She disappeared down the hallway, her gown and high heels looking out of place in the bright, sterile environment. I sat in the waiting room and glanced at my phone screen. I’d gotten two new messages. The first was from Dahlia and had pictures of us together.
I deleted them. I didn’t need any more reminders of our date.
The other was a link from Madeline. I figured it was a link to a photo album of our pictures and was actually looking forward to seeing them.
Instead, it was a video reel of me playing football, this time a compilation of completed passes and touchdowns I’d run in.
A note at the end saidI can’t undo the first video, so I made a second. Here’s proof of your hard work and awesomeness! It’s still early in the season so it’s a work in progress. More is yet to come.
I knew she meant more footage from football games, but I couldn’t help read other meanings into it.
More was yet to come.
23
Madeline
In the bathroom, I took off my dress and was using hand soap to scrub it in the sink like a pioneer woman when Selena called. I’d completely forgotten that I planned to meet up with her at the dance.
“Where are you?” she asked. “I’ve been looking for you. Are you still at dinner?”
“Remember that bingo card you were making of possible outcomes for the dance? I bet you didn’t include one that said, ‘Stripped down to my underwear in a vet’s bathroom washing grass stains out of my dress.’”
She laughed. “Nope. Totally left that one off. So where are you?”
“I am in a vet’s bathroom, stripped down to my underwear, washing grass stains out of my dress. I’m also washing some blood out, but I didn’t want to gross you out, so I left that part out.”
There was a pause. “What happened at the restaurant?”
I gave her a rundown, being sure to add the part where Cooper was my knight in shining no-longer-a-clean-suit coat.
“You’re half naked in a restroom?” she asked in alarm. Of all the pertinent details of my story, that was the one she was fixated on. “What if someone walks in on you?”
“It’s just a single room, not one with multiple stalls. Iwouldn’t have gotten undressed if the restroom had been like the ones at high school. I would’ve just had to crawl in the basin and bathe as best I could while hoping the sink didn’t break. It probably would have. So, you see, things could always be worse.”
I didn’t want to get into Cooper’s car again until my dress was clean. I might also have to pay to have his car interior washed, just in case.
This night was turning out to be so expensive. “And that’s what I get for trying to prove to Cooper that I was cool enough to go to the dance. Lesson learned.”
“Are you okay, Madeline? I feel like you’re babbling.”
“I’m definitely babbling, but I’m also okay.” I was okay because Cooper was waiting for me in the lobby. I was okay because he’d, without hesitation, chosen me over Dahlia, and that had to be because he cared about me, not the cat. I was holding onto that fact and trying not to wonder where the talk about our parents would lead.
“I hope Mascot will be all right,” Selena said.
“I’ll let you know.”
“I’m glad Cooper is with you.”
“Yeah, me too. Are things going well with Boden?”
“Yes. He was so cute at dinner. I guess I’d better get back to him.”
I was happy for her. That would teach her to say I had questionable taste in guys. She liked the last one I picked out for myself.
I hung up with Selena, used the hand dryer multiple times on my dress, put it back on, and went to the waiting room.
Despite my drying attempts, the bottom half of my dress was still damp. As I sat down, Cooper’s gaze went over me. “Are you cold? I’d offer to give you my jacket, but I don’t think youwant it.” He gestured to a chair where his suit coat lay in a rumpled, bloody heap. The receptionist must’ve given it back to him.
