Mike stood by his drawings as people passed by to give his works a look. Everyone that studied his pictures gave him a look of total approval. He got many questions such as who was his inspiration or how did he get so good. The last question was easy…practice, practice, practice. The first one required some finesse. The answer, of course, was his boyfriend, Rocco. Mike entered a couple of pieces from his Man in the Cabin project. One piece was a drawing of Rocco laughing. The other was Rocco wrapped in a towel around his waist.

  It wasn’t that he was embarrassed of his relationship with Rocco. He just did not want to get into it with anyone. His relationship with Rocco was personal—it was his own business. No one else was entitled to know about the moments he and Rocco shared. He came up with a mundane answer for the subject of his drawings. The man in the drawings was simply a friend.

  The art show required the artist to stand by their entries for the first two hours. After that time, artists were asked to vacate the gallery and return an hour later for the results. The crowd was light. It was after all a high school art show in a small rural town. There was not a lot of interest to go see high school drawings. Those that attended were mostly parents and friends of the artists. There were a handful of strangers who had nothing better to do. Mike invited Jared, Rusty, Chris, Toya, Moni, and, of course, Rocco. His parents and Joe were expected to make an appearance. Rocco promised to be there the entire time but, so far, he was 10 minutes late.

  Mike answered questions from a second person when he spotted Rocco. Rocco caught his glance and smiled.

  “Where have you been?” Mike asked quietly.

  “I’m sorry. I was running late,” Rocco replied. “There’s not much of a crowd here.”

  “Yeah,” Mike said, “it’s been excruciating to stand here twiddling my thumbs.”

  Rocco looked at Mike’s two entries. He gave a little chuckle. He was a little embarrassed that it was clearly himself in both drawings. Mike’s technique was superb. Rocco had seen these drawings before. However, under the pointed lights inside the school’s little gallery, the pencil marks shone giving the drawings an additional depth and character. Under these conditions, the drawings were so realistic that they could talk. He eyed the drawing of him in a towel. Rocco never thought of himself as muscular, but Mike’s drawing gave him a chiseled physique. He wasn’t sure if Mike embellished Rocco’s body or if Rocco did not realize how fit he really was.

  A person passed by and admired Mike’s work. It was a man in his late 30s, probably a father of one of the other artists. He looked at the drawing of Rocco in a towel then over at Rocco then back at the drawing. Rocco started to blush. It was obvious that Rocco was the subject of the drawing since the drawings were so good.

  “Is that you?” the man asked Rocco pointing at the drawing.

  “Yes, this is the subject of my drawings,” Mike interjected. After all, Mike was the artist here.

  “Wow,” the man said. “These are incredible! They are so detailed and accurate. It’s like I’m looking at a photograph.”

  “You can probably guess that my preferred style is realism,” Mike answered.

  “My daughter, Linda, is also in the show, but she does abstract paintings. No where near the technique as what you have here,” the man said admiringly.

  “Abstracts require a different set of skills. I am terrible at them. I always want to put in more detail. So, comparing realism and abstract is like apples and oranges,” Mike said.

  The man nodded impressed by the knowledge of this teenager. “Good luck!” the man said and walked to another artist.

  “Do you even know what you just said?” Rocco asked impressed by the answer Mike gave.

  “Yes!” Mike replied. “We talk about theory in Art. It’s not just all fun time.”

  “I will never stop being impressed by you,” Rocco whispered in Mike’s ear. As he pulled away, Rocco saw Mike’s parents in the distance. “I’m going to go to the bathroom.” Mike nodded.

  Rocco walked the direction opposite of his parents. He didn’t want to have a conversation with Mike’s mom. After the way she made him feel at the game, there was no way he wanted to ever speak with her again. Rocco hid behind a door and watched as Mike’s parents approached and admired Mike’s art.

  Rocco crept from behind the door and was about to leave the building when he ran into Jared.

  “Rocco, you leaving already?” Jared said.

  “I was just going to the bathroom,” Rocco replied.

  “Okay, I’ll wait. I don’t know anything about art so I’m afraid to go in there alone,” Jared laughed.

  “I’ll be right back,” Rocco said going into the bathroom. His intention was to sneak away into the night. Since Jared spotted him, he would have to go back. He waited around in the bathroom for a few minutes and went back out to the hall. Jared had not moved.

