Dear Eva,
I’ve never had a girlfriend before, and I think I might be doin’ it wrong.
Let’s call my girl Miss Taken. (Get it? She’s my girlfriend, so she’s taken.) Anyway, Miss Taken is really cool and funny and pretty in a quiet-but-hot way, and she has this great belly laugh. I LOVE to make her laugh. On the other hand … do not make her mad! I forgot to call her one time after I said I would, and whoa. Not good. So my first question is: how often am I supposed to call/text my girlfriend? I mean, yeah, she’s awesome, but sometimes I need to spend time with my boys.
Also? I have this friend who’s a girl. Let’s call her Miss Demeanor. (I don’t know why. It’s just the first thing that came to me.) She’s really sweet and smart and fun, and we have a lot in common. Unfortunately, she’s got kind of a messed up home situation. You can see where this is going, right? So my second question is: how can I be a friend to Miss Demeanor without causing Miss Taken to MISCONSTRUE?
Please respond ASAP!
Sincerely,
Boyfriend/Boy-Friend
Dear Boyfriend/Boy-Friend,
Forget of both of them and set your sites on Miss Construe. (Joke. Sorry) Honestly, I’m worried about you. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to be in a ginormous mess, and by that I mean an angry girlfriend.
Let me explain a little bit about Girl Think. Not calling when you’re supposed to call? Big mistake. Miss Taken will take that as a signal that something’s wrong with your relationship. And soon after? She’ll draw the conclusion that it has something to do with Miss Demeanor.
So, first off, call and text Miss Taken a lot more often, and it might just be enough. Next, cool it with Miss Demeanor. If Miss Taken blows her top, she will take it out on your friend.
Sadly, I think you’ll have to choose between your girls in the end. Girl Friend vs. girlfriend. They both sound great.
How sharper than a serpent’s tooth is your dilemma. Be strong.
Eva
Letter courtesy of L.K. Madigan, author of FLASH BURNOUT, a critically acclaimed YA novel.
* send ASK MY SISTER letters to lauren@laurenbjorkman.com