Dialogue

“I mean, I tried, but I couldn’t spit it out,” Stephen spilled his words past his lips with a speed and drama that he wished he could have possessed hours earlier. Things were different now, though. He was more comfortable.

“Why not?” Erin wondered. Her brown eyes widened when her friend plopped down beside her and began speaking without preamble. He wasn’t exactly saying what she had anticipated.

            “Because you- I’m like- I’m me!” he whined forlornly and rubbed at his temples as he took a deep breath, thinking that everything he said wasn’t quite right and that it must be a symptom carrying over from the night before when he attempted to talk to his parents with his tongue all tied in a knot. “I can’t just do that. That’s not who I am.”

            “Have you tried being someone that’s, you know, not you?” Erin suggested. She smiled awkwardly at Stephen while staring at him sideways and sipping her hot coffee carefully.

            “That kind of ruins the point of this, don’t you think?” he asked almost accusingly. His grin was smug and assured.

            “Just trying to help,” Erin held her hands up in surrender, “but maybe you should think about using some of this newfound confidence you’ve got with me on your parents. Then we won’t have to have this conversation every morning for another week.”