Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

his/her stuff together. My GPA— all our GPAs— could be torpedoed if the new guy flaked out. I didn't know why I'd said it, except that I'd wanted to knock that smug "I'll make you be a jerk" look off his made-up face.
    Were his eyes green, or blue?
    Mallory passed me, zooming straight in her shiny car while I went to the right. She waved her hand out her window. Alan might have waved, or he might have been talking with his hands about what a jerk I was. I shook my head, pulled my attention back to driving.
    He got under my skin, that was all. I needed to not let him do that. I needed, since I'd stupidly said he could direct, to make sure he did a good job. And to do that without fighting him every step of the way, I needed to make friends with the guy. Mallory's diplomacy could only go so far. I'd have to work too.
    Like I needed more work.
    Whatever. I'd find a way. I always did. I pulled into the gas station and parked behind the bathrooms where I was supposed to, went inside and relieved Ebony. I got started on my closing prep, and finally got to my Film History assignment in between customers.
    So Tuesday night went by, and Wednesday, and Thursday night I found I wasn't the only one in our group with a night job. I might not have known Alan as he walked by in a QuikBurger uniform, except he took off his hat as he passed and his hair was almost neon blue. It caught every headlight, illuminating his face. That, and the light from the cigarette he was puffing as he walked by a gas station. I could have made a try at making friends then, but I wasn't off for an hour so I couldn't offer a ride home, and if I'd been stuck in a QuikBurger uniform, I wouldn't really want to be seen either. Instead I just let him walk by, setting his image in my mind for the next time he decided to make fun of my clothes. Not that I'd bring it up— I'm not actually a jerk. But it would help me let his comments roll by.
    Like water off a duck's back, Aunt Lilia would say. Just let it go.
    When he'd walked out of sight I went back to my homework but I was too tired to focus, so I went out and started my closing clean-up early. It was a quiet night; maybe I wouldn't have to do it all over.
    ****

CHAPTER 2
    Labor Day started out beautiful and just got better. I'd arranged to open the station so I'd have time to get home and get the grill going, so I was up to enjoy the still predawn, and then the dawn. Aunt Lilia was glad I was "taking a break from all the work," and happy to be meeting my friends. She was up before me and singing in the kitchen. The streets were empty on the way to the station, my shift was quiet and I got a jump on the week's homework, and then traffic was light getting back home.
    Under a brilliant sky with just the right amount of fluffy white clouds, the old Victorian house looked better than it had in years. My summer was painted into the trim, and planted in the well-tended yard. That was the deal. Aunt Lilia fed me and gave me a place to stay so I didn't have to pay dorm costs. I kept everything outside the door— and a lot of what was inside, sometimes— kept up. It had taken me two years to get everything fixed to where I could just maintain it, but finally the place looked like it should. Even the graveyard was as neat as two-hundred-year-old rock-littered grounds could be. The burned-out church looked like it always did, but I wasn't messing with that. Aunt Lilia said it could go right on picturesquely falling down, and I was inclined to agree.
    The group was due at three. Aunt Lilia had invited a few of her friends, but they would wander in when they liked. I grabbed a shower, changed out of my work clothes for shorts and a polo, and fired up the grill.
    I didn't know or care if Alan would mock a polo shirt too. They could dress how they wanted. I was sharing host duties with Lilia, and I had to look presentable. I was a little irked, though, when a few of Aunt Lilia's friends arrived and Mr. Morgan was wearing the same clothes, down to the white socks and black sneakers. He had fifty years on me. We shouldn't be dressed the same.
    When Mallory drove up right before three, I found I wasn't overdressed for them either. Mallory was wearing a cute sundress. Tania wore shorts and a floaty blouse. Her girlfriend T'Pau— yes, she was named after a Star Trek character and no, she didn't find it funny or cool— had also gone with a dress. Alan was wearing a striped button-down shirt with a narrow tie and