"And for the final touch ..." Nelson capped his pink hair with a Panama hat Kyle recaled from Nelson's junior-year English presentation on Truman Capote.

"Voila! "

"You have everything?" Mrs. Glassman asked when at last Nelson made it out the door. "Your cel phone? The charger?" Kyle could see her eyes were misting up. She hugged Nelson, squeezing him so hard his hat fel off.

"Mom!" he protested and climbed into the car.

"Cal me tonight." She leaned in the window as Nelson started backing out of the drive. "Kyle, make sure he cals me!"

"I wil," he told her as they waved and puled onto the street. The mention of Nelson's cel phone charger reminded Kyle: "I think I forgot my toothbrush charger. I need to get it at my house."

That meant delaying their arrival at Jason's. But watching Nelson say good-bye to his mom had made Kyle secretly glad for any excuse to see his own mom again.

And it turned out he hadn't forgotten his charger after al.

"Keep us posted, okay?" His mom wrapped her arms around Kyle, and he breathed in the clean smel of her hair. "Cal us if anything happens."

"I wil. And you have Nelson's cel phone number, right?"

"Yes, sir," his dad assured him and, after hugging him, pressed a fifty-dolar bil into his palm. "Here. Don't spend it al at once."

"That was worth going back for," Nelson remarked, as they waved good-bye and finaly headed toward Jason's.

When they arrived, he was in the driveway shooting baskets, his duffle and sleeping bag on the stoop.

"What took you so long?" he asked Kyle, and then did a double take as Nelson emerged from the car in his straw hat, loud shirt, and '50 movie-star sunglasses.

"Hi, guys!" Mrs. Carrilo came out of the front door, along with Jason's little sister.

"Don't forget your Lacey!" She ran up to Jason, carrying the dol she'd given him.

"Aw, is she yours?" Nelson smiled at Jason. "I remember my first Barbie."

"She's not mine," Jason clarified. "She's my sister's. Let's get going."

"I'l help you with your stuff." Kyle walked up to the stoop with Jason. "Sorry we took so long."

"Why's he wearing those goofy clothes?" Jason asked, but Kyle wasn't sure how to answer, except to say, "That's just the way he is." As Kyle helped Jason carry his stuff to the car trunk, Nelson played with Melissa, redoing her dol's hair.

"You'd better take that flag off," Jason told Nelson, pointing to a rainbow flag bumper sticker. "We're going through redneck country, you know."

"So?" Nelson gave a defiant shrug. "I'm not taking it off."

"It'l be al right," Kyle intervened. It seemed like they were already getting off on the wrong foot, before they'd even left the driveway.

Jason hugged his mom and sister, then his mom hugged Kyle. It was the first time Mrs. Carrilo had ever done that, and it made Kyle feel even more a part of Jason's life.

After hugs were done, Nelson announced, "I'l drive first," and hopped into the driver's seat. "You two decide who rides shotgun."

"You can," Kyle told Jason. "I'l sit in back and navigate." Kyle's dad had gotten him auto club maps for al the states along the route and Kyle had carefuly organized them.

"Woo-hoo!" Nelson turned the ignition and cranked the stereo up. "We're off!"

"You trying to blast us out?" Jason reached over and turned the volume down.

"Yeah," Kyle agreed as they puled out of the driveway. "Can you turn it down?"

"Not so much!" Nelson nudged the volume back up. "I love this song." He began bouncing in the seat, clapping his hands above his head.

"Hey, would you keep your hands on the wheel, please?" Kyle protested. Why was Nelson acting like such a dork? Jason glanced over his shoulder at Kyle, his eyes dark and annoyed. And then Nelson shook a cigarette from his pack.

"You're not going to smoke that," Jason stated flatly.

"'Course not." Nelson glared back. "I'm going to stick it up my butt."

Jason smirked. "I'm not spending two weeks breathing in your secondhand smoke."

"Then don't breathe." Nelson lit up his cigarette.

Kyle leaned over the seat. "Can't you wait til we stop for a break?"

Nelson scowled into the rearview. "Smoke at a gas station? Briliant, Kyle. Look, guys, it's my car and if I want to smoke, I'l smoke."

"Then at least open your window," Kyle suggested, trying to find a compromise.

But Nelson wouldn't. "It's too hot."

Instead Jason roled down his window. In response, Nelson flicked the AC on ful blast. In back, Kyle felt the cold stream of air, but inside, his blood was boiling.

chapter 11.

Jason watched the Virginia suburbs blur past the window as they drove out I-66. The tension between him and Nelson hung thick as smoke.

Stop the car! he wanted to tel Nelson. This won't work Just drop me off at Dulles Airport. I'll catch the next plane to L.A.-alone.

But instead he sat silent, wishing the road trip could've been just Kyle and him. As the stereo played none of the boys spoke, til the first sign for Shenandoah National Park came into view.

"Hey." Kyle nudged Nelson's shoulder. "Remember that fal we came to see the leaves turn color?"

"Oh my God!" Nelson snapped his fingers. "That was so amazing."

"Have you ever been to Shenandoah?" Kyle turned to Jason.

"No," Jason said somberly. He'd always wanted to, but his drunken dad never took their family anywhere on vacation, except to visit relatives.

"You haven't been to Shenandoah?" Nelson gasped. "You've got to see it. Let's go now!"

