Page 8 of Rumor Has It

“Oh no,” he says.

She’s staring straight at us, a look of disdain on her bitchy face. They dated for close to a year, and when she broke up with him, he was sad but never really told anyone why it ended.

Theo grips me tighter, a silent plea to let it go, to ignore her. I look back up at him, and the same thing is written all over his face.Please just leave it alone.So I do. Not because I want to, but because he asked. I’d do just about anything for Theo.

The song plays on for maybe a minute more before it comes to an end. He pulls back, cupping my face with both his hands.

“You wanna go?” he asks.

I nod, suddenly not feeling up to being in the bar with both Lindy and Colin at the same time. It’s a little more than I can handle. These days, I preserve my peace whenever I can.

“Y’all leaving so soon?” Lindy calls out.

We’re a couple of steps past her and headed toward the door. We both ignore her and take a couple more steps.

“Just as well,” she says. “The dance floor is no place for fatties or fake men.”

I stop dead in my tracks, blinking rapidly. Theo’s hand is on my back, silently urging me to just keep going. But I can’t. Preserving my peace only goes so far. There a few sets of eyes on me, probably waiting to see what I’ll do.

Turning on my heels back in her direction, I walk toward her. She’s perched on the edge of a barstool, and I briefly consider kicking it out from under her and watching as she tumbles to the floor. It’s not exactly the high road, but knocking a tooth from her pretty little head is an unrealized goal.

“You know what, honey?” I say. “I can lose weight. I can be the skinniest bitch that ever danced in this bar. I can be whatever size I want to be. But you… you can’t fix ugly. You’re still going to have that same ugly face and ugly heart as long as you live. And that’s kind of sad.”

I turn back toward Theo, who’s wearing a look of deep relief. But Lindy’s silence doesn’t last long.

“Yeah, run to your precious Theo. You two deserve each other. He’s not even close to being a real man. Couldn’t satisfy a woman if he had a flashlight and a how-to manual.”

Now I’m seeing red. I don’t care if she calls me fat. I don’t care if she runs her mouth about me until the sun rises. But not Theo. Not my friend.

The next thing I know, I’m turning back toward her and lunging. I grab a handful of her hair before Theo’s strong arms wrap around me, pulling me away from her.

“It’s not worth it,” he says. “She’s not worth it.”

There are a few strands of her hair caught in my fingers as he pulls me further back. “You’re lucky, bitch. Move away and never come back!”

“I’m tired of this hick town with all these hick people anyway,” she yells back.

Of course that doesn’t settle too well with everyone who’s witnessed what’s going on, but Theo has me out of the bar and halfway to the car before I tell him I’m alright and to put me down.

“Let’s go home, Ellie,” he says. “Let’s just go home.”

He holds out his hand for me to take, urging me to continue moving away from the bar. We don’t get into his car, because we’ve both had too much to drink for driving. And while nothing in this town is super far away, my house isn’t exactly down the street. We have a bit of a walk ahead of us, but that’s okay. It feels nice out.

We walk for several minutes before anyone speaks. The stars are bright, and the night air is crisp in early springtime.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

Shocked, I look over at him. His head is low. “Why the hell are you sorry?”

“I’m sorry I ever dated her, that I ever let her in.”

“It’s not your fault she turned out to be so terrible,” I say. “I’d never blame you for the shit between her and I.”

“All the same,” he says with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry she broke your heart,” I counter.

Theo shrugs his shoulders and stuffs his hands into his pockets. We allow the silence to creep back in as we continue walking.

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