Page 174 of Defend Me

This wasn’t the kind of place with booths, which sucked. Me, Sen, and Kai sat on one side of the table, making it awkward. I was in front of Brooks, so I moved my foot forward to brush his calf. The corners of his lips pulled up as he took a drink of his water.

I looked at the appetizers on the table. Picking up something wrapped in bacon, I took a tentative bite and immediately regretted it. Brooks was staring at me, trying to hold in his amusement. He casually leaned his elbow on the table and covered his mouth with his fingers as I forced myself to swallow it.

“What is this?” I asked softly.

“Fig.”

“Why’d you let me try it?”

“Because I knew you’d hate it.”

I took a long drink of my mimosa to rid myself of that disgusting memory. Maybe I could run through these and get tipsy so that I could deal with this entire, uncomfortable situation. I definitely wouldn’t be eating anything I wasn’t familiar with.

“What are you studying, Kai?” Ava asked while she added a few pieces of fruit to her plate.

His head cocked and I wondered what was going through his brain. Was I offended she’d asked him first? I mean, yeah. It felt like it was purposeful, a slap to the face, probably because I didn’t like the fancy figs disguised inside of something as amazing as bacon.

“Business administration, ma’am.”

“Interesting. What do you plan to do after school?”

“I’m going to run my dad’s business.”

“How sweet. Construction or…”

Kai offered a smile that was just as underhanded as her comments. “No. It promotes gender diversity in the workforce and encourages young people to explore their dreams. And to be proud of what they choose to do, no matter what it is.”

Brooks’ foot was tapping incessantly against mine. I nudged his leg, but he didn’t look at me.

“And you, Sen?”

“I’m in a welding program.”

“Oh. Interesting. Blue collar work is so important for our society to function, you know.”

Kai looked like he was going to pounce. Her words were condescending- blatantly so. She clearly wasn’t trying to be subtle about her opinions of us.

“I love seeing diversity spread into all areas of our life,” she went on. “I think it’s brave that you want to work in a field that’s still dominated by heterosexual white men. It can’t be easy. As a woman in my field, I know how hard it can be to fight for respect and equal treatment, especially twenty years ago when I first started out. I’m sure most of them will be accepting, but there are always some, you know?”

Did she really just say some shit like that? It was so silent at the table that I started bouncing my leg more aggressively than Brooks had been.

Sen dropped a piece of apple onto his plate and it was loud enough to make me flinch.

“Excuse me,” he said before he got out of his seat and rushed toward the exit. Kai shot Brooks a glare before he followed.

“Fuck,” Brooks muttered. He got to his feet and took off after him.

“What about you?” Ava asked. “What are you studying?”

I didn’t want to answer. I’d rather chase after the others, but I felt frozen to the spot. If I opened my mouth, I might tell her she’s a bitch for daring to comment on the experiences of gay men, especially like that and for the reason she did. That wasn’t advice or support; it was a move- her third by my count.

“Uh, social work,” I managed to get out.

“You want to work with children? Any reason?”

“I had a friend in middle school who was in foster care. She was abused and went through hell with multiple families because she was trans. My brother is trans too and, obviously, I’m gay. People like us are even less safe than others in the system. I want to be a part of trying to make sure that kind of thing doesn’t happen if I can.”

The intense way she listened to me was unnerving, but I didn’t let myself cower under her stare. This was something I was passionate about and she didn’t get to be disrespectful. After a minute, she nodded.

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