“Oh! Keep it tight unless the vibes are right?”
“Are you writing down everything I tell you?”
“I have a good memory.”
“Clearly, you don’t. I told you to always get THEIR number. We don’t give them all the power.”
“Ohhh, I was going to say that one next. I swear.”
She rolls her eyes at me, and I give her a smug grin. “We have to find him,” she insists.
“That’s a good idea. How hard could that be? This is a small campus—how many Wills are there? Oh! And he had an accent. He was definitely British. There are only so many exchange students, right?”
“Sure, assuming he’s a student here.”
I hadn’t thought of that. He might have been visiting from another school.Fuck.I deflate, my shoulders slumping with the weight of that realization. Jade reads my body language and loops her hand through my arm.
“Look, let’s just start here, and if he’s not here, we’ll deal with it then, okay?” Her voice is upbeat and positive, and her efforts to keep me focused on the present are working—for now.
“Thank you,” I say.
We both take a sip of our coffees as we make our way to the financial aid office building. I crumple up my pastry bag, slipping it into my jacket pocket until I can find a trashcan.
Leaves crunch beneath our feet and the wind pinks our cheeks, whipping our hair around our faces. Middle Penn is beautiful in the fall, bright yellow and orange trees everywhere littering the sidewalks, making the whole campus feel like some kind of autumnal snow globe.
I can’t decide if I should feel optimistic or hopeless. I didn’t get his number, so my fate with this guy is in his hands. Unless I go searching for him, which would give me a little more control over the situation—but only if he’s actually a student here. So much of it is up in the air and intangible and unknown, and I hate all those things. This might be an adventure for Jade, but I like predictable; I like knowing all the answers and outcomes. An uneasy discomfort settles in my bones like dust on a table. Except the table is covered in glue and one quick swipe won’t clean it off.
It occurs to me as we’re approaching the financial aid office building that I never asked Jade about her night.
“What did you end up doing last night? Who were you with?” I ask.
“Mmm, I may or may not have had a rendezvous with a very handsome young man.”
“Say more.” I take a sip of my drink. Jade always has the best stories.
“And a very beautiful young lady.”
I nearly spit my drink out.
She throws her head back and cackles.
“A threesome! What!”
“Details later!” She spins on her toes and nearly jogs away, waggling her fingers at me, leaving me standing alone with my jaw dragging on the ground.
* * *
Cheri Lakedon’soffice is the epitome of 1980s fancy. Her desk is a dark wood monstrosity with cabinets and drawers that take up an entire wall, and a large L-shaped desk jutting out to hold her monitors and desk supplies. There isn’t much by way of supplies besides a stapler, a tape dispenser, a cup of pens, and one stack of sticky notes. If it wasn’t for the lady sitting behind it, the single picture frame, and the hum of a computer, I might think the desk was purely for display.
I knock on the open door, and Cheri pops her head out from behind her monitors.
“Hi, Jessie,” she says with a smile so big her eyes disappear. She’s all cheeks and teeth and it’s so friendly I relax a little. But only a little. Coming to this office always makes me uncomfortable.
“Have a seat. How are you?” Cheri asks as she clacks away at the keyboard. Her nails are so long I’m genuinely surprised at how fast she’s typing.
I stare a little too long and have to force myself to look away as my mother’s voice hisses in my head.“It’s not appropriate to stare, Jessica.”
“I’m okay, thank you. How are you?”
