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RECENT INCIDENTS IN MY LOVE LIFE #4

by Lucy Baker

It is my friend Danielle's little sister's 15th birthday party. I am helping to chaperone. Danielle and I are sitting in the kitchen drinking mugs of hot tea, trying at once to fade into the background and to keep a watchful eye.

It is a boy/girl party with pizza, soda, and ice cream cake. Blink 182 is playing on the stereo. Every few minutes, the apartment intercom buzzes and another group of teenagers step off the elevator and through the front door. The popular girls strut as if they are on a runway. The others shuffle in their wake.

The boys saunter and swagger. Their hands are stuffed into the pockets of their baggy jeans. There is one, Justin, who is clearly the leader of the pack. He has dimples and has brought his guitar. My mother would say he is a charmer.

Weeks later Danielle and I meet up for a drink. "Justin asked my sister about you," she tells me. "He said you were hot."

My first thought is I missed my chance. Then, by about ten years.

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