Diamonds: Life According to Maps | Book Two by Nash Summers Page A

eyes, his smile, his pale blond hair, his face, really, his impossibly tight baseball uniform, helping Lane with math, Lane playing ball with him, and just the air in general when Lane was around.
    But that didn’t mean he missed Lane.
    Maps was, after all, a rakish bachelor.
    He had to admit, though, that when Lane and he talked before Lane went away for the summer to baseball camp, Maps was disappointed to find out Lane would be gone.
    “I’d take you with me if I could,” Lane had said.
    “And what would I possibly do in a field all summer?” Maps asked.
    “We don’t sleep on the baseball field, Maps. There are cabins and a lake and trails for hiking.”
    “That sounds like some sort of punishment, a place they send all the bad kids to toughen them up. Like Australia.”
    Lane had looked up at Maps’ bedroom ceiling, suddenly looking nervous. “There’s something else I have to tell you. It’s not, uh, good.”
    Maps’ spine had immediately gone straight. He sat perfectly still on the edge of his bed, looking at Lane in his baseball uniform, afraid that Lane was going to tell him something terrible.
    “Well,” Lane had said, “I, uh, flunked a few classes. A lot of classes. I was focusing too much on baseball. I’m not going to graduate this year. I’ll have to go back to school next year for a few classes.”
    Maps furrowed his brow. “You flunked?”
    Lane had nodded and stared at the ground, not able to look him in the eye. “Yeah. I’m so...stupid.”
    Maps had instantly jumped up. “You are not stupid, Lane. You’ll try harder next year, right? We can graduate together. I’ll help you study.”
    Huge arms wrapped around Maps and squeezed him tightly. Lane pressed his nose into Maps’ hair. “What would I do without you? I’m so dumb, and you’re so smart. I’d be so lost without you.”
    Maps, heart racing, had wrapped his arms back around Lane’s much bigger frame. “Don’t worry, Lane. If you ever get lost, I’ll loan you one of my maps.”
    “Sorry, Mattie,” his father said snapping Maps out of his daze. “But it’s final. You’re getting a job. School is starting again in a few weeks, and your mother and I want you to form some good habits.”
    “I have many good habits,” Maps squawked. “Showering, for example. Not eating with my hands. Not yelling at strangers who clearly deserve to be yelled at.”
    “I can try to get you a job at the daycare where I work,” Benji chimed in.
    “Now there’s an idea.” His dad sat up a little straighter in his chair.
    Maps glared at the back of Benji’s head, hoping his hair would ignite. “We are no longer friends. We are now mortal enemies.”
    “Only until you’re half-cyborg. Then you’ll be immortal,” Benji said.
    “Well, duh,” Maps replied.
    “So it’s settled,” Maps’ dad said as he stood from the kitchen table and began to walk away. “You find yourself a job, at least for the rest of the summer, or else you’re going to work at the daycare with Benji.”
    “That’s cruel and unusual, and unusually cruel!” Maps hollered at his father who had managed to escape. Finally giving up, he slumped down in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “This is so unfair.”
    “I know,” Benji replied. “Your poor future co-workers.”

2
    “ T hanks for coming with me to hand out applications,” Maps said. He and Benji were walking outside of the strip mall near attempting to find Maps a job.
    Really.
    The sun was beaming brightly in the light blue sky, a few clouds scattered about. In the parking lot were parked cars, and mothers with kids and strollers talking to each other in between cackles.
    “And miss you trying to find a job?” Benji said. “Few things in life humor me more than the thought of you actually working.”
    Maps had his resumes folded up in dishevelled little square ish bundles of paper. He had two in his shirt pocket, and one in his hand that somehow obtained mustard stains all