Title: Somewhere in Nowhere

Author: Steven Gellman

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 04/14/2026

Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 238

Genre: Contemporary YA, Genre/lit, young adult, family-drama, gay, lesbian, high school, lesbian mothers, coming out, funeral, friendship group, friends to lovers

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Description

Coming out is hard, especially when you have two gay moms. At least it is for Simon Bugg. He doesn’t want the world to think that having gay parents has turned him gay. And he certainly doesn’t want anyone to know about the alien in his stomach that’s trying to kill him.

It’s Simon’s senior year and his world just turned upside down. When his mom scores a dream job, Simon lands at a new school away from the only friends he has ever known. Now, his mom is overworked and chronically stressed, and his deadbeat dad is back on the scene. Navigating a new school and new friends is a challenge for a neurotic overthinker, and Simon finds himself turning to his rescue cat and a local barista for support. But when Simon meets the handsome PJ in drama class, he gets talked into a date that he derails in spectacular fashion.

With a little help from his friends—new and old—Simon finds his way back to PJ. But how can he have a real relationship with the boy of his dreams when he’s convinced he’s going to die? No one knows about the nightly alien attacks at 11:22. Why then, and why do they keep getting worse? Simon must face a dark secret inside before he loses his chance with the boy he loves.

Somewhere in Nowhere
Steven Gellman © 2026
All Rights Reserved

I freeze in place. Sweat drips off my forehead. I should be rushing into the school building with the other stragglers, but I can’t bring myself to move. A growing fear fills my mind. It could happen again. In class. In front of kids I don’t know. The scratching and the inability to breathe. They’ll think I’m a freak. Shit! I grab my backpack from its spot in the grass, and instead of walking toward the school doors, I run back to my car and lock the door.

I just need a minute to gather my thoughts—a brief pause to breathe and collect myself—then I’ll get to class. So why am I turning on the car? Why am I exiting the parking lot and turning right on the Pike? Oh my God! Simon, what the hell are you doing? Stop and turn around now! But my body has gone rogue. I keep driving, a death grip on the wheel. I cruise back and forth aimlessly, north and south, on Rockville Pike. I think I just skipped my first day of school. Hives break out on my hands and forearms, and I scratch like a flea-ridden dog. What’s happening to me? I need to get off the road and make a plan. I head for the one familiar place I know—Starbucks.

I could go back now. Tell them I got lost on my drive to school. I drove too far and got stuck in rush hour traffic. That’s believable. I’m new after all. I may not even get detention. They’ll say, Don’t worry about it. Here is your class schedule. Enjoy your first day. Right? Wrong! Earth to Simon. Don’t be an idiot. Everyone has GPS on their phones. This excuse won’t fly. I need to face the fact that I’ve skipped school. Even worse, I’ll have to tell Mom and Carole.

And what will I tell them? I could say I was scared. I got nervous and ran. There’s no way I can tell them that I lied about last night and there was no deer. That I couldn’t breathe and thought I felt something scratching inside, itching to come out. They’ll think I’m crazy, or worse, that I’m hiding something from them. Mom will say, Didn’t we bring you up better than this? How will you ever get into college if you skip school and become a delinquent? Are you doing drugs? Do you want to end up like your uncle Brian? This is a nightmare, and I don’t even know how I got myself in this damn situation. My pits are swamped out, my hives are spreading, and my brain is sloshing back and forth between my ears. I need a cold drink. Now!

I head into Starbucks and get in line. When it’s my turn at the counter, a familiar, olive-skinned face with a supermoon smile greets me. His name tag says Hector, but I already know that.

“Hello, friend, good to see you again. What can I get you this morning? The usual? Caramel Macchiato.”

Mom loves her espresso, and she has sent me here on coffee runs since the day we moved to the neighborhood. “Um, no, that’s my mom’s drink. I’m not sure what I want,” I say, bracing myself against the counter.

“Are you okay? You don’t look well.” He glances at my inflamed skin. “Do you need me to call someone for you?”

I scratch frantically at my arms and the realization of what I must look like hits me.

“No! I’m fine. I just need a cold drink. I’m overheated,” I say, fanning myself a bit too dramatically. “Uh, tell me what’s good?”

Hector calls over to his coworker, a bouncy girl with a blonde ponytail sticking out the back of her Starbucks cap.

“Marcy, can you watch the register for a few minutes? Thanks!”

He steps from behind the counter and leads me to a small table by the window. “Here, have a seat. I’ll get you an iced tea. Do you like iced tea?”

I nod.

“Great! Black, green, or passion?”

Passion?

“Never mind. Do you want it sweetened?”

I nod and he disappears behind the counter. When Hector comes back, he’s carrying the largest cup I’ve ever seen filled with a beer-colored beverage.

“Thank you. What is this?”

“Trenta iced green tea. It’s good for you. Full of antioxidants. Drink!”

I take a sip, and it seems like the most refreshing drink ever. Hector pulls out the chair across from me and sits. He runs his fingers through his thick mass of dark hair. Tea dribbles from the side of my mouth and onto my already-wet-from-sweat T-shirt. I must look like an idiot to him.

 

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Steven Gellman is an award-winning songwriter turned author whose stories hum with the same heart and honesty found in his music. Inspired by the books of Judy Blume that once kept him company through his own adolescence, Steven now writes coming-of-age fiction that gives voice to LGBTQ+ teens finding their way in an ever-changing world.

When not writing novels or performing music, Steven can be found in a comfy chair with a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. Steven lives in Maryland’s Piedmont region with his husband and a houseful of rescued companion animals.

Somewhere in Nowhere is his first novel.

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