In the morning, Hazel treats me to breakfast at a local diner, and we gorge ourselves on huge plates of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausages before returning to the garage to pick up the Jeep.

Predictably, the mechanic found several additional problems. After consulting with his dad via sat-phone, Hazel agrees to an oil change and a new air-filter, but declines the more expensive services. The poor Jeep is on its last legs—or tires—anyway, and paying for more would be like buying a lifetime gym membership for a nonagenarian. Finally, with everything settled, we return to camp.

To my relief, I discover that the others were given a day off as well, so I haven't missed anything; and while they didn't get to enjoy the benefit of a night in a hotel, it still goes a long way towards alleviating any feelings of unfair treatment.

I'd been more worried about what they'd think of Hazel and me spending a night in a hotel, given it's no secret we're 'a thing.' Fortunately, most people either don't care, or are polite enough to pretend they don't. I still catch a few dirty looks from Michaela, who offers to pray for me, and George's teasing request for a play-by-play makes me blush, but otherwise the incident of my trip to town comes and goes, and is largely forgotten.

Maybe it's the isolation and the limited choices on hand, but it soon becomes apparent we're not the only ones pairing off, either. River and Riley become inseparable, and Hazel tells me he saw the doctoral students, Kaja and Sebastian, making out behind some rocks when he went for a run.

As all things must, the internship eventually comes to an end. With a week remaining, the bus returns and takes us all back into Moab, to a fossil preparation lab shared by several universities. There, we're set up in a dorm-like situation, four to a room, with two bunk beds in each, and everyone (except Hazel and I, who broke our no-shower streak at the hotel) enjoys their first real shower in nearly three weeks.

In the lab, we learn about the fossil preparation process, how the bones are removed from their plaster jackets and from the rock, and allowed to participate, hands on. Not being part of the actual cohort, Hazel is absent from these lessons, and I find myself missing him after less than half an hour.

I try not to let it distract me, but my thoughts continually wander from the ankylosaur rib on the table in front of me to images of Hazel in my mind. When the session ends and I find him waiting for me outside the lab, a whole swarm of butterflies takes flight in my stomach, and a wash of heat rushes through my veins. Some people say love is like an illness—a chemical imbalance in the brain—and if they're right, then I've got it bad.

I'm still not sure how things will work out once we return to Crestwood, but I'm about to find out.

On the last day of the internship, we bid goodbye to the desert and the dinosaurs and board a plane that carries us back to California and the coast. At the end of a long day of travel, we arrive in the same parking lot from which we departed, weeks before, and Hazel hugs me goodbye. We've both got our own affairs to attend, and it will be a few days before we see each other again. It already feels like eternity.

"See you Saturday," he says, pulling me close for a kiss, not caring who sees or what they think. I kiss him back, but already I feel my old hesitance and fears resurfacing, and let him go sooner than he'd like.

I know he'll walk me to the bus stop if I give him the chance, but he's quickly distracted as everyone makes their last round of goodbyes, and I slip away, unnoticed, which is my preferred state to be.

When I reach my apartment, Lana greets me with a happy squeal and lots of teasing about how long my hair has gotten, how tan I've become, and how I'll fit in perfectly with the 'hot surfer' crowd now. Not wanting to endure a game of twenty-million questions, I don't mention Hazel and instead present her with one of several raptor teeth I found, prepared myself, and was allowed to keep.

"Oh my gosh! I thought you said these were super valuable?"

"Not the teeth," I say with a shrug. "I mean, you could still sell that for a few hundred bucks, probably, but they're relatively common and not that valuable, scientifically speaking. There are a few species named just from the teeth, but usually it's hard to tell exactly which tooth came from what."

"Woooow! Usually you're so 'Indiana Jones' about things belonging in museums. This is the last thing I expected you to bring back!"

I rub the back of my neck and laugh. "A fossil is the last thing you expected me to bring back from a fossil dig?"

She giggles as she inspects her prize. "Well, besides a boyfriend."

Too surprised to make an intelligent reply, I stay quiet just long enough to give myself away.

Lana looks up, her dark eyes going wide and her mouth forming a perfect little O. Then she lets out a piercing shriek and flings herself at me, forcing me to catch her in my arms.

"Omigod, Charlie! Tell me everything!"

Her excitement is infectious, and I do want to talk about Hazel, so I oblige, though I leave out certain details, like the incident at the hotel.

Lana's a great friend, but even she doesn't need to know everything.

"I'm just afraid I'll ruin it," I say, when I finish my confession. "I'm only out to a few friends, but Hazel's out to the world. What if he tries to kiss me in public and I push him away?"

