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

“What about that one you two were working on?” Kennedy was looking over song lyrics while Levi played a few chords, finding the right key for “Late Night Trial.”


“It’s still not ready yet.” Casey said it before I could say anything, so I just nodded in agreement.


“I’ve been messing with some words for a few days now.” Levi presented a coffee-stained sheet of paper. “Maybe you two could flesh this out. Make it, you know, better?”


Casey and I put our heads together. After a moment I looked up. “This is really good. It’s so creative! Um, what the hell is it?”


“I call it ‘The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Snail.’” He played a few notes on his guitar and sang the first few lines.


Casey and I grinned at each other. “That’s really good. I would even say that’s our next album title.”


“I would love to make a music video for that.” Kennedy patted Levi on the back.


We fell back into our regular routine while waiting for the album to finish.


Chapter 17