Art Is Dead

Bo flew home a few days later. He still hadn't seen his family since the tour had ended, and I had to write finals. As nice as it was to have him around, he was a constant distraction from my responsibilities. We had accomplished one thing for certain, however. After that first night, Bo had asked me to be his girlfriend. We both knew that it wouldn't be easy, but neither of us was willing to give up on what was blossoming between us.

I was swearing under my breath at my history textbook when my bedroom door flew open with such a monumental bang that I swear my heart stopped. When I looked up, Jo was standing there with tear-streaked cheeks.

"Are you okay?" I asked, standing and rushing over to her. "What happened?"

"It's Nicky," she whispered.

"Nicky?" I paused, trying to read her mind to decipher who she was referring to. "You don't mean... Nicky?"

She nodded. "He just called me. He wants to meet up."

Nick had been Joanna's steady boyfriend in high school. Until he had moved away, everyone thought that they would be the first in our class to get married. They hadn't spoken in three years, as far as I was aware.

"What did you say?" I pressed.

"I agreed to meet him for a drink tomorrow. I'm so nervous, Nat. Come with me?"

"I'm not coming along to be an awkward third wheel. You're a big girl, Jo, you can do this on your own."

"Then don't be a third wheel. Ask Bo to come. We could have like a group date or something."

I rolled my eyes. "Right, I'll just call Bo and ask him to drop everything and fly into the country tomorrow just so you don't have to face your ex alone. Come on, Joanna, that's not going to happen. Why are you so scared, anyway? You left off on good terms."

"But, say," she began pacing across my bedroom floor, "if something weird happened with you and Bo right now - something totally out of your control, like a law was passed where Americans and Canadians weren't allowed to date each other-"

"That's a little far fetched," I scoffed. She shot me a look, and I shrugged. "Go on."

"Okay, well, wouldn't you always wonder what had happened if you were still together? And wouldn't you always have some kind of hope that someday you would find your way back to each other?"

I raised an eyebrow as I surveyed her skeptically. "Do you still have feelings for Nick?"

She threw her arms up in the air as a fresh wave of tears started to fill her eyes. "Of course I still have feelings for Nicky. Why do you think I haven't dated anyone since him?"

"You've dated," I argued.

"It was never anything serious. I never looked at any other boys the way that I looked at him. He was everything to me, Nat. You remember, don't you? You understand?"

In all honesty, I didn't even remotely understand. I had never had someone taken from me in the way that Joanna had. The absurd scenario that she had described to try and get me to relate had done nothing of the sort. I would be incredibly sad if Bo couldn't be with me for some reason, but I doubted very much that I would hang on for the rest of my life. We had only known each other for about a month. Joanna had been with Nicky for nearly three years when they split up. No amount of hypothetical scenarios could possibly make me understand. Still, I knew that she was only looking for me to agree.

"Sure, I get it. I remember how you were with him. But still, I thought you were okay now."

She shook her head, wiping away the tears that still hadn't actually fallen. "I thought that I was. I thought that if I closed that door and leaned against it, it would never open again. But then he came along and knocked it right off the hinges. What do I do if it's not the same? What if he's got somebody else now?"

I sat down and motioned for her to join me. "If he wasn't interested, why would he call you up out of the blue? Just go and try to start off as friends. If you don't expect anything right from the beginning, you won't be let down. Just view this as a chance to catch up with someone that you used to know."

"It won't be that easy."

"Sure it will. You're still the fun and gorgeous girl that you were when he saw you last. Just-"

"Be myself?" she guessed. "That's kind of a sad little cliche, isn't it?"

"Well maybe for once it's true."

"You sound freakishly like my mother."

"Jo," I smiled at her and gave her a one-armed hug, which was the best I could manage when we were sitting side by side. "Just take it easy. If it's meant to be, you'll find your way back to each other."

She stood up and wiped her eyes again, smearing the remnants of her mascara across her cheeks. "Thanks, I think. Are you sure you won't come along? You could just coincidentally run into us or something."

"Not a chance. If you happen to bring him home one day and he finds out that we're roommates, that might poke a hole or two into the coincidence plan."

Jo sighed heavily and nodded, admitting that I was right. Her shoulders slumped, and she left the room. I, on the other hand, was left completely and utterly confused. Shouldn't Joanna have been excited to see Nicky? I had no idea where her sadness and dismay were coming from.

I returned to studying history, cursing myself for putting this particular elective off for so long. It had always been my worst class in high school, so I just didn't understand why I had thought that I could handle it in university.

