"Did you have a take?"
"I couldn't really talk. It's not like classic rock is filled with feminist manifestos. And I didn't pay attention to the lyrics anyway."
"You cared about that stuff?"
"It's not that I cared or didn't," he says. "It was normal to me, to talk about it, consider it. That was something older sisters did. And I internalized their lectures. Their voices popped into my head all the time."
"I know what you mean."
He smiles and raises his voice an octave. "'Patrick, are you really listening toMy Sharona? Isn't it about a super young woman! What a creep. Listen to something else. Maybe try a female artist.' Then they'd start arguing that neither of them listened to enough female artists."
"And everyone sat around listening to Fiona Apple."
"The happiest ending, yeah." He laughs. "Sometimes. But never Fiona Apple."
"Terrible," I say.
"Very." He laughs. "They'd have a sorta badass girl artist off. See who could find someone better. Then they'd go back to their usual stuff."
"Fiona Apple didn't stick?"
"No, but Deidre added more female singer-songwriters to her rotation. And Molly added riot grrl stuff."
"And still, despite all these options, you kept listening to AC/DC?"
"I didn't think about music much."
I actually gasp.
"Sorry," he says. "I know it's sacrilege to people who love music, but I just… I didn't get it."
"Do you now?"
"I'm starting to," he says. "But I'm a work in progress."
"Maybe we should play something now."
"Let me guess? Fiona Apple."
I laugh. "I like other artists."
"Uh-huh."
"I liked the woman Luna found. She was good," I say. "It was sweet, you were listening to stuff I'd like."
"We can play something if you want."
"Later," I say. "Tell me more about her."
He rests his head on my shoulder.
My entire body buzzes. It feels so good, having him close, sharing this way.
"She would have liked you," Patrick says.
"How do you figure?"
"She hated that I was always dating 'ditzes.'"