Art Is Dead

The next few weeks were relatively easy for me. I had built up an obscene amount of panic over the idea that Bo and I wouldn't be able to relate to one another across the physical distance that separated us. Since we were still getting to know one another, it was shockingly easy for us to find endless conversation topics. He kept me entertained, and whenever I was having a bad day he was able to make me smile. We had decided that we would simply be friends while he was away, and I preferred the fact that there was no pressure to do anything other than to just be social.

Still, it felt like we were both subconsciously gravitating toward the next level. I would always ask him about the girls in the crowd, and he would return the favour by asking about the boys in school. We were both relieved when the other had nothing new to report.

I made it through midterms and term papers, and finals were on the horizon when I got a particularly pleasant phone call from Bo.

"Natty?" he sounded positively giddy when I answered the phone. He had also taken to calling me Natty, which was something that would have driven me bonkers from any other person.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what today is?"

"Today is the day that I got the outline for my English exam?" I guessed, knowing that my answer would be wrong in his eyes.

I heard him exhale in a big, anguished gust. "No, not that. Although I'm not arguing the factual value of that. That's just not what I meant. Are you at home right now?"

"I am walking home from my bus stop. So I'll be there in about two minutes. Why? Do you have some big, earth-shattering news that requires me to sit down before I hear it?"

"Not quite," his voice became light and teasing, as if her were dangling some delectible treat just out of my reach.

"Well keep talking to me until I get home, then. Make this walk enjoyable for me."

"Okay, let's see... I could sing Oh Bo to you. I know you love that one."

I rolled my eyes, even though I knew that he couldn't see it. "Right, because I adore the part about your bipolar junk splitting me in half."

He paused for a noticeable moment. "You mean, you don't love that part?"

"You know that I love all of your songs. Satisfied?"

"Almost. If you could guess what today is, I would be much happier."

I adjusted my school bag on my shoulder. "Let's see... today is December-" I froze. Bo was sitting on my front step, flipping through the flyers that he must have found in my mail box. When he noticed that I had stopped speaking, he looked up and greeted me with a huge grin.

My heart thumped out an irregular beat at the sight of him, and my stomach tightened in a sickening lurch. I let my hand fall from my ear, still clutching my phone as Bo stood up and disconnected our call. He walked up to me, tucked a few loose, wind-blown strands of my hair behind my ear, and leaned in close.

"Today is the day after my tour ended," he answered his own question. "Today is the day that I follow through on my pinky swear."

While I was still trying to make sense of what was going on, he swooped down and caught me in a kiss. I melted into him, feeling for the first time as if something had been missing over the past few weeks. This was what had been missing. This was something that I suddenly didn't want to be without. I dropped my bag onto the cement sidewalk and wrapped my arms around Bo.

When we finally separated, I looked up at him with wondering eyes. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Remember when I didn't tell you who I was until you saw for yourself because I wanted to see your reaction? This was kind of the same deal."

"I hate you. But I adore you at the same time. It's a bit of an odd sensation."

He grabbed my bag and motioned for me to go up to the front door. "I should have warned you about the side effects of knowing me before, I guess. But for now, let's go inside. It's freezing out here."

I dug my keys out of my pocket. "Isn't Joanna home? She would have let you in, I'm sure."

"I rang the doorbell, but nobody answered. So then I called you. By the way, you have proven me wrong. This hat with earflaps is definitely the coolest one that I hace ever seen. You're like a hot Elmer Fudd."

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just compare me to him. It'll be better that way," I opened the door and ushered him inside, helping him with his luggage. "So you didn't have to wait outside long, then?"

"Not even ten minutes. Don't worry about it."

I stood at the foot of the stairs and yelled out for Joanna. There was no answer, and I gave Bo a sly look. "It seems that we're all alone for a few minutes."

"Perfect. I really only need thirty seconds. Where's the bedroom?"

I started to laugh. "Classy, Bo. You really know how to make a girl feel wanted."

"I'm just kidding. Can we watch a movie or something? Just you and me?"

I led him up the stairs and around the corner to my bedroom. I pointed to the rack of DVDs sitting beside my small television. Instead of looking through his options, he walked straight over to my acoustic guitar and picked it up from the stand. He strummed it for a few seconds, then faced me with wonder in his eyes.

"How has it never come up in our discussions that you play?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. It's not like it's something rare and exciting. Tons of people play the guitar. I'm better on the piano, but I don't have one."

"Do you write anything?"

"Not anything that's any good."

"Play for me?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously? No. You would never look at me the same way. I'm really awful."

"I sincerely doubt that," he scoffed. Regardless, he set the guitar down and focused his attention on choosing a movie. It wasn't that I was ashamed of the songs that I had written before, it was more the fact that Bo could write things that were far better than I ever could. Maybe one day I would let him look through my computer and see my creations, but that day wouldn't come for quite some time if I had anything to say about it.

