Page 8 of The Pass
Me: Noted. Now help me, please.
Tara: Send me a picture, full-length.
Me: Calling you so this is less painful.
I pressthe button to FaceTime her and prop up my phone on my desk. Stepping back so she can see my entire outfit, I feel a little ridiculous when her face appears on the screen.
“Where are you?” I ask by way of greeting. It’s noisy and people are walking around behind her.
“I’m at the lake house for the weekend.”
“Oh, nice. Did you take the boat out?”
“Focus, brother.”
“Right.” I hold my arms out from my sides. “Well?”
Her lip curls up and she tilts her head side to side. “It’s okay.”
My shoulders slump and I groan.
“I’m sorry, T, but it’s so boring. The white T-shirt is played out.”
“It’s classic,” I argue.
“Corinne,” Tara calls. “Tell Tanner his outfit sucks.”
My sister’s long-time friend, Corinne, appears next to her. “Hey Tanner.”
“Hey, Corinne. Help a guy out? I look okay, right?” Again, I hold my arms out. Corinne always takes my side. Ganging up on my sister is our favorite pastime. But the look on her face as she scrutinizes my outfit is not encouraging.
“It’s not bad.” She smiles hesitantly.
“Great, I was hoping she’d take one look at me and say, ‘Eh, not bad’.”
Tara and Corinne roll their eyes at me in perfect synchronization.
I tip my head back and stare up at the boring white ceiling. Fuck,I’ma boring white ceiling.
“Can you two help me or what? I have five minutes before I have to leave to pick her up.”
“God, he’s such a drama queen,” my sister says to her friend who nods in agreement. “Picking her up is a good move though, props for that.”
I smile tightly. No reason to tell them I wasn’t actually the one who decided that part.
“Do you have anything that isn’t black, white, or gray?” Corinne asks.
I go to my closet and pull out the first three shirts that meet that criteria and bring them closer for their inspection.
“Oooh,” they say in unison and then turn to one another.
That sounded promising. I glance at the shirts and hold out the navy blue one. “This one?”
Their heads shake side to side and at the same time they say, “Pink!”
* * *
“I love your shirt.”It’s the first thing out of Sydney’s mouth when she climbs into the passenger seat of my car.