Lana frowns. "Just talk to him. Coming out is personal and different for everyone. If he doesn't understand or respect that, then he's not worth keeping around. So, when can I meet him?"

I wince internally. Lana can be intense. But she's also my best friend, and I'm not ashamed of her. If Hazel can pass the Lana test, I'll take that as a good sign.

🐚

Fortunately, Hazel passes with flying colors. He and Lana become fast friends and waste no time ganging up on me. Before I know it, they've dragged me to my inaugural visit to Chase on what I slowly come to realize is a double date.

It seems I'm not the only one who caught a case of summer love, and Lana introduces me to her boyfriend of two weeks, a shy trans guy named Trey. It's his first time visiting Chase, too, and if anything he's more nervous than I am.

"The core LGB community isn't always welcoming of people like me," he explains as we stand in line on the sidewalk, waiting to be let in. "Some of them don't think we belong."

"Chase is cool," Hazel assures him. "You don't have to worry about that bullshit here. The owner's trans, too. You'll love her."

"You've met the owner?" I ask, curious. Hazel seems to know and get along with everyone, while I can count my friends and close contacts on one hand—maybe two, now, thanks to him.

"Sure! Paula's here every night, and she tries to say hi to everyone at least once. Oop! Looks like we're next."

The bouncer recognizes him and waves him through with a friendly pat on the shoulder. When I move to follow, however, he holds up a hand and asks for ID.

Trey swears. "Shit, I hate this part. My picture doesn't exactly match who I am now. I haven't gotten a new one yet."

"Hey, don't worry," Lana says. "I got you."

She stands at Trey's side as he shows his license, glaring at the bouncer as if daring him to so much as bat an eye, but he hands it back after only a cursory glance at Trey. Lana and I get exactly the same treatment, and Trey relaxes a fraction as we pass inside.

Conversely, I grow more tense. The music is loud and lights strobe over the dance floor, and a gust of mingled perfumes, colognes, and body sprays hits me in a wave of scented air. There's a lively drag show underway, and a crowd of rowdy admirers surrounds the low stage, jostling for the performers' attentions. The whole scene is a bomb of sensory overload, and my first instinct is to turn around and walk right back out into the cool quiet night and the fresh ocean breeze, but Hazel grabs my hand and drags me to the bar.

"Do you really not drink?" he asks, shouting to be heard above the din of voices and thumping bass. "You can get pretty much any cocktail made 'virgin.'"

"I don't not drink," I shout back, remembering that I'd told that lie to get out of coming here with Lana. " I just don't drink much." Which is true.

"The virgin mojitos are really good!" he yells, having failed to hear or understand me. "You can hardly tell except you don't get buzzed!"

At the bar, he orders some sort of beer, and to save myself trouble I order the same.

"Whoa, are you sure?" he asks. "That's a pretty strong brew."

Before I can reply, a tall woman with long black hair wearing a slinky silver dress sidles up and slips an arm around Hazel's waist. I'm not too worried, since she looks old enough to be his mom, and he laughs and brushes her off.

"Paula! You know I'm ticklish."

Paula, who I take it is 'owner-of-the-club-Paula,' grins.

"Here's some free advice, doll: never tell someone you're ticklish unless you want to be tickled."

He giggles and squirms as she pinches his side.

She turns her attention on me. "And what do we have here? Fresh meat?"

Hazel loops his arm around my shoulders in a show of easy familiarity. "This is my boyfriend, Charlie."

Paula's penciled brows jump halfway to her hairline. "Another one? Damn, boy. You go through 'em fast! What happened to Eduardo?"

I stare at Paula like a deer caught in headlights, and Hazel appears confused. "Eduardo? That wasn't serious."

Paula scoffs and nods at something behind us. "You better make sure he knows that."

Turning, I see one of the drag performers approaching with enough attitude to shame a cat and a 'claws out' look that makes me think she's on her way to snatch the breath from Hazel's throat. Instead, she walks straight up to him, grabs the front of his shirt and kisses him.

"Mm!" Hazel pushes her away and wipes lipstick from his mouth. "Eddie! What the fuck?"

"That's my line, boo," says 'Eddie,' who I have to admit has a great figure: tall and slim, with an amazing wig and lashes a mile long. "Where you been?"

Hazel brushes her off and frowns. "Why do you care?"

Eddie's brows put Paula's to shame with how high they jump. "Are you kidding me right now? And who the fuck is this?"

I flinch as Eddie turns her 'dynamite with a laser beam' gaze on me. Heart pounding, I give in and let my instincts win.

"I'm... just leaving," I say, and make a run for the door.