Isn’t afraid of a smart woman
Roughly my age, but no more than five years older
Intellectual – GPA higher than 3.0
Makes me feel emotionally and physically supported
It’s for science, of course. A lot of women say that, but in my case, it’s just factual. My medical school essay questions were going great until I hit this stumper:
How have you tested your decision to become a doctor through your personal life?
Against my better judgment I brought it up to my best friend Delaney. She concluded that this could only mean one thing:Let’s find Celeste a hot guy and add more to her plate so she can be stressed academically, physically, and emotionally.Thus leading us here to the grocery store, shopping for a man.
“Seriously, I think I’ll just be single forever. But, Lane, I’lldefinitelybe single forever if any interested men hear you calling me Pinky, ” I say, drifting towards the meats department. “Maybe we can make a pact to move in with each other in say, fifteen years? If we’re both single. Get a boat load of fish or something,” I suggest.
“Why would we eat a bunch of fish, MissCeleste June Pinkfordt?” Delaney asks dramatically, tossing her long hair over her shoulder before eyeing a whole salmon on ice displayed across from us.
“Not to eat, Delaney-you-don’t-have-a-middle-nameBeatty. I meant as pets! I’m allergic to cats, remember?”
“Well, if Ellie and I ever break up, you’ve got yourself a deal. We can get a whole aquarium together.” Delaney breaks her blinking contest with the salmon to look at me with a dramatic sigh. “I’m not going to lie, I’m glad to be inside today at least.It’s getting too hot out for my liking,” Delaney adds, eyeing the glorious sunshine outside as if she were the undead. Her pale complexion and signature bright red lips really play into her vampire aesthetic.
“Lane, it’s barely spring. We have a very limited time to enjoy the sun, I suggest you don’t squander it!” I mockingly reprimand my winter-loving best friend.
“It’s too hot, I’m shvitzing.”
I sigh at her endless dramatics, “There has to be a better place to meet men. Substantial men. Men thatread.Men that have hobbies, interests. Men that?—”
“Yes, yes, meet up to the standards ofThe List.Oh!” Delaney exclaims, hands splayed wide as if ready for a jazz number, “I’ve got it! Okay, so my friend in my performance studies class mentioned that the university added a new cafe to the campus to boost morale, and I guess, increase their sales. Most students are off campus right now, but you know whowillbe there?Men thatread.”She looks at me with a smirk that says she just solved the Da Vinci Code.
I nod in reply, already exhausted at this endeavour. “Hey, do you know what that new place is called?” I ask as we make our way back to the parking lot, our mission a complete bust.
“I think it’s something like Books and Brew or Biblio and Beans, I don’t know. We should check it out this afternoon, if you’re free.” Delaney lifts a shoulder in question.
“Hmm, could be cute. But I can’t. I’m meeting a tutoring student of mine. Maybe I’ll ask her to meet me there and let you know how it is?” I ask as we reach my yellow VW Punch Buggy.
“Fine by me, Pinky!” Delaney says as she settles in the passenger’s seat. Her phone begins chiming repeatedly like a broken doorbell. I turn the ignition and raise my eyebrows at her questioningly. She rolls her eyes and waves a hand at me, “It’s just my girlfriend, she got off work and is now inundatingme with cyber love.” Delaney sighs deeply while snuggling her phone into her chest. I chuckle because as extra as my best friend is, she loves love.
She’s been dramatic since the moment we met, or rather, crashed right into each other. I was hurrying to my second-year chemistry class across campus and she, with theatre costumes piled higher than her head, ran smack into me. We sat in a pile of gowns and textbooks dumbstruck before immediately bursting out laughing and introducing ourselves. Delaney had just started her first year as a theatre arts major and needed some help locating all the various places on campus. We met up later that day right at our crash spot and have been inseparable since. A little sadness creeps over me at the thought of finishing my degree next year and being apart from her for the first time. But watching Delaney’s face light up figuratively and literally from the brightness of her phone screen reassures me she has someone else watching out for her too, even if it’s long distance. I just care for my best friend so much and I’m happy for the love she has found with her girlfriend.
I drive off toward Delaney’s apartment on the other side of Remington Hills and hope that one day I can find that kind of love. Fairy tale love. No mullets involved.
