Page 41 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

“Aww,” I looked at the both of them dramatically. “Look at you guys. Adulting!”

“Of course!” Mel replied. “Because apparently that’s all there is left to do at this age. Pay bills and develop chronic back pain.”

“Wishing money just explodes and rains from the sky,” Andi added.

And almost as if the universe heard her, a loud splash exploded right in front of us. But it did not rain money.

Water hit my face. My shirt. My soul.

All three of us shrieked.

“Oh my God,” Andi said, standing up immediately. “Absolutely not.”

“I’m done,” I said, already grabbing my bag.

Mel stood up too, laughing now. “Okay, okay. Let’s get inside the restaurant.”

We gathered our things in a hurry—towels, bags, dignity—and made a panicked escape from the pool.

Behind us, the screaming continued.

Inside, at least, there was air-conditioning and fewer children.

We settled into a table far from the glass window, still slightly damp, still mildly traumatized.

Andi took a sip of her mango juice and exhaled. “That was birth control.”

Mel laughed. “You’re impossible.”

“I’m observant,” Andi corrected. Then she turned to me, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Now. You’ve been weird all week.”

I blinked. “What do you mean? I’m always weird.”

“No,” she said, pointing at me. “Different weird. Subtle spiral weird. What happened?”

I did not know why it felt embarrassing to say that I bumped into Francis out loud. Maybe because it made everything real again. Or maybe because it made me look exactly what I was: someone who wasn’t over it.

“Francis showed up,” I said finally.

That got their attention.

“At Bluebird,” I added. “Last Tuesday.”

Andi’s eyebrows shot up. “Tell us more.”

Mel leaned forward slightly. “Like… showed up showed up?”

“Like walked in walked in,” I responded sarcastically. “He saw me immediately. Smiled like our breakup didn’t happen. And then he came to my table. That kind of showed up.”

“What did you do?” Andi asked.

“I panicked, of course.”

She laughed. “Of course you did. That’s so you.”

“I bolted,” I admitted. “Well—almost. He sat down, we talked for like three seconds, and then I basically ran away like I committed a crime.”

Mel smiled faintly. “That sounds about right.”