Love and Other Words

Getting ready to spend time with her friends, Macy is trying to decide what to wear. Sean teases her that she is trying to look good for Elliot. She wonders if that is a problem but notes she wants to look cute for her girlfriends. Elliot has seen her in everything. Phoebe comes in, wanting a snack. Macy realizes she’s only spent half an hour that week with her. When Macy and her dad were together, they both felt they were groping for the missing mother. Sean and Phoebe, on the other hand, feel like a little two-person unit.

At the park, friends Sabrina, Danny, and Nikki are excited to meet Elliot. Danny doesn’t understand who Elliot is, but then remembers he’s the former boyfriend from “the vacation town.” Macy compares Elliot and Sean. Sean is reserved and keeps everyone at arm’s length. Macy says she understands this. She says, “I need a Sean in my life. I need an Elliot about as much as I need a hole in the head” (59). She wonders if Sean keeps people at arm’s length because he’s been hurt by Ashley. She thinks Sean and she are broken in the same way.