Something Else Entirely

22 - Maybe she's gay, and dislikes me by default for my lack of vagina?

"Can I come in, Jetty?"

Deep, masculine. Unless Madden sped his way through puberty in the past hour, it can only be Dad knocking on my door hesitantly like I might actually say no.

"Sure, Dad," and the door creaked open.

"You're not dressed?" I assume the naked body wrapped in only a towel from my very recent shower must have given it away.

"I don't know what to wear," I answered simply.

"Clothes would be a good start." Classic, dry, dad-joke humour was ironically a go-to for him when he wants to have a serious conversion.

"What's up, Dad?"

"Oh, I'm just checking in on you, kid. You seemed out of sorts today when you came home with that girl. What was her name again?"

"Logan, Dad, as you well know. Get to your point," I said, instantly regretting how impolite it sounded.

"Jetty . . ." Now he's using Sadie's method of speaking my name sweetly and sympathetically, which can be incredibly coercive on my weak will. "Tell me what's going on, please. You've been sullen and moody since you got home yesterday, which is weird because you actually got to see and hang out with your boys, which I know you were excited about when coming home. Who is the girl and why is she under your skin?"

He sat down in my armchair as I sat down on my queen-sized bed, elbows resting on the towel over my knees and hands clasped in front of me. I explained to him how distant and bipolar Logan seems with me, though I had no idea what I'd done to her to warrant such treatment from a woman I don't even know. Dad couldn't make any more light of it than I could, though he was kind of useless when it came to women who weren't Sadie, Morgan, his mother, or his friends' mothers. I wasn't really going to rely on his judgement or opinion when it came to women. Relationships, yes, because he treats Sadie like a queen and is perfect with her; but not women. Then again, he also claims 'Sadie ruined him for all other women at the age of 15'—which I'm now inclined to believe—so maybe the integrity of that faith in his expertise in relationships is a little biased.

"Maybe you should try to talk to her tonight and find out?" he offered as advice on how best to proceed.

"And say what exactly? 'Hey there, most physically and sexually attractive girl I've ever known, can you please tell me why you don't like me, and how I might go about changing that so we can have a regular conversation where I don't fear for my life, and you can fall for me, and I can fall for you, and we can be happy together until the end of time?'"

Dad guffawed, leaning back in the armchair and folding his arms in front of him. "You certainly have inherited Sadie's way with words, haven't you?" He got up and moved to sit next to me, placing a hand on my bare shoulder, still wet from the droplets falling from my hair. "Jetty, I love you, and you're a much more clever, funny, and kind-hearted man than I'll ever be. If you think honesty is the best way to move forward with this girl, as friends, partners or even acquaintances for the sake of your friendship with By, then you have my complete backing. I'm not going to tell you what you should do, and I don't want you to listen to my beautiful wife when she offers her 2 cents in as soon as I leave considering she's waiting patiently outside your door, listening in," Dad chuckled, as Sadie stepped around my bedroom door, folding her own arms across her chest, looking unimpressed that he just outed her. They do the tag-team parenting thing a lot, so it's not really a surprise. I almost expected it, knowing them. "You're almost a man, Jetty. And you're a good one, no matter how this girl is making you feel right now. I know you can figure this out with her on your own, one way or another."

Sadie moved to sit in his lap, clearly not annoyed enough to not do so, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, looking up at her adoringly. Relationships were kind of a let down when you have these guys as parents because they've always got it so well together, and make it look so effortless.