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“Get out!” I slapped her playfully on the arm. “Oh, man, I wish I could’ve been there. What was it like?”
“Everyone was watching. It was crazy.” She waved a hand at me. “Anyway, you’ll get to be an eyewitness to everything. I guess you know Scott, too, then.”
“Uh, yes.” Was I supposed to tell her we had dated? I was so used to keeping it a secret that I didn’t know when would be an appropriate time to declare it to everyone. Was I supposed to make it Facebook official? Did people even use Facebook anymore? I knew my dad was on it for his “Spicy Peppers” groups, and that’s not an innuendo. There were literally Facebook groups of people who grew super spicy peppers and bragged about their Scoville scale.
While I spent too long musing on the merits of confessing our relationship, Thea went on. “There’s a breakfast event tomorrow morning if you can make it. I already told my boss, Mark, about you, and he said he’d love to have you come on and help.”
I groaned. “I hate mornings. What time?”
“It’s at nine.”
I did some mental calculations, figuring out how much sleep I’d be able to get in order to be there on time. “All right, I’ll do it.”
“Great! Oh, I’m so excited to do this with you. I haven’t had many friends since I’ve moved up here. It’s going to be fun, trust me.”
I nodded and smiled. I was glad to have a new friend, too. But I was more excited I now had another means of helping my family survive through the difficulties around them.
The event was pretty easy, just like Thea had said. She and I had fun passing around the trays of tiny omelet bites and bacon-wrapped dates. I may have even snuck one or two when no one was looking. We got to witness a little bit of drama between Maritza Sanchez and Alison Reyes, two other “True Trophy Wives,” but it wasn’t that exciting because the cameras weren’t there to capture it. Mark, my new boss, paid me on the spot and told me I did a good job. He was around my dad’s age, with a physique that showed how much he enjoyed trying the food he created. No shame there. The man was an incredible chef.
On the way out, Thea gave me a hug. “Thanks for coming. You did great for your first day.”
“It’s all the dance training. You and I know how to balance with props.”
She laughed. “True, true. Are you down to do more events?”
I looked at the check in my hand. It wasn’t exactly a day at Disneyland, but it was money. And money was what I needed right now. “Yeah, I’m in.”
“Great. Send me your schedule and I’ll have Mark add you in.”
“Thanks, Thea. I really appreciate it. I’ll see you around.” I climbed into my car and waved her off.
On my way home, I reached for my phone to call Scott. A pang hit my chest hard when I came back to reality. I felt lonely, knowing that I had pushed away the one person who truly saw me and my struggles.
I decided to run to the grocery store to pull myself out of my blues. I hadn’t quite figured out how to contribute to the household expenses without handing my mom a check every week. Now I had a sneaky way to help them out—I’d handle the groceries for everyone. That way, their bank account wouldn’t be so empty when it came time to pay the bills. Perfect.
I wandered down the aisles of the grocery store, humming along to Soul Decision’s “Faded.” The grocery store people got me. I wanted to find whoever the DJ was and go out dancing with them.
“Ivy?” I didn’t notice Nate right away, but his voice came from behind me.
I spun around. I hadn’t seen him since Lucas and Amy’s wedding at the beginning of summer. He looked pretty much the same, just as he had in high school. Tall, lanky, with dark curly hair and glasses. The classic “nerd” stereotype, but he was Lucas’s best friend. And, if I’m being totally honest, he had a mad crush on me when we were teenagers.
“Nate!” I gave him a quick hug. “How’s Jess?”
His face lit up with a smile. “She’s great. Thank you again for getting her number for me.”
“It was my pleasure.” I may have been sore for a couple days after hopping over the stone benches at the Stella Knight concert at the LA Pavilion, but it was worth it to get Nate his very own girlfriend, and one who was perfectly suited for him.
“How’s your family?” he asked.
“They’re doing well. I moved back home with them to help out where I can.”
“That’s awesome. You’re really kind to do that.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”
“Thanks, Nate.” I was momentarily stunned by his kindness. I wasn’t expecting him to offer anything. Not that I would accept his help. I was doing just fine on my own. But the offer itself meant a lot. I didn’t want to stay and get emotional, though, and I had a lot more shopping to do before I got home. “It was good seeing you.”
He gave a sideways smile. “You, too. Say hi to your parents for me.”
We headed down the aisle in opposite directions, and I kept searching for raw milk and cheese. If only our goat, Alfred, was a female. Then we could’ve gotten milk from him. But Katy fell in love with the little guy, and now he was part of the family. At least our chickens gave us more than enough eggs, so we never had to buy those.
