In the past, it had been easy. Morgan set up her friends with other friends. Now, she was dealing with people she barely knew. Scrolling through their random thoughts on Twitter, pictures on Instagram and Snapchat, even their interactions with people on Facebook gave her a well-rounded view of each person she wanted tomatch.
Lacey was out at an off-campus party with a bunch of frat boys, which meant Morgan had the dorm room entirely to herself. She made herself comfortable by putting on an oversized tee and shorts. Then she put her hair up into a