It’s tough being queer when no one knows, and the closet only gets hotter during the summer.

I play dress up all I want—it is a closet, after all—but it’s stifling, uncomfortable.

When I peel away the lace, it’s soaked with sweat, and I peel away with it.

R.R. Bastek is a first-generation Polish-American writer interested in exploring life through the lens of literary fiction.