Title: Why Can’t Sophomore Summer Be Like Pizza?

Series: The Pizza Chronicles, Book Four

Author: Andy V. Roamer

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 08/23/2021

Heat Level: 1 – No Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 53600

Genre: Contemporary YA, LGBTQIA+, contemporary, young adult, family-drama, interracial, gay, bisexual, high school, friendship, summer job, coming out

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Description

It’s the summer after sophomore year and RV plans to enjoy new adventures and new challenges after finishing two years of high school.

He gets a job as an usher at a movie multiplex but discovers the realities of dealing with job stresses and unruly customers. It’s also time for him to start learning how to drive, and his father is eager to give him lessons. But he’s not the most patient of teachers and RV is not the most capable of drivers.

RV opens himself up to a new relationship and it looks like the start of a budding romance—until it isn’t.

And then there is RV’s family… Luckily, as always, Mr. Aniso, RV’s freshmen-year teacher, is always there to talk over anything that might be bothering RV. But he’s away for the summer, so there’s only so much time and attention he can give RV. It looks like RV’s summer won’t be fun and games after all.

Excerpt

Why Can’t Sophomore Summer Be Like Pizza?
Andy V. Roamer © 2021
All Rights Reserved

I can’t believe it’s summer again. I’ve finished two years at Latin School. Halfway to graduation.

And I just turned sixteen. Yeah. Sixteen. Wow. Am I an adult? I can do some things, like drive once I get my license. I can have sex here in Massachusetts. As if I’m going to, LOL. Though my parents can still forbid me to see certain people until I’m eighteen. Whoa! What? I can’t buy a drink yet. And I can’t vote. But I can pre-register to vote? What?

So, I’m, like, half an adult? A third? Two-tenths? Three-eighths? Double LOL!

Do I feel like an adult? Sometimes. And sometimes I still feel like that scared, confused kid with so much to learn about life. So, what is life going to teach me next? Where do I go from here? Where do I go from here?

!#$!@#!@$#!$!!!

Okay, RV, chill out. Stop getting ahead of yourself. Learn to stay in the moment like all those books say. Not just books, but Mr. Aniso too.

I hear you, Mr. Aniso! Hope you’re enjoying summer in— Where did you go? Ames, Iowa? Helping out your partner Ben’s parents. You’re such a good guy. Will I ever be like you? Helpful. Confident. And strong. Yes, strong. Maybe not macho strong on the outside, but definitely on the inside. As I keep pointing out to Bobby.

Oh, Bobby. Took him to our favorite place in the woods today. It was a perfect afternoon. Blue sky, green trees, those hills in the distance that always make me believe there’s a future. A good future. I wanted to share it with Bobby. Wanted to celebrate the start of summer, sitting on our rock, looking out at everything.

I don’t think Bobby was into celebrating anything. He just sat there, not saying a word, looking out into space.

Celebrate. Maybe it wasn’t the right word to use. I know Bobby teases me whenever I use a fancy new word—me and my words!—but “celebrate” isn’t fancy, is it? It’s regular, something everyone does. I know he probably doesn’t feel like celebrating these days, given everything he’s dealing with, but I’m just trying to stay positive. Is that so wrong?

I glanced over at Bobby. He just kept sitting quietly, staring straight ahead.

Wasn’t sure whether to say anything else that might come out as annoying. Or better to keep my big mouth shut. Last thing I ever want to do is upset him.

I decided a question would be okay.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked quietly, staring straight ahead too.

“Nothing much.”

“Oh.”

“Nothing much,” he repeated. “Only about last summer.”

“Last summer?”

“Yeah. Do you remember how we began last summer?”

“When we went to the park, you mean?”

“Yeah. Larz Anderson Park. It was nice, wasn’t it?”

The memory of sitting on the hill in that little grove of trees, looking over at the twinkling lights of downtown Boston, came back to me. And then another memory. Bobby’s hand on top of mine, making me feel happy and secure.

Today was and wasn’t the same. Bobby’s hand was resting on the rock right next to mine. I wanted to place my hand on top of his, connecting to that moment a year ago. But I didn’t dare. This was a different summer. And a different beginning.

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Meet the Author

Andy V. Roamer grew up in the Boston area and moved to New York City after college. He worked in book publishing for many years, starting out in the children’s and YA books division and then wearing many other hats. This is his first novel about RV, the teenage son of immigrants from Lithuania in Eastern Europe, as RV tries to negotiate his demanding high school, his budding sexuality, and new relationships. He has written an adult novel, Confessions of a Gay Curmudgeon, under the pen name Andy V. Ambrose. To relax, Andy loves to ride his bike, read, watch foreign and independent movies, and travel.