Page 64 of The Stars in the Sky
Ice Cream
"DON'T YOU MISS BACON and eggs?”
It was Saturday morning. We had both woken up feeling the night before, but Gatorade and Advil had fixed it. We’d shuffled into the chow hall in our sweats. Cookie had given Will a spinach and egg casserole for breakfast, while I'd retrieved my cereal and soy milk from my stash and poured myself a bowl. We had sat together in the middle of the room and eaten with the wranglers and ranch hands. After they took off to check on the horses, Will started asking me questions.
"Not really," I answered. "I have more of a sweet tooth. The one food I really miss is ice cream, but there are some good vegan ice cream brands out there, so I make do."
He rolled his eyes and then gestured at my bowl with the fork in his hand. "How long have you been a vegan?"
"Three years. Before that, I was vegetarian. I haven't had meat since I was sixteen."
He just stared at me and shook his head. "You're missing out."
"I'm not going to kill any animals, Will."
"You don't kill a cow to eat ice cream." He bit a piece of bacon.
"True. But I think that we raise animals in inhumane conditions and I'm not going to support the mistreatment of any animals. I don't support all of the growth hormones and antibiotics that are force fed to them. And then there are all of the resources that are required to produce the cattle—all of the land and processing and fossil fuels that are—"
"Inhumane conditions," he repeated, interrupting me.
"Yes. I saw this PETA video—"
"Fucking PETA. PETA's never been to my ranch. Have you seen our cattle?"
Here we go again with the arguing. Round one million.
"Well, clearlyyoudon't have inhumane conditions—" I started, but he interrupted.
"I don't use growth hormones either."
"It's just something I believe in," I said, defensively. "It matters to me. I'm not going to change it."
Will looked over at my rice milk box, disgusted. "What you eat—it's not even food. It's—I don't know what that is that you eat. Why don't you just eat a normal meal like everyone else?"
"Because I don't want to."
An expression came over his face, impish and adorable. "Would you do it on a dare? What if I took you to a fancy, organic, no-growth-hormone ice cream place. The good shit. Would you eat it?"
I took a deep breath. Ice cream really was the thing that I missed the most about being a vegan. The other stuff, no. I didn't need it. "Are you asking me if I’d compromise a belief for you? I mean, that's what you're asking me, right? Would I change something about me if you dared me?"
"Suppose so, yeah."
Raising an eyebrow, I scolded him. "That sounds an awful lot like a game, Will Thrash. You accused me of playing games, but now you're the one doing it."
He set down his fork. "I need more coffee before I can argue with you," he muttered.
"No you don't." I let out a sigh. "Okay."
He did a double-take. "Okay, what?"
"Okay, I'll do it if you do it too."
"Meaning?"
"I'll go eat ice cream—"
"—compromising your beliefs," he said, now teasing me.
