Listen for the Lie

by Amy Tintera

She was so excited to experience new things, sometimes it was like she wanted to do everything all at once. I wanted her to slow down. I’d tell her she had her whole life. But I guess she knew that wasn’t going to be long.

“I’m not good at small talk.” “I noticed.” “Some people think that means I’m just an asshole.” “Not being good at small talk makes you an asshole?” “Apparently.

And people hate that quality in a young woman, don’t they? They don’t know what to do with a girl who isn’t looking for their approval. They feel like they have to bring her down a peg.

I’m supposed to take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans just so I can sit in a lecture hall while a bored professor recites everything I just read in the wildly overpriced textbook? No thanks.”

People don’t believe women who fight back. When a man lashes out, people say he’s lost control of his temper or made a terrible mistake. When a woman does it, she’s a psychopath.

“Like I told you, better to be interesting than likable.”

“I don’t need you to lay out every single secret and detail of your existence for me to judge. I know you.”