The barbecue was already in motion by the time we arrived, like we’d stepped into the middle of a scene instead of the beginning of one. Marvin’s parents’ backyard stretched wider than it needed to, a rectangle of green with a faded wooden fence and a grill that had clearly seen better summers. The smell of charcoal and lighter fluid hung in the air, mixing with cheap beer and cut grass. Someone—Jeremiah, I think—had alre...

This is a ninety-plus percent fictional story. Nancy and I had that fight. She went to her friend’s college for a weekend. Her friend did try to set her up with her boyfriend’s friend, but she got uncomfortable from that point and rejected him…Maybe. Everything else is just from my screwed-up mind. It was January 2000. My girlfriend Nancy (eighteen) and I (eighteen) were having another argument. This time, about Nancy vis...

This is like 75% fiction. When my girlfriend Nancy and I were in our sophomore year of college, both nineteen, we went to a mixer at one of her sorority sisters’ houses. The party was cohosted with a frat. We arrived around eight in the evening, and Nancy instantly began talking to people. She went from group to group as she was very friendly. I tried to catch up, but fell behind and lost her. I sat for a minute on a couc...