Free Very Recent History: An Entirely Factual Account of a Year (C. AD 2009) in a Large City by Choire Sicha Page B

Every time they’d
     get into it, Chad would come by and they’d quickly start talking about sports. Diego
     had what John thought was a crazy new haircut that was shaved on the sides and long
     on top, and John went by to say, hey, nice haircut.
    The night wound down. Diego’s friends were walking out. And Diego stopped by their
     table and said, John, what’s going on with your hair?
    What do you mean? John asked.
    And Diego said, it’s just really ridiculous right now. And your five o’clock shadow?
     And your hair? It’s really, really disconcerting.
    John’s whole face tightened and he said, well, you look great. And Diego said, I dunno,
     John. And then: Well, I hope you’re coming to this Saturday birthday party we’re having.
    Oh, we’ll definitely be there, John said. Chad was all aquiver in anxiety. They left.
     Thank God you were the bigger man, Dan and Fred said. Really? John said. Because I
     found his gut disconcerting.
    The following Tuesday, he had drinks with Chad. How’s your capacity for a difficult
     subject? John asked. Well, I dunno, said Chad. Okay, here’s the deal, I never want
     to see your boyfriend again, John said. Chad was really good about it. Diego really
     likes you! Chad said. I will listen to whatever you tell me, John said. If you tell
     me I’m an overly sensitive asshole, that’s fine. Let’s table this, Chad said, and
     I will talk to him subtly. And I’ll do whatever you want, John said. John actually
     hated Diego at this point, but he was making something of an attempt. Maybe he was
     a little mad that he was thinking about Edward all the time, and Edward was floating
     there just out of reach, and here was a pair of lovers, and it was nowhere near as
     good, or so he thought.
    JOHN WAS ON the highway, on his way down to the Capital, and he got an email on his phone. It
     was from Edward: “Are you still coming down?” He was driving down with his coworker
     Rex. And John asked Rex, do we even have time? And should I even see him? Well yeah,
     you should definitely go see him, Rex said. Rex was secretly deep, John thought.
    So John had dinner with his friends that night, and afterward went outside to smoke
     and wait for Edward, who eventually showed up wearing a purple deep-V shirt and torn
     jeans, a very funny outfit. John was in a suit. He jumped into Edward’s parents’ white
     minivan. Where are we going to go? he asked. And Edward said, well, we can go to the
     sports bar or we can go somewhere else. Somewhere else, John said. No, I’m taking
     you to the sports bar, Edward said. It’s called Nellie’s and it has an outdoor smoking
     section. John had already turned off the part of him that was into Edward, he thought,
     but they spent an hour at the bar and had so much fun and fast talk and it was all
     corny, laughing, brain-chemical crush. They went from one side of the bar to the other.
     Every guy is checking you out, Edward said. But there’s only one guy I’m here with,
     that I’m interested in, John said. Then it was two a.m. and the bar was closing. John
     had been drinking seltzer all night. Edward was drinking though. Well, alright, I
     guess I’ll drive you back to where you’re staying, Edward said. And it was time to
     say good night. So what are you doing now? John asked. Oh, I’m going to go watch movies
     in my parents’ rec room, Edward said. Well, I wish you’d told me that earlier, John
     said, I would have watched movies in your parents’ rec room. Well, you can if you
     want, Edward said. How about this? John said. I have to go back to where I’m staying,
     I have a ton of work stuff to do down here, and I have to get up early, but tell you
     what, why don’t you pick me up tomorrow and we’ll go watch movies in your parents’
     rec room.
    John got through the next day and a long night of work. John messaged Edward: Wanna
     come pick me up? So Edward showed up in the dark in the white minivan. John got in.
     Hey, kid,