Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

darkened interior. "I'm actually kind of popular at Melodies." Melodies? The gay bar in the next town over? He knew about it? Had been there? Was popular there ?
    "If you think I was going to experiment with the newly returned gay boy in town, you are wrong," he said.
    That had actually been my exact thought. Chagrined, I asked, "Then what are you doing?"
    He turned in his seat, his arm resting on the steering wheel, and laughed. "I'm trying to hit on you. Take you out. Maybe get a kiss."
    I turned in my own seat to face him. "Why?"
    He scoffed and shook his head. "Because I find you attractive, obviously."
    "No. Not obviously. You are JJ the Jerk! You are mean and nasty and you hit people!"
    "No. I was JJ the Jerk and I used to be mean and nasty and hit people." He paused. "Ok. I may still hit people if they deserve it."
    "See!" I crowed triumphantly.
    "No, not see," he said, mimicking me. "Some guys were harassing a man I was dating and I didn't take kindly to it. I hit only when I need to, now"
    Damn. Ok. Fine. Point to him. Actually, a lot of points to him. "How do I know you've suddenly become a saint among men?"
    "I'm far from a saint, Nate. And that is why I want to take you out. So you can get to know me. The me now. Not the one from five years ago. And then I can get to know you."
    "I haven't made any miraculous changes in my personality," I pointed out.
    He smiled and said, "Good." He turned and started the truck. "Although you do seem a bit mouthier than before."
    The truck pulled out of the lot and onto the street. "Is that a problem?" I snapped.
    "Nope." He threw me a smirk. "I like mouth."
    I nearly blushed. He had finally succeeded in making me think of him as a man, rather than a brutish teenager. A man who wanted to kiss me. Oh my god.
    As I sat stewing in my quandary of sex and the past, JJ drove us onto Main Street and to one of the quieter pubs. Or at least that was how it had always been portrayed. I hadn't ever been in it before, my times home as a legally-drinking adult having been sparse, short, and spent with my folks. I hopped out of the truck as soon as it stopped and we walked in together. We were met with the most horrific rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" I had ever heard. And I wasn't a fan of the original.
    "Crap. I forgot it was karaoke night," JJ said with a grimace. The place was packed and loud, as people tried to drown out the bad singing with their own conversations. JJ continued to grimace at the crowd, but they didn't oblige by leaving or quieting down. He looked at me and held up his finger. "Wait right here," he said, before pushing his way toward the bar.
    So, I waited. I noticed a few people I had gone to school with, but they were busy at their own table, heckling the singer with some good-natured teasing. Seeing the empty chair at their table, I assumed they were the ones that pushed the poor woman up there.
    JJ returned with a paper bag and a smile. He motioned for me to follow him and we went outside. "Are we going somewhere else?"
    "Yeah. I want to talk with you, not shout." We got back in the truck and he drove us back out onto Main. He turned on the radio. "What kind of music do you like? You still into the Beatles?"
    I frowned. "How did you know I liked the Beatles?"
    "You had a patch on your backpack for years."
    "Oh." I shrugged. "Yeah, but who doesn't like the Beatles?"
    "My boss."
    I looked at him, shocked. "Nuh uh!"
    JJ kept his eyes on the road. He nodded and said, "Yep. He can't stand them."
    "I…" I was stumped. "I didn't know people could actively hate the Beatles. It's like… hating Elvis."
    "I know. I thought the same thing." He turned on a classic rock station that had been around forever. I even had a plastic mug of theirs from a raffle I won at the fair when I was nine. We listened to "People Are Strange" and I realized how right Jim Morrison had been. I felt strange in my own town. Like I was seeing it for the first time, and really it was only because I was sitting beside the town bully who I hadn't been able to stand to be around just twelve hours ago. Now we were going…
    "Where are we going?" We were off the main streets, heading out of town. The brief fear that I had been tricked and was on my way to getting bashed flitted through my brain.
    But JJ smiled, a warm smile, and said, "The beach. It's quiet there."
    "Yeah, 'cause everyone is trying not to be caught by the cops for public nudity." I gave him an arch look, daring him to contradict