  “All good?” Jared asked. Rocco gave him a thumbs up.

  Jared and Rocco walked through the exhibits quietly inspecting the pieces. They sometimes engaged with the artists. Most of their artist interactions involved the abstract pieces. They mostly asked what the artist was representing in their drawings. Sometimes the answers were well thought out. Sometimes the answers were obvious bull.

  “Dude, I’m glad you’re here,” Jared whispered after looking at a particularly bizarre piece. “I just don’t get a lot of this stuff.”

  Rocco laughed. “Yeah, I think some of these guys are just making up some shit to see if we will fall for it. You know, you don’t always have to understand the deeper meaning to appreciate the piece. It’s totally fine to admire something only on the surface.”

  “Now you tell me that,” Jared said.

  They rounded a corner and came upon Mike and his parents. Mike spotted Rocco and Jared. His facial expression immediately lit up. Rocco was happy to see Mike but not his mother. Emily gave Rocco and Jared a glance and politely nodded.

  “Mikey!” Jared said running up to Mike. Jared looked at Mike’s pieces and let out a “whoa”.

  “Jared,” Mike said, “these are my parents, and you know Joe, of course.” Jared shook his parent’s hands. “And you two know Rocco.”

  “Yes,” Emily said glancing passively at Rocco. Rocco blushed. She looked at the drawing then at Rocco a couple of times. Rocco blushed even harder. “Michael, are these drawings of Rocco?”

  Mike stopped for a moment and stared blankly at his mom. “Is it not obvious?”

  “Yes, but I wanted to ask to be certain,” Emily answered. Mike’s dad picked up on the awkward moment in the air.

  “Honey, it’s not the subject but the technique you should focus on,” Dan replied.

  “Did you pose for these?” Mike’s mom asked Rocco pointing at the drawing of him in a towel.

  “He didn’t. I drew them from memory,” Mike replied on behalf of Rocco.

  “I asked Rocco,” Emily retorted.

  “But I’m the artist here. You can ask the artist about the work,” Mike replied. Dan gave him a wink and a nod. Rocco looked down at the floor.

  “Mom, artists have a different take on the world. They admire images simply for their beauty,” Joe interjected.

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  “I see,” his mom said. A bell rang indicating that it was time for everyone to leave the gallery so that judging could take place. Mike and his group left and stood out in the hall. There was an uncomfortable silence before Dan piped up.

  “You’ve got some stiff competition, Mike,” Dan said jokingly.

  “There’s no winners or losers in art,” Mike replied.

  “That’s a great way to look at it,” Dan said. Emily stared at Rocco the entire time that they stood out in the hallway. Rocco did not return her stare, but he knew he was being watched.

  After a few more minutes of agonizing silence, someone opened the doors and announced that their decisions were already made. Mike was expecting a longer wait for a decision.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” one of the judges announced, “it didn’t take us long to deliberate on tonight’s competition. The winner of tonight’s art competition is Mike Barber for his ‘Man in the Cabin’ collection.” There was a polite round of applause. The judge offered Mike a ribbon and a certificate.

  “I knew you’d win,” Rocco whispered to Mike. Mike looked at Rocco and smiled.

  “Well, that was exciting. Now let’s have a celebratory dinner,” Emily said. She looked back at Rocco and Jared. “Sorry, family only,” she said. Mike gave Rocco a shrug and waved goodbye to him.

  Rocco watched Mike and his family leave. He knew Mike’s mom would say something like this to him. It didn’t hurt any less, however. Rocco took a little consolation in the fact that he didn’t promise Mike that he would call. At least, he wouldn’t let Mike down this time.

  It was late April, and the weather was perfect for a camping trip. Rocco was about to turn 18. Mike hadn’t forgotten this as he had a surprise for Rocco when they got to the cabin. The night before, he was able to put a cake and Rocco’s present in a nondescript box in his trunk. He would wait until Rocco went to the bathroom at some point and bring in the box. He would have to find the perfect moment to surprise him with his cake and present.

  Rocco quietly sat in the passenger side looking at the passing scenery. Mike sensed something was on his mind. They were listening to one of the mixed tapes Rocco had dubbed and given to Mike over the course of the year. Mike turned the radio down.

