Page 16 of Lovebug
“Of course! What did you think?”
My cheeks redden.
“I guess I thoughtpeoplewere… um… doing it… with dinosaurs.”
“Bestiality!? You assumed I was writing bestiality books!?”
“I think I did, yeah.”
“Wow, you think I’m a real dirtball, huh?”
“No! No way!” I say apologetically.
“That’s okay. I am a bit of a dirtball. However, I do not condone bestiality. Fictional or otherwise. Even ifyoudo, ya kinky skank!” Calliope winks.
“I don’t condone it! And I’m not a… Gosh! What are you—” I’m getting more flustered by the minute.
“Mabel. I’m just trying to make you laugh.”
“Oh.”
Calliope is quiet a moment. A rarity for sure.
“You seem a little wound up today. Are you not happy about this engagement or…?”
“Of course I’m happy!” I say with so much forced enthusiasm I think I feel something in my neck tweak.
“Alright! Then I’m… happy for you. Geez, I just can’t believe you never told me his name was Bert. I mean, how long have we been friends now?”
“Two months, three weeks, and six days.”
“Whoa.”
Is it weird that I know the exact day I connect with someone and then proceed to keep track? Yup, it’s weird.
“Well—” I try to save face. “That’s only if you don’t count the years we knew each other at Applause Theater and Nature Camp, when you basically ignored the fact that I existed.In that case, it would be… twelve years, two weeks, and… I dunno… three-ish days? Sorry, I don’t remember the exact day we started rehearsals forReally Rosie.”
“That’s… fine,” Calliope says with her eyebrows scrunched. “And I don’t count those years, no. Besides, it wasn’t personal. Didn’t you say I ignored everyone’s existence back then?”
“Pretty much. Anyone who wasn’t a prehistoric creature, that is.”
“Right, so not personal. My point is, that after being friends for two months, three weeks and…”
“Six days…”
“Six days, shouldn’t I knowsomethingabout your newly betrothed? Like—I dunno—his name?”
“It’s not my fault you’ve never asked!”
“Not true. I have asked. It’s notmyfault you only ever refer to him as ‘my boyfriend,’ or that you change the subject every time he comes up in conversation.”
“I don’t change the subject whenever he… You know what? Can we talk about something else?”
“Aha! See!”
She got me there. Caught.
“Fine.” I sigh. “What do you want to know? I... I want to talk about him.”
