“I think the only way he’s gonna notice you in a new way is if you showdirectinterest in him,” Natalie said. “You’ve already gone out with two guys.”
“I know,” I said, a lump forming in my throat, “but he didn’tknowthem. If I go out with someone from school, I think it’ll be different.”
Madeline Fisher-Michaels, you are a terrible person,the voice in the back of my head said, and I couldn’t disagree. I was being pretty devious.
Natalie groaned. “Why am I helping you do this?”
“Because you love me, Nat,” I said. “You also love the idea of Connor and me as a couple.” I paused. “And if you don’t help me, I’ll end up choosing a field hockey action shot as my profile picture and not get any interest from anyone.”
She laughed. “You do make some valid points,” she said, reaching across the table for my phone. “Let’s see what you’ve got…”
I ADORE THIS, Meredith commented later, once I’d sent screenshots of my dating profile to the bridesmaid group chat.Your pictures are beautiful, and I love your answers to the icebreaker prompts. They sound just like you.
My friend helped A LOT, I texted after the others had echoedher. Because Natalie had chosen the (required) three photos that represented me best.
“Who took this?” she’d asked as she cropped a recent picture of me. “You look ridiculously happy.”
“Connor, actually.” I smiled at the photo of my glowing grin.
Natalie swoon-sighed. “Okay, I fully support this endeavor now. You should be together. He really brings you to life.”
“Yeah, he does,” I said, because it was true…even if it wasn’t the case in this particular snapshot. Connor wasn’t the one who’d nearly had me in tears. He’d only shouted my name so I’d turn and look at the camera. No, it was Marco who was goofing around right then. Happily drunk on his mother’s sangria, he’d been singing and dancing barefoot under a Stone Harbor streetlight in an old T-shirt and cuffed jeans. Connor and I’d laughed so hard our lungs had almost given out.
Now, Yasmin texted:Katie, have you passed the Cards Against Humanity test???
I sucked in a breath. One of the prompts Natalie and I’d chosen wasI’ll Brag About You to My Family If…
My answer?
You beat me in Cards Against Humanity.
Not yet, Katie texted back, and then had the sheeraudacityto add:Harry’s too clever for his own good.
Come on, give me some credit!I thought, frowning at my phone screen. Granted, Daddidalways win our games, but I usually came in second!
I exited out of Messages and swiped across my home screen to the dating app’s icon. After polishing my profile, Natalie and I’d swiped together for a while; I hadn’t opened up the app since. But now, I was greeted by a pop-up message:SNATCH YOUR MATCH!
My pulse leapt. Someone had liked me!
I tapped to see who it was.
Okay, I thought, smiling a little.I can work with this.
***
With Lauren constantly hanging around, there was no casual time to tell Connor my news. I didn’t want it to interrupt our nightly Netflix binges, so I waited until the day of my date to give him a heads-up. We were riding Chip and Chop bareback in the far field; along with shellfish, Connor was technically allergic to horses, but he loved them too much to stay away. Zyrtec, jeans, and long-sleeve shirts mostly kept his hives at bay. “Just an FYI, I can’t watchEmily in Paristonight,” he told me. “Lauren’s been dying to go to Six Flags, so we’re heading there later.”
“Okay, no problem,” I said, trying to keep a straight face. Because, to put it gently, amusement parks were something straight out of Connor’s nightmares. After getting trapped at the top of a roller coaster for two hours when he was ten (a freak technical difficulty), he’d developed a serious fear of heights, and he hated waterslides. “I don’t know what it is about chlorine…” he once said. “But it makes me so nauseous.”
Our seventh-grade field trip to Six Flags water park? He lasted five minutes in the wave pool before profusely vomiting in the lazy river.
“I actually can’t do tonight, either,” I added. “I’m going to the movies.”
“Oh,” Connor said. “With the girls?”
I shook my head. Most were still on vacation.
His brow furrowed. “I thought Marco had friends from Princeton in town?”