  “What’s going on with you?” Mike asked keeping his eye on the road.

  “What do you mean?” Rocco replied looking over at Mike.

  “You’ve been a million miles away,” Mike responded.

  Rocco took a moment to figure out what to say. Lately, he felt like he couldn’t really talk to Mike. Mike was beginning to slip away. Rocco decided at this moment to not mince words. “I don’t think your mom like me.”

  Mike gave Rocco a confused look and returned to the road. “My mom?”

  “Yeah,” Rocco said.

  “Why do you care what my mom thinks about you?” Mike asked and snickered. Rocco was usually not the type to give two shits about the opinions of parents.

  “She makes me feel like I’m not good enough to be your friend,” Rocco replied.

  “She does?” Mike gave Rocco another look of puzzlement.

  “Yeah, like I don’t belong anywhere near you. Like I don’t matter,” Rocco said looking back out at the countryside.

  “Wait a minute,” Mike said shifting in his seat. “When did you even interact with her?”

  “That time I went to your ball game,” Rocco said.

  “Oh, that time you were going to call me and never did?” Mike retorted.

  Rocco blushed in embarrassment. “Yeah, that time.”

  “What did she say to you?” Mike asked not knowing what he was about to hear.

  “Your dad went to the bathroom, so it was just me and her. She said that you were going to be hurt when Joe and I went away, and she didn’t want you to go through that pain. She made it as if I was just somehow playing with you and would go off and forget you,” Rocco explained. “Then she said you all were going to eat, and it was family only.”

  “Are you sure you aren’t putting more into it?” Mike asked.

  “The way she referred to us as good friends—she knows about us, Mike. And then at the art show. The way she looked at me was like…I don’t know…like I was some gutter rat or something,” Rocco said.

  “Gutter rat?” Mike laughed at this description. Rocco looked at Mike both hurt and surprised by this laugh. Mike picked up on Rocco’s feeling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of that.”

  “She just brings up a lot of bad feeling in me. Feelings like I don’t belong, like I’m not worthy. I felt like I was 10. Like I’m some bastard orphan,” Rocco explained.

  “Damn, Rocco. I had no idea she made you feel that way. Is that why you didn’t call me after the game and why you’ve never come to another one?” Mike asked.

  “Yeah,” Rocco said, “I didn’t want to run into her.”

  Mike exhaled loudly. “I’m so sorry my mom made you feel like that. If I had known, I would have said something to her at the game.”

  “It’s already happened. There’s no point in talking to her about it,” Rocco said.

  “I will though,” Mike said. “I don’t appreciate that she treated the man I love like shit. She doesn’t get to get away with that.”

  “Mike,” Rocco said, “you don’t have to do that.”

  “I know, I want to,” Mike said with a touch of anger. They drove a little while longer in silence when Mike broke in. “This is a terrible time to tell you this, but I’ve got some bad news.”

  “What?” Rocco sat back in anticipation.

  “We’re leaving for Hawaii for three weeks after graduation. We want to have one more Barber family vacation before Joe goes off to college,” Mike said keeping his eyes on the road.

  “How soon after graduation?” Rocco asked. Rocco and Pete had been talking about LA. They were planning on leaving for Los Angeles the week after graduation. Their intention was to take three days to drive out and stay for 6 weeks. This would be most of the summer and likely would put a dent in his relationship with Mike. Rocco would return in August which would only give him a couple of weeks to spend with Mike before he started school. Best case scenario, he and Mike would have a few days of time together.

  “We are leaving the Monday after graduation,” Mike said keeping his eyes on the road mostly to avoid looking at Rocco.

  Rocco stayed silent for a minute contemplating their fate. “So that leaves us one weekend before we go our separate ways for the summer?”

  Mike continued to keep his eyes on the road but blinked away the tears that were starting to form. “Yeah, one weekend.”

  They remained in silence the rest of the trip to the cabin. When they reached the cabin, it was close to dusk. They unpacked the car quietly. The realization that their days together were now numbered had fully sunk in.

