Page 149 of Girls Will Be Girls
I nod, more tears falling. “I know.”
He squeezes my arms with a pained look on his face. “I’m so sorry.”
“I- I need to…” I point behind me to the front door. “I’m sorry, I have to…” I stutter out before I run after them, feeling like this party just made my entire world crumble out from under me.
23
BOYS WILL BE BOYS. BECAUSE WE SUCK.
LOU
This night is not goinghow I thought it would.
The image I had was a quick dinner, a slightly awkward moment where I tell my parents we’re not engaged but dating, and after an hour tops of stilted conversation, taking Louisa back to her place and getting lost in her again.
From the moment we heard the word“Surprise!”I knew I’d fucked up.
“Louisa,” I shout after her as she runs away, but she either doesn’t hear me or she doesn’t want to.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she never came back, if she dumped me by text, left my stuff on the sidewalk. I just leaked what I’m pretty sure is her biggest secret, and I think I blew up her relationship with her parents. I ruined a part of her life I didn’t know existed. I made her part of this ridiculous competition with my brother. I brought her here in the first place to be ridiculed and attacked by my family.
I’ve been failing upwards this entire time, somehow winning her over while consistently failing her, and now I’m at the peak with nowhere to go but down. I’m about to crash and burn.
All I can do is stand here and look at the door helplessly.
My icy drink drips condensation down my hand as I try to wrap my head around what happened. That’s when my eyes flit up, and I see the match that struck the flame.
“Lou. Listen.” Otto says, approaching me with his hands out like I’m a skittish horse.
I’ve felt a lot of things towards my brother in my life.
Annoyance.
Sadness.
Envy.
But I’ve never felt as angry as I am right now.
“Surprisingly, I’ve never considered physically hurting you before.” I step towards him. “Butfuckwould I love to hit you right now.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it just as fast.
I run my hand through my hair in frustration. “How- How did you even know?Ididn’t even know.”
“I gathered.” He says.
“Yeah, maybe hitting you isn’t such a bad idea. Maybe it’s exactly what I should fucking do.”
“I’m trying to help you.” He says.
My mind reels. He looks earnest, as if he actually believes what he just said.
Either he’s insane or… He’s just insane.
“How in the hell isthishelping me?” I gesture to where Louisa ran to.
He sighs. “You know Mom and Dad will make her life hell, right?” He says. “You know they’ll never approve, so they’ll tear her apart.”
