My mind kept drifting to tomorrow. Ellis across from me at dinner. Whether he’d kiss me goodnight or hold the careful boundaries he’d held at coffee. The way he said my name.
My body did the choreography of years of Friday nights. Hips, arms up. The rhythm I’d memorized so completely I could perform it half-asleep. I just couldn’t get lost in it the way I usually did.
“You’re distracted.” Calliope danced close enough to be heard over the bass.
“I’m dancing, aren’t I?”
“Barely. You keep checking your phone.”
“I do not.”
She raised an eyebrow, and the phone in my hand answered for me.
“Okay, fine. Maybe a little.”
“It’s cute.” She spun away, rejoining Raven. “You’re twisted up over this guy.”
Sierra froze mid-step.
Her whole body went still, face locked on something across the dance floor. I followed her gaze to a girl dancing under purple lights, long black hair, lean build, lost in the music.
“Oh my god!” Sierra breathed.
“Is that?” Calliope started.
Sierra pushed through the crowd before any of us could finish. Wefollowed, watching as she got closer, closer, until…
The girl turned.
Wrong face. Wrong eyes. Not the one from the park.
Sierra’s shoulders dropped. The disappointment hit her face so hard it hit mine. She mumbled an apology to the stranger and stumbled back toward us.
We didn’t ask. Just surrounded her, creating a buffer between Sierra and the rest of the club. Back at our table, we made room, and she collapsed into the booth.
“I thought I saw someone from the park.” Sierra ran her fingers through her hair. “I took her photo while she was feeding the birds. She’s been stuck in my head ever since.”
“Bird girl?” Calliope gasped as if it were the juiciest gossip of the year. “Tell me everything. Was she tragic and beautiful? Mysterious and doomed?”
Raven squeezed her hand. “Ghost girl crush. That’s so you.”
“Babe, you’re living in a rom-com and I’m absolutely here for it. Ghost girl has my vote.” I gave her a fist bump.
“I don’t even know her name.” Sierra dropped her head into her hands.
Calliope nudged her. “Maybe the universe does.”
We didn’t mock her. Didn’t push for details. Just let her hold the ache without prying.
“You’ll find her.” My voice went low. “I don’t know how or when, but you will. Sometimes you just know when someone matters.”
Sierra looked up at me, eyes still a little red. “Speaking from recent experience?”
“Maybe.” I thought about Ellis. About how three days of silence had sent me spiraling. About how one coffee date had rearranged my entire Saturday. “Yeah. Definitely.”
“Tomorrow’s the big date, right?”
I pulled out my phone, showed them Ellis’ profile picture, him on ahike somewhere, smiling at the camera with mountains in the background. “This is him.”
