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Her eyes went wide, her mouth went flat, and then she turned away, her phone still clutched near her ear, scuffing the toe of her boot against the bas eboard. “Mmm hmm,” she said in a whisper. “I love you, too, Cliff. Just…you know.”
    I walked past her and out the front door. I didn’t li ke Delaney, but I hated Cliff.

Delaney
    “I have a favor to ask you,” Ursula said after the Reference meeting.
    “Sure,” I said.
    “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked as concern wrinkled her forehead.
    I didn’t know what was wrong. I could usually let pe ople run me over with their opinions and stay quiet, but I’d been cranky and confrontational all week. I’d even gotten in trouble at work. The head of Reference had reprimanded me three times: once, for letting students use Wikipedia, another time for expressing the correct opinion that the Dewey Decimal System was more helpful than the Library of Congress classification, and last because I told students that the Prairie Glen Public Library had a more equitable and less discriminatory computer use policy than PGU Library’s.
    I was sabotaging myself. I hated this job. I wanted to be in Special Collections with the Jenny Edmonton a rchives.
    But I’d hated all my other jobs, too, and I’d never wrecked myself quite this much. Somehow, though, I was just done being nice. I blamed Cliff. And maybe also Oliver.
    “Nothing that matters,” I said. “I’m just reminding myself why men are a waste of space.”
    “What happened?”
    “Cliff called. Jackass said I was ugly. I didn’t stand up to either of them, so I’m also a waste of space.”
    Ursula put both her hands on my shoulders and said, “Oh, sweetie. No. You’re just nice. You’re a nice person. Don’t give up.”
    I shook my head. “Nice doesn’t explain not standing up for myself. From now on, I’m going to be more like Emily.”
    Ursula looked skeptical. “Emily’s pretty tough.”
    “I’m going to try. Just keep me away from men. Or really, keep men away from me. They say awful things. And do worse ones.”
    “Like Kelsey,” Ursula said.
    “Like Kelsey. So, what was that favor?”
    “Never mind,” she said. “Can I take you out for coffee? Espresso Royale?”
    “Nah, I’ve been waking up too early anyway, so I’m trying to cut down.” I poked her in the shoulder. “Tell me.”
    “It has to do with men, so I revoke my favor.”
    “Does it have to do with Cliff, or Oliver, or you se tting me up on a date?”
    “No, but—”
    “Then tell me.” I poked her again when she didn’t budge.
    “You sure?” I nodded and she continued. “So, you know how I gave you that recommendation for my doctor?”
    “ Mmm hmm.”
    “He’s not actually my doctor. He’s a friend. And, um, I want to know more about him. And I was wondering if you could find out at your appointment next week.”
    “Uh, why can’t you just ask him whatever you want to know?”
    She averted her eyes. “Because.”
    “Is he in the mafia? Is he a human trafficker? Does he like to watch Full House reruns?”
    “No, nothing nefarious like that. I just want to know more about … his interests.”
    “You like him,” I said, my grin widening.
    She blushed and looked at her cuticles.
    “You like him! And you want me to find out if he likes you! Like this is the sixth grade!” I yelled.
    “Shhhhh.” Then she covered her face and groaned into her palms. “God, I really am like a sixth grader, aren’t I?”
    I pulled her hands away and beamed at her. “I would be happy to work it into conversation at my appointment next week. I’m sure it will go very, very smoothly.”
    “You sure?”
    “Of course I’m sure,” I said. “And hey, I’ve been thinking about something. Could I get your opi nion?”
    “What?”
    “I’ve been thinking about getting a dog. For company. You know.”
    She tilted her head. “You’re lonely? Is it because of this stuff with Cliff? Did he say something horr ible to you when