“Good.” There was nothing that I needed more after a night out with my girls than a hair-of-the-dog mimosa brunch with them.
Well, that and some mozzarella sticks.
“Are you sure you don’t want Vic to drive you?” Maddie confirmed.
Wren nodded. “Chris was actually in the area with friends, so this worked out perfectly.”
“They could join us,” I offered.
Maybe one of them is a scholarly teacher who thinks the way I handle a three-hole punch is the sexiest thing he’s ever seen. And he’s super hot. With a hard exterior but a gooey interior. And a little cheesy.
Wait.
I think my perfect man is made of mozzarella sticks.
I dragged my thoughts out of my pants… Er, belly? I wasn’t sure. It was getting confusing. Either way, I shut out the noise in time to hear Wren shoot me down.
“I think he was looking for an excuse to leave. You know he doesn’t do nights.”
That was the truth. Chris had nearly fallen asleep at the table when he’d come out with us, and it hadn’t been that late. He’d put up a valiant effort before finally letting Wren convince him that he should go to bed. I’d felt bad that Easton had covered the whole bill when he hadn’t drunk anything.
Well, I’d felt bad until I’d seen his swanky office.
“And now you don’t do them, either,” Maddie said, hugging our friend. “We’re all growing up.”
“We all are? Does that mean you’ll be awake early to be my hot yoga partner tomorrow?” I asked.
She visibly shuddered—and only half of it was for dramatic effect. “If I ever… And I meaneveragree to that, take it as code that I’ve been kidnapped.” She looked back at Wren. “When will he be here?”
“Any minute.” At our surprise, she explained, “He was at that sports bar down the street.”
“You weren’t kidding about being in the area,” I said.
“We hadn’t even talked about the specifics of where we’d be going, so it’s fate. Or a coincidence. But I’m going with fate.” She started to give a swoony sigh before it turned into a yawn. “Why do mornings have to come so early?”
“Something about the sun and Earth and cruel torture,” Maddie said.
“Okay, then why did I make the decision to go into a career that involves said cruel torture?”
“Because being a teacher is literally the only thing you’ve ever wanted to do.”
My envy wasn’t a subtle pang. It crushed through the forced optimism I’d built around myself like a wall.
After reluctantly joining our high school paper because she needed the extra credits to graduate on time, Maddie had found a way to put all her inquisitiveness to good use. She’d found her calling with journalism, and if dealing with her editor hadn’t changed her mind, nothing would. And I couldn’t remember a time when Wren hadn’t wanted to be a teacher. Even when we were little, we played pretend school not house.
Then there was me.
For our entire lives, I’d been the one with my shit together. The organized one. The calm one. The…
The bland one.
But as days ticked by faster and faster, I was left feeling further behind. Floating adrift with no clue what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t begrudge my friends their happiness, but it was a stark reminder that I was still purposeless.
I choked down that ever-present panic and hoped that I’d cleared it from my expression by the time Wren rounded the table to hug me goodbye for all eternity.
Or until brunch the next morning.
Once she was gone, I stared at her empty stool for a long moment. “Is it weird that she said she was tired, so Chris made her leave?”
