Chapter 6

Again we ate in silence. Well, I ate, and Zack took a few bites in between pushing food around on his plate. In the end he managed about half of the eggs and one piece of toast. I would have pushed him to eat more, but I was at least satisfied he had something substantial in his stomach.

“Josie told me that you’re gay.”

The statement came out of the blue, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. I stole a glance at him and then piled the rest of my eggs on the remaining piece of toast as I responded. “Yeah. She told me you are, too.”

Zack didn’t acknowledge my statement. He leaned his elbows on the table and wrapped his hands around his half-full mug. “How come you don’t have a boyfriend?”

It took me a few seconds to realize my jaw had fallen open, and I quickly shut it and finished chewing the bite of food in my mouth. This seemed to amuse Zack, because I got another one of those barely there, but real, smiles.