Page 13 of Sass in the Grass

No, he was fine on his own.

The next day, he woke to see a few of the campers were still in bed, like him, but more were up and walking around, still others gathered around a big corkboard by the door. Mike came over to him and asked, “Who’d you piss off?”

“What?”

“Latrine duty,” Mike said, then snickered. “Newbies rarely get that right off the bat.”

After sitting up, groaning, and running his fingers through his hair, he hummed, “Bunch of jealous assholes, trying to get me to quit. They think if they can keep me out of the clubs, they’ll keep their boyfriends.”

“Yeah, uh, whatever. Almost time for breakfast. Get moving or you don’t get the best coffee.”

“Coffee? That, I could use.”

“Come on. We’re headed there in five minutes.”

“Five minutes? Without…sunblock or moisturizer or anything?”

“We’ve been up for an hour. You’re gonna have to set your alarm.”

Jovian suddenly thought of the paper money his mother had insisted he take, just in case. “Could I possibly, uh…pay you to bring me a coffee while I get ready, hmmm?”

Mike laughed, but Kathy came right to him. “Twenty.”

“Fine. Twenty. I take sweetener, not the pink one, and a tiny bit of nonfat cream.”

“They have powdered creamer and the pink stuff, blue stuff or real sugar.”

“Ew!” Jovian thought it over a moment and said, “Blue stuff, and no cream. That powdered stuff is terrible!”

“Got it. If I can sneak some milk, you mind a little 2%?”

“I’d give you an extra ten.”

As she ran off, Mike sat on Jovian’s bunk. “That was nice.”

“Nice? It was?”

Mike whispered, “She’s been saving for her surgery for years. She’s almost got enough. Next year, she might be…be whole, if you know what I mean.”

Jovian couldn’t imagine not wanting his dick, but he didn’t fault anyone else. “Well, good. I just need to hold her down and give her a makeover.”

Mike laughed and clapped him on the back. “You’re a good guy under all that…that.”

Jovian did not know what he meant by that, but as he watched Mike walk away, he thought about his assignment. “I shouldn’t have hurt True’s little feelings. Well, fine. The bathroom might actually be clean for once! They will not get me to quit.”

After he was dressed and he’d gone to the bathrooms to wash up, he was applying cream to his eyes as Kathy made it back with his coffee. “The lunch crew has a friend of mine, so I got you skim milk, and they just happened to have the yellow packets in the back. I got you enough for today’s and tomorrow’s coffee.”

Jovian was so happy he gave her two twenties. “Thank you.”

The coffee wasn’t what he was used to, but it wasn’t too bad. It was downed quickly as he applied a little foundation and lip color, then headed to the Mess Hall to eat.

Out of everything available, he got some scrambled eggs and apple slices, and when he turned, he saw Mike waving him over. When Jovian got to that table, he mentioned to Mike, “I thought you ate a long time ago.”

“I stayed back to jaw with some friends. Jovian, this is Amy,” he said, and Jovian turned to see a pretty blond with a long braid that fell down her back.

He shook her hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. I’m new too. I just got here. Mike’s been trying to get me to come for years.”

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