Alex stepped closer and I caught a whiff of his woodsy, spicy cologne.
"Besides,” Alex said in a snide voice. “You must be doing something right! Unless I heard wrong, I think there was something about a date…”
“Shut up,” Rebecca said. “Alex, leave her alone!”
“Do you have plans with someone, Molly?” Alex asked, fluttering his lashes like a girl. I had to admit, he had better eyelashes than any girls I’d ever seen. “A date, with a boy from school??
??
“He’s not a boy,” Rebecca thundered angrily. “He’s a man, and he wants to date Molly!”
“Wow, sis, you really need to dial back the lesbo stuff,” Alex said, snickering. “I can practically smell the fish sauce coming out of your panties from here!”
“That’s it!” Rebecca yelled. She grabbed Alex by the arm and dragged him out of the kitchen. Alex didn’t even resist, although I knew he could’ve thrown off his sister’s grip in a second.
“Bye, lovely Molly!” Alex called gaily over his shoulder, shouting to be heard over Rebecca’s angry cries.
I flushed hotly. A mix of anger and something new – something strange and warm and slippery – was building inside of my chest. What was it? Why could Alex always provoke me like that, like I was nothing to him?
It’s because I am nothing to him, I realized sadly. Tears welled up in my eyes and by the time Rebecca had slammed the door and thrown Alex out of our apartment with a loud curse, I was sobbing with my face buried in my hands.
“Oh, no,” Rebecca said. She sank into a chair and put her hand on my shoulder. “Mol, I’m so sorry – look, in the future, this place is an Alex-free zone, okay?”
“It’s not that,” I said, sniffling loudly as I sucked my liquid snot back inside my nose. “It’s just…he’s right, Rebecca. I’m fat, and any guy who would want to date me is obviously some kind of freak!”
“Molly, no! You can’t think like that,” Rebecca said. “Look, you’re going to go out with Dan and have a great time, okay?”
“Okay,” I said sadly. “I’ll try.”
“I’ll kill that asshole if he ever speaks to you again in that same way,” Rebecca said. “Hell, I’m actually just kind of tempted to kill him anyway. Would you mind?”
I sighed. “Don’t bother,” I said. “Maybe he’s right – maybe I should be trying harder to lose weight. Maybe I could join Weight Watchers?”
“Molly, don’t,” Rebecca said in a warning tone. “Don’t do this – you’re better than he is! You know that!”
I sighed, frowning. “I guess,” I mumbled. “Why does it feel so bad?”
“Because he’s a jerk and an asshole,” Rebecca said. “I’ve been putting up with his shit for twenty-two years, and I’m not gonna take it anymore. He’s gonna be sorry for this!”
I nodded in agreement, but secretly, part of me was just wishing to see Alex again.
Chapter Three
Alex
I get it.
I know.
I’m difficult.
That’s just it, though – my whole life has practically been a cakewalk. As soon as I realized that my parents could never say no to me – and believe me, I got that pretty fucking quick – I stopped caring about what I said. I stopped caring about what I did, or how I acted. Knowing I could get away with anything made my life fun…for a while.
But sometime, it all changed. I don’t want to be a cynic, but I think it was somewhere around the end of high school. By the time I was eighteen, I’d been laid hundreds of times with dozens of different girls. Being a popular football player didn’t hurt my case, either. And when I started volunteering with the local fire team…well, basically I always had my dick wet. I never had to work for it. Girls came onto me like gangbusters, each one of them more eager to prove herself than the last. Getting laid was easier than snapping my fingers.
It got old.
Of course, I never told anyone that. I never told anyone how bored I was becoming with my life, how badly I wanted some excitement.