Out in the End Zone (Out in College 2)

“Fine. We’d better call a truce because if you get my new shirt wet, I may go ballistic.”

“I like it. You look nice.” I gave the light blue button-down garment a once-over and tried not to stare at the hint of skin at his open collar. It was kind of…sexy.

“Thank you. I bought it yesterday. I had a much-needed retail therapy session I may regret when I get my next credit card statement, but it felt good at the time. Maybe even necessary after that episode with Rory Saturday night. We don’t need to go over all of it again, but…thank you for being there and for being so cool. I know it was weird. I was afraid you might not want to meet me today.”

“Nah.” I waved dismissively. “The part with Rory was unexpected, but the rest was really…nice.”

“Yeah. I think a few of our friends were talking about us the next day,” he said cagily.

“What’d they say?”

He gave me a crooked smile. “The usual ‘Mitch has a crush on a straight boy’ kind of thing. I hoped I didn’t scare you away.”

“I don’t scare easily, and I’m too curious about your mystery project. Tell me all about it.”

Mitch took a sip of water, then cleared his throat theatrically but still didn’t speak for a few moments. “Okay…well, um.”

“Not a good start,” I teased.

Mitch snickered. “I know. Sorry. I’m nervous and I don’t know why. All right, let me try again. I’m a communications major. My senior project is a thesis exploring the impact of social media, specifically in video format.”

“Like on YouTube?”

“Yes, exactly. I think there’s a strong argument that reality television and now platforms like Instagram and Twitter are popular because they give every regular guy and gal their instant fifteen minutes of fame. But they’re better because the fame stretches with every ‘like’ and comment on their pages. We eat up details in other people’s lives with more interest than our own. Have you noticed how many ‘couples’ have their own YouTube channels? Some of them make bank too.”

“How?” I asked incredulously.

“Sponsorships. Businesses advertise with YouTube sensations with lots of subscribers. They know thousands of people tune in to watch snippets of a cute couple making an impromptu dinner. Viewers fawn over how attentive and sweet they are to each other. The way one guy rubs his boyfriend’s back while he stirs marinara sauce and then—”

“Are we talking about gay couples?”

“Of course. I mean, it’s all out there. Gay, straight, bi, trans, pansexual…one partner, two.…But I try to stick with what I know. And I know I’m gay,” Mitch announced.

I smiled at the server who stopped by the table at that moment to deliver our lunches. When he stepped aside, I grabbed a few french fries and popped them into my mouth.

“You don’t say?” I snarked.

“That’s not going to be a problem for you, is it?”

“Mitch, we discussed anal tongue sex the other night. I know you’re gay. In fact, I’m pretty sure the first time we met, you were wearing a rainbow tie-dyed T-shirt that said, ‘I’m gay.’ ”

He barked a laugh and shook his head. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in tie-dyed anything. It was just a rainbow.”

“Whatever you say. Hey, before you get rollin’ again…I was supposed to get your bacon. Just throw it on my plate.”

Mitch glanced down at his salad and frowned. He scooped up a few bacon chunks with his fork and tossed them in the general direction of my plate. “Oops. They’re a little slippery.”

“Use your fingers. I don’t care.”

He obeyed with a laugh, then wiped his hands on a spare napkin and picked up his fork. “Happy now?”

“Ecstatic. Start talking. You want to make a YouTube video with me in it. Is that right?”

“Not exactly. I want to do an Is It Real or Isn’t It? series featuring you and me…as a couple,” he blurted.

“A couple of what?” I asked around a bite of hamburger.

Mitch held eye contact until he finished chewing; then he set his fork down and reached for his water. “This is the part where I need to ask you to listen and be open-minded. If you’re not interested, I won’t be offended but—”

“I’m listening.”

“Okay. The premise is fairly simple. We would make a series of ten-to-fifteen-minute videos entitled ‘Is This Real?’ and post them intermittently over the course of the semester. The idea is to explore stereotyping and gather statistics about the perceived reality in social media. My following is small potatoes compared to some of the more popular YouTubers, but I have a decent base for this project. In the first video, we’ll begin by announcing we’re boyfriends.”

“Boyfriends?” I repeated.

“Yes. At the end we’ll make a ‘Real or Not Real’ statement, but it’s all based on the premise that we’re a couple. Viewers might not believe we are, but we’ll ask them to play along and weigh in. For instance, episode one…we’re a new couple. Real or not real? Episode two, we talk about things we’ve learned about each other. Evan loves bacon and french fries, and he gets a little cranky when he’s hungry. Real or not real? Get it?”