Page 70 of The ABCs of You & Me

“Depends.” He shrugs.

“On?”

“If she looks beautiful. I don’t lie, Mr. Walsh.”

“Well… Lying isn’t great, but what if it makes her whole day again? It’s kind of a victimless lie.”

“But what if she gets a big head? She could die from that, you know.”

“I don’t think anyone has died from too many compliments, Petey Bird. Real or not.”

“No one has yet, but I don’t want my mom to be the first.”

“Wow, okay. Well, you’ve got me there. Stick to what you’re doing, I guess.” I shove my hands in my pockets. “Do you know what you want to write about for your story this afternoon?”

“I think so.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

Pete looks up at me with his lips pursed. “I think I’m going to surprise you, Mr. Walsh.”

“Cool, I’m looking forward to it.”

When Pete stands at the front of the room reading his short story, I want to immediately melt into the floor. It’s about a tall redheaded man who can see into people’s bodies to determine if they are in fact beautiful inside and out. The body he’s looking into in this particular story is a tall blonde woman in a mushroom-patterned blouse.

THIRTY

SOPHIE

“I’m a fucking disaster,” I admit to Maya as we wander the aisles of yet another home goods store, looking for sturdier side lamps.

“I know, but this too shall pass,” she says absentmindedly as she picks up a dark blue lamp.

“I want to be in your state of mind right now.”

She looks up at me, mock pity on her face. “Honey, if you looked like me right now, that means you’d be sleeping with someone, and you’re not ready for that. You have made that pretty clear.”

She’s right, I’m not at all ready for that. I mean, if Saturday was any indication, I may actually be ready for that, but I’m also terrified. I don’t want to sleep around to ease this need bubbling away inside of me. “I don’t know…” I trail off.

“Foster?”

“He’s, I don’t know, nice, and…”

“I get it.”

“You do?”

“Sure I do. He’s nice and not bad on the eyes.” Not bad on the eyes seems like an insult to how gorgeous he is. “He’s the perfect rebound from snoozy Gregory.”

He’s the only rebound from Gregory.

“He makes me feel good.”

“Mentally, you mean?”

“Mentally…”

“Wait, did something happen?” I have her full attention now.

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