desk. "Don't tell me you are like my dad and think this lesbian
thing is just a phase?"
"What?" I snapped my head up. "No, I never
said that. I was just saying that Dustin Hoffman is a great actor
and rocks the silver fox look."
"As long as you aren't trying to swing me in
the direction of team boy, we're good." She sat down on her bed,
folding her legs underneath her. "My dad tried to do that."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"I realized I was more attracted to girls
around freshman year of high school. My dad just thought it was a
phase and grounded me from watching any more reality TV shows, like
somehow that would work."
She ran a hand through her hair, tousling it.
"I actually dated guys all through high school just to please him.
I thought maybe if I forced myself to spend time with people of the
opposite sex, then it would magically cure me of lesbianism. Except
lesbianism isn't some sort of a disease that needs a cure. It's who
I am and if I never met Riley I don't think I'd be as happy as I am
now, or realize that there is nothing wrong with me. I'm just a
girl in love with another girl."
I smiled. Lucy and I were more alike than I
thought. Both of us tried so-called normal relationships, but the
only kind that made us happy were the ones that everyone else saw
as strange. Maybe I was wrong about her and Riley, and now there
was definitely no way I was going to try and force her on a date
with Monte.
***
I got caught up talking about awful date
stories with Lucy and had to run across campus, in heels, to make
it to class on time. I told her all about Brody, leaving out of
course that an evil alien was invading his dreams, and she told me
about some jock she dated who was more into the other guys on his
team than he was into her.
I took my usual seat, glancing at everyone
else in the room. There were two other students in dress clothes.
If I was lucky, I would, hopefully, draw last in order of speeches
and second to last for evaluations. That would give me enough time
to finish my outline and go over my notes.
Professor Johnson passed around two small
Tupperware containers with folded up squares of paper. "Pick from
this box first for your speech order, and this next one will be the
order in which you will evaluate."
By the time the containers got to me there
were only two scraps of paper left, one in each box. I picked the
first one out for my speech. Number three. Okay, I could work with
that. I could still work on my outline between now and then. Then I
reached into the container for the evaluator scrap. Number one. Oh crap .
"Okay, who do I have giving speech number
one?" Professor Johnson clasped her hands together.
A girl on the other side of the room raised
her hand. She looked so poised and put together with her hair in a
tight brown bun, and she wore a dark brown pantsuit. No giant pit
stains on her.
The professor nodded in her direction. "And
who will be evaluating Melanie?"
Weakly, I raised my hand and saw the class
stare in my direction.
"Very good, Alex. Now, let's get
started."
Melanie stood up from her desk and walked to
the front podium. She handed her nicely typed up outline to
Professor Johnson and then stood in front of the class with her
note cards in hand.
Crap, crap, crap . I would have to
evaluate her and my outline was still half filled out in pencil. I
didn't even fully read the directions to see if I actually needed
to type it out or use a pen. I quickly grabbed my workbook from my
bag and flipped to the evaluation portion. There were five
questions that I would somehow have to fill out and put my answers
into a two-minute speech to evaluate Melanie's speech. Okay, I
could do it. I could definitely do it. Maybe…
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that
stereotypes are prominent in modern literature," Melanie
proclaimed. Dang she had a good opening, quoting Jane Austen and
all.
There was nothing bad I could say about her
speech. I trudged to the front of the
thing is just a phase?"
"What?" I snapped my head up. "No, I never
said that. I was just saying that Dustin Hoffman is a great actor
and rocks the silver fox look."
"As long as you aren't trying to swing me in
the direction of team boy, we're good." She sat down on her bed,
folding her legs underneath her. "My dad tried to do that."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"I realized I was more attracted to girls
around freshman year of high school. My dad just thought it was a
phase and grounded me from watching any more reality TV shows, like
somehow that would work."
She ran a hand through her hair, tousling it.
"I actually dated guys all through high school just to please him.
I thought maybe if I forced myself to spend time with people of the
opposite sex, then it would magically cure me of lesbianism. Except
lesbianism isn't some sort of a disease that needs a cure. It's who
I am and if I never met Riley I don't think I'd be as happy as I am
now, or realize that there is nothing wrong with me. I'm just a
girl in love with another girl."
I smiled. Lucy and I were more alike than I
thought. Both of us tried so-called normal relationships, but the
only kind that made us happy were the ones that everyone else saw
as strange. Maybe I was wrong about her and Riley, and now there
was definitely no way I was going to try and force her on a date
with Monte.
***
I got caught up talking about awful date
stories with Lucy and had to run across campus, in heels, to make
it to class on time. I told her all about Brody, leaving out of
course that an evil alien was invading his dreams, and she told me
about some jock she dated who was more into the other guys on his
team than he was into her.
I took my usual seat, glancing at everyone
else in the room. There were two other students in dress clothes.
If I was lucky, I would, hopefully, draw last in order of speeches
and second to last for evaluations. That would give me enough time
to finish my outline and go over my notes.
Professor Johnson passed around two small
Tupperware containers with folded up squares of paper. "Pick from
this box first for your speech order, and this next one will be the
order in which you will evaluate."
By the time the containers got to me there
were only two scraps of paper left, one in each box. I picked the
first one out for my speech. Number three. Okay, I could work with
that. I could still work on my outline between now and then. Then I
reached into the container for the evaluator scrap. Number one. Oh crap .
"Okay, who do I have giving speech number
one?" Professor Johnson clasped her hands together.
A girl on the other side of the room raised
her hand. She looked so poised and put together with her hair in a
tight brown bun, and she wore a dark brown pantsuit. No giant pit
stains on her.
The professor nodded in her direction. "And
who will be evaluating Melanie?"
Weakly, I raised my hand and saw the class
stare in my direction.
"Very good, Alex. Now, let's get
started."
Melanie stood up from her desk and walked to
the front podium. She handed her nicely typed up outline to
Professor Johnson and then stood in front of the class with her
note cards in hand.
Crap, crap, crap . I would have to
evaluate her and my outline was still half filled out in pencil. I
didn't even fully read the directions to see if I actually needed
to type it out or use a pen. I quickly grabbed my workbook from my
bag and flipped to the evaluation portion. There were five
questions that I would somehow have to fill out and put my answers
into a two-minute speech to evaluate Melanie's speech. Okay, I
could do it. I could definitely do it. Maybe…
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that
stereotypes are prominent in modern literature," Melanie
proclaimed. Dang she had a good opening, quoting Jane Austen and
all.
There was nothing bad I could say about her
speech. I trudged to the front of the
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