Sitting directly behind us was Bruce, my ex. Of all the things I thought might happen on my first date with Troy, having my ex sit behind me was not one of them.

I was just thinking about how if I'd known it was him I would have made out with Troy just to spite him, when I noticed that he was not alone. Standing next to him was a confused looking kid who looked to be 16 or 17 years old. I made the conscious decision to try to be nice, mainly for Troy's sake.

"Oh! Bruce! Fancy meeting you here!"

Bruce forced a smile and got a worried look on his face. I found this interesting. Looks like I was going to have fun with this after all, oh yes, and at the same time I was going to see to it that he was honest with this kid, so he didn't screw around with him the way he had done with me.

So much for being nice...

"This is Troy, my date. Our first date, actually, though we've been chatting for months. Troy, this is Bruce, my ex. I've told you all about him, of course."

I watched the blood drain from Bruce's face as he reached to shake Troy's hand. I could see the large bump on the bridge of his nose from when I had broken it when he grabbed me the night I had found out about his wife. Excellent.

Even better was the look on the kid's face. He was clearly upset at something, and I could guess what it was. Sure enough, he spoke up:

"Your ex? You didn't tell me about any exes!"

I feigned shock. "What? Bruce, we were together for over a year! Did our time together mean that little to you that I didn't even warrant a mention?"

I then turned to the kid. "I'm Carmen, Bruce's ex boyfriend. We used to live together but split up under, um, less than ideal circumstances. This is actually the first time I've seen him since we split up. Oh, and how rude of us! Who might you be?"

I had decided against mentioning Devin or the circumstances of our breakup.

Bruce spoke for the first time. "Oh, uh, this is Hunter, my..." He trailed off. Young Hunter shot him a dirty look and finished for him.

"...His date. I'm Hunter, his date. This is our first date, too. We met on IRC."

I could well imagine which IRC channel they had met on, but I didn't say anything about that.

"Oh wow!", I said instead. "Such a small world! I go on IRC all the time too, my nick is Asterixx! Shoot me a message some time! Imagine, Bruce, both of us out on our first dates and just stumbling across each other in a movie theatre in the city! And on a Friday, at that! What are the chances?"

Bruce looked like he was about to have a stroke when I mentioned Friday, and well he should, since he usually returned to the valley to be with his wife on Friday nights. I was actually starting to feel a little bad for putting him on the spot like this. Even after what he had done to me, all the lies, the cheating, the hurt, I almost felt like he didn't deserve this. I had moved on, so what could I gain by ruining Bruce's chances with this kid?

This very young, very naive, and probably very inexperienced kid...

"Why?", Hunter asked. "What's so weird about Fridays? Lots of people go to movies on Fridays."

I looked at him, and I looked at Bruce, who had a pleading look on his face. Without even saying a word to me he told me all I needed to know: the kid didn't know about his wife. I was weighing my options in my head. One side of me, the vindictive side, wanted to tell the kid about his wife right there. The other side of me, the compassionate side, was wanting to leave them alone, but even my compassionate side was wrestling with itself over concern for this kid that I didn't even know, but whom I felt didn't deserve to be hurt.

I looked at Troy, who was giving me kind of a scared look, like he didn't want me to start a big scene. I chose compassion. I chose Troy.

"Oh, nothing," I said as I looked Bruce in the eye. "It's just that he always worked late on Fridays." The look of relief on Bruce's face was obvious. So obvious that the kid had to have noticed it, but he said nothing.

"Well, we'd better be going", Bruce said. He was still looking at me as if he was terrified that I might still spill the beans.

I tapped the bridge of my nose to remind Bruce about what had happened when I found out that he had been keeping his married life a secret, as a signal about how lucky he had just been. "Yeah, we've got to be going, too. Nice meeting you, Hunter." Still tapping my nose, I added with a wink, "Bruce, you treat him well!"

We parted ways and headed for the parking lot. Troy was being quiet as we got into his car. I was starting to think that I may have gone a bit too far, been a bit too much of a dick toward Bruce. Sure enough, Troy spoke up.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

"Well, as you've seen, that was my ex. He was there with his new squeeze. Not much more to say, really. Just a weird coincidence."

"Not that. I meant why were to being such a dick to them? It's like you were trying to drive that kid away."

