I got a moment to myself to look at Haley's text: How'd it go? Smooches. I texted back: as pland. Smooches back.
It felt good to have a girlfriend.
I wanted to share how happy I felt and tell Dad about being a lesbian and being in love with Haley, but I knew that at some point he would carelessly mention it in front of Mom or Ruthie, and I didn't want to risk that yet. Once again I slapped down the temptation to use the ring to make sure he kept it to himself. I wondered if resisting that temptation was going to grow harder or easier with time. I hoped easier, but something inside of me said maybe harder.
Cribbage is usually thought of as an old persons game, but my dad and I had been playing since I was a kid. It made me feel special, since neither Mom nor Ruthie had ever learned the game. He won most of the time, and I watched carefully to see if he would be going any easier on me since I was now a girl. It didn't seem like it.
Suddenly the absurdity of it struck me. Here I was, the most powerful person in the world--presidents and generals were nothing to me--playing a quiet game of cribbage in a quiet suburban house, anonymous to the world. I chuckled, and when Dad asked I told him I was remembering something funny at school. I hated lying to him, but I didn't think he could handle the truth.
I did end up using the ring once, since Ruthie had managed to set the kitchen on fire with her wand. I wished the fire went out, and Ruthie had a big smile on her face, like she thought she had done it herself. She wasn't smiling when Mom confiscated her wand!