SYMMETRY ➽ D. HALE [1]

28 ; the talk

28 ➽ THE TALK

Elise sat on the living room couch, huddled in a mass of blankets, an empty bowl of popcorn on the table and a fresh one in her hands. Gilmore Girls played loudly on the TV. Footsteps alerted her so someone else's presence, and she turned to see Melisa McCall entering the room. Upon seeing her daughter, Melissa raised her eyebrows, walking over to her and taking a seat on the couch.

"What's his name?"

"What?" Elise asked, unsure of her mothers meaning. Melissa leaned forward and plucked the remote from her daughter, muting the TV. "Oh, come on! Rory finally-"

"Elise, you watch Gilmore Girls and eat overwhelming amounts of popcorn on one occasion. Do you know what that occasion is?"

"I didn't eat that much popcorn!" Elise protested, though her words were barely audible due to the handful of popcorn she'd stuffed into her mouth only seconds before her mother had entered the room.

"Elise, there are kernels in your hair," Melissa pointed out before reaching and plucking the mentioned piece of popcorn from her daughter's brown waves. "As I was saying... what's his name?"

"Who's name?!"

"The boy's name, dummy!" Melissa laughed. "You only camp out with popcorn and Gilmore Girls when you don't know what to do about a boy."

"Says who?"

"Says your mother. I've known you for eighteen years, Elise. You can't hide anything from me, anymore. It's my superpower."

"There's no boy," Elise insisted, though the lie sounded poorly crafted even to her.

"Is there a girl? Because if so I want you to know that I have absolutely no problem with-"

"Mom!" Elise exclaimed, playfully shoving her mother away.

"Fine!" Melissa laughed. "But Elise, you know you can tell me anything, right? I'm your mom. It's my job to be there for you."

Elise sighed and popped another piece of popcorn into her mouth before offering some to Melissa, who accepted the offering and began snacking on the popcorn as well. "I just- ugh- maybe there is a guy, I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Melissa asked.

Elise pulled the blankets tighter around her and scrunched up her nose. "Well, sometimes I think there is a guy but then he does something stupid and suddenly there isn't a guy. Then he does it all over again and then there is a guy and it's stupid, so no, there isn't a guy." Elise forced the words out, but after being met with confused eyes from her mother, she added something else. "But also maybe there is."

"I see," Melissa nodded, though her eyes gave away just how lost she was.

"See? It's stupid."

"No, Elise, it isn't," Melissa said, handing the bowl of popcorn back to her daughter who gratefully accepted it and began tossing kernels into her mouth.

"What do I do?" Elise asked through a mouthful of popcorn.

"Well, has he ever hurt you doing one of the stupid things you mentioned?" Elise's mother inquired. Elise shook her head. "Do you ever feel like he might?" Again, Elise shook her head. She'd never felt anything like that around Derek- as a matter of fact, she felt the complete opposite. His presence tended to be a comort. "Then, I say go for it."

"But-"

"Honey, listen. Every once in a while, someone will come along and you'll have this special kind of symmetry with them. It's not something that happens to everyone. If you think you've got that symmetry, you don't let go of it," Melissa McCall instructed, looking to her daughter to see that she was watching her with wide eyes.