I sighed. "It's a long story. I've told you about Bruce, of course, but I didn't tell you everything about us. Our relationship was built on a lot of his lies. He lied about his age, he lied about his sexuality, and he lied about his wife. I didn't know about his wife at first, and when I found out I got really mad. It was me who broke his nose..."

"What? You punched him because he was married?!?"

"No, I punched him because when I found out that he was married I tried to walk away, and he grabbed me and physically tried to prevent me from leaving. That's another long story in itself, but the quick version is that when I was really young a pervert tried to grab me while I was walking alone in the woods in the dark. I fended him off with my fishing rod, and ever since then, when somebody grabs my arm like that it triggers me. It was an automatic reaction: As soon as he laid his hand on me I nailed him. Anyway, I've told you about all of the rest: The lying, the cheating, and all of that. When I saw him with that kid tonight all I could think of was how wrong it all was."

"So you still have feelings for him?"

"Oh GOD no! No, no, no, no, no! I actually can't stand him, which was why I was having so much fun making him uncomfortable with his date. But it wasn't him I was thinking about when I was saying those things, it was the kid. I could see a lot of myself in that kid. It wasn't that long ago when I was young, scared, and taking my first tentative steps toward self-acceptance. In fact, it was only three years ago. I just felt that Bruce was going to hurt him like he did to me. I mean, look at the lie we just found out about: The kid had heard nothing about Bruce and me. I wanted to let the kid know the danger he was in by trusting Bruce."

"I see. So why didn't you say anything about his wife?"

"Truthfully? Because I knew I was coming across as a dick. I was aware that I was not making a very good impression with you. Rest assured, had you not been there I would have laid it all out, but I didn't want a big scene in front of you."

Troy thought about this. "Oh, well, I appreciate it, but now I feel bad for the kid."

"I do too, but it's not my business to be his babysitter. Hopefully the fact that I showed Hunter that Bruce had a dishonest streak will be enough to make him more wary, but that's all I can do."

As we headed back to my apartment Troy stayed silent, until we got to my parking lot. Then he kind of giggled. "You know, when we first saw them, I thought that you had planned his being there."

"What? Why in the hell would I do that? Who brings an ex along on a first date with somebody else?!?"

"I don't know, it just seemed too much of a coincidence. But as soon as I saw how uncomfortable he was I knew that it wasn't planned."

I laughed. "You've got that right!"

We went inside the apartment. It was still fairly early, not even 10:00 yet, so I turned on the TV and sat next to Troy on the couch. He picked up a binder of my drawings that was on the coffee table and started flipping through it. This book contained everything I had ever drawn between 1988 and the present. I hadn't meant for him to see it, and was embarrassed that he was looking at it. It must have looked like I had left it out on purpose, but the truth was that I was far too shy about my art to do something like that.

"Oh, shit, I left that out by mistake. Here, let me put it away."

"What? Why? Are these yours?"

"Yes, I've been drawing since I was a kid. They're not very good, but I like doing it."

"Are you crazy? I think they're great! Tell me about them!"

He pulled himself closer to me and we started flipping through the drawings. As we went through the book he crept closer and closer, and eventually was laying his head on my shoulder.

I could feel that something magical was happening here, so I put my arm around him and pulled him tighter. He glanced up at me with a shy smile, then returned to flipping through the book. When he got to the last page he closed it, put it back on the table, and looked at me.

There were sparks, I could feel them. My heart was racing with anticipation. I was gazing deeply into his eyes as he leaned in for a kiss. I leaned ahead to meet him – it was just about to happen, our lips were mere millimeters from each other's, when we heard a loud banging on the patio doors. We pulled apart quickly, and I jumped up.

"What the fuck? Who would be pounding on my door at this time of night?"

As Troy was trying to compose himself I walked over to the patio doors and moved the blind slightly to see who it was.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!", I said as I whipped the blinds aside. "It's a friend of mine, Rodney."

I opened up the door and let him in.

"Oi, Carmen! I'been tryin' a get 'old of you, but yer phone's goin' straight to voicemail. I need a favour! Could you.... Oh!"

He had just noticed Troy sitting there.

"Sorry, I dint know you 'ad company? oo's this then?"

"This is Troy, a friend of mine. Troy, this is Rodney, a childhood friend. I've known him since I was 15 years old."

Rodney looked briefly at Troy. "Oh, cool, b'y! Nice to meet you!" He then looked back at me. "I 'ate to ask you, but could you drive me to Beaverbank? I need to pick somethin' up, but me girlfriend 'as the car."

