The Date with Jason

They compared notes
In class, during down time
When the teacher was trying to figure out
How to get back around to productivity

He wasn't so much a professor
As a mediator
And anyway
They were working on dark/light
Which was tonal
It was all in the tones

The lack of boundaries was heavily felt
And maybe that was what inspired them

They compared notes on Jason

Yellin had gone out with him on Tuesday
Which would normally have been Coast Day
But the beaches were filled with the kids from the high school
Because there had been a broken pipe or something
So it seemed fine to use the opportunity
To hang out with the kid

They'd talked at the gallery
Where Yellin's piece was displayed
Crush/Divide was his first big piece
And he wasn't happy with it

It was too much
Just simply too much
And much of the time it was on display
He wanted to tear it down
Rip it up
Walk away from it

Frustrating
Really, really

Jason didn't compliment him on it
That was the first thing he liked about him
But he also, instantly, didn't like him
He didn't like him like that anyway

He wasn't even sure why he'd agreed to the session
He had been with Nyls for two years
Things were smashing
Really, terrific
But he told himself he wanted new friends

He had no real friends
And absolutely no one
Outside of the program

But when he got there, he knew it was a date
But it still seemed harmless
Plus there was nothing
Absolutely nothing to Jason
Aside from good humor and conversation

So they'd talked
So they'd had a session
Which consisted of blue oxygen
At the Think Tank
And then they'd parted ways

The whole night was over at 8:42pm
And the whole thing just seemed
Forgettable

So when Gertz brought Jason up during dark/light
Yellin almost kept his mouth shut
But then the lecture had gone to studio
And studio had gone to nothing
Which led Yellin talking to Gertz
Which was somewhat unusual
Because they didn't really respond to each other

But before long
They were talking about Jason

Gertz had a bigger show at a gallery across town
At the same time Yellin had his
Gertz's show was called Candy
It was much more pop-oriented
And had no real value

This was the determination of Gertz's classmates
Not Gertz himself
Who found the entire show a break-through
Both for himself and the class as a whole

He looked at the class as their coordinator did
They were a community
One's success was the success of all

Gertz bought the bullshit
Because Gertz was the most successful

His date with Jason was more directly a date
Than the date with Yellin

For one thing, he didn't have a Nyls
Although he had been bouncing about
From Krish and Fenton
Ever since school started

Krish was into negatives
Fenton was into cedar collectives
And both of them were complete assholes
Which Gertz responded to

Gertz and Jason had gone to Kingdom on Wednesday
And right from the start
Gertz knew Jason was nice
But not for him

Kingdom was just a series of kitchens
You sat at different tables
Played with magnets on empty refrigerators
And never brought up
That there weren't any sinks in the bathrooms

Jason dropped Gertz off at home
And they exchanged a friendly handshake
Agreeing to catch the Potato Show
Once Digiesh had finished it

It would be at the same gallery as Gertz's show

Strange thing
Jason hadn't brought up the show
Not even once

The notes compared about the same:

Nice Guy
Friendly
Not Interesting

The question of whether or not it was odd
For Jason to have gone out with both Yellin and Gertz
In the same week
Was, they were happy to admit
One that need not be asked

Nothing had happened on either date
And Jason was an undergrad at Frank nearby
So it wasn't unusual that there would be some mixing

They found that they actually had fun
Talking about Jason
Not because there was something wrong with him
But because there wasn't
But neither could figure out why they didn't like him
More than just as someone to get oxygen with
Or try out the new tuna place downtown

Once the class was over
They got wraps at the cafe
Then went back to their respective studios

. . . . .

Yellin got home around eleven
Which was an hour earlier than usual
He found that he couldn't get lost in the work tonight
And it bothered him that Digiesh was getting a shot at the big gallery
Before he was

It would be a tranny trainwreck
But it was still an opportunity
That he had not been afforded

When he got home, Nyls was on the couch
Watching that day's episode
Of 'The Young and the Restless'

'Nyls, what is this for again?'
'My life-structure piece.'
'It's on soap operas?'
'No.'
'It's on camp? Camp value?'
'Network lighting.'
'I'm sorry?'
'Every soap opera has a different look based on what network it's on.'
'I don't follow.'
'NBC's soap operas are drenched with light. ABC's are very dark.'
'And CBS?'
'Like candy.'

The mention of candy made Yellin think of Gertz
Which made him think of Jason

Were they out again tonight?
Maybe at the Indiehouse?
Maybe at Trains?
Maybe at Corr's party?

But did it matter?
Yellin didn't like Jason
Not in a romantic way
They were friends

Nyls was freeze framing each shot of 'The Young and the Restless'
Then taking notes
Then resuming
Then freezing
Then--

'Are you going to be doing this all night?'
'Yeah, it's croosh. Ya know?'
'Yeah.'
'Yeah.'
'Yeah.'
'Are you going to Corr's party?'
'Um...you know...?'
'Yeah. But, I mean, could be fun.'
'Yeah...so...Sure. I guess. You're going to stay here?'
'Yeah. I have to do "Days of Our Lives" before I go to bed.'
'All right, well. Yeah.'

