Two Boys Kissing

Peter and Neil watch the livestream in Peter’s room. They speculate about whether the woman on the stream was Craig’s mother and whether she knew about the kiss ahead of time. Neil thinks about his mother looking at him the way Craig’s mother did, and he shudders at the thought. Peter asks Neil how long he thinks they could kiss, and Neil thinks they could do it for a few hours. They decide to try. At first, they kiss the way they normally would, enjoying the closeness and the sensuality. The longer they hold the kiss, however, the more intense it feels. They make it to 12 minutes before getting overwhelmed.

Avery and Ryan say goodbye to Caitlin as the sun starts to go down. Avery still wants to kiss Ryan, but fears he won’t get the chance, because he has to leave soon. Avery drives Ryan towards his house, but Ryan has him pull over before they get there, because he doesn’t want to say goodbye in front of his house. Avery tells him that he had a great time, and Ryan agrees. Then, they kiss. “Every kiss that matters contains a recognition at its core” (94).

Cooper returns to the Starbucks to wait for Julian. He checks his phone messages and hears an angry message from his father. He deletes the message and all the subsequent messages, all from his parents. Julian arrives four minutes late, and they recognize each other immediately from their photos. Julian asks if Cooper wants to go somewhere else, inviting Cooper for a drink before realizing that Cooper—“Drake”—is too young. Cooper suggests they go to Julian’s place for a drink, but Julian balks. Cooper then suggests that they stay at Starbucks and chat for a while, and Julian agrees. Cooper likes the feeling that taking charge gives him.

As the sun sets, the drama club tech crew kids set up extra lights to keep Harry and Craig visible on the livestream. Harry starts feeling the hours they’ve been standing. His feet hurt and his eyelids become heavy. He gestures for an energy drink, and sips from a straw through their kiss. Craig feels disappointed that his mother hasn’t returned, and starts to drift, so Harry pulls him closer and kisses him more passionately. The crowd cheers but has now grown so large that not all its members are supportive.

Julian apologizes for the unfinished paintings strewn about his apartment. Cooper asks him about the woman in one of his paintings, and Julian reveals that he painted Joni Mitchell, because he listens to her music while he works and wanted to return the favor. He offers Cooper a drink, calling him Drake, which Cooper had nearly forgotten was the fake name he chose. Julian rambles about art, but realizes Cooper seems bored, so he turns on music, instead. Julian tries to talk, but Cooper goes straight to kissing. They make out passionately, and Cooper pushes for them to head to the bedroom. Julian hesitates, but Cooper says that he just doesn’t want to crush any of the art, so Julian agrees. They make out on the bed, and as Cooper tries to move them towards sex, Julian objects and stops him. Still, they kiss and touch sensually, and as much as Cooper wants to, he can’t feel anything. After a while, they fall asleep together on the bed.

When they wake up, Cooper asks if he can just stay over for the night, but Julian says he isn’t comfortable with that, yet, and offers to drive Cooper back to his car. Cooper declines and starts to leave. Julian asks for his number, and Cooper gives him a fake number before they say goodbye. Even though Julian seems to like him, Cooper doesn’t plan to meet again.

After dinner, Neil and Peter make out in the basement for a while, and then chat with friends online while watching the livestream of the Big Kiss. Then, Neil heads home, and they video chat before sleep. Avery and Ryan text each other goodnight and plan to go out again the next day. Among the crowd watching Harry and Craig kiss, some—mostly boys from their school—yell rude things, but most of the crowd are supportive. After a while, people start leaving, and Rachel and Harry’s mother both go home, Smita planning to leave in a few hours. Another friend, Mykal, keeps a schedule of friends who will come throughout the night, and a teacher from the school, Mr. Bellamy, comes to help. He is a gay man, as well, and the chorus recognize him. He sat by many of their sides as they died from AIDS, and he comforted many of their families. They knew him as Tom.

Harry’s neighbor, Mrs. Archer, brings coffee and gives Tom a cup. “He wants to be wide awake for all of this. Every now and then he looks to the sky” (110).

Thousands across the world now watch the livestream, and Tariq can’t keep up with the comments. There’s also now a Facebook page with 50,000 fans. A truck drives through the school parking lot, and someone yells the f-slur from the window. Harry gestures for Tariq to turn up the music. They all dance, but Tariq still feels panicked that someone would do this in front of such a large crowd, the police, and while cameras are rolling. He can’t help but remember his assault. Harry and Craig are enjoying themselves again when Harry feels something hit his back. Then, something hits him on the side of his head, and he realizes it’s an egg. He is hit a third time, and almost breaks the kiss, but Craig catches him. Craig tries to wipe the egg from his face, and Harry’s father runs in the direction that the eggs came from, trying to find who threw them. Smita gives Craig a towel to help wipe Harry’s face. Mr. Ramirez and the police can’t find who threw the eggs and speculate that it was probably multiple people.

Craig gestures for a hoodie when Harry starts shivering, and he worries that they won’t be able to continue because Harry shivers so hard. However, they see more people coming with flashlights, arriving to help. Mr. Bellamy’s husband comes to join him, and the crowd forms a protective wall around the boys. Craig’s family arrives shortly afterwards, his brother Sam having seen what happened on the livestream. Sam offers to stay, but their father makes it clear that they just came to check on Craig and were not staying long. Craig’s mother offers to return tomorrow—and, just as quickly as they’d come, they leave. There are 23 hours left to go.

Cooper wakes up in his car at 2 AM, feeling hopeless and more disconnected than ever. His phone is dead, but he’s sick of the phone and all of the shallow, pointless connections. He thinks no one cares about him.

At 4 AM, it’s quiet. The crowd is mostly gone. Harry and Craig sway together under the stars. Harry’s father is asleep, and Mr. Bellamy sends his husband home to rest. Tariq, trying his best to stay up the entire time, responds to messages on the chat, and Smita’s mother takes orders for coffee.

The chorus marvel at the “infinite jukebox”—the ability a person now has to play any music at any moment from a device at their fingertips (120). Ryan and Avery wake up in the night and think of each other, and the chorus think of the song “What a Diff’rence a Day Made” by Aretha Franklin, imploring the reader to listen to the song immediately: “Go and listen to it right now—you have it right at your fingertips, for less than the price of a candy bar. The lyrics sound old, but the music is eternal—that joy in discovering that the right person at the right time can open all the windows and unlock all the doors” (121).