"Fuck it," I grumbled, flipping the cover of the textbook and pushing it off of my bed. "If I haven't memorized all the stupid dates by now, I'm not going to accomplish it by the morning." I reached for my phone and hit redial, since I rarely seemed to call anyone else these days.

"Hello?" Bo answerd, sounding groggy.

"Seriously? You're just waking up? I've already written an exam today, for Christ's sake!"

He yawned audibly. "It's too early for you to be grumpy with my. Can I just say I'm sorry so we can move on?"

I grinned at how completely clueless he was as to what was going on. "What are you sorry for?"

"I have no idea," he admitted. "But if I apologize then it's over, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Someone has let you get away with far too much in the past, haven't they?"

"I supposed that's possible. What's up?"

"I don't want to study anymore. Save me?"

"Sure. What is involved in saving you, exactly? Do I have to put on pants?"

I snorted. "No, pants are optional. Just talk to me."

"Okay, I can definitely do that," Bo agreed. "What's new?"

"Besides studying? Um... Jo has a date with her ex tomorrow night."

"A date with her ex? That sounds a little weird. Hey, does that mean that you'll be alone? We should video chat or something."

I frowned. "Why do I have to be alone for that? I have my own room; really, we should have tried that a long time ago."

"I don't like it when I know that people can hear me," he whispered, as if he were exposing some incredible secret that was only meant for me.

I laughed. "Okay, that's understandable. I hate it when people listen in. Your mom isn't listening in right now or something, is she?"

"Not that I know of. I'm on my cell phone, so if she has access to the line I'd be concerned. And kind of impressed. But mostly just creeped out. Why would you even bring that up? I'm going to be so paranoid now. What if she really found a way to listen in?" he hissed the last part, as though he really were exceptionally worried about the situation.

"Breathe, Bo," I commanded. "Nobody is listening to our conversation. Why would your mother listen to us, anyways? She probably just thinks that you're on the phone with one of your friends. It's not like you go around talking about me."

There was a heavy silence for a long moment. "Um, well... I actually have told her about you. I've told everyone about you."

I fumbled. "You have? And they didn't think you were totally crazy for dating a girl in a different country?"

"Of course they did," he chuckled. "But they're doing this thing now where they let me make my own decisions. If it ends badly, they'll all be waiting with an 'I told you so.' But I really hope that that doesn't happen. So I can safely assume that you have kept your family hidden in the dark about me?"

I chewed my lip. I felt suddenly guilty for keeping Bo a secret. "I have two older brothers. They're so protective of me... I just didn't want to put you through anything until I know that this is going somewhere. It's not that I don't like you, Bo. That's not it at all. It's just that if this isn't going to last, everyone is better off if they don't know anything at all. They still think I'm a virgin, for Christ's sake."

"I get it, Natty. It's really fine. But, listen, I have a proposition for you."

"And what might that be?" I perked up, intrigued.

"When you're finished with your exams, will you come and see me? My mom is dying to meet you. She can't get over the fact that I visited you before I came home. Apparently she expected me to always want to see her before anyone else. Also, she yelled at me for my last phone bill. But that's crazy, because I pay my own bills. Come to think of it, I don't even know how she's seen my phone bills. Maybe she really is listening in. Be quiet for a minute, maybe we can here her breathing."

I snorted. "Somewhere, underneath all of that rambling, I heard an invitation. And I would love to, but Marcus has Jessie this Christmas and I really want to see her. It's been a long time. Besides, isn't it a little soon for me to spend Christmas with your family?"

"I didn't meant it like that," he scoffed. "I just want to see you for a few days between school and Christmas. I want my family to meet you. But if it's too soon, I understand."

"You're serious," I murmured. I was completely stunned. On one hand, it did feel a little soon for meeting his family. But there was something about Bo that made everything seem better. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe I should actually tell my parents about him. "I can't really afford to just pick up and go."

"I'll pay for your flight," he offered.

"Bo, I can't accept that. I don't want you to always be buying me things."

"I don't know if you've figured it out yet, but this is more for me than for you. I need everyone to know that I'm okay. And that this isn't just some stupid rebound. I just want them to see that I'm capable of finding a nice girl."

"And I'm supposed to be that girl?" there was a hint of a challenge in my voice.

"You can pretend to be," he said.

I felt a wide grin spread across my face. "Okay. I'll come and meet your family."

"Really? You're not just yanking my chain?"

"Set up the flight, Bo. I'll be there."