Art Is Dead

I knocked on Jo's bedroom door, too terrified to burst in the way that I normally would. I had been sleeping long before she had come home the night before, and I wasn't certain that she was alone in her bed. There was no sign of life from within, and I sighed.

"Jo, come on! You promised you would take me to the airport! I need to leave in the next ten minutes if I'm going to get there and through security two hours before my flight leaves."

"That's not mandatory, you know," she grumbled back at me. "It's just a suggestion."

I banged my fist against the door a few more times in frustration. "You know I'm a bad flier. I can't handle any more issues right now. Just get out of bed and drive me there in your pajamas."

She stepped out of her room wearing boxer shorts and a tank top. "Go start my car, and I'll put pants on while it warms up."

She tossed me her keys and I hauled my suitcase down the stairs. I was nervous. I hadn't been this nervous in a long time, actually. I rarely flew anywhere, and I had never attempted to do it alone before. Once I had the car running, I loaded up my luggage and waited impatiently for my roommate to join me. After a few minutes that seemed to drag on for hours, she appeared outside. Jo paused to lock the front door behind her, then darted down the sidewalk. She knew exactly which spots to avoid because of the buildup of ice that we hadn't gotten rid of yet.

Once she was safely inside the car, she dug in her jacket pocket and pulled out a prescription pill bottle. "I got you a present," she passed them to me.

I raised my eyebrows. "This is going nowhere good." I reached out and accepted the plastic canister and read the label. "You got me motion sickness pills?"

She smiled. "I got them in the summer when my parents took me to London. I was really nervous about the flight across the ocean, so I went to the doctor and they gave me these. They'll help with your issues with flying. Trust me. But... since it's not your name on the label, you should probably hide them in your bra or something. And avoid getting strip searched."

"Thanks. I think," I tucked the pills into the side pocket of my carry-on bag. "So how did your date go last night?"

"It was good. We're going to try hanging out for now. But he's still exactly the same person that I remember." She had the faintest rosy glow beneath her pale cheeks.

"Good," I said. "I'm really glad for you."

Jo dropped me off at the airport about half an hour later, and I wasted my time by browsing through the duty-free shops and sipping on a coffee. Before boarding the plane, I took one of the pills that Jo had given me. I didn't know if they would actually work, but I was grateful for the offer. I had only flown a couple of times before, and I hadn't stepped onto a plane in years. I knew all the statistics about planes being safer than cars, but I hated the feeling of being powerless. If something were to go wrong, I couldn't take over piloting the plane. I couldn't help anyone. The thought made my stomach churn in a sickening way. I wasn't the type of person to succumb to panic attacks, but airplanes almost did me in.

Whatever she gave me pretty much knocked me out right after take off. A stewardess gently shook me awake as the remaining passengers gathered their things from the overhead compartments and filed off the plane. I rubbed my eyes in a childish fashion and got to my feet. The pills had been effective, but I hoped that the drowsiness wore off soon. I didn't want to feel this dead to the world when I met Bo's family.

I made it through the airport like a zombie, following the crowd and only stepping out of line to get my suitcase from the luggage carousel. I snapped out of my stupor when I was bombarded by a tall, wiry body.

"Natty!" Bo wrapped his thin arms around me and held me tight. "Welcome to my home! Well, not quite. But it's not that far of a drive. We'll be there in a bit."

I leaned up as far as I could and kissed him lightly. "It's only been a couple of weeks, but it feels like forever since I got to do that."

"I'm so glad that you agreed to come here."

"Me too."

I had to admit that it was a lot harder than I had ever imagined to build a relationship over the phone. Seeing each other every few weeks was rough. But when we were actually together, I was happier than I had been in a long time. Bo always made it seem like each day was an adventure. He could be cynical just like everybody else, but he was always trying to live on the lighter side of life. After all, he'd achieved nearly all of his dreams before age twenty. What excuse did he have for being angry or bitter?

As we drove out of the city and toward Bo's childhood home, he prepped me for the people I was about to meet.

"My siblings don't live at home anymore, so you won't even meet Samm this time around. Pete is coming home before Christmas Eve this year, though, so you'll have the misfortune of meeting him. Actually, I think that you'll get along with Pete really well. He's the reason I started uploading videos. He wanted to hear my songs after he left for college."

I smiled. "He sounds like a stand-up guy."

"And Mom and Dad, they'll be all over you. They're just so happy that I'm not gay that they'll pretty much love you no matter what."

I gave him a puzzled look. "I thought you had a serious girlfriend before."

"I did," he nodded as he drove, then straightened his glasses. "They just never really got over that suspicion from before. I don't pretend to understand it. I just figure eventually they'll figure out that I'm not going to switch teams on them."

"That's kind of reassuring for somebody in my position too, you know," I smirked.

"You really think that I would come out as gay while I have a girlfriend?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm just saying, I know a guy who came to the realization that he was gay after he was married with four kids. It was awful. I felt so bad for everyone involved. I mean, I kind of figured that at that point he would just stay in the closet forever and live the rest of his life that way. But I guess that wouldn't have been very fair to him."

