Page 8 of Things I Read About
“All right, so as much as I’m loving this for you on the outside, what’s going on in there?” Janie points to my forehead with a smile.
“Great question.” Kat turns to me.
“Well, I would like to try an experiment this week.”
Janie leans forward. “What kind?”
Kat huffs. “Sounds boring.”
“The social kind.” I sit down in the big wing back chair across from where they are perched on the couch, but pop right back up again. I pace. “You know I read obsessively.” I start. Kat snorts. “Yes, okay, obsessively might be an understatement. Textbooks and romance novels are my entire personality.”
“Interesting combination…” Janie murmurs.
“I know. It’s odd, but also logical, that I have to balance the heavy data I study for school with an escape into fictional worlds. Anyway, I have decided I am done being the side character. The quirky, lovable younger sister type.”
“Superlovable.” Kat says.
Janie elbows her and then cocks her head for me to continue.
“For this week, I am all about main character energy. In the RomComs, it’s the sunny extrovert, theSamanthas of the world.”
“You’re so right.” Kat says, as if realizing this for the first time. Surprising, since she owns almost as much romance novels as I do.
“Or,” I continue, pacing around the sitting area. “In my favorite—the thriller and mafia romances—the heroine is feisty. Sassy, bold, a fighter.”
“Okay?” Janie asks.
“So my mantra for this week is: What would Samantha do?”
Both of them look as if they’re fighting a grimace that wants to overtake their faces.
“Do you just want to get laid, Sal? Because you’re sweet and gorgeous, just go get your flirt on, honey.” Kat's small-town accent makes me smile.
“Yeah,” Janie nods. “What’s the primary objective?”
I look away for a second. I don’t really do casual sex. Or… sex at all, I guess. I wouldn’t mind it, but that’s definitely not my goal. I shake my head. “Getting laid would be an added bonus. I just want to be… free. Bold. Not so…”
“Sheltered,” Janie says.
“Smothered,” Kat grunts.
“Yes! That. Those.”
“All right. Well, if you want to go hog-wild, you came to the right place.” Kat smiles as she stands.
Janie stands too. “Says the very hard-working, responsible, single mom.”
“Responsiblenow,” she corrects. “It was my rebellion that landed me knocked up as a teen mom in the first place.” Kat looks back at me. “We won’t go that wild. Use a condom for Pete’s sake.”St. Peter, substituted as a more polite way of sayingfor Christ’s sake,early 1900s.
“So, a week without being fussed over as the precious Baby Canton. Got it.” Janie steps toward the door. “Can we kick this off with dinner? It’s almost eight. Where should we go?”
“Let’s start downstairs. The food is amazing and it’s a hotspot starting around ten.”
“My bed time.” Janie sighs.
“Not this week, biyatch!” Kat swats her arm. “We’re not going to let you sneak off to bed so you can lay there and think about the ex.”
“That is not main-character-energy, Janie,” I add.
