Read Online Adam by Ariel Schrag - Free Book Online Page B

blush, embarrassed that apparently their only excuse for being there was Roxanne.
    â€œI’ll have some whiskey,” said Casey.
    â€œMe too,” said June.
    â€œMe too,” said Adam.
    Casey gave them an annoyed look.
    â€œHey, Casey,” Schuyler shouted to a super-butch lesbian talking with people in the kitchen. “Hook these guys up with some Jack.”
    Adam watched his sister stare at the other Casey, panic, then check her cell phone for no reason. June looked down at her own body as if she wished she’d left it at home.
    â€œHave a seat wherever you can find one,” continued Schuyler, then abruptly turned around. “Bitch, I know you did not take my spot! No one fucks with my
L Word.
”
    Casey and June sat on the floor, leaning up against the couch, and Adam huddled by the ficus tree in the corner. He tried to catch a glimpse of himself in the window reflection to see if his lipstick was still there. Not that there was any girl here for him to impress. Every single one looked gay—like manly lesbian gay. It might be fun to talk with a girly lesbian, just for the night, even if it went nowhere, but none of these girls were even remotely hot. Why would you want to make yourself look so unattractive? And why was Casey—who
was
hot—so batshit for these girls?
    Adam looked over at Casey and June, who were talking to Butch Casey. Casey was doing all her flirty stuff she used to do when Sam first started coming around. Constantly brushing her hair behind her ear. Talking really fast and using lots of hand gestures. She was also downing her drink as if it were on the verge of evaporation. June was doing likewise. Casey turned toward Adam and started waving for him to come over.
Great.
She’d probably run out of things to say and was now going to “introduce her brother” as a new conversation topic.
Awkward.
Adam made his way over, almost tripping over a lesbian in a baseball cap sitting on a skateboard. He hunkered down next to the group.
    â€œAdam’s in high school hell right now, so I’m letting him live with us for the summer,” said Casey.
    Adam didn’t like the word
letting
. Even if it was true.
    â€œYeah, high school’s a cunt,” said Butch Casey. Adam stared at her. He’d seen lesbians with faint mustaches before, but this was out of control—this girl had a straight-up
beard.
What the fuck was Casey thinking? This girl was disgusting!
    â€œCasey works at MoMA. He gets to go to any museum in New York for free.”
    He? Oh. This person was a guy.
    â€œI thought you were
gay?
” Adam blurted out to his sister. Boy Casey laughed. June made a quiet, strange little noise.
    â€œUh, OK, weirdo,” said Casey. “Anyway, I’m
queer
, or whatever.” She was trying to play it off like it was nothing but still let Adam know she was mad at him for saying it. How could she not expect him to be surprised? His entire life all she’d ever done was go on and on about how much she loves girls and has zero interest in guys.
    Adam looked back at Boy Casey—it was insane. Right before his eyes, a butt-ugly girl transformed into an actually not-bad-looking guy. It was like that optical illusion when you look at the black vase that then turns into two white profiles facing each other. Ugly girl. Attractive guy. Same face. He could tell he was staring, so he quickly took a gulp of whiskey. He was getting drunk.
    â€œIt’s starting! It’s starting,” someone shouted. “Shhh! Shhh!” The TV was on and the lights went out.
    The show began with a woman running out of another woman’s house, both of them crying. The woman got into a car with a different woman waiting outside.
    Adam had only seen the show a couple of times and didn’t know who anybody was.
    â€œOh, Alice! I can’t
believe
Dana dumped her for Lara!” someone said.
    â€œYou’re telling me you’d