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“Not really,” said Brielle. “I mean, this guy I clean for is kind of super sort of gorgeous.”
Gavin shook his head quizzically. “‘Kind of super sort of gorgeous…’” He laughed. “That’s even better than the compliments you first paid Daniel when he caught your interest.”
“Don’t remind me.” Brielle huffed.
Lilac pounded her pillow. “Details, details!”
Brielle shrugged again. “Nothing to tell. I clean for him. We had a misunderstanding the first day and I thought I would die from embarrassment, but… We’re cool now, I guess?” She didn’t want to tell them about that kiss. Nope, she really didn’t want to keep thinking about that kiss.
“What kind of misunderstanding?” asked Lilac.
Brielle tapped a finger to her cheek. “He’s in a wheelchair and he was grumpy about me seeing his comic book art and I just… sort of crossed some boundary with him? I don’t know.”Ha, speaking of crossing boundaries…
“Wait a minute,” said Gavin and he grabbed his phone from where he’d leaned it on the armrest of the couch. His face minimized as he tapped the phone screen and typed in a few things. Brielle wasn’t sure what was going on and Lilac watched, mesmerized. “Archer Ward?” asked Gavin.
Lilac scrunched her eyebrows up. “Is that some kind of codeword I’m supposed to know or… some zoning info?”
Brielle’s jaw dropped. “How did you know?”
“Super hot, disabled, comic book artist, from your hometown.” Gavin tapped his head. “I have a good memory for these kinds of details.” He shrugged. “Besides, he’s only the current lead artist onThe Mystified. Kind of sort of a big deal in comics circles. Kind of.”
“I didn’t know,” said Brielle. She hadn’t heard of that comic.
“Oh my god, Brielle’s going to date a celebrity!” shouted Lilac.
“Kind of,” said Gavin.
“We’re not dating,” said Brielle. It was true. One kiss didn’t mean anything. Especially when she’d basically just sprung it on him out of nowhere.
Lilac looked thrilled as she hugged her pillow closer, doing a little dance in her chair. She stopped suddenly, her face serious. “But if he’s disabled, how would you two—”
“Okay,” said Brielle, loudly. “Change of subject. Has anyone heard from Pembroke?”
“No,” said both, shaking their heads.
“I DMed her earlier this week,” said Brielle, “and still, nothing.”
“Ditto,” said Gavin.
Lilac shrugged. “I haven’t reached out, but I included her on a few texts and she never responded.”
“You’re the closest one to campus,” said Gavin, referring to Brielle. “She was a commuter, so she lives nearby, right?”
“You want me to drop by?” Brielle asked. She wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do or a total invasion of privacy. “I don’t know…”
“Somebodyought to,” said Gavin. “If it was simply a matter of her wanting to be left alone or being busy, she should just send us a brief text saying as much.”
“Give the girl some space,” said Lilac, shaking her head. “We just saw her less than a week ago. Maybe she’s not even the type to care to stay in touch after graduation.”
“We promised we all would,” said Gavin.
Lilac sighed. “Yeah, just like every other group of college classmates in the universe.” She nodded at the camera. “How long do you think we’ll even stay in touch? We’ll get even busier with jobs, maybe husbands, maybe kids…”
“You’re starting to sound like my grandma,” said Gavin.
Brielle couldn’t even check one of those off. She felt so behind.
It was starting to get dark. How long had she stayed out here? And she’d totally wasted the evening. She hadn’t even applied for one job. She sighed. “I should get going,” she said.
