She stores them at home and carts them to the school guidance office when they run out or if there’s a special assembly or something. They are stacked up on the white shelf near her desk. Got herpes? You can read about it here. Need to choose birth control? Grab a leaflet. Friendships getting you down? Boyfriend treating you like dirt? Pressures from parents hurting your psyche? Perhaps you need a pamphlet. I have never read these pamphlets. I have never so much as unfolded one of the cream-colored booklets with bold lettering that reads: Dating: Am I Ready? Or Cutting: Why It Really Hurts. From the open window I can smell the burgers on the grill, hear my dad’s loud laugh, but not the reason for it. Probably one of Bill Abramson’s jokes. One he’d edit if I were down there too. Parents are different when they’re around their friends—and with Lauren and Jacob Abramson off at summer journalism school and camp respectively, I feel totally out of place among the parental realm.
