“Does our school still have that dating app?” Marco piped upfrom the kitchen table. He was working here today, researching something for his professor. “This girl developed it for a class, and it was really popular my senior year. Everyone was swiping on it. You need to have a Council Rock school district email address to create a profile.”
Dad swallowed the last of his sandwich. “I like that. I’d much rather you bring home a high schooler than a thirty-seven-year-old from Bumble.”
“Hilarious, Dad.” I rolled my eyes. “Yes, it’s still active,” I told Marco. “I mean, I don’t know how many people really use it anymore, but I can make an account.”
Marco sat up straighter in his chair. “You want to do that later? I had one for a while.”
Really?I thought, surprised. Marco Álvarez, who’d had girls surrounding him left and right in high school, had an online dating profile?
And wait, was he on what Reese referred to as “the apps”now? Would he tell me if he was hooking up with someone from Tinder? Or had met the girl of his dreams on Hinge?
As Marco’s friend, I was learning that he was pretty private.
“No, thank you,” I said, because I could also be private. I might’ve shown him Katie’s bachelorette weekend dossier and revealed what color underwear I wore, but somehow this feltmorepersonal than that. I winked at him, though. “I think I can handle it.”
***
But, as it turned out, I couldnothandle it. I got about as far as entering my name before a profile picture stumped me and I decided I needed a wingman—or wingwoman.Hey, are you around today?I texted Natalie.
Tell me when and where!she replied, and I laughed. We texted regularly but hadn’t seen each other in a while. Her summer had been swamped, too.
An hour later, we were camped out on Little Sunflower Bakery’s patio with iced coffees and almond croissants. “Wow, holy crap,” Natalie said after I filled her in on my quest for true love (or however the bridesmaids liked to frame it). Next to Marco, she was now the only person I’d told. “So that’s how you and Davis happened?”
“Yes,” I said. “His cousin Reese is one of Katie’s bridesmaids, so she set us up.”
Then I recapped my date with Chad, which involved telling her about partying at Princeton with Derek. “What a fucking creep!” she exclaimed, loud enough that coffee addicts and pastry lovers at nearby tables glanced over at us.
Both of us blushed, but soon started giggling. Natalie took my hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Mads.”
“Thanks,” I smiled at her. We’d become friends in the weirdest way, but somehow, it was easy between us. “It was awful, but I’m okay and have moved past it.”
“Good.” Natalie nodded. “Now, before we make you the best profile ever, I need to know where we stand with Connor.”
“Just friends,” I reported. “He’s still with Lauren, and she’s gotten sick of me third-wheeling them.” I rolled my eyes. “But if Marco’s over, we all hang out together.”
Natalie slightly raised an eyebrow.
“Connor and I still hang out at night, though,” I said. “Lately we’ve been ordering cheap Chinese and watching whatever his brother recommends on Netflix. We’re startingEmily in Paristonight.”
“Alright, I’m not going to comment onEmily in Paris,” Natalie said. “I don’t want to spoil anything, but is it safe to say you’re still pining after Connor?”
I hesitated, but eventually nodded. “I can’t shake the feeling that we’d be good together, and I know it’s not going to go away unless we try.”
“Uh-huh.” Natalie pulled off a piece of flaky croissant and popped it in her mouth. “So then let me ask you this…” She gave me a look. “If you can’t stop daydreaming about Connor, why are we signing you up for this student dating app?”
Feeling my pulse speed up, I avoided answering by taking a sip of coffee.
“Is it an effort to get over Connor?” she pressed. “Or is it…?”
“Is it what?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.
Natalie didn’t buy it. “Ah, so we are pulling a Davis.”
“No!” I blurted, then amended, “Yes—no. I don’t know. I mean, it worked, right?”
“Yes, it got us to talk and ultimately brought us back together,”Natalie agreed. “But it was messy, painful, immature, and overall,yikes.”
“I’m not trying to make him jealous the way Davis made you jealous,” I said. “I just want to see if it’ll get him to notice me.”
