Life According to Maps — Nash Summers

The complete collection of the short stories in the Life According to Maps series. --- Maps * * * If Maps ruled the world, his best pal Benji would be court jester, and every day would celebrate a new experiment. No, scratch that. If Maps ruled the world, his best pal would still be living next door, and there wouldn't be any gap-toothed new guy staring at him as if he's bonkers. Pity Maps doesn't rule the world . . . --- Diamonds * * * Maps' kingdom is crumbling before his eyes. His parents are forcing him to get a job, there's a new kid at school who won't stop staring at him, and his best friend is too busy thinking about girls to help Maps deal with his real problems. Worst of all, Maps is lost. And none of the roads on his map are leading to Lane. --- Lane's * * * Maps doesn't believe in growing up. He believes in his experiments, Benji's new driving skills, Perry's knowledge of “adult things”, and his interstellar boyfriend, Lane. Maps certainly doesn't believe in graduating. And he especially doesn't believe in his friends attending separate colleges. Because if Maps believed in any of those things, it would mean he was growing up.