“I have a sudden urge to pitch a tent in the back yard tonight.”

“What the hell happened to your leg?" Ang asked him. Matt looked down at his shin, which was scraped and oozing and seemed to be caked in mud. "Crashed.""Crashed what?" Ang asked. "My mountain bike. We just got back.""You crashed, then what? Rolled in dirt?"He laughed. "Something like that actually. It's not a successful ride if you don't bleed." He must not have noticed the look of horror on my face, because he asked, suddenly enthusiastic, "You guys ride?"Angelo and I just looked at each other, and he seemed to realize that was a "no." "Too bad. Well, make yourselves at home. Beer's in the fridge. I have to get cleaned up. Kickoff's in ten minutes.""Football?" Angelo asked. Matt looked at his as if he had just asked if the sky was really blue. "Yeah! First game of the regular season!" We just stared blankly at him, and he just laughed and disappeared down the hall. Angelo looked at me with a smile on his face. "Four fags watchin' football. Must be pretty fuckin' cold in hell right now.”

“I loved him. It was a painful realization - so painful that it took my breath away - discovering that I was totally in love with this man who would never love me back.”

“Our one employee came warily out of the back. He was always skittish with me, and if Lizzy wasn't around, he made a point of keeping his distance. I think he was expecting me to make a pass at him. He was seventeen, had stringy black hair,bad skin, and probably weighed a buck five soaked wet. I didn't have the heart to tell him he wasn't my type.”

“First thing Monday morning, Ruby came in. She seemed upset. "Zach, I've had a vision," she said immediately."Was it a dream," Angelo began suddenly, with a wicked grin on his face, "where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?"Ruby and I both gaped at him. "Of course not," Ruby said with disgust, "Why would you even ask something like that?""Just wonderin'." He was facing her, But he held up a DVD case, facing me. 'Real Genius'. I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. Ruby shook her head at him and then turned back to me. "There was a bird. It tried to land in your hands, but a giant horse scared it away."As usual when Ruby announced her visions, I had no idea how to respond. I just smiled. "That's fascinating."She nodded sagely. "I hope you're nat planning any horse riding this weekend."Before I could answer, Nero Sensei burst through the doo, breathless. "Do any of you own the blue convertible parked at Jeremy's?"Which meant another kid had pucked off the balcony."Hope the top wasn't down," Angelo said lightly.Sensei shook his head as he headed back out the door. "No, but it's a soft top, and Tim had cranberry juice before class. It's gonna stain."Ruby followed Nero out the door. Angelo turned to me. His eyes were sparkling and he was grinning from ear to ear. "Best job I ever had," he said. and I had to smile back.”

“Technology had failed me. We could put a man on the moon and make computers that fit in my back pocket, but I still couldn't strangle anybody via telephone. Life really was a bitch.”

“His arms went around my waist. "I been meanin' to tell you, Zach-I want a raise. And that's not a sexual innuendo.""I'll see what I can do."His lips brushed min, and he smiled. "I lied.""You don't want a raise?""It was a sexual innuendo.""I think I love you." The words were out of m mouth before I knew I was going to say them. I wanted to take them back immediately. If talking about moving in together sent him into a full blown panic attack, there was no telling what the L-word was going to do to him. He froze, just for a second, and I braced for the worst, but he just smiled and simply said, "I know.”