Evan: Do I even want to know
Me: Did you ride with an Italian man on a Vespa .?.?.
Shari: YES.
Me: Did he hold your hand and walk you through the city?
Shari: YES.
Me: DID YOU SHARE A PLATE OF PASTA?
Shari: WE DID MORE THAN THAT.
Me: OH MY GOD I’M SO JEALOUS.
Evan: You’re jealous?! I’m the one who has resorted to dating someone named Kevin. Is there a bigger ick than their name rhyming with yours? You’re the one living next to a HUNK.
Evan: Happy for you, Shari, mean it.
Me: Evan, shut up.
Me: Shari, send pics. Tell us everything. Actually, can you voice memo it. I want to know ALL the details. Do not spare a thing.
God, I’m jealous. Reading Shari’s texts gives me a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. Maybe if I had her confidence, then I would be in a different position—instead of resenting Nick I could be making out with him behind the barnandsecretly plotting his downfall without any complicated feelings. I could have forgone the drama and instead be having a summer fling that even my mother thinks I desperately need.
The Carnation County Fair takes place right outside of the town hall, which is right off of Main Street where the farmers’ market happens every weekend. The town hall is a looming old building made out of wood, with high ceilings and exposed beams. When there’s events in the town hall building, the cavernous room is filled with folding chairs. I’m in charge of setting up the folding chairs today and I’m on my last row when I feel the air in the room go still. I don’t need to turn around to know who just walked in.
Because I don’t remember seeing him when I went to get those godforsaken movies, I feel like I haven’t seen Nick in weeks. It’s the longest we’ve gone without seeing each other since we met. I stiffen, my back to the door. I hear Betsy’s voice echoing off the wood floor and I cringe. ‘Lou!’ she trills excitedly, forcing me to turn around.
Nick falls into a quieter step behind Betsy, slowing down so he doesn’t get as close to me. He lingers behind her as she fusses over my outfit, which is a variation of what I always wear—jeans and a white T-shirt.
‘You’re just so beautiful,’ Betsy says.
I redden. I’ve got to get out of here. It’s one thing to daydream about Nick when he isn’t around, but seeing him in person makes the lies, the rejections, the way I’ve humiliated myself feel ten times worse. ‘I’ve actually got to go help my mom.’ I turn to go but Betsy sticks out her hand, grasping me on the forearm with unexpected strength.
‘Just wait one minute,’ she says, her voice laced with a ‘don’t-mess-with-me’ tone. ‘Won’t you try my applesauce? I think it might rival your mother’s this year.’
My gaze flutters to Nick, I can’t help it. His face is unreadable, stoic .?.?. handsome. I love Betsy. I’ve known her my whole life and she’s always been nothing but kind. But being this close to Nick without being able to touch him, to talk to him, is torture. I take a deep breath. ‘Sure, Mrs. Parker.’
‘Nick.’ She beckons him forward. ‘Give our Lou a taste of that.’ Then she walks away faster than I’ve ever seen her walk, leaving Nick and me alone in a sea of folding chairs, under the bright fluorescent lights of the town hall.
Nick shrugs awkwardly, holding up a giant container of applesauce. ‘I don’t know how she wanted me to give you a taste,’ he says finally, after a minute or two of us avoiding eye contact.
I’m finding it hard to breathe standing so close to him.
‘It’s OK.’ I wave him away. ‘I’m busy anyways.’
‘I know. I’ve been on the receiving end of your busy-ness once or twice, remember?’
I look up, embarrassed, wondering what he’s talking about, but he starts to laugh, setting me at ease. ‘The Craigslist ad was good, I’ll give you that.’
I blush. ‘I’m so sorry about that,’ I say. ‘It was a low blow.’
‘You should have seen the confusion on Mrs. P.’s face.’
I hide my face in my hands. ‘I can’t believe I let Evan talk me into that.’
‘All is fair in love and war.’
