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Except, wait, that was Disney World. So never mind.
After a week, I’d discovered he had a girlfriend, and I’d stopped seeing him. Today had just been the salt in the wound when he tried to convince me to get a drink with him; he honestly hadn’t had a clue what my problem was.
Just once, I wanted a functional, monogamous relationship. And in lieu of that, I’d like to stay home with Ben & Jerry’s and a bad disaster movie.
“Look, you can either stay here and sulk, or you can be at a kick-ass party dancing until four in the morning. This is not a difficult choice.”
I gave it one more try. “What happened to not leaving Brooklyn on the weekend?”
“Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures,” Eva said. “Now drink up.”
We slung on sweaters and scarves and headed out. Three—and four-story buildings lined the streets of Sunset Park, their ground floors filled with dim sum restaurants and bakeries. The bright green of ash and oak trees stood out sharply against the red brick, shading the sidewalks filled with people. This early in September, only the slightest chill kept the night from feeling like summer. A light breeze lifted my hair off the back of my neck. Above us, soft clouds slid across the imperfect moon, while the city’s ambient light hid the stars.
We sat shoulders together on the crowded N train, flip-flops dangling off our feet, comfortable in our silence. I’d known Eva since our freshman year of college, but I’d only moved in with her this summer, after finishing off my year in AmeriCorp. While I’d been working on an adult literacy campaign, Eva had been in an intense theatre program, and she’d just landed a role in the world premiere of Pride and Prejudice: The Musical! She played a singing maid. There were mob-caps involved.
As we pulled into the 8th Street station, Eva slipped on the sparkling heels she’d carried in her lap, and we headed up into the Village. Unlike our part of Brooklyn, Washington Square Park had money. We walked along the northern edge of the green, and I dragged Eva to a halt when we passed the illuminated arch. Like its Paris inspiration, white marble gleamed in a traditional triumphal arch, but here George Washington’s words and likeness were carved into the stone. I let out a deep sigh before allowing Eva to lead on to smaller streets. I’d moved to New York for my internship, but these sights were why I wanted to stay.
We walked by NYU halls and bright hotel windows before turning on a side street of tall 19th century buildings. The party, which Eva had heard of through the off-off Broadway circuit, took place in a glamorous old brownstone, and a dozen or so people lingered on the sideway. One of them squealed my roommate’s name and drew her into their circle.
I followed, less inclined than usual to make small talk. I liked Eva’s friends, but I’d never met this batch before, and the run in with John still had me disconcerted. Maybe I should’ve insisted on staying home. I could have watched The Day After Tomorrow and laughed at the hilarious CGI wolves, accompanied by a pint or so of ice cream.
I was deliberating between flavors when my phone rang. Relieved by the excuse to stop smiling and nodding, I waved at Eva and wandered down the sidewalk. Surprise jolted through me when I saw the caller ID, and I stopped under a caged tree to answer. “Hey, Thomas.”
“Rachael! How are you?”
The warm tenor of Thomas Brewer, unrequited love of my teen years, acted as a shot of comfort. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d called me—before junior prom, to see if I thought my friend Sara Milton would say yes if he asked her?—but our circle of high school friends had remained close, and we saw each other on breaks and holidays. Hearing his voice, I fell back into the easy patterns of familiarity we’d established at fifteen, a silly, perky smile crossing my face. “I’m really good. I’m in New York. What about you?”
“Oh, yeah, I saw Kate a couple weeks ago and she mentioned you’d moved there. What are you doing?”
I smiled at the branches above me, lit by a tall, elegant black street lamp. “I’m interning at Maples&Co. It’s great; I get to work with young adult books. What about you? Didn’t I hear you got a job working on video games?” With Benson Industries, one of the lead manufacturers of action-adventure games for kids age eight to twelve. But there was no reason to let him know that I accidentally-occasionally read his profile page.
“Oh, yeah—I’m one of the creative architects. I help design the game plot. It’s really sweet. I grew up playing these games, so it’s awesome to work on them. You probably get that, working with kids’ books.”
“Yeah.” I felt the same warmth that always flared when Thomas and I recognized a similarity. Of course, I didn’t exactly work with children’s, I did young adult and women’s fiction. Still. “It’s great.”
“Yeah. Listen, Rach, you’re coming home for the reunion, right? Zac and Liz and I are organizing a shindig the night before for our group. You in?”
“Definitely.”
“Great.” He listed off the dozen or so of our friends that were being contacted, just in case he’d left anyone out.
“No, that’s everyone. Hey, Thomas, I’m really happy—”
“One sec, I got another call.” He paused for a second. “Oh, it’s my girlfriend. Hey, Rach, it was great to talk to you. See you soon!”
He clicked off without waiting for me to say goodbye.
Et tu, Thomas Brewer? My jaw hardened. Fine. Whatever. It wasn’t like I thought he would see me at the five-year reunion and fall madly in love with me. It wasn’t like every other girl in Ashbury hadn’t had a mad crush on him.
God, I was an idiot.
I headed back up the street, looking for Eva, but I didn’t see anyone sitting on the stoops. After several minutes, uncertainty started to bloom. Shouldn’t I have run into her by now? The buildings all looked the same, but I hadn’t walked that far while on the phone. Had I?
She didn’t pick up when I called, and the uncertainty heightened to alarm as I looked at all the buildings. Damn. What was I supposed to do if I couldn’t get in touch with her? Go home?
Laughter caught my attention. To my right, half a dozen girls dressed to the nines slipped into one of the buildings. Relief filled me and I hurried after them, falling in behind the last and following them up the stairs and into an apartment at the end of the hallway.
