Page 53 of One True Loves

The whole table joins in with Dad’s raspy chuckles, and I roll my eyes but laugh too. This is one of his favorite stories, and he tells it in large gatherings all the time. I haven’t figured out exactly how I feel about it—after all, the butt of it all is my art inconveniencing my family, right? But I also like being the center of my dad’s attention, which doesn’t happen often as the middle, average child.

“Excuse me, I can’tnotsay hello.” I look up to see a middle-aged woman with tan skin and feathery black hair. Shelooks familiar and I’m struggling to place her when Natalia pops up next to her.

“Mom...” she says, looking around uncomfortably, “they’re trying to eat.”

“Oh, I’m not going to ignore our good friends just because of some little lovers’ quarrel,” she says, and Natalia’s cheeks turn pink. Alex suddenly finds his steak incredibly interesting.

Dr. Lee shoots Alex a sympathetic look before turning to my parents. “Marla, Edward, these are our friends from back home. Jasmin Rodrigo-Hernandez and her daughter, Natalia.”

“Oh, wow, what a small world! Nice to meet you both,” Mom says, giving them her signature sparkling smile.

Mrs. Rodrigo-Hernandez leans in and shakes my parents’ hands. “Not such a small world. We were supposed to go on this trip together, actually, until... well. Anyway, Natalia and Alex went to high school together. They’ve known each other since the first grade!”

I can see that Mom is about to probe that “until...” but I shake my head at her, and she presses her lips together.

“And now they’ll be off to UCLA together in the fall. Can you believe it, Ronni?” Mrs. Hernandez says, clutching her hands to her chest. “Our babies are all grown up!”

They’re going to the same school in the fall? Now that is a fact that Alex has conveniently left out. I feel a pang of something—irritation? Worry? But I shake that away. I don’t have any claim on him. If anything, I’m intruding on their story, if their lives have been this intertwined for this long.

“... our son, Wally, just graduated,” I snap back in to hear Dad saying. He’s all lit up like he always is when he gets a chance to brag about Wally. Instead of basking in it like he usually does, though, Wally is staring at his hands. “What is it you’re studying, Natalia?”

“I’m double-majoring in political science and sociology,” she says. “And I hope to go to law school right after undergraduate.”

Of course she just gave the best possible answer in my dad’s eyes. He claps his hands in delight.

“Oh, wonderful! Wally here will be starting at their law school this fall.” Dad glows with pride as he looks at Wally. I’m pretty sure he’s never looked at me that way. “And I’m with Sidley & Jones. Here let me give you my card—for when you’re in the market for an internship.” He hands it to her, and I can see her eyes widen in recognition of the big firm my dad works for.

“Thank you so much, sir,” she says with a dazzling, all-teeth smile. It’s easy to see why Alex did everything he could to keep her. She’s beautiful, and apparently super smart too—the kind of girl guys treasure.

“No problem,” Dad says, shaking her hand. “I love to see young people of color succeed. I can tell you have a bright future ahead of you.”

And I know he doesn’t mean it that way, but it feels like a torpedo sent straight for me. Because when he’s discussing my future, there’s just worry and concern. But for Natalia, it’s soobviously clear skies ahead. I swallow down something hot and tight in my throat.

“Well, anyway, we’ll get back to our table before dessert arrives. My wife will eat all my tiramisu if I’m not there to claim it!” Mrs. Rodrigo-Hernandez laughs. “I expect you to save me a dance at the formal dinner in a couple days, David. I know you’ve got those moves!”

Mr. Lee shimmies in his seat, and they all laugh. Mrs. Rodrigo-Hernandez and Natalia wave before heading off to the other side of the dining room.

I turn to Alex, expecting to see him pining after his long-lost love, but instead his eyes are zeroed in on me.

“You okay?” he mouths, nodding toward my dad. I’m shocked, and a little mortified, that he picked up on all that. I guess I wasn’t keeping my face under control like I should be.

I nod quickly and wave it away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Maybe she can shadow you through a day at law school, Wally,” Dad continues.

“I don’t know, I’m going to be pretty busy,” Wally says dismissively. I’m not jealous of where Wally is in life—I know I have no interest in being a lawyer like Dad. But I guess I am jealous that he gets to treat all the attention and pride and Dad looking at him like the goddamn star-eyed emoji all the time like it’s nothing. It’s every day to him, so it’s no big deal.

“Yes, of course, of course,” Dad says. “The first year of law school is no walk in the park, and it just gets harder from there.And especially with Kieran back in town—that’s his boyfriend. They’ve been together since high school,” he explains to the Lees. “Well, there’s going to be a lot on your plate. Tenfold what you had this past year of undergrad. But I know that you’ll rise to the occasion. You always do.”

“He’s not even with Kieran anymore.” The words are out of my mouth before I really think about them. It’s like all the resentment and jealousy was in a pot, stewing in my stomach, and the top just bubbled over.

Mom’s eyebrows press together, and Dad cocks his head to the side, like he heard me wrong.

“Lenore, what the fuck?” Wally says, his eyes daggers.

“It’s the truth. I don’t get why you can’t be honest with all of us.”Also maybe I want to take you down a peg or two in Mom’s and Dad’s eyes, show them that their golden boy is human. But I would never admit that out loud.

“You always have to be so fucking nosy. It’s none of your business—”

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