this,â Abby says.
âDonât we have until the end of Christmas break?â Martin asks.
âYeah, well. Taylor has everything memorized already.â
Abby and Martin both have huge parts in the play, but Taylor is the lead. As in, the play is Oliver! and Taylor plays Oliver.
âBut Taylor has a photographic memory,â Martin says, âallegedly.â
Abby smiles a little bit.
âAnd a very fast metabolism,â I add.
âAnd a natural tan,â says Martin. âShe never goes out in the sun. She was just born tan.â
âYeah, Taylor and her tan,â says Abby. âIâm so jealous.â Martin and I both burst out laughing, because Abby definitely wins for melanin.
âSo would it be weird if I ordered another waffle?â asks Martin.
âIt would be weird if you didnât,â I say.
I donât really understand it. I almost think heâs growing on me.
14
FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Dec 6 at 6:19 PM
SUBJECT: Coming Out Thing
Did you do it, did you do it, did you do it?
âJacques
FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Dec 6 at 10:21 PM
SUBJECT: Re: Coming Out Thing
Okay. I didnât exactly do it.
I got there, and my dad had everything set up for Hotel Hanukkah: the menorah, presents wrapped and lined up on the nightstand, and a plate of latkes and two glasses of chocolate milk (my dad has to have chocolate milk with all fried stuff). Anyway, it looked like he put a lot of effort into it, so that was kind of nice. My stomach was churning, because I was really planning on telling him. But I didnât want to do it straight out of the gate, so I figured Iâd wait until we finished opening presents.
So, you know how you hear stories about people coming out to their parents, and the parents say they already knew somehow? Yeah, my dad isnât going to say that. Iâm officially certain that he has no idea Iâm gay, because you will not believe what book he picked out to give me. History of My Life by Casanova (or, as you would say, by âfreakingâ Casanova).
Looking back, there was probably a perfect opportunity hiding in there somewhere. Maybe I should have asked him to exchange it for Oscar Wilde. I donât know, Jacques. I guess it kind of stopped me in my tracks. But now Iâm thinking it might be a blessing in disguise, because in a weird way, I think it would have hurt my momâs feelings if I told my dad first. It can be a littlecomplicated with divorced parents. This whole thing is really overwhelming.
Anyway, my new plan is Iâm going to tell my mom first. Not tomorrow, because tomorrow is Sunday, and I just think it would be better if I donât do it right after church.
Why is it so much easier talking about this stuff with you?
âBlue
FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Dec 7 at 4:46 PM
SUBJECT: Re: Coming Out Thing
Blue,
I canât believe your dad got you a book by freaking Casanova. Just when you think your parents couldnât be more clueless, right? No wonder you couldnât tell him then. Iâm sorry, Blue. I know you were kind of excited to do it. Or maybe you were just nauseated, in which case Iâm sorry you got nauseated over nothing. I canât even wrap my mind around the politics of coming out to divorced parents. I was basically planning to sit my parents down on the couch at some point and get it over with in one go. But you really canât do that, can you? Itmakes my heart hurt for you, Blue. I just wish you didnât have to deal with that extra layer of awfulness.
As for why itâs easier to talk to me about this stuffâmaybe itâs because Iâm so cute and grammatical? And do you really think Iâm grammatical? Because Mr. Wise says I have a thing about sentence fragments.
âJacques
FROM:
âDonât we have until the end of Christmas break?â Martin asks.
âYeah, well. Taylor has everything memorized already.â
Abby and Martin both have huge parts in the play, but Taylor is the lead. As in, the play is Oliver! and Taylor plays Oliver.
âBut Taylor has a photographic memory,â Martin says, âallegedly.â
Abby smiles a little bit.
âAnd a very fast metabolism,â I add.
âAnd a natural tan,â says Martin. âShe never goes out in the sun. She was just born tan.â
âYeah, Taylor and her tan,â says Abby. âIâm so jealous.â Martin and I both burst out laughing, because Abby definitely wins for melanin.
âSo would it be weird if I ordered another waffle?â asks Martin.
âIt would be weird if you didnât,â I say.
I donât really understand it. I almost think heâs growing on me.
14
FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Dec 6 at 6:19 PM
SUBJECT: Coming Out Thing
Did you do it, did you do it, did you do it?
âJacques
FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Dec 6 at 10:21 PM
SUBJECT: Re: Coming Out Thing
Okay. I didnât exactly do it.
I got there, and my dad had everything set up for Hotel Hanukkah: the menorah, presents wrapped and lined up on the nightstand, and a plate of latkes and two glasses of chocolate milk (my dad has to have chocolate milk with all fried stuff). Anyway, it looked like he put a lot of effort into it, so that was kind of nice. My stomach was churning, because I was really planning on telling him. But I didnât want to do it straight out of the gate, so I figured Iâd wait until we finished opening presents.
So, you know how you hear stories about people coming out to their parents, and the parents say they already knew somehow? Yeah, my dad isnât going to say that. Iâm officially certain that he has no idea Iâm gay, because you will not believe what book he picked out to give me. History of My Life by Casanova (or, as you would say, by âfreakingâ Casanova).
Looking back, there was probably a perfect opportunity hiding in there somewhere. Maybe I should have asked him to exchange it for Oscar Wilde. I donât know, Jacques. I guess it kind of stopped me in my tracks. But now Iâm thinking it might be a blessing in disguise, because in a weird way, I think it would have hurt my momâs feelings if I told my dad first. It can be a littlecomplicated with divorced parents. This whole thing is really overwhelming.
Anyway, my new plan is Iâm going to tell my mom first. Not tomorrow, because tomorrow is Sunday, and I just think it would be better if I donât do it right after church.
Why is it so much easier talking about this stuff with you?
âBlue
FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]
DATE: Dec 7 at 4:46 PM
SUBJECT: Re: Coming Out Thing
Blue,
I canât believe your dad got you a book by freaking Casanova. Just when you think your parents couldnât be more clueless, right? No wonder you couldnât tell him then. Iâm sorry, Blue. I know you were kind of excited to do it. Or maybe you were just nauseated, in which case Iâm sorry you got nauseated over nothing. I canât even wrap my mind around the politics of coming out to divorced parents. I was basically planning to sit my parents down on the couch at some point and get it over with in one go. But you really canât do that, can you? Itmakes my heart hurt for you, Blue. I just wish you didnât have to deal with that extra layer of awfulness.
As for why itâs easier to talk to me about this stuffâmaybe itâs because Iâm so cute and grammatical? And do you really think Iâm grammatical? Because Mr. Wise says I have a thing about sentence fragments.
âJacques
FROM:
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