Chapter 18

As the evening approached, Matthew’s truck finally rolled into the Burge Hall lot, the engine coughing once as he killed the ignition. The drive from the farm had been long—two hours of winding roads, the radio crackling with country pop tunes, his thoughts a jumble of anticipation and nerves.

The kiss he’d planted on Alex’s cheek still reverberated in his mind. He wondered what had possessed him. He told himself he hadn’t planned on doing it, that it was just a sudden impulse. He’d halfheartedly tried to laugh it off, and Alex hadn’t said anything more about it, so maybe it was no big deal.

He grabbed his duffel bag from the passenger seat, the weight of it pulling at his still-sore back, and trudged to the dorm, the cold biting at his cheeks. The lobby was quiet, most students either out for the evening or holed up studying for finals, as Matthew climbed the stairs to his room.

He opened the door and there was Alex, sitting on his bed amid textbooks and papers, wrestling with lines of code on his laptop. He looked up as Matthew entered, his face lighting up with a smile.

“Hey, you,” Alex said, shutting the laptop and standing. “You’re back.”

“Yeah,” Matthew said, dropping his duffel by the door, a casual look on his face. “Miss me?”

Alex laughed, crossing the room to greet him.

“Maybe a little,” he teased, pulling Matthew into a friendly hug.

Matthew returned the embrace briefly before pulling away, patting Alex gently on the shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” Alex asked. “Stitches okay?”

“Sore, but I’ll live,” Matthew said, brushing off the concern with a hand gesture. “Headache’s mostly gone. Doctor says I can ease back into things—just take it slow for a few more days, which is gonna suck for studying. I have a ton of class notes to review.”

Alex nodded, his smile fading. He wasn’t sure what to make of Matthew’s offhand demeanor. He hesitated a beat before continuing.

“Well, you’ll manage, I’m sure. I’ll help you with the notes if you need it.”

“Thanks, but like you said, I’ll manage. I just need to put my stuff away and hit the books a bit before bed, no matter what Mom or the doctor says. I have to try to catch up some.”

“Well, don’t push yourself too hard. Do you need any help with your things?” Alex asked, gesturing at Matthew’s duffel bag.

“No, this is all I had.”

Matthew hauled the duffel over to his bed, turned his back to Alex and began unpacking.

Alex stood watching for a moment longer, unsure what to do. Matthew acted like his usual self, but under the surface he seemed vaguely distracted. He wanted to ask Matthew what was up, but was afraid it might raise the subject of what happened in his bedroom.

Finally, he emitted a little sigh, returned to his bed, and resumed scrolling through some code he was debugging on his laptop. Maybe he was just imagining things. If Matthew didn’t want to talk about it, it was probably for the best to let the matter drop.

Once Matthew had finished putting his things away, he grabbed his biochem textbook and a sheaf of notes and began to dig around for something to write with. After a moment of searching, he realized he’d left all his pens and such back home.

“Shoot. I don’t have anything to write with. Do you mind if I grab a pen from your bag?” he asked.

“Go for it,” Alex replied, not looking up.

As Matthew rifled through Alex’s backpack, his eyes caught the edge of a sketchpad peeking out of one of the compartments, its zipper open part way.  Curiosity tugged at him. He glanced at Alex—still focused on his coding.

Huh. I wonder what this is?

Reaching in quietly, he pushed the sketchpad back with one hand as he pulled out a pen with the other. It slipped backward just enough to reveal the image on the open page.

It was a pencil drawing—two abstract figures, intertwined, floating against a backdrop of stars, their shapes swirling in a way that felt oddly familiar. The lines were delicate, the stars scattered like a constellation.

Wow. He’s really good. I had no idea he could draw like this.

He was about to say something when he spied at the bottom, in Alex’s careful handwriting:

- Zero Gravity -

Matthew froze.

The compliment he was about to give caught in his throat as he put words and sketch together.

His eyes widened in recognition and a little shiver ran down his spine—before he quickly steadied himself and tucked the pad back in place, careful not to disturb anything else. Playing it cool, he turned to Alex, holding up the pen.

“Got it,” he said, pasting on a smile he didn’t feel.

Alex glanced over, oblivious to what had just transpired.

“No worries, man.”

Matthew sat down on his bed, deep in thought, stealing glances at Alex. This couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. How did he know about the song?

Lost in thought, his eyes wandered to his desk where he suddenly zeroed in on his laptop. He’d left it behind for Thanksgiving break, thinking he’d only be gone for a couple of days and wouldn’t be in the mood to study anyway.

Alex must have been fooling around with it and stumbled onto his GarageBand files. He knew he ought to be more upset about Alex rummaging around through his stuff, but what about that sketch?

While he couldn’t be certain, it sure looked like a drawing of him and Alex.

Together.

His world was suddenly tilted ten degrees to one side—and he didn’t have the slightest clue what to do about it.

• This concludes the online preview of the draft chapters of “Zero Gravity” and represents approximately the first 1/3 of the entire story. Check back on TheDefiniteArticle.blog for updates on when the full novel will be published so you can find out what happens to Matthew and Alex.