People had noticed by now, he was sure of it. They stared sometimes in the hallways, paying extra attention to the hats and the tight pants and the expensive shoes. Ryan was gay, and he was sure at least some of the student body knew.

Lucky for him, their attention was diverted by the first out couple they'd ever seen. Adrian and Steven were seniors, both extremely good-looking and extremely gay. Ryan had a crush on both of them, not individually, but as a couple. He wanted their confidence, and maybe their jeans and hair product, while he was at it.

For once, the talk of the locker room wasn't this cheerleader's chest or that volleyball player's legs. It was Adrian and Steven. Half the boys made fun of them. The other half stayed quiet. Chad belonged to that other half, and Ryan was so, so glad. It was nice to know that someone he liked so much wasn't homophobic.

One day, after a particularly crude discussion about the boys, Ryan and Chad were the only boys remaining in the locker room. They had gym last period, and Ryan was taking care of his shoes. They had eyelets and hooks and he didn't want to miss a single one. Chad was just dawdling. Ryan recognized that. He often did that around Chad for different reasons.

"What's up? You're kind of zoned right now," Ryan said. He and Chad didn't talk much, but they were comfortable enough with each other to chat now and then.

"It's about Adrian and Steven," said Chad, hesitating before adding, "I'm really jealous of them."

"But they get made fun of all the time," Ryan said.

"Yeah, but they're so confident," said Chad. "So OK with who they are. And they don't care what anyone else thinks at all. I wish I felt that way."

"You have no reason not to," Ryan said. "You're a really great guy, Chad. You're friendly, and you're funny, and you're good at what you do, so long as it isn't math. You should be as confident as Adrian and Steven. You deserve to be."

Ryan feared he'd said too much. Chad did look a bit confused, but he gave Ryan a shy smile.

"Thanks, man," he said. "I needed that."

"Well, later," said Ryan, getting up to leave. He'd missed a hook or two. He didn't care anymore. He needed to get out of there before he did something really, really stupid.