

                Rowan smiled and my heart nearly stopped. ‘Thanks. Do you want me to walk you out? If that Parker kid is around...’

                I shook my head. ‘I’ll be fine. Thanks.’

                Rowan looked uncertain but turned to leave and I stood there behind the coat rack, watching him go. ‘Hey kid?’ he asked, turning around.

                ‘Justin,’ I told him.

                ‘Right,’ he smiled. ‘If Rosaline is anything like you when it comes to kissing, then I’m a lucky guy.’ And then he left.

Rowan

I walked quickly out of the Capulet gymnasium with my head down, cursing myself. Why had I said that? What the hell was I thinking? What was wrong with me?

                I strode through the halls and out through the main front doors of the school, nearly having a heart attack when Ben jumped out from around the corner to confront me.

                ‘Jesus!’ I shouted, clutching at my chest.

                ‘No, just me,’ Ben said, smirking, and I scowled. ‘So? How’d it go? You were in there for ages, you must have found her.’

                I cringed. ‘I think I may have met someone else,’ I admitted, and Ben groaned.

                ‘You have got to be kidding me,’ he spat. ‘Another Capu-retard? What is this sudden weakness you have for those Capulet chicks?’

                I managed to choke out a laugh. ‘Yeah...’

                Ben frowned at me, squinting his eyes suspiciously. ‘What aren’t you telling me?’ he demanded.

                ‘Nothing!’

                ‘Listen you little shit,’ he threatened me, ‘I have seriously come through for you this week; first with that stupid fight outside The Cube and now by getting you into a dance where by rights you should have been tarred and feathered by Tyson Andrews. I’ve been spending a lot of time at the gym lately so if it comes to it I can beat it out of you but it would probably be better if you just accepted that I’m the best friend you’ll ever have and tell me already.’

                I sighed at his needless theatricality but relented. ‘Fine,’ I huffed. ‘I... I followed, um, her, Rosaline, and we ended up talking all night. And then we were in the cloakroom and I kissed her and... And I took off her mask and...’

                ‘Oh god,’ Ben drawled. ‘It wasn’t her, was it? I told you she looked weird in that tux. Who was it, some butch lesbian?’

                ‘No. It was... A guy. Her cousin. Justin.’

                Ben stared at me for a full minute before his body started shaking with repressed laughter. His face turned cherry red and he had to suck his lips into his mouth to try and control the sound trying to burst forth.

                ‘Go on,’ I mumbled, waving a hand in his direction, and suddenly the wave of noise left his body as he convulsed in laughter, clutching his stomach and grabbing my shoulder with one hand to keep himself upright.

                ‘Only you,’ he choked between breaths. ‘This could only happen to you.’

                ‘I know,’ I snapped, discarding my now useless mask in a trash can as we walked.

                ‘I mean... Oh my god,’ Ben started to get a hold of himself finally, gulping down some deep breaths. ‘That is just priceless. What happened next?’

                ‘We talked for a while and I apologised. But...’

                ‘What? Did he threaten to you pistols at dawn or something?’

                ‘No... He kissed me back. When I kissed him in the first place, I mean.’

                Ben raised an eyebrow. ‘Seriously? Typical that you’d accidentally spend the whole night chatting up a gay kid, you stupid fool.’ He paused. ‘What was it like? Kissing a dude?’

                I shifted uncomfortably, avoiding his gaze.

                ‘Oh my god,’ Ben drawled again, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. ‘You liked it, you big queer.’

                ‘Shut up!’ I cried, punching him on the arm.

                Ben held up his hands in conciliation. ‘Sorry. I know you guys don’t like that word,’ he said, smirking, and I reigned in the urge to punch him again.

                ‘Look I don’t know, okay?’ I snapped.

                Ben sighed dramatically, then muttered, ‘The last thing I ever thought I’d be doing of a Saturday night was helping you try to figure out your sexuality. Okay,’ he said more loudly, taking charge of the situation. ‘Forget everything that happened after the kiss. Tell me about before it.’

                I shifted uncomfortably again.

                ‘Forget that he’s a boy,’ Ben ordered again.

                ‘Fine. I... I liked her. Him. Her. We were getting on really well and sh-she? She, seemed really awesome and funny and cool, and she had this way of rubbing her nose every now and again that was really adorable and the way her hair fell over her eyes even though it was short-’ I was getting carried away in the memory now, forgetting that Ben was even there until he held up a hand for me to stop.

                ‘I get it,’ he told me. ‘And I can’t believe I’m asking you this, but the kiss. Did you like it?’

                I shrugged. ‘Well. Yeah. It was awesome. It was how a kiss is supposed to feel, it was... Better, even.’

                Ben bit his lip, glancing at me. ‘Well I don’t know how you feel about the whole gay thing in general, but it sounds to me like you might be into this guy. Actually, it sounds like you might be a lot more into him than you were into Rosaline in the first place, since this is slightly more rational and not built on your hero complex.’

                ‘I don’t have a hero complex!’

                ‘Oh please,’ Ben rolled his eyes. ‘The only reason you were interested in his cousin in the first place was because she was so tragic. You are always trying to save people.’

                I was going to argue but stopped myself. It had a little truth to it. Plus, he was right, I was initially drawn to Rosaline at the store because she had those sad eyes.

                ‘So what am I supposed to do about this?’ I asked Ben desperately.

                He shrugged. ‘Who am I, Dan Savage? Go ask him out or something, I guess.’

                ‘I can’t. I already told him that I like his cousin. He thinks I’m a douchebag.’

