Free Reality Girl: Episode One by Jessica Hildreth

Probably came from a home with a bunch of brothers and no sisters, and you’re not happy about it. But, you’re doing your best to portray yourself as a woman, and not a Tomboy. I like the way your shorts are short enough to reveal your entire leg without letting the cheek of your ass hang out. Your hair’s always perfect, but it’s not because you spend a lot of time with it. it’s because that’s just the way it is. The way you lick the salt off the rim of your drink when I’m not looking, but never do it when I am looking? I like that too. And the veggies on the pizza? Yeah, that too.”
    He stood up, then looked me right in the eyes. “Yeah, Lou. I like you.”
    Wow.
    With my mouth agape and my mind wandering, I stared back at him. I was speechless.
    I felt hot.
    The all over kind of hot.
    Like when Benny Wilson asked me to senior prom.
    I reached for my glass of water, hoping a drink would cool me off. I gulped down half the glass, but got little, if any, relief.
    “Oh,” I said in an almost inaudible tone.
    He laughed. “You’re turning red.”
    I wiped my brow. “I do that sometimes.”
    He walked around the edge of the bar, stepped to my side, and leaned over.
    Don’t…
    He brushed my hair to the side, and then pressed his lips against my ear. His warm breath caused me to shiver. “Add that to the list of things I like about you,” he whispered.
    Goosebumps rose the length of my arm. And then, my leg.
    He stood up and walked away.
    You fucker.
    I like you, too.
    In a few minutes, he returned, carrying the pizza. The smell of it brought back memories of my drunken night in the bar, and sleeping at his home. “Is that the same size as the one we ate the other night?”
    He nodded. “Only size we offer.”
    “Do you have root beer?” I asked.
    His eyes lit up. “Oh. Good call. Want one?”
    I nodded.
    “Pizza and root beer,” he said. “Haven’t had that in a long time.”
    I hadn’t either. It reminded me of my childhood. “Me neither.”
    He poured two root beers, sat down, and then we began to eat. After finishing the first slice, I watched him for a moment. I decided, as I watched him eat, that he was truly a nice person.
    “I had three brothers, no sisters, and was raised by my father on a farm right at the Kansas-Nebraska border, on the Kansas side. My mom and dad divorced, and she moved away after she married someone else. We never really saw her after that, but for whatever reason, I didn’t care. My dad was a really good dad. And yeah, I can ride a horse, drive a nail, build a barn, fight – and not like a girl – and cook dinner. Pretty well rounded.” I reached for a piece of pizza. “Do you think you can get me a throw-away phone? A burner?”
    “Planning on murdering the SEAL?” he asked without expression.
    “No! Jesus.”
    He laughed and then took a drink of his root beer.
    As he wiped the crumbs from his beard, I continued. “Part of the deal is that they take our phones. No link to outside but a land-line phone in the kitchen. But if I call you, they’ll record it and everything. I thought we could text back and forth if I could get a phone. It drove me nuts not being able to talk to you since that night.”
    “Yeah, I can get you a phone. They’ve got those cheap fuckers down on the boardwalk.”
    “Perfect.”
    “So, what’s your plan for the next, what? Two weeks?” he asked.
    I nodded. “Fourteen days. I’m just going to play it cool and be nice to him, but that’s it.”
    “Does he know there’s no chance? That it’s over?”
    “Nope.”
    “You should tell him.”
    “I don’t want to.”
    “I doubt you do, but you should. It’s only right. Don’t lead him on.”
    “I don’t like him,” I said. “I don’t care.”
    “You always want to treat others the way you’d like to be treated. So, turn the tables. What if everything between you two was going perfect, and when the time was up, you thought you two might get together afterward? And