"No," Jason replied, though he wasn't exactly sure why. He would've liked to see the park, but it annoyed him that Nelson told him he had to see it, as if he felt sorry for him. He didn't like anyone pitying him.

"We don't have time," he told Nelson. "Since we started late."

"But it wouldn't take long," Kyle said cheerily. "Skyline Drive goes through the park in our direction."

"Come on, Jason." Nelson reached over and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You're too tense. Chilax. Smel the roses." Jason shook Nelson's hand off but decided not to protest further. "Whatever."

Nelson took the next exit, driving south toward the park's entrance gate, where a line of cars waited, edging slowly forward.

"Ten dolars," Jason grumbled, pointing to the admission fee sign.

"Here." Kyle handed Nelson a fifty. "It's my dad's treat."

"Woof!" Nelson exclaimed as he gaped at the ranger in the booth. "Isn't he adorable in his Smokey Bear hat?" Nelson grabbed his cel phone. "I want his picture."

"Dude, don't!" Jason tried to stop him, but too late.

As Nelson paid the ranger, he asked, "Mind a picture?"

Jason slunk down in the seat, hiding his face, while Nelson snapped the photo with the phone camera and drove away.

"Why do you pul crap like that?" Jason asked, sitting up again.

"'Cause I wanted his picture." Nelson handed Kyle his change and the cel phone. "Look! Isn't he totaly lickable?" Jason turned to Kyle, hoping for backup, but Kyle was looking at the photo image. "It came out great." Jason groaned, crossing his arms, and turned to stare out the window, thinking there was no way he'd be able to endure this trip.

But as they wound up the mountain highway, he couldn't help admiring the tal trees and lush meadows. Deep valeys stretched far into the distance. Roadside waterfals splashed suddenly into view. And deer were everywhere. He'd never seen so many.

"Isn't this great?" Kyle exclaimed.

In spite of himself, Jason nodded. "It's pretty cool."

At the next bend a bus marked FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH had puled over onto the road shoulder. Alongside several parked cars, a crowd of people stood peering into a glade.

Out of curiosity, Nelson puled over and the boys climbed out of the car.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked a group of middle-schoolers.

"Bears," replied a short girl with braces.

Jason gazed over the kids' shoulders. At a distance of about a hundred feet, mama bear stood beside two furry little cubs that roled and tussled in the grass.

"Man!" Jason grabbed Kyle excitedly. "I wish Melissa could see this."

While watching the bears, he overheard the girl with braces tel Nelson, "I like your hair. That's so wild."

"I love your hat," another said.

"Where'd you get those cool sunglasses?" a third asked.

Nelson had barely started chatting with the girls when a moonfaced woman clapped her hands sharply and said, "Girls, stop bothering strangers!"

"They're not bothering me." Nelson smiled.

The woman's brow furrowed. "Then I'd appreciate if you'd stop bothering them. Come on, boys and girls, let's get back onto the bus."

"I wasn't bothering them!" Nelson puled off his glasses and narrowed his eyes at the woman. "You got a problem with something?"

"Yes, with people like you." She turned and herded the kids toward the bus.

"Girlfriend?" Nelson snapped his fingers toward her and bobbed his head. "You need to get laid!" Middle-schoolers spun around to stare at him, mouths agape with shock, then quickly covered to stifle giggles. As the woman rushed them onto the bus, Nelson turned to Kyle and Jason. "Can you believe her?"

"Maybe if you wouldn't dress so weird ..." Jason replied, feeling no sympathy for Nelson. "Why do you always try to be so different?" Nelson perched his dark glasses back onto his nose, his blue eyes peering across the top. "I don't try to be different, Jason. I just am. Try it sometime." Jason wasn't sure what the heck Nelson meant by that, but he didn't care. "You always have a comeback for everything, don't you?"

"Guys?" Kyle stepped between them. "Why don't we get something to eat?"

Jason stood glaring at Nelson, unwiling to back down as Nelson stared back.

"Guys, stop it!" Kyle insisted, and pushed them away from each other, toward the car.

As they left the mama bear and cubs, Jason considered sitting in back, but he didn't want to appear intimidated by Nelson. The fact was Jason could beat the crap out of him anytime. Didn't Nelson realize that? Then why didn't he act like it?

When they reached Big Meadows they stopped for lunch at the cafeteria and then continued toward the southern end of Shenandoah.

"So was the park worth it?" Kyle asked Jason as they exited the gate.

"Yeah." Jason nodded. In spite of his tiff with Nelson, he'd enjoyed it. "Those bears were the best part. My old man never took us anywhere."

"Neither did mine," Nelson said, turning toward I-81. That might've been the first time Jason could recal Nelson mentioning his dad, but Jason didn't feel like asking more about it.

Instead he watched the apple orchards and fields of baled hay pass by, as the sky began clouding. Around five o'clock they approached the exit for Tech, the university that had awarded Jason's scholarship. He watched the ramp lead off the highway and wondered, What if they hadn't retracted their invitation?

Kyle must've had the same thought, because he laid a hand gently on Jason's shoulder. Jason turned to look at him, thinking how different his life would be if he hadn't come out. He certainly wouldn't be driving across the continent with his boyfriend.

And he wouldn't be stuck in a car with Nelson.

chapter 12.