“And the point is?” I say, encouraging her to continue, not having any idea where this is going.

Liv sighs. “Okay, I don’t know how else to explain this, so here it is: my brother got himself into a mess.” She smiles and rolls her eyes. “Well, I got my brother into a mess.”

Don’t doubt it. “And what have I got to do with this?”

“I need your help to get him out of it.” As soon as the words leave her mouth, I shake my head in disagreement. “Please, Blue. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important,” she pleads, wringing her hands.

“Not a chance.” I’m sure they can sort out this mess without me. It’s not too long since I started trying to accept people, so getting involved in something that might speed it up is not what I’m looking for.

Baby steps, not fucking dinosaur steps.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.” She straightens her back, watching me with her big hazel eyes.

“It involves me going out?”

“Well. Yes, but—”

“Then no.”

Her face drops.

“Ugh, ok, fine. Go ahead and ask.”

“Thank you,” Olivia says, hope flaring in her eyes. “They broke up a couple of months ago and my parents were really sad when E didn’t come home with her, so he panicked and lied about already having another girlfriend.”

What? Is he ten? It’s not like a new girlfriend is going to replace the other one or make things any better. Lying is a temporary solution. I try to imagine Elias panicking. He seems like such a calm person. A golden retriever.

“Wait. This just keeps getting worse,” she laughs, fiddling with the zipper of her hoodie. “When my parents said they wanted to meet her, E said she’d visit this Sunday.”

“Oh, shit,” I say. Couldn’t help it. That’s outrageous.

“Yeah, so here’s the funny thing: the other day, we were having dinner, and Pa asked E what his girlfriend’s name was. Elias looked helpless, which made me panic thinking he would ruin it all.” She looks at my left eye, then my right, probably trying to see if I’ve figured it all out.

I have a vague idea of where this is going. And I don’t like it at all.

“And by mistake,” she continued, “I said your name.”

“What the actual fuck, Olivia?” Back when I was a kid, I used to love being right about things. I wish I wasn’t right about this. “Don’t your parents know who I am? I mean, you come here every day?”

“Um… They know you go by Blue.”

I curse under my breath, not sure how to handle this. Not to mention how to react.