"Are you out of your fucking mind? It's after 10:00! I'm not going all the way to Beaverbank! Besides, my truck is dead. The brakes are fucked."

Now, with any normal person, this would have been the end of it. Rodney, unfortunately, was not a normal person. He looked at Troy.

"Ow 'bout you then? Could you drive me?"

I could hardly believe my ears. "Seriously, Rodney? You're going to ask somebody that you've known for exactly 30 seconds to drive you to Beaverbank in the middle of the night? Don't you think that's a little..."

Troy interrupted. "It's OK, I'll do it. I don't mind."

I looked doubtfully at Troy. "Are you sure? Beaverbank is a half hour's drive from here."

"No, seriously, I don't mind, as long as you come too."

"At's a b'y", Rodney said with a beaming smile.

I was defeated. But I was not happy. Not happy at all.

"Fine, we'll go. Let's get it over with."

We left the apartment and got into Troy's car. I started giving Troy directions out of the neighbourhood, when he told me he needed gas. I directed him to the nearest gas station. As soon as he got out of the car to put the gas in I spun around in my seat and rounded on Rodney.

"You stupid fuck, what the hell do you think you're doing, asking a perfect stranger to drive you all over the place in the middle of the night?!?"

"What? 'e said 'e dint mind!"

"He was just being nice for my benefit, you idiot! Of course he minds! Who wouldn't mind ferrying a total stranger all over town at this time of day? Are you really that thick?"

"Fuck, 'm sorry, I dint think..."

"Of course you didn't think! You never think!"

"Hey! Tha's not fair! Oo is this guy anyway? I ne'er seen 'im afore."

"I told you, he is a friend of mine. But don't you worry about it, because after this little stunt of yours you're not likely to see him again."

"But... I... He..."

I saw Troy coming out of the store.

"Here he comes. Not a fucking word out of you, Rodney, or I swear to God I will come right over this seat and beat some sense into you. I am madder at you than I've ever been, so it's only for Troy's sake that I don't do it anyway. But I'm warning you. Not a fucking word. You think I don't know what it is you want to pick up in Beaverbank in the middle of the night? If Troy finds out you're going to buy weed he's likely to leave us both stranded there. Believe me, will discuss this very thoroughly tomorrow. Until then, keep those big-ass lips of yours sealed. Do you understand me?"

Rodney gave me a scared look and nodded.

"Good", I said, and turned back in my seat just in time to give Troy a big smile as he got back into the car. Troy was not fooled by the false friendliness.

"What's up between you two?" he asked.

"Oh, I was just saying to Rodney here how upset I was that he asked you to do this without even so much as offering $20 for gas, wasn't I, Rod?"

"Oh, yeah." He rummaged around in his pockets and produced a $20 bill. "Here", he said.

"Oh, you don't need to do that", Troy said.

I pulled the $20 out of his hand and said "Oh, yes he does. If you don't want it for gas I'll take it. Either way this fiasco is gonna cost him $20."

I opened Troy's glove box and put the money inside. We drove to Beaverbank with Troy and I making small talk and Rodney staying stony silent in the back seat. Finally, we got to his dealer's house. Rodney went inside to do his business.

"I'm really sorry about this, Troy. Tonight has been a disaster. First my truck died, then we met Bruce at the movie, and now this bullshit. You must think I'm a wreck".

"No, I don't. I mean, it was a weird night, for sure, but I had fun. Dinner and the movie were good, and I really enjoyed sitting with you and looking at your drawings. But I do have to ask, were you and Rodney an item?"

"No! Rodney is straight! We've known each other since junior high school!"

"Oh. That's a shame. He's kind of hot!"

I laughed. "Yeah, he isn't hard to look at, is he? But he's got the personality of a crocodile. He's always made homophobic comments. Racist, too."

"What, right in front of you?"

"He doesn't know I'm gay, Troy. Nobody does, except for a very small circle of friends – friends that I've only known for a few months. I've been living a double life. He doesn't make the comments anymore, though, not since I snapped at him for calling James and Derrick 'fags'."

"He doesn't know you're gay? But what about James and Derrick? Heck, what about Bruce? How did you pass that off?"

"Simple. James and Derrick are friends that happen to be gay. James and I met through a shared interest in 80's metal. That is true, so it's easy enough to pass that off. As for Bruce, we were 'roommates'. He knew Bruce was married so he didn't question it."