Kale had never thought of himself as gay. He was hesitant to apply the term homosexual to himself; Justin was special. Having these… feelings for Justin didn’t mean he was gay. He just fell in love. With another guy… he said mentally, watching the minutes tick by. Minutes. They’re all we have, really. In the scheme of things we’re insignificant, so why not spend our minutes with someone you care for?

            Thinking back, Kale wondered why he’d fallen for Justin. He remembered when he first knew how he felt-it had hit him hard, leaving Kale stunned and confused.

//”Wow, Kale, man your poem in English today was deep!”

// “You noticed, then? I was aiming for the ‘deeper meaning of life’ type thing.”

// “It was beautiful…” //

He’d said the last comment slowly, drawing out the words. Justin had blushed, and turned away. Kale stopped at that moment to watch his friend of nearly two years in a way very different from any previous glance or observation before. His eyes had roamed over the curves of Justin’s body, stopping on his sea-green eyes. He remembered everything. The longing to hold him close, to feel Justin’s heart beating in time with his own. The calm that had spread over Kale gave way to embarrassment, then fear. He’d hastily said good-bye, suddenly wanting to be as far from Justin as possible, while at the same time not wanting to leave.

            This had been three weeks ago. He wanted to tell Justin his feelings-he just couldn’t. If Justin knew it would ruin their friendship. Kale was jolted out of his thoughts by the phone ringing. Picking it up, he gave a half-hearted greeting.

            “Hello?”

            “Hi, Kale. It’s Justin.”