“There I sat,” Milo said theatrically, “my heart pounding in my chest just knowing that it could be my last meal in the house.”
“Did he think we were moving out of Blissville because he was gay?” my dad asked my mom.
“Dennis, I think he’s trying to imply that he worried we would toss him out on the street because he liked to kiss boys.”
“Oh,” my father replied then looked at Milo. “Dude, there was glitter in your afterbirth. We knew from day one that you would be fabulous. There was never a chance that we would toss you out.”
“Good to know, Father, but that doesn’t detract from how Maegan stole the show.”
“I did not,” I said between loud guffaws of laughter. “You’re insane.”
“Shall we recap what happened? Mom and Dad were sitting at the dinner table staring at me with their mouths hanging open after I poured my heart and soul into my big announcement. You—”
“Wait a minute! They couldn’t understand a word you were saying because you were sobbing the whole time. I just clarified things for you.”
“I had no idea what you said,” Dad agreed. “I could only make out every fourth word you said and those weren’t real clear.”
“It was an emotional night for me,” Milo declared defensively.
“I was too busy staring at the herbs stuck in your braces,” Mom confessed. “Like your father said, we already knew that you were into boys. I knew it was no coincidence that your GI Joes and Maegan’s Ken dolls shared a bed in Barbie’s playhouse.”
“Do you think Barbie knew?” my father asked.
“How could she not? The evidence was right in front of her.”
“I always thought that Barbie was too self-absorbed,” Dad replied. “How much time could she spend paying attention to her man if she was always putting on lipstick? No one looks that plastic all the time.”
“Sheisplastic, love. Looking pretty and being aware of the people around you aren’t mutually exclusive. There’s nothing wrong with putting your best foot forward.”
“Says the former beauty queen,” Milo muttered under his breath.
My mom narrowed her eyes at my brother, letting him know that she caught his little remark. “A woman can put on lipstick and pay attention to her family. I wear lipstick and… wait! Are you saying that I’m self-absorbed or don’t have my priorities straight?” she asked my father.
He stared at her through wide eyes, his mouth opening and shutting as he tried to find the right words to say. “I would never—”
“Can wepleaseget back to how Maegan ruined my coming out?” Milo asked with a pout.
“Sure,” Dad said, sounding relieved to shift the spotlight on someone else.
“We’re very sorry to have interrupted your hallucinations,” Mom added.
“As I was saying,” Milo continued, “I was sitting there with my heart in my throat and Maegan just blurts out that she has an announcement too. She paused for dramatic effect to ensure she had your full attention, whichItaught her, then said ‘I like boys too.’ You guys were like ‘oh, okay’ then started talking about how you hope Maegan and I don’t get crushes on the same boy.”
“It’s still a concern,” my mom said. “We’d hate for you two to fight over the same guy.”
“Our tastes are completely different,” Milo said, sniffing the air snobbishly.
I thought that my heartthrob and his weren’t all that different. Both Andy and Elijah had similar builds and physical appearances, but that’s as far as I could compare since I didn’t know much about Elijah’s personality. Of course, Andy seemed to have changed a lot since he moved back to Blissville, so I couldn’t say that I really knew him anymore either.
“Let’s not forget Maegan’s theatrics our junior year in high school,” Milo continued. The gleam in his eyes told me that he was enjoying himself immensely. “I finally got my first boyfriend and Maegan had to go and get cancer.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “I’m so sorry that my battle with leukemia was a hardship foryou.” What I loved most about my brother was that heneverlooked at me different or changed the way he treated me. Many of the kids at school treated me like a pariah, almost like they worried they would catch it if they breathed the same air as me.
“You just had to show off your perfectly round head and impeccable bone structure when you lost your hair,” Milo teased, but he threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me until my head rested on his shoulder. He wasn’t taking a chance that I mistook his teasing as genuine hurt or criticism.
I hoped my laughter dispelled any doubts. “I’m sorry, I think. That almost sounded like an offhanded compliment.”
“You should be sorry, so don’t you dare get cancer again,” he said haughtily. “You’ve had your fair share of attention, which is why you should’ve letmediscover the severed head in the alleyway.”
