Page 30 of The Cuffing Game
Noah
Noah had just finished showering when Matías’s voice came from outside the bathroom door.
“Um, Noah? Are you in there?”
Noah wrapped a towel around his waist before stepping out. “Yeah, what’s up?”
Matías’s face turned bright red as he widened his eyes. “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t sure if it was you because of the... music. I thought a girl accidentally wandered into our room or something.”
Noah followed Matías’s gaze back toward his old iPod, which was currently playing “Long Live” by Taylor Swift through his portable speakers.
“I can’t shower without my playlist,” Noah said. “I wasn’t sure if they’d actually take our phones, so I brought this ancient hand-me-down iPod I got from my older brother, just in case. Matías, you look like you’re about to suffocate. You can laugh at me, I don’t care.”
Matías burst out laughing, guffawing so loudly that Noah couldn’t help but grin himself.
“What can I say? It’s relaxing,” Noah went on. “My brother’s really into Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, so he’d always have their music playing in our shared bedroom when we were kids. And now I find it comforting.”
Matías laughed even harder, falling backward into his bed. Noah gave him a minute, taking that time to return to the bathroom and get fully dressed in his pajamas.
“Whew,” Matías said when he’d finally calmed down. “Well, feel free to play whatever music you have in our room during our week here! And thanks for the laugh. After how tense tonight was, I needed it.”
Noah smiled. “Sure thing. Speaking of which... are you okay? You didn’t look too good back at the firepit.”
Matías’s face fell. Noah wondered if he should have even brought it up at all.
“Yeah, about that.” His roommate buried his face in his hands for a moment before continuing, “I cuffed with my best friend because I doubt my crush likes me back. It seemed like a good idea when Shirin and I first thought about it. Funny, even! But once we were all gathered around the firepit again, it hit me that I couldn’t confess to my real crush. And it sucked.”
“Wow.” Noah sat down on his bed.
“Sorry! That was probably too much, too soon. Especially since we only met a few hours ago.”
“No, you’re fine. I just... don’t know what to say.”
Noah leaned back, eyeing the camera on the dresser. He had a special love for Thad and his other fraternity brothers,but unless there was some sort of issue, their conversations back at the house were usually surface level, just talking about hot girls or the next tailgate. And that was exactly what Noah preferred.
Now, in this small bedroom with Matías, someone he barely knew, Noah felt out of his element, more so with the camera recording their every word. He grabbed one of Matías’s shirts from the floor and threw it over the device. The microphone was probably still recording what they were saying, but he felt better knowing he at least wasn’t being watched.
“Why couldn’t you confess to the person you like?” Noah asked, finally managing to coalesce his thoughts into a tangible question.
“Well, it’s complicated. I don’t want to tell anyone who my crush is yet, since once I say it out loud, everyone at school will know. And so will the people whodon’tgo to Marlon but still watch our student programming on YouTube. The person I like is a guy. I’m out, so that part is fine. But I don’t thinkhe’sinto guys. I could make a total fool of myself.”
Ah.Noah wanted to say something kind, something that told Matías that he was an ally. But he didn’t want to sound too cheesy or randomly talk about his gay brother when Jae-hyun wasn’t even relevant to the conversation. The fear of saying the wrong thing jumbled up the words in his head.
The only thing he could get out was a stupid joke. “It’s not me, is it?”
A pillow flew toward him, almost hitting his head.
“Noah, you’re so full of it!” Matías said with a laugh. “Even if it were, I said I don’t want to tell anyone yet, remember?”
“Yeah, I know. I was kidding.”
Noah took a deep breath, growing serious. He and Matías barely knew each other, but he didn’t want this moment to pass without him saying something actually beneficial.
He tried again. “Look... if you want me to shut up, tell me. But the entire reason you came on this show is because you want a chance with the person you like, right? You’re literally sacrificing your winter break for this, like Mia mentioned back at the firepit. Don’t you owe it to yourself to at least try talking to him, even with all the risks?”
For a long moment, Matías didn’t answer.
Noah panicked. “You can ignore what I said and do whatever you want—”
