I got to third base. At baseball practice the following Monday, that is. As for what happened that night with Kevin at the stinky picnic gazebo, that’s none of your damn business.

Just because you can’t understand me, doesn’t mean I can’t understand you.

The fact is, there’s a difference between being alone and being lonely; I may not of been completely alone in life, but I was definitely lonely.

In spite of everything, he still felt wonderful, like I was embracing a mountain. But I now knew that as solid as he seemed, he was no mountain.

I was deep behind enemy lines, in the very heart of the enemy camp.

This time, there were things I'd be giving up forever. My visa to the Land of the Popular, for one thing, and probably even my return ticket to the Borderlands of Respectability.

I got to third base. At baseball practice the following Monday, that is. As for what happened that night with Kevin at the stinky picnic gazebo, that's none of your damn business.

Are you?" I said. "Gay, I mean?" -I hoped he wasn't offended by my asking, but after everything that had happened, I really wanted to know."No," he said. "I thought I was for about a w-w-week once. But now I know I'm not."If there was ever an answer that sounded like the truth, that was it.