Fun.
The thing Griffin said he wished he was having. The thing that was missing between us, apparently. The thing the Sophie Oliviausedto know was full of. Am I not fun anymore?
“If I do this, I have a stipulation of my own,” I say.
“What is it?”
“I get one free pass. If for whatever reason, I don’t want to go on one of the dates, I don’t have to. No questions asked.”
Nonna frowns, considering this. “Done. So what do you say?”
I finally nod, and Nonna beams.
“Perfect! Let the games begin!”
She pulls me back into the kitchen, and all conversation stops.
“She’s agreed!” Nonna says. My family literally cheers. “Now, let’s see if we can fill the board. I’ll start.” Nonna walks to the white paper and writes her name under December 31st.
“Uh…Nonna? Do you even know a boy my age that isn’t related to me?” I ask. I know she can hear the nervousness in my voice.
She bobs her head around. “Sure I do. I don’t know who I’m going to pick yet, but I’ll find someone!”
Great. I get to spend New Year’s Eve with…someone.
This is definitely going to be a disaster.
Papa shuffles over to the paper and stares at the dates. “How about I pick the thirtieth, since that’s the night of your grandmother’s birthday party? I’ll pick somebody nice.” He scribbles his name.
Ten dates and two of them set up by my grandparents. Awesome.
After Papa moves away, the floodgates open. Everyone stampedes to sign up. I stand in the back of the room, watching in horror. The only other person in the room who isn’t trying to claim a day is Wes.
He slides down the table closer to me. I can tell he’s as embarrassed for me as I feel for myself.
“This can’t be happening,” I say.
He turns to look at me. “I haven’t seen you in a while. How you been?”
I nod toward the board. “That pretty much says it all.”
He laughs. “Yeah, I guess it does.”
“How are you? Are you still with…” Oh God, I heard he was dating someone, but I forgot her name.
“Laurel?”
“Yeah, Laurel.”
He nods, then shrugs. I’m not sure what kind of answer that is.
“She was a grade ahead of us, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, she’s at LSU now.”
I run my hand through my hair, antsy to see the board once everyone is done. “So y’all are doing the whole long-distance thing?”
He nods but doesn’t elaborate. We’re both too busy staring at the board. Actually, we’re staring at Mom’s oldest brother, Sal, and the pushing war he seems to be having with Uncle Michael over the final date slot.
