Between Boys

Once upon a time,
Emmy and Layla were inseparable,
but now Emmy only talks to Layla
when she’s between boys,
heartbroken and in need of a therapist.
Layla listens sympathetically
to whatever this villain-boy
has done, then reassures Emmy
that she’s still gorgeous, funny, on-trend, loveable,
that whatever faults the boy has found
in her are all his own invention,
that Emmy is so much better than
Kyle-Tariq-Sal-Chris-Diego-whoever-it-is,
that no, she shouldn’t apologize to him,
change herself for him, send him pictures
of her boobs, or waste any more tears
over this failed relationship.

It’s hard work getting all those stupid boy toxins
out of Emmy’s system, requires a lot of repetition
and kindness and sometimes a bit of shouting,
but in the end she always manages to talk Emmy down,
talk her back to being the old Emmy.
They have a week or so of beautiful friendship—
goofing off at the park,
belting out Beyoncé in Emmy’s basement,
baking butterscotch brownies,
laughing at dumb videos—
until Emmy abandons her for yet another disaster of a boy,
and Layla is once again alone in the cafeteria,
wishing she had someone
who could detox her from Emmy.

Valerie Hunter teaches high school English and has an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her stories and poems have appeared in magazines such as Cricket, Cicada, and Paper Lanterns, and anthologies including I Sing: The Body and Brave New Girls.