There’s literally nothing you can say that would disappoint me,she sent, thinking that he’d disagree. At the very least, she imagined him obfuscating for a little longer.
And then his next message popped up, longer than any he’d previously sent.
My dad was Guatemalan—came to America to practice medicine. My mom was a Jewish teacher from Long Island. Both of them were obsessed with fitting in with all the white families in our little suburb, so I pretty much grew up in the most sickening American cliché you could possibly imagine.
Think I’m going to need some examples of the sickening.
I had to wear a blazer to the school they sent me to.
Oh, god. I think I’m already nauseous.
My packed lunch was always bologna.
This is starting to sound like a harrowing nightmare.
We had a white picket fence and lawn sprinklers we didn’t need.
Dear god, not lawn sprinklers.
Our car had wood paneling on the sides.
Okay,1you’re just making this up based on movies from the eighties now, right?
She got another emoji for that. But the following message was a denial.
And one that told her he knew exactly what she was thinking of.
I wish I was. We even had a breakfast island with pots and pans hanging over it.
Well, at least I now know how you became such a cool, sexy badass. You rebelled.
I wish I could say I did. But truthfully? I was always like this.
Then you admit that you’re a cool, sexy badass.
I admit that I’m cold and guarded, and always was.
Is that why you joined whatever shady government agency you worked for?
It was the reason I was recruited.
That made her pause. Partly because she hadn’t expected him to answer at all, but mostly because she desperately wanted to ask more. She wanted to type a thousand questions, but before she could do it he cut in.
We should talk about something else.
Sure. Tell me what you want to talk about.
Anything you like.
How about how crazy it is that you’ll flirt with me via text but not in real life.
I would hardly call what we’re doing here flirting.
Are you sure about that? Because all the signs are there.
Talking about a dull suburban childhood really doesn’t seem like a sign.
He had a point there. Or, at least, enough of one that she almost accepted it.
