Cyrus

"Dude! She was a hottie! I can't believe you turned her down," Jace complained, shaking Cyrus's shoulder.

Cyrus pushed him away. "I just wasn't interested, man," he replied. "That's all. Besides, you got the brunt of it."

Jace sighed heavily. "Probably."

"Girls who get rejected are always looking for something to cheer them up," Blake noted. "They always come to you, buddy. Expect Hannah in your DMs by the end of the week."

"I'm tired of being second choice!" Jace exclaimed dramatically, grabbing Blake by the shoulders and pretending to sob into his chest. "Woe is me!"

Blake patted him on the back solemnly. "Well, well."

Riley rolled his eyes. "You two are so annoying."

Cyrus shook his head, chuckling softly at his friends' antics. He was constantly teased for turning down the girls he met, but they never took it seriously, which was a relief. He was still trying to figure out why none of them liked him.

He was almost certain he'd never felt anything for anyone. He knew girls were beautiful or attractive, but he'd never felt anything for them. And he couldn't bring himself to. He'd tried it once before. It had ended horribly.

At that moment, Cyrus was convinced that he would never be able to...

Oh.

Cyrus's steps froze. He saw a face in the crowd of passing students and couldn't look away. A guy he'd never seen before (new, perhaps? Mid-semester?) was passing by, staring at the campus map as if it were a foreign language.

Who is he?

He was… very attractive. Cyrus stopped, feeling Jace nudge him from behind and say something, but he ignored it. His gaze followed the stranger until he was out of sight, and he blinked slowly. "Guys," Cyrus said, placing his hand over his heart, feeling it beat rapidly. "I'm gay." Silence. Concerned, considering that his friends were never silent, he turned to look at them.