Page 36 of Sass in the Grass

Therestofthetrip was uneventful. The group left first thing in the morning and were back at camp before most finished breakfast.

In the cabin, his friends were there, and they were interested in hearing how it went for him.

“I can’t believe he said he liked me,” Jovian gushed to Alan, Kathy, and Mike. “I mean, of course he did, but to admit it?”

Alan laughed, but Mike rolled his eyes. “Of course? You realize that Dix isn’t one of those people that picks a guy every summer and has a thing with them, right?”

“I realize that! He’s never met me before, and, come on, can you blame him?”

Alan fell back on the bunk where he was sitting with the others, and it was Kathy’s turn to roll her eyes. “Jovian! Stop!”

“What?” he asked in genuine confusion.

Mike was the one to explain, “He may have always liked your looks, and maybe even your tenacity, but it’s the rest…the…” He turned to Alan, who was sitting again. “What am I trying to say?”

“The conceited asshole?”

“That’s it. He won’t like the conceited asshole part of your personality.”

Jovian’s jaw dropped as he waited for them to say they were kidding. When they didn’t, he became indignant. “What the hell? Because, what? I’m honest?”

“Your honesty borders on cruelty,” Kathy said. “I mean, no offense, Jovian, but some things you say, and the way you act sometimes, it puts many people off.”

Alan was nodding through that, and Mike reached over and tried to take Jovian’s hand, but Jovian pulled away. “Well, I can’t help the way I am!”

“Yeah, you can,” Alan said. “I saw it on the survival camp. You tried. You put your own shit away for a little while and became real, not some stereotype of a snobbish gay twink with rich girls as friends.”

He started to protest, but the thing was, he was right. “That’s…how people see me?”

“It’s what you show them, Jovian,” Kathy said.

“What? Being fabulous is too much for people?”

“Sometimes, believe it or not,” Alan said, laughing. “You can be fabulous and still have compassion and empathy.”

Jovian thought of the stories he’d heard around that campfire, and he suddenly knew what they were saying. “Okay, so…tell me if this is part of…that. When I found out that Dixon is…well, he doesn’t have…”

“Money?” Alan asked.

“Yeah. When I found that out, I…felt like…”

“Jovian,” Mike whispered, “please tell us you didn’t stop liking him.”

“No!” Jovian had a hard time explaining things truthfully. He’d spent his lifetime making things up to those in his orbit. “I didn’t, and that is weird. That is…I mean, how would we go out? What’s he going to buy me for Christmas and my birthday? But even with that, I…”

Kathy moved to Jovian’s bunk and sat close, holding him around the shoulders. “Jovian, you really like him, not what he can do for you. Surprise, you don’t need the bank account to be happy.”

Smiling involuntarily, Jovian giggled a little. “What do you know?”

Alan slapped Jovian’s knee gently. “Well, looks like our friend, here, needs a crash course in being a real human being, and also, learn how to live in the woods. You know, Jovian, a place with no concrete or tall buildings?”

“Shut up!”

They all laughed before Mike said, “Okay, we’re planning. You are our project for the camp.”

“Project? Do I look like a Tai?”

He was referencing a movie,Clueless. He was sure none of them had seen it. How could they possibly relate to Cher and her good friends, Dion and the gang?

---