GAY AS A MEATBALL (Scomiche)

Intro: Scott's POV

Why did I have to pick a school so far away from home? At first I figured it would be easier if Lauren just came with me to help me move in, rather than trying to fly out my whole family, but moving all my stuff to and from the airport with only my skinny ass older sister to help me was a real pain. It's a damn good thing I pack light. I couldn't let it bring me down though- I was here. In California. Living out my dream. It all starts today.

I'm pretty sure Lauren didn't stop talking once the whole cab ride from the airport to my new dorm. How is she somehow more excited than I am? It's nice, I guess, but I have too many thoughts buzzing around in my own head to be able to listen to hers, too.

"I hope you have a good roommate," I hear her say as we pull into the parking lot of the performing arts dorm. "Nothing ruins freshman year faster than a shitty roommate. I wonder if he's already moved in. I hope he was nice enough to leave you the window bed."

"I don't really care what bed I have. I think we're here."

"No, Scott, you want the window bed because it's a beautiful campus and you're on the 7th floor, so you'll have a great view."

"Whatever. Sure, maybe the window bed would be nice. Can you help me with this stuff? I dunno if you know this, but it's actually quite a lot and rather heavy."

She huffed and puffed all the way to the lobby but we made it, got my new key, and loaded my bags into the elevator.

We were in a suite, so it appeared, with two other guys. I guess it was considered a "suite" because the four of us shared a bathroom. I read the cards on my door, Mitch and Scott.

Mitch.

Okay, Mitch, hope you're ready to meet your new roomie, if you're in there. I debated outside the door whether or not to knock, and then decided to do a couple taps just be safe.

"One second!" A sleepy muffled voice shouted from inside the room. It kind of sounded like a lady. Mitch has been here, what, two days? And is already having a girl sleep over? I'm not sure whether to be judgmental or impressed about that one. The door opens, however, and it appears to be just one guy in the room.

"Hi! Are you Scott? I'm Mitch! Hi!" He said again, this time waving to Lauren behind me. The voice was his, I realized, his voice is just that high and melodic. He was... So small. I'm a good bit over six feet, most people are small to me, so I'm not sure if he was actually short, but there was just something so tiny about him. He had a little wiry frame folded up in a huge sweatshirt and...were those yoga pants? He had a couple tattoos that I could already see just on his nail-polished hands, and he had a pretty strange emo-looking haircut, with the sides shaved and the top as long bleach blonde bangs covering the side of his face. He looked really, really gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He took the window bed. I should say something now, I'm sure.

"Hey! Yeah, I'm Scott. This is my big sister, Lauren, she came to help me move in."

"Hi Mitch! How are you? When did you move in? What major are you? Where are you from? How do you like it here so far?"

"Lo, chill out. Sorry Mitch, she's..."

Mitch just chuckled and went out into the hallway to pick up my bags that Lauren had apparently dropped in her excitement. He brought them back in and placed them carefully on the bed. I knew at least one of them was fairly heavy- he was stronger than he looked, and it had been nice of him to get them for me.

"I'm from SanFran... I moved in just yesterday, but so far I like it here... I don't really remember what else you asked, but maybe we could go get lunch at the dining hall once you guys have unpacked and you could ask me whatever else you want."

"No- you don't have to- Lauren has to catch her-" I tried.

"That sounds AWESOME, thanks Mitch." Lauren positively beamed and that seemed to settle it.

While we unpacked, I thought about what I could tell so far about Mitch. I looked over at him, and he appeared to be watching anime on his laptop. He had a few posters up of what I assumed where bands I had never heard of. Sophie? Machinedrum? Finally I saw a poster I recognized because I had the same one- Beyoncé. I was glad we had at least one thing in common. I took another look at Mitch, while he giggled with his huge headphones over his ears. He was kind of... Pretty? I would never say that aloud, but he did look kind of feminine, with his very defined eyebrows and maybe a little bit of eyeliner? I couldn't really tell.

At my high school in Arlington, I don't think there had been any openly gay guys, but someone who looked like Mitch would have been the type to get beat up, absolutely. I briefly considered how a lot of my friends would definitely not be okay with rooming with a gay guy, but when I took a minute to think about it, I decided I didn't mind. I wasn't gay, and as long as he knew that and didn't ever get the wrong idea, we would be fine. Being in musicals in high school, I'd had my heterosexuality called into question plenty of times and I knew that what people said about gays wasn't right. While I'd never really known a gay guy firsthand, I wanted to be sure to give him a totally fair chance and not let him think I was one of those homophobic idiots. I'd maybe ask Lauren what she thought about it once I got her alone.

Soon enough we were headed out the door to lunch. Mitch introduced me to the other two guys in our suite, Avi and Kevin, who honestly seemed more like the type of people I would have been friends with in high school. He invited them to lunch as well and we hit it off right away, they were cool dudes. I liked being in a musically inclined suite, it was so awesome to share a passion with these guys.

Lauren got a cab back to the airport to head home and I settled in a little more. Mitch was pretty quiet, which I was fine with. I wasn't sure what we'd talk about. Part of me wanted to confront him about his sexuality but I didn't really have a good reason other than curiosity so I kept deciding against. Instead, we talked a very little about surface level things, and discovered we were in a couple classes together, which I figured would be convenient as long as he wasn't weird and clingy in them. I was tired and was sure I was coming off as pretty antisocial and aloof, but again, I was fine with it. Finally, my bizarre concern about his sexual orientation had weighed too much on my mind, and I decided to let him know about my girlfriend, to see how he reacted.

"Are you seeing anyone? I have a girlfriend back home in Texas, she's just starting at UT Arlington. This picture is of us at prom," I said, taking a picture out of my wallet and handing it to him. "Her name's Alex. She's hot, huh?"

He took the picture and examined it, before replying. "Yeah, she is beautiful. You guys make a cute couple. No, I'm not seeing anyone..." Mitch trailed off, and then looked me right in the eyes before speaking with what seemed like forced confidence. "Actually you should probably know this, I wouldn't want you to find out some other way and then be uncomfortable. I am...uh... I'm gay as a meatball."

I was totally right. I was a little proud, actually, that for having very little experience with gays, I was able to recognize one in the wild. I also recognized the reference. "Maypole," I corrected.

"Excuse me?" Mitch inquired, wide-eyed with a slight blush across his cheeks.

"The quote? From Love Actually? It's 'ten minutes at Elton John's and you're as gay as a maypole'... Not meatball."

"You're kidding! Wow, I have misheard that for my entire life. I did...just come out to you, though. And while I appreciate your knowledge of comedic British Christmas movies, 'maypole' isn't really an informative response. Are you... Okay with me being gay?" He tipped his chin up slightly, like he was trying to show me that he didn't really care what I thought while his words betrayed that he obviously did.

"Yeah, I mean, I could tell. I mean I figured you were... Bro, you look pretty fucking gay, I'm not stupid. It's fine, I don't care what you do on your own time as long as you give me a heads up if you're having someone over." I said, wanting to at least establish that ground rule. And then without really thinking I added, "I'm straight though," and then immediately regretted saying it.

He raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me and replied sarcastically, "Yeah, Mr. Broadshoulders McSquarejaw, you look pretty fucking straight, bro."

I cracked up at that one. He was funny, and honest, and I felt a lot less awkward once we'd gotten all that out in the open. I think Mitch Grassi and I are gonna get along just fine.