Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian Page A

about.
    Me and DeKalb don’t say anything. Maybe it’s weird that she’s talking around us and none of us have asked her name. Or maybe because her boobs are unreasonable. I feel like they are everywhere. She also is kind of touchy with Roy, but he doesn’t seem like he’s that into her.
    The whole way to my dad’s, Angus is flipping through music, and he and Roy are debating that, with DeKalb popping in from the backseat to disagree or agree. I’m tired but in the best way. It’s the same way after a shift of work. Just bone-ass tired. Worn. All my muscles jangly. I guess my feet don’t hurt now, like they usually do after a shift at Time to Eat, but the rest of me is amped up and lazy, both at once. Maybe that’s why I say, “Sure” when Angus suggests we all go out to his house and jam a little.
    â€œUnless Tom’s back,” Roy says. Which is kind of buzz killing but true.
    So when we pull up to my house, it’s the worst-case scenario, really. Brandy, talking to my dad. Fuck.
    Roy’s all who’s that , and DeKalb’s like, what the hell’s the yearbook girl doing here , and then Angus kind of raises his eyebrows at me like he knows something’s up.
    â€œHi,” Brandy says to me. “Rory threw up so Mr. Vance came home from work early.”
    â€œThey pay you extra for sick duty?” My dad. Hilarious. Brandy laughs, though.
    â€œNothing worse than a yakking kid,” DeKalb says. “My little sister’s always barfing when she’s nervous. You can’t even predict it. Just gotta get out of the way before she blows.”
    Angus laughs. Roy’s looking at my dad.
    â€œSo, Tom? We gonna rough in that kitchen or what? Because these guys want to go do some band-practice thing.” He gestures toward DeKalb and Angus and me.
    My dad scratches his beard, squints back at the house. He starts making a bunch of excuses— getting late and need to do some wire work and shit like that. Roy nods along, as if he’s agreeing. But I know he’s got to think my dad’s full of bullshit.
    Brandy, meanwhile, has her arms crossed over her chest. I catch her staring at me, looking confused, but she smiles the second she sees me.
    â€œI should get going,” she says.
    â€œWell, but . . .”
    â€œIt’s okay,” she says. “We can hang out later.”
    â€œYou sure?” I don’t know what to say. I feel like the world’s biggest asshole.
    She shakes her head, smiles, and then next thing I know, my dad and Roy have moved closer to the front of the house to talk. DeKalb’s texting on his phone. Angus is looking at Brandyand me in this weird way. Like he’s happy for us. Or he’s hiding something. I can’t stand having them be right here together. Everything I’m thinking feels so close to the surface. Like it’s going to pop out of my chest like an alien baby.
    Brandy bites her lip and then she kind of whispers at me, as she steps backward toward the yard, “Call me later?”
    I nod, trying to look as enthusiastic as you can when nodding, and she dashes back through the alley. I feel like the biggest dick alive. For spending my whole day having fun and not thinking about her. But I can’t imagine telling any of them about what’s going on with me, because it’s too weird. Not just the Angus part; the Brandy part, too. How I think of her as my girlfriend, as being her boyfriend. Like how we have dinner. Dates. Everything’s different and not just because she gave me head. Though that’s the part of it I can’t stop thinking about.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
    HarperCollins Publishers
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SEVEN
    â€œYOU NEVER SAID he was a fucking gay guy, man.”
    DeKalb, in my car later that night, as I’m driving us back to Minneapolis.
    â€œI didn’t think it