When Bo picked out a DVD, we curled up under the blankets in my bed to watch it. I felt like I knew him inside and out by this point. At least, I knew all the things that he thought were important enough to tell me. I was aware that some things might come as a surprise when he didn't have the time to filter out the truth in his text messages, but for now I thought we were at a healthy place.

As I rested my head on his chest, I knew that our "just friends" attitude had flown out the window from the first second that I saw him. It was stupid to deny how excited I felt at the sight of him. This was something that I didn't want to end.

I hadn't heard the front door open or close, but I soon heard loud, conspicuous footsteps parading down the hallway.

"Nat!" Jo hollered. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure. Come in here."

"No, I'd rather not. Unless you want me to cause a scene."

Bo looked at me in confusion, and I returned the same glance. I had no idea what she was talking about. "Just come in here," I called back. "It will be fine."

"No, it won't. I saw shoes at the front door that aren't yours. In fact, they don't seem to belong to any female, unless she's some Amazon woman."

"So?" my eyebrows pulled together as I attempted to figure out where she was taking this.

"So," she sounded frustrated. "Now your door is closed and whatever is going on in there is none of my business, but I'm pretty sure that Bo wouldn't approve. Or did you forget about him?"

And then it dawned on me. Jo didn't know that his tour was over, either, and she thought that I was in my room with some other guy. The idea was completely ludicrous. I didn't have guys over before Bo was in the picture, so why did she assume that I was the kind of person that would do it now?

"Joanna, get your skinny ass in here," I replied.

The doorknob turned, but the door didn't budge. "If I see naked bodies, I'm going to be royally pissed."

"It's all clear," I said.

The door opened, and Joanna's face went from enraged, to confused, to happy. "Oh, it's you! Thank God. I didn't want to have to beat you, Nat, but I was prepared to do whatever I had to. Welcome back, Bo. How was the tour?"

"It was great," he smiled at her. "And thanks for being so ready to smack her around a little bit. I feel better about leaving her in your capable hands."

Joanna gave him a sort of small salute, then spun on her heel and left the room. She closed the door behind her.

"I think she approves of me," Bo smiled.

"I'm pretty sure," I agreed.

When our movie was finished, I wanted nothing more than to simply stay exactly where I was. Bo seemed to have other plans. He stood up and began inspecting the various items decorating my room. After a few minutes, he faced me abruptly.

"Get up, it's time to go."

"Go where?"

"It's time we had our first real date, wouldn't you say? I made reservations. But it's at a nice place, so maybe you should take a minute to get cleaned up."

"But I'm so comfy. And you don't exactly look red carpet ready yourself," I pointed out.

He paused to observe his reflection in my mirror. "How dare you? I look at least as good as a runway model!" Bo reached up and attempted to make his hair lay flat. "But I guess I could wash up a bit. Being in and out of airports all day kind of makes you feel gross."

"Well you know where the bathroom is. And while you do that, I'll get changed. How dressy do we have to be? Because I don't have a whole lot of options when it comes to nice clothes."

"I'm not saying you have to wear a prom dress, I'm just saying that your current attire might not be completely appropriate," he replied as he headed down the hall.

I glanced down at myself. "If I can't wear yoga pants and a hoodie, I'm just not sure that I want to go," I teased.

"I thought that girls liked getting all dressed up every now and then."

I flipped rapidly through the hangers in my closet. "I'm not disputing that. I'm just a little offended that my normal clothes aren't good enough for you."

I could hear him trip over his own words as he tried to fix what he had said. I pulled on a pair of black tights and paired them with my favourite grey and purple sweater dress. It was one thing to get dressed up, but it was totally different to ignore the foot of snow on the ground in favour of fashion. I dug a pair of black pumps out of the bottom of my closet and slipped my feet into them, then faced the mirror and let my dark hair fall from the ponytail prison it had been trapped in. Because of the kink that had formed, I decided that a curly style would be the simplest route. I applied some product to my locks and scrunched it in my hands until my natural waves began to shrivel into tighter rings.

Bo returned to my bedroom just as I applied the finishing touches on my mascara. He had changed into a pair of black pants and a collared white shirt. He stopped moving as he watched me spray on some perfume.

"Whoa," he gaped.

I struck a pose and showed him my best blue steel face. "Who's the runway model now?"

"Oh that's still me. But you could now pass for the date of a runway model," he replied, grinning.

I didn't want to laugh at him, but I couldn't stop myself. I put a bit of lip balm on to protect my mouth from the dry winter weather, then I reached for my jacket.

"Alright, date, let's go."

He linked his arm in mine and together we headed down the stairs and out the front door. My breath clouded out in front of my face, and Bo immediately tensed up.

"Are you going to need my jacket again?" he asked warily.

"Only if we can rig up a way to wrap it around my legs. Make it so, MacGuyver."

"Sometimes I really don't know what to say to you, Nat."

"You should probably figure out a solution to this issue, because I plan on being around for a long time."

"I was just thinking the same thing."