I'm sick of being called Junior. Sure, I'm William Nicholas Martens, Jr., but I just want to go by Nick. I'm sick of my boyfriend mismatching his socks on purpose. And I'm sick of being in the closet.<br><br>All this changes when my band Taking Back Nick lands a record deal. My friends Casey, Kennedy, Levi, and I are about to make it big. In one night I come out to my parents and break up with my boyfriend. And then the hard part starts. Casey is my oldest friend, and I move in with him after my breakup. But things ... start to happen.<br><br>We skyrocket to fame, but Casey finds himself in the middle of some serious addiction issues. Combined with him showing me so much affection, I start to worry there's more going on than just the stress of success. Will Casey be able to overcome his addictions and find happiness? More importantly, will that happiness be with me?

Porch Light

“No, ma’am. He was gay when I met him. I’ve just provided love and support.”


“Fuckin’ fags.” Dad’s words spilled like venom into my bloodstream. “Get out.”


“No, let’s talk about this!” Mom stood to calm everyone down, but all that did was make Dad angrier.


“There’s nothing to talk about! I’m not sitting here with a couple of fucking pedophiles in my goddamn house! Get out!”


Casey and I both quickly stood and made toward the door, my mom starting to cry as she followed us.


“Junior! Honey! Just give us some time and we’ll call you!”


I shouted through tears as I slammed the front door behind me. “Give me some time and maybe I’ll answer.”


Kennedy and Levi didn’t know what I was doing, but I was also out to them, so they could guess what had happened when I got into the backseat of Levi’s truck.


“Let’s get to The Amazon.” Casey wrapped his arms around me as I cried into his shoulder. “This one needs a fucking drink.”3: Hector’s Mismatched Socks


Chapter 6