I felt my face get hot. "Yea - yeah?" I asked, stumbling over my words. Alice led me to the bathroom and made sure nobody was in there. 

"Are you..?" She looked around again and bent her wrist. She was asking me if I was gay. I clenched my eyes shut and nodded. I opened them again, but instead of disgusted, she seemed overjoyed. "Me too!"

I couldn't help but smile. "So...do you have a crush on me, or was carrot top bluffing?" I turned red again. I might as well tell her. "Yeah. I do."

She went silent for a moment. "I've never had a girl have a crush on me before," she said, looking at the floor. "That's hard to believe," I said, grinning. No. No. No. Why did you say that? Don't be that big of a simp! my brain scolded. But Alice seemed flattered. 

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "Um..." she looked uncomfortable now. "God, I don't know how to say this. I'm not really ready for a relationship." I dropped my gaze to the floor. Of course there was a catch. "But we can be friends!" she added hastily. "I could use some gay friends. All my friends do all day is talk about boys. I can never relate."

"Same!" I said, getting more comfortable around her. We laughed and talked until the late bell rang. I started to leave, but she grabbed my arm. "Hey, it was nice talking to you," she said, smiling. I smiled back and left, prepared to lie to my teacher about why I was late.