Such a Fun Age

by Kiley Reid

The idea of Kelley truly having feelings for Emira seemed slightly worse than him using her for his own gain. Just the thought of it put a sharp buzzing sound into her head.

And I definitely used to say things like, ‘That’s so gay.’ And both of those things are so offensive and awful, and now I can’t believe I ever talked like that. So yeah. I really appreciate you telling me, but it would feel weird to make it a thing now when it hasn’t been a problem.”

This was a video about racism that you could watch without seeing any blood or ruining the rest of your day.

As Zara and Emira quietly jumped up and down, Emira suddenly realized that there would be a day, probably quite soon, when Briar would no longer remember her.

Emira thought about carefully pointing out that the things Mrs. Chamberlain seemed to care about most were whom Emira was dating, or what her favorite cocktail was, or what she was up to on a Friday night. But what was the point of having one more incident of trying to prove a point in the proximity of a three-year-old child who Emira more than liked.

Emira understood that if Mrs. Chamberlain had a video of herself being mistreated, she’d want someone to release it for her too. There was no way of convincing Mrs. Chamberlain that what she had done had actually not been for Emira; however, this was a chance, Emira’s last one, to suggest that Mrs. Chamberlain do something for someone else.