"Life doesn't always work out the way that people plan for it. And that sucks, but there isn't much that you can do about it. Can we talk about something other than suspecting people are gay now? I'm starting to feel like you're reading into it too much. I don't want my own girlfriend to be paranoid about this. Let's talk about... the flight. Was it good? Too much turbulence?"

I shrugged. "I honestly couldn't tell you. I slept through the whole thing. If a helpful stewardess hadn't woken me up, I'd still be in my seat."

"How? When I stayed at your place, you woke up every time I rolled over. You're not a heavy enough sleeper to make it through the descent of an airplane," Bo reasoned, turning off onto a nearby exit ramp.

"I had a little help," I said. "Jo gave me these pills that she got for a flight last summer. They're awesome."

His eyebrows pulled together in concern. "You're taking someone else's prescriptions?"

"It's just for nausea. I would never use someone else's medication if it seemed even remotely sketchy. I'm a nervous flier, okay? I promise that I'm not secretly a pill popper. You can breathe easy."

"Good," he sighed in relief. "I knew that; I was just testing you."

"Right," I tried to hide my smile. "It's okay, Bo. We're not to that point yet where you know everything about me. You're allowed to ask me things like that. Trusting me doesn't mean that you stop looking out for yourself. I wouldn't want to take some drug-crazed person back home to meet my family, either. You're always allowed to look out for yourself."

"And that right there is exactly why I do trust you. You're really not like most other girls our age."

"I had to grow up fast. It kind of helped prepare me for the real world."

"I've heard of this 'real world,' and I feel like I wouldn't enjoy it."

"Someday you might have to move out of your parents' house. Then you'll really hate it. Why do you still live there, exactly?"

He chuckled. "I'm surprised that this hasn't come up before, actually. I'm looking into getting an apartment, but for now it's just easier this way. I don't have to worry about anything happening to my place while I'm gone on tour, because people still live there. But I promise, if we ever get to that point, I will leave my parents' house and move wherever you want."

"Slow down there, champ. One day at a time, okay?"

Bo pulled the car into a driveway and put it into park. I peered through the windshield at the two-story blue house. It was beautiful, and even from the outside it felt cozy. Bo took my suitcase while I threw my carry-on over my shoulder.

As we walked up the stone stairs, Bo gave me a smile. "It'll be okay. I won't ever leave you alone," he vowed. He opened the front door and ushered me inside. As soon as the door was closed, I heard a honey-sweet voice echo from down the hall.

"Bo, honey, is that you?"

"Yeah, Mom, we're here!" Bo called back, setting my luggage down at the foot of the nearby staircase.

A middle-aged woman appeared in the entrance to the kitchen. She tucked her blonde, wavy hair behind her ears, and she smiled from ear to ear when she saw me. "Oh, Nathalie, you're even prettier in person! I'm so excited to meet you!"

I accepted the hug that she offered when she approached, and I smiled at Bo over her shoulder. "Thank you for letting me stay here for a few days. You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Burnham."

"Please, call me Patricia," she said as she released me. "I'll let you go upstairs and get cleaned up. I know how it feels when you get off a plane. The spare bedroom is all made up for you. Bo, dear, show her where her room is."

"Mom, that's Samm's room," Bo argued.

Patricia's blue eyes shot a warning look at her youngest son. "Samm isn't coming here until the day after Nathalie leaves. That gives me plenty of time to wash the sheets again. This is not open for discussion, Bo. You know the rules. As long as you are under this roof, you will sleep in separate rooms."

Bo rolled his eyes, but he didn't fight her any further. He grabbed my bag and started up the stairs. "I'll show you to your room, Nat. Then I'll show you the rest of the house."

I smiled at his mother once again, then hurried after him. The bedroom that he took me to was painted green, and the white curtains were pulled back from the window. An oak dresser was on one wall, across from the bed, which had a matching headboard. Bo put my suitcase on the foot of the mattress, then sat down next to it.

"This is just a formality. My parents go to bed early, and they'll never really know what we do after they're asleep," he told me.

"It's okay. It just shows that your mom still cares what happens to you. Or, more likely, that she knows that if you knock me up you're still going to be living here and she'll have to deal with a baby."

Bo laughed loudly. "Come on, I'll show you the rest of the house."

He led me across the hall to his own bedroom. I smiled as I looked at the familiar dark blue walls that I had now seen in so many online videos. His keyboard was set up against one wall, and his bed was perfectly made. Either he had cleaned up in anticipation of my visit, or he kept his roam tidier than I did.

From there, he briefly pointed out his parents' bedroom, as well as Pete's. We headed downstairs and he showed me the rest of his home. His mother poured me a cup of coffee and sat down at the table to get to know me a little better. I liked her.

I actually found myself growing excited at the prospect of meeting the rest of his family later on.