Page 20 of Stick Break
“I’m named after a fictional alien-slaying badass.” Her brows shoot up. “Yeah. My mom was a superfan of the Alien franchise. My older brother’s name is Easton. I guess they saved the weird name for the second kid.”
“Weird?” she teases.
“It came with nicknames,” I say, dramatic sigh included. “You know what kids called me growing up?”
She perks up, lips twitching. “Do tell.”
“Some went with Believe It or Not.” I pause, giving her a second to connect the dots.
She frowns, then her eyes pop. “Oh, Ripley’s Believe It or Not.”
“Yup.” I snort. “Yeah, those kids weren’t exactly comedic geniuses.” She’s already giggling, so I pile on. “I also got Rip Cord. Rippy Longstocking.”
“Oh, that one’s solid,” she says, clearly delighted.
“Wait, there’s more. Teenage years? I had a breakout moment and became Zitley.”
“Oof. Harsh.”
“Yeah. And then there was the time I got caught in a rainstorm and some genius coined Dripley.”
That gets a real laugh out of her, loud and free. “Dripley. That’s gold.”
“Oh, you like that one, huh?”
She nudges me with her elbow. “You know, Rip… I find it very hard to believe you were ever the guy getting picked on at recess.”
“Oh yeah? What gives you that idea?”
She waves a hand slowly, up and down. “Just a hunch. Something about the whole… six-foot-something, FAFO energy you give off.”
“FAFO?” I ask and then laugh. “Oh, fuck around and find out.”
“Yeah.”
I chuckle. “I wasn’t always big. And honestly, the names never really bothered me.”
“Well, that’s good,” she says. “Because I might start calling you Dripley from now on.”
“Great. Can’t wait to hear that in public again.”
“Now you’re Big Bear,” she says, grinning.
“And Ripley Stripley to some,” I reply before I can stop myself.
Her head tilts. “Ripley… Stripley,” she says quietly like she’s heard it before.
Wow, way to draw attention to who you really are, dude.
“Uh, Rip?” she asks.
“Yeah?”
“Do you think your girlfriend’s going to be upset that I crashed your place? I mean, I don’t want to come between you two.”
“She’s not really my girlfriend,” I blurt.
She blinks. Her face shifts just enough for me to catch the flicker of surprise, and maybe confusion, before she looks away. I open my mouth, then shut it again like a malfunctioning fish.