                Ben stared at me uncomprehendingly. ‘How are you even allowed out of the house without a keeper?’ he demanded. ‘Jesus. Alright. Relax. I know what you have to do.’

Justin

I walked home alone shortly after I was sure Parker had left the cloakroom, mulling over the events of the night in my mind. Despite the disappointment that had followed sharply afterwards, I was mostly dwelling on the fact that my first kiss, finally, at age sixteen, was with the indisputably hottest guy in town – even if he was a Monta-loser.

                My parents were already in bed when I got home so I went straight to my room, shrugging off my jacket and loosening my tie before wandering out onto my balcony to get some fresh air and appreciate the beautiful night. Even if Rowan Montgomery ended up with Rosaline and they lived happily ever after and I made a speech at their wedding, I couldn’t bring myself to regret that kiss because it had been... Wow. It had taken my breath away.

                After a while a car pulled up outside our house and I watched interestedly as Nate got out of the passenger side. He walked around and opened the driver’s side door, pulling a surprised Julia out into the night air with him, pushing her against the car, and kissing her. I couldn’t even find it in me to be repulsed by the sight of my brother making out with a chick because I was quite content with my own recent kissing memories.

                ‘Pervert!’ Nate called up to me once Julia had driven away and he caught me watching him.

                I stuck my tongue out and he walked the rest of the way through the garden, letting himself in and finally appearing beside me on the balcony.

                ‘Well you know how my night went,’ he joked. ‘How was your night with Rowan Montgomery?’

                I gasped, looking up at him. ‘How did you know?!’

                Nate shrugged. ‘I tried to tell you at the start of the night, remembered? When you eye raped him and demanded to know his name.’

                I rolled my eyes, looking away from him.

                ‘Well? What was that all about? Why was he at our Prom?’

                I sighed, shrugging one shoulder. ‘He was looking for Rosaline.’

Rowan

I wriggled under the fence on my tummy, cursing the day I ever started to take advice from Ben Montgomery. Finally crouching among the trees and shrubbery in this unfamiliar garden and regarding the damage to my dress shirt, I tried to keep as still as possible. I was sure I could hear voices.

                ‘He was looking for Rosaline.’

                ‘How does he know Rosaline?’ the second voice asked in surprise.

                ‘I think he said he met her in town once.’ That was definitely him... Justin.

                ‘Oh. Well, what did he want with her?’

                Justin sighed. ‘To marry her or something.’

                ‘You don’t sound particularly pleased about that. Has somebody got a crush?’ the second voice became teasing.

                ‘Shut up,’ Justin mumbled. ‘Anyway, he heard us telling Julia that I was Rosaline and spent the whole night chatting me up. Of course I didn’t know it was a mistake and fell for it like a fool, and then when I was hiding from Parker in the cloakroom along comes Rowan fucking Montgomery and kisses me.’

                ‘What?!’ the second voice demanded, clearly shocked.

                ‘Yeah. Kisses the bloody lips off me so I can barely breathe and then essentially takes it all back when he finds out I’m a boy.’

                ‘Wow,’ the second boy breathed. ‘Shit. I’m so sorry, Justin. I know you liked him.’

                ‘No I didn’t,’ Justin snapped, effectively wiping away the smile that had been spreading across my face. ‘I didn’t even know him.’

                ‘Yeah, but you thought he was hot.’

                Justin sighed impatiently. ‘It’s not exactly breaking news that he’s attractive.’

                ‘Oh leave it out, Justin,’ the other voice said impatiently. ‘Look at you mooning up here on your balcony with that stupid look on your face. Be honest.’

                There were sounds of a brief scuffle and some laughter before Justin finally started crying, ‘All right, all right! Jeez. Yes, after tonight, I like him. A lot. Despite the fact that he must be an idiot to think I was a girl.’ There was s brief pause during which the other boy must have given him a sceptical look or something because Justin said, ‘Hey! I’m not that girly. I mean, I’m short and skinny but... Oh alright. Fine.’

                ‘If Tyson finds out you like, much less kissed, Rowan Montgomery you are both completely screwed.’

                ‘I had this conversation with him actually – Rowan, not Tyson,’ he added quickly. ‘We decided Rowan could take him in a fight.’

                ‘Yeah,’ the other boy snorted, ‘but could you?’

                ‘Sure, I’ll just threaten to pass on the Gay like I did to Rowan and Tyson will never touch me again,’ Justin joked, and the other boy laughed.

                ‘Well, whatever. I just hope you don’t get your heart broken. Try not to fall too hard for him, yeah?’

                ‘Hm,’ Justin mumbled.

Justin

Nate gave me a sceptical look and rolled his eyes before pulling me into a hug.

‘I do like him,’ I admitted.

‘I know,’ Nate told me, letting me go. ‘Now, I’m gonna go to bed. Will you be okay?’

‘Of course. If I can survive Parker Count, I can survive this,’ I joked. Rolling his eyes, Nate disappeared back into the house. It was a few seconds before I noticed some movement in the garden below. ‘Jamjars?’ I called, wondering if it was our wayward cat. Jamjars made monthly cameos in our lives.

I nearly lost my life when a tall figure stood up and stumbled over the plants and shrubs to the garden path.

‘Hey,’ Rowan Montgomery said, grinning up at me.

‘How long have you been there?’ I demanded, mortified.

‘Long enough,’ rowan told me, smirking.

‘Well, Rosaline’s in bed, you can’t talk to her,’ I snapped.

‘I’m not here to see Rosaline,’ he said, his smirk fading to a smile. ‘I wanted to ask you something.’

‘What?’

‘Out.’

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