Page 89 of True Blue

“What? No, I thought you were supposed to⁠—”

“Theodore, are you even listening to me?” Mom snaps from behind me.

“Oh, Dawn, you’re not wearing that, are you?”

“No, I need to change, but I need to get the chicken marinating⁠—”

“Are you going to wear that lavender dress? Remember that one makes you look plump⁠—”

“No, I was going to wear the mint green⁠—”

“That one washes you out.”

“I told you to grab the cups⁠—”

“And I was too busy grabbing the cake!”

“Dawn, grab me a beer!”

“Mom, bring me a bowl of chips!”

“Hurry up, the game is about to start!”

“That’s alright,” Lily grins, sidling up to me with a bright beaming smile. “I’m sure Teddy and I could run out to the store.”

Their shrill, meaningless chatter, the way they jab and slice at each other between the lines, twists my insides.

Then Lily touches my arm like she has the fucking right to.

Because I gave her the idea that she has the right to, by not setting firmer boundaries and by putting everyone in this room’s feelings above the one I should have protected from the start.

Because I went along, like a pathetic dog on a leash, with them to keep the peace.

“A friend to all is a friend to none, Teddy.”

Pop said that once. I never understood what it really meant until now. I told Indie, without words, that everyone else mattered first.

No wonder she ran—who would stay in this rotting circus?

I can’t help. I laugh at these clowns, putting on a show for each other. To impress each other. It’s all so fucking ridiculous.

The sound catches everyone’s attention, all eyes turning to me.

And under their heavy, judgmental gazes, I lose it.

I slam the cake down on the floor.

Hard.

The box explodes, the cake splatters, pink and purple frosting smearing across the expensive hardwood floor my Mom agonized over. Some of it even ended up on the walls, the cream carpet runner, and Lily’s legs, since she was in the splash zone.

All conversation abruptly stops.

Mom shrieks. “Theodore James⁠—”

“Mom,” I cut her off, my voice loud and booming in this space. “For once—shut. The. Fuck. Up.”

Mom blinks, and her mouth snaps shut. My aunts, Lily, and Colleen gape at me.