#GirlsShitToo

A Deliciously Bubble-mint Moment with Valerie

The next morning, I continued to roll my eyes because it was the winter sports Pep Rally, and tons of students were wearing red and silver, but not me, who stuck to black. Valerie wore her dance squad uniform. I didn't understand how the dance squad girls never got in trouble for dress code violations when they wore those things, because the skirts definitely hung shorter than two inches above the knee, but pep rally days gave the whole school the chance to check out their legs. I wasn't going to complain. Valerie had long legs, and her calf muscles impressed. Her skin always looked so shaved and lotioned and reflective...I didn't mind looking at her legs. I wouldn't have minded touching her legs.

I felt happy we had chemistry, because that meant I got to spend some time sitting across from her. I couldn't see her legs from my seat, but I still got to talk to her, and talking could sometimes be better, because I could see her and hear her and smell her gum. At the table I said, "Valerie, I'm surprised you didn't retweet about how little girls are made into the sorts of pediatricians we need, especially since your mom's a pediatrician."

Valerie looked into little compact mirror as she responded to me, as though she could hardly be bothered. "And she's an amazing pediatrician. But that doesn't mean I want to spread ideas that girls are only suited for careers involving the nurturing of small children."

"So, does this mean you're on my side?"

She put her mirror back into her purse. "I'm not taking sides. I'm way above it—I have other things on my mind. I'm waiting for my acceptance letters into aerospace engineering programs. It isn't about what little girls are made into, Dallas. We can break free from that sort of thinking if we want."

"I disagree. I don't think everyone can break free. There's something different about you, Valerie."

"What do you mean?" She looked confused, probably wondering if I was complimenting or insulting her.

"Why did you decide to be an engineer?"

"Because my parents told me that I could do anything I put my mind to?" She had an annoyed tone, like she thought it didn't matter.

"See? You had guidance, and you were given the confidence that you could do it. Your dad probably gets you all interested in engineering stuff, too. He sounds like one of those dads who would've bought you a shirt that said 'Future Engineer' even if it was in the boys' section. Not all little girls have someone to guide them from believing they don't drool or shit and are made of sugar and spice and are only fit to be teachers. You did."

Valerie shook her head, but laughed at the same time. "Why does every discussion with you have to involve shitting?"

"But you totally agree! You know that some dads don't treat their daughters the way your dad treats you. Some dads will only treat their sons that way."

"Maybe you're right. But the world is changing."

"And I'm helping it change a little faster."

"Okay. Maybe you are. Maybe both of you are." Then she leaned in toward me and whispered, with deliciously bubble-mint breath, "Anyways, I hope you give a good response to Adree. Her last vlog kind of made me want to throw up."

"Me too, Valerie. Me too."