  Rocco excused himself to go to the bathroom. He had to pee, but he also had to cry a little. Mike took this as his opportunity to get Rocco’s cake and present. He sneaked off to the car and took the box into the cabin. He carefully took the cake that he bought from the local bakery out of the box and placed the two candles firmly into the frosting. One candle was shaped like a ‘One’, the other like an ‘eight’. The bakery had written ‘Happy Birthday, Rock-O’ on the cake. Mike asked them to misspell Rocco like that to honor his punk boy ways. He placed the present next to the cake and waited for Rocco to return from the bathroom. As soon as he heard the door open, Mike lit the candles.

  Rocco was surprised at the sight of a lit cake and Mike standing before him with a big smile on his face.

  “Happy birthday, Rocco!” Mike exclaimed and motioned Rocco over to the cake. “Would you like me to sing to you?”

  Rocco snickered. He knew Mike was no singer; however, he didn’t want to spoil the moment, so he motioned for Mike to begin. Mike sang him the “Happy Birthday” song with the word “Happy Birthday, my dear skater punk rocker boyfriend…Happy Birthday to you!” Rocco instantly laughed at this spectacle.

  “I have a present for you as well,” Mike said and slid the wrapped box over to Rocco.

  “You are my present,” Rocco said sweetly.

  “Well, I know that, but in case I wasn’t enough,” Mike said eagerly eyeing the present.

  Rocco took the box and unwrapped it. He formed an open-mouthed smile. It was a box of Space Legos—one of the larger sets that must have set Mike back quite a bit. Rocco didn’t know what to say. He didn’t realize that he had started to cry. He was happy that his boyfriend had done all this for his birthday, but he was in agony at how soon all of this was going to end.

  Mike rushed over and embraced Rocco. This was not the reaction he was expecting from Rocco. However, he had a sense of why Rocco was crying. He continued to hug Rocco for several minutes without saying a word. When Rocco gained his composure, Mike wiped Rocco’s tears away and kissed him on the forehead.

  “Let’s have a piece of cake by the fireplace and snuggle,” Mike said. Rocco nodded.

  The next morning, it was warm enough to take a short drive down to the lake. They parked by the lake and made the short trek down to the shore. Mike spread out a blanket. Rocco watched Mike undress down to his briefs and make his way to the water.

  “Are you coming?” Mike said waving him over. Rocco silently took in the sight of Mike’s pale hairless body in the sunlight. He admired how Mike was so carefree with his body. Rocco spent a lot of time getting himself in shape and was self-conscious about himself.

  “Come on!” Mike yelled. Rocco reluctantly striped down to his boxers and joined Mike by the water. Mike took him by the hand and led him into the lake. The water was chilly much like the first time they went camping. Much like that day, this was not the kind of chill that was refreshing after being in the hot sun all day. They were only able to stay in the water for a few minutes before they both started to shiver. Mutually with one look, they decided that a day at the lake was not a good plan. They quickly left the water and laid out on the blanket to let the warm sun dry out their underwear a bit.

  “No one’s around. Watch this,” Mike said and took off his briefs. Rocco was shocked that Mike was stark naked in a public place.

  “Mike!” Rocco exclaimed.

  “My drawers are wet! I gotta let them dry,” Mike said and laid on his belly to hide his junk from the public. Rocco laughed at the sight of Mike’s pale white ass. “Don’t laugh! I don’t tan like you do!”

  “That means we shouldn’t be out here too long then,” Rocco said.

  “Relax. Join me. If we get caught, nothing’s going to happen,” Mike assured Rocco and closed his eyes. Rocco couldn’t believe the daring nature that Mike displayed right now. Rocco shrugged and took his boxers off and laid next to Mike in the sun. Rocco had to admit that the sun felt good on his body after being in the icy water.

  After an hour, they decided to get dressed and go back to the cabin for something to eat. Their underwear was still damp, so they had to go commando on the trip back. After they ate, they spent the rest of the day in front of the fire in each other’s arms.

  “That last weekend before we go off on our adventures for the summer, let’s do this one more time,” Mike said.

  “Don’t make it sound so final,” Rocco said looking at the fire.

  “I said before we go off on our adventures for the summer. I didn’t say forever,” Mike corrected Rocco.

  “Deal,” Rocco said trying to shake off his dread.