On his way out the door
He texted Jason

'Hey, what are you up to?'

. . . . .

Gertz was laying in bed with Krish
Wondering if he should have called Fenton
Because he was paralyzed with boredom

Krish was going on and on
About the breakthrough he had
During dark/light or light/dark
Whatever class had been on today

'Just brilliant, you know?'
'Yeah.'
'I just wish we had gotten to light.'
'Yeah.'
'Do you think we could tape this sometime?'
'Sure.'

He hadn't even heard the question
The sex had been beyond lousy
And yet it had been how it had always been
And there was nothing to suggest
That sex with Fenton would have been any better

Why didn't he like Jason?
What exactly WAS wrong with him?
Or was there something wrong with Gertz?

'...Corr's party.'
'Huh?'

Gertz had zoned out
But hearing Krish mention Corr's party
Had given him an idea

'I said we should have gone to it.'
'Yeah...but...your negatives.'
'God, yeah. Fuck. I'm so behind.'

Gertz knew he would panic
Whenever you brought up his work
He immediately left wherever he was
And headed back to his studio

Sure enough, there he was
Picking up his pants off the floor
Apologizing while buckling his nickel belt

Gertz didn't even say anything
He just let him rush out
Then he picked up his phone
And sent the text

'Hey Jason, wanna go to a party?'

. . . . .

Because they were already on their way
Yellin and Gertz went to Corr's party anyway
Even when Jason didn't answer their text

They were both relieved to see
That neither had showed up with him
But then they went to different corners of Corr's apartment
And began to reflect

Which is always a mistake

Corr was showing footage of her piece
It was her third year working on it
And with each passing day
It got more indiscernible

The footage she was showing now
Was just a series of clips
Old commercials for toothpaste
Strung together
While the Ramones played in the background

A group of the newer students
Clung to Corr
Because they hadn't yet achieved the ability
To see who had something to offer
And who was destined
For 'Permanent Study'

Yellin picked at his nails
And listened to Fenton
Drone on about Gertz
And whether Yellin though
That Gertz would get over this Krish fixation
And finally see that he and Fenton
Could be this year's
Liz and Liz

The lesbian duo that had conquered downtown in their final year
With their double team on Hemingway/Recliner

Gertz was drunk
And getting drunker
As the night wore on

He hated everyone at the party
Because nobody was Jason
And nobody could be

When Yellin looked up from his shredded cuticle
Gertz was gone
And Yellin knew where he'd gone to

. . . . .

The restaurant was just closing up
And Jason was handing over the bill
To his last table

He had mentioned to both Gertz and Yellin
That he worked at a little place on the south side
In addition to going to school

Gertz tried his dorm first
But when he wasn't there
He knew that he must be working

Yellin didn't bother trying the dorm
Because Jason didn't seem like the type to ignore messages
Which meant he must be at work

That's how Yellin got there first

'Hey Yell, how's it going?'
'Are we friends?'
'Excuse me?'
'Friends. Are we friends?'
'We just hung out.'
'I know. Do you want to be my friend?'
'Sure...uh...yeah. I'd like to...to be.'
'Great.'

Yellin made it out the door
Realizing he looked like a lunatic
And stopped

He'd have to go back in
He hadn't said what he wanted to say
Although who the hell knew what THAT was
And when he turned around

He saw Gertz go right into the restaurant

'DAMN!'

Gertz was on his knees in front of Jason
A begging man in a faux Italian restaurant
It was truly pathetic

Not quite as pathetic as tripping over yourself
While trying to run to a boy you'd just requested friendship from
And landing at the feet of aforementioned boy
Next to the pathetic begging man

Jason looked perplexed

'Marry me.'
'Gertz, stop it.'
'Shut up, Yellin. You have Nyls. Does he know about Nyls?'
'The river?'
'No, my boyfriend. He spells it with a "Y."'
'Everyone spells "boyfriend" with a "y."'
'His name is Nyls and--Never mind!'

Gertz stood up
Yellin stood up
Jason stood still
But contemplated running

Yellin took Gertz's hand

'We're going to go now.'
'Okay.'
'Sorry about this Jason.'
'It's okay.'
'Let's go, Gertz.'
'Jason, marry me.'
'Let's GO, Gertz.'

They walked for a bit
Then stopped outside Vista
And sat on one of the benches
Shaped like Marianne Faithful

'That was idiotic.'
'It really was.'
'Why did I ask him to be my friend?'
'I proposed marriage.'
'We really need to evaluate our lives.'

The two classmates looked at each other

'I wanted a real friend.'
'I wanted a real guy.'
'He felt real.'
'He really did.'

They looked at each other
They looked away

'There must be more'
'There must be.'

But to be honest
They really weren't sure