Ollie in Between: Chapters 35–44

By the time I make it outside to the busy bus line, Dina is making herself larger—shoulders pulled back and spine straight—next to Stella. This would be an effective tactic if I didn’t already know why it gets used.

I trace down the line along the back of my neck while Stella steps away and narrows her eyes. Like a cobra poised to strike, hovering from side to side.

I tried to pretend but that didn’t work, so I’m trying … whatever this is.” I tousle my hair.

I tell her to quiet down. It’s not like someone will call Mimi and tell her about how I wrecked her dress. I’m not delusional.

This is probably how a peacock feels when he’s got his feathers spread wide—every kid in the zoo dying to catch a glimpse of his plumage.

“No. I refuse. The domestication of horses is pretty much the only reason men started wearing pants! It was too hard to ride in tunics and skirts.”

“Come on! It’s so funny. Plus, you’ve never seen Roscel’s closet before, and I bet the act of radical rebellion will totally get you a ticket to closet shop.”

He calls it sex-positive vandalism even though it was actually more like a temper tantrum.

But being yourself doesn’t come without consequences.

You’re probably thinking, wow, Ollie, you’ve really defied nature.

The whole ordeal, from standing up to Callie to staring down Nate’s misogynistic silence—that’s what Roscel calls it anytime someone lets their friends go and say rude, sexist things like that and doesn’t say a thing about it—plays in my head until I’m interrupted by this dreadful possibility that my dad will tell me how he’s known me my whole life and no way am I not a girl.

Lila and Dad are sitting in the living room like statues, hunched over and resting their chins on folded hands with a backgammon board between them. Like some sort of monument to tedious family games.

By the time Callie is out of sight, my phone has accumulated about a hundred messages.

As he lumbers over to read the sign, I can’t picture him being a true predator.

“They’re invincible.”