Page 131 of Pick-Up
He closes his eyes, lets his chin fall to his chest. Exhales sharply. Like he wishes this wasn’t happening, but it is within the realm of possibility. Then he approaches the table. “Kait,” he says quietly. “What are youdoing?”
Kaitlin brings a hand to her neck, perhaps the slightest bit chastened by Ethan seeing this go down in the light of day. She sticks her chin in the air, defiantly. “She did it to me with Hugo and now she’s doing it with you.”
“What did I do?” I ask.
“Who is Hugo again?” Green Vest asks Red Vest.
I’m wondering the same thing.
“Hugo! The guy she cheated on Ethan with,” Red Vest stage whispers back. “Keep up!”
“Wait. That same guy from high school who she’s always talking about?” I ask Red Vest. She nods until Kaitlin turns and glares at her.
Ethan looks beyond humiliated. Like he wishes he could disappear.
“I legitimately don’t understand,” I say to him. “Do you? What is she talking about?”
He exhales. Clears his throat. His shoulders slump. “She thinks you stole her boyfriend in high school.”
“What? She does?” I look at Kaitlin. “You do?!”
“Yes! I do!” she shouts.
“Hugo—?”
“Reyes!” she finishes.
“I don’t even remember him, really.”
“Of course you don’t,” says Kaitlin. “You only care about yourself! You just make out with whoever the fuck you want!”
“But weren’t you broken up?” I say, scrunching up my nose. I am trying so damn hard to remember. Kaitlin in those days. This random boy. One mediocre drunken kiss. One random night. Eons ago. And now this?
All I can come up with is my own heartbreak from that time. It obscures everything else. An encompassing fog through which I can only catch glimpses of objects. My high school boyfriend had recently cheated on me and then surprised me by dumping me instead of groveling when I found out and confronted him. He was sorry, he said, but he was out (though we would both come back for more punishment later). There was pressure from his friends; there were a lot of pretty girls who liked him. In his defense, he was essentially a child. But he left me desperate. And I went looking for absolution in flirtations with other boys in baggy jeans and backward baseball hats. Other boys who acted more grateful to have me around.
God, I feel old.
“Technically, yes!” Kaitlin is saying, her pom-pom bouncing as she talks. “But we only broke up the day before! And you were supposed to be my friend, even if you dumped me. And, I swear, everything has been shit from then on.”
“You blame that incident for ruining your whole life?” I say, evenas I silently recognize my own lingering abrasions. I’m not judging her for holding on to it. I’m legitimately trying to understand. “Like, this is why you hate me enough to punish my kids?”
She crosses her arms. “It was love. And, because of you, it was unfinished business.”
Love. I turn to Ethan. Lower my voice. It is all starting to crystalize before my eyes. “And that’s the man she cheated on you with? Likerecently?”
He nods. Lips tight.
“Like she found him on Facebook or something?”
He nods again.Jesus.This is next level.
“Did you know she hated me this much?”
“Notthismuch,” he says, destroyed. “She kind of hates everyone.”
“I definitely hate you!” Kaitlin says to him.
I look at Red Vest. Green Vest. Lisa. They all nod like this is true. Why am I on aReal Housewivesepisode?
