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NATALIE: Is tonight a big deal?
He replies within a minute.
MATTHEW: In what way?
NATALIE: In every way!
MATTHEW: Well, we’re in the knockout stage of qualifying, so we have to win tonight. Does that make it a big deal?
It really does. But also, what about me?
NATALIE: Is it a big deal that I’m going to be there with you?
Three dots appear and disappear and I clutch my phone, needing him to answer before I have to go back to work.
MATTHEW: Isn’t that kind of the point? For you to be with me when things are a big deal?
Well, he’s got me there. The whole point of fake dating is so that people believe we’re a couple. It would be strange if I weren’t there tonight. But still…
NATALIE: Not to be a girl about it, but what should I wear?
I can almost hear him laughing at this message.
MATTHEW: Whatever you’re most comfortable wearing. You look beautiful in everything.
My breath catches at this causal compliment. He doesn’t need to say this to me, in a private text message no one will see. Already the lines in our fake relationship are getting blurred. I need to nip this in the bud; get us back into the friends-in-real-life-zone.
NATALIE: Fine. Pyjamas it is.
MATTHEW: I bet you look cute in pyjamas
I fan my face, my cheeks blazing. How to respond to that? Tell him I bet he’d look cute in pyjamas too? That he looks more than cute in just about everything?
MATTHEW: I’ve got to go. I’m sending a car to pick you up tonight. See you then!
Right, I guess I’ve been saved from having to respond. But the problem still exists; what am I going to wear to his monumental game tonight?
*****
I’ve got twenty minutes before the car Matthew has sent to pick me up will be at my door, and I’ve tried on every article of clothing I own. Twice. Nothing looks right.
In a panic, I Facetime Amy for help. After all, this anxiety about my clothes is all her fault.
“Nat? Hey!” Amy’s face appears on my screen and she has Lilly sitting next to her.
“Hi guys.” I blow my hair off my face, which is so sweaty that strands are getting stuck to my cheeks. Delightful. “I need help!”
Their serious faces look back at me. “Of course.”
I put the camera on my desk so they can see my entire body and do a spin for them. “Is this outfit OK for tonight?”
After rejecting everything in my closet, this is what I’d landed on: a pair of light blue jeans, high-waisted and wide-leg, with a tight blue t-shirt tucked in. The t-shirt is the same colour as my eyes, making them pop, and it’s the best I can do at this moment. I wasn’t made to be a fashionista.
“You look great!” Lilly declares.
“That t-shirt looks amazing on you!” Amy adds.
Bless them.
