"Jesse wants to have us over for dinner," I said to Bertie. When he called, I wanted to confirm his invitation right away. We wanted to return to school with our friends, instead of being home with only each other's company, since Mom and Dad worked as much as always, despite our temporary return. After years of living a pattern, I'd learned, but as I spent more time at school, that pattern which seemed natural to me before felt foreign and upsetting. Entering another family's world - even for a night - would benefit us both. I held back, though, out of respect for my brother. He might have plans (doubtful) and he'd appreciate my courtesy regardless. When I told him about it, however, he scowled.
"He just wants to talk about what happened with Dane! He thinks I'm gay, like everybody else! You can go by yourself! I don't feel up to that conversation again!" He jumped up from the couch and stormed off to his room, slamming the door behind him (and probably locking it, too). I played with the idea of calling Dr. Sanchez, but decided once Bertie learned of that, it'd make him even angrier...and he was the only person I had at home, besides a few peripheral high-school friends.
"I'll have a great time without you!" I shouted. The angry outburst renewed me, but when I ended up relaying the scene to Jesse on the phone, I couldn't keep the tremors out of my voice.
"So what I have a bit of an agenda? It's important. If that happened to one of my kids, I'd talk to them about it. I know he hasn't discussed it with your father - and doubt he's spoken about it more than he's had to since it happened. Considering....I bet Bertie hasn't been physically intimate with anyone since...and obviously what I went through is a different world entirely, but... a man's touch is different. A man's kiss is different. Unexpected same-sex encounters can bring on all kinds of confusing feelings, especially for committed heterosexuals. He needs to talk it out with someone without fear of judgement...he's seeing Es, isn't he?" I wondered why Jesse thought he had to ask. I remembered him coming by the house during the aftermath and sitting down with Mom and Dad in their shared home office. I remembered overhearing him implore them to take his advice - although I'd come by too late and missed out on his recommendation.
"Does Bertie know you orchestrated that?"
"They would have picked him anyway. He's the best faith-based adolescent psychiatrist in the area...maybe even in the state, but I'm biased. I just persuaded them a little. Tell him to come, Ellie. Promise him I won't make the Karaoke Night scandal dinner-table conversation." I promised I would, and hung up. When I went to Bertie and relayed the message, his flaming ire had cooled to ashes, and he agreed to accompany me after all.
Aware that 'Dite would critique my outfit - mentally, at least, if not to my face; she couldn't help it as a fashion model's daughter - I took care when dressing that night.
"Does Kenny Beaumont know you're taken?" Bertie said after I'd finished my hair and screwed my grandmother's heirloom opal earrings into my ears.
"Do you think I need more makeup?" I blurted. Bertie gave me an odd glance. Then he scooped me up in his arms and kissed my forehead. Knowing the reason for his good mood made me enjoy the spontaneous affection even more, and I smiled the whole way to the Beaumonts'.
Standing at their front door, Bertie buzzed the doorbell longer than necessary. When Lavender opened the door, he bounded forward and said, with exaggerated enthusiasm,
"HELLO! WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE RELIGIONS? I HAVE A FREE BOOK WRITTEN BY JESUS!"
Lavender laughed, in on the joke. (She knew too many people who would never pass up the opportunity to make a musical reference.) Barefoot in a black sheath and simple-but-expensive silver jewelry, she looked photo-ready, as per usual, but much more relaxed than her typical cool veneer. I knew her agent and publicist encouraged her to play up the "icy blonde" persona when she modeled - a contributing factor in her receiving the lead in the Harley Quinn solo movie - but she just emphasized a part of her personality when doing so. Here, at home, she seemed much warmer.
YOU ARE READING
Ring by Spring
Espiritual(The third and final book in the Karissa trilogy). When a chain of events cause Max McCutcheon and Ellie Maguire to meet, neither one of them believes their relationship will end in marriage - even when they've already fallen hard. But God has a pla...
