1999:
"I don't get it, Nick, she's so -dumb-. What do you see in her?"
"She's just fragile. I want to protect her."
I suck in my cheeks and try to wilt, willing myself to look fragile. Men have called me many things before, some of them even flattering, but fragile has never been one of them. Nick is one of my best friends and I'm not supposed to want desperately to kiss him, but I do. I won't get to, evidently, because I'm not fragile enough.
"Fragile. What does that -mean-? I could be fragile."
"No you couldn't. I mean, you're too tough."
"Tough?"
"Yeah, tough. Like a flower wearing a leather jacket."
Garrett, sitting next to us and silent up until now, decides to chime in. "Like a flower wearing a leather jacket and driving a bulldozer."
Several years later, I made friends with a guy named Ted who would, during conversation, insert the word "rajeele." Finally, unable to figure out what he could be saying, I asked him straight out. "It's 'fragile' without the 'f', kiddo."
Seems as though I can't escape that word.
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