"Ha, beat you again," said Ty. He threw the controller to the floor in triumph.
I could never tell how he was so good at video games when the controller was so small in his hands. My new roommate wasn't, uh, shall we say, normal. When he applied to be my roommate I thought he was trolling me. Eleven foot five? Come on.
And then I met him. Ty couldn't comfortably fit in normal size apartments or houses, but I lived in a weird old house with large doorways and high ceilings. Call me sentimental, but I couldn't say no and throw him out in the cold. Plus, he seemed nice. Always paid rent on time.
"I win again," he said. "I am the Madden king and you have to take out the trash. Again."
"Aw man, you always win. Can't you do the chores just this once?" I begged.
Ty scratched at the patchy beard on his chin. "I'll wrestle you for it, Javi. Ready, go!"
Before I could protest, I was pinned to the floor, pressed deep into the carpet. Ty easily held both my wrists down with his huge, dark hands. Try as I might I couldn't even budge them. He wore a shit-eating grin on his face and waggled his eyebrows at me. "I win this game too," he said.
"Not fair," I panted, feeling a strange fluttering sensation in my stomach. We rarely looked at each other this close. "Now let me go."
"Aw," Ty said, mock-frowning. "But you're so cute pinned under me like this."
I forced a laugh. "What are you, gay?"
Ty stood up immediately. "No! I'm not gay. I thought you were gay, Javi."
"I am not gay either. Of course I'm not. Don't be stupid." There was a long pause. "But I did think you were gay. Just a vibe I got."
"Ew, no." Ty looked embarrassed. "Not that there's anything wrong with being gay. You can be as gay as you want to."
Now it felt like a standoff. "I could say the same to you," I said. "If you were gay, I mean. You could be super gay. But you're not."
"Too bad," said Ty.
I pointed to the kitchen. "I'll take out the trash now," I said, ignoring my reddening face.
I nodded and made for the kitchen before Ty could sense my shivering. Oh god oh god oh god, I thought. I think I'd like the wrestling.
Ty patted me on the head and chuckled. His hand completely covered my scalp. "Just make sure you separate the trash from the recycling. I can't wait for our rematch tomorrow."
"Me neither," I replied, trying to smile like a normal person. In that moment I had forgotten how to do that. "You can't win every game of Madden."
He just winked. "We can wrestle for it if you like that better."
I nodded and made for the kitchen before Ty could sense my shivering. Oh god oh god oh god, I thought. I think I'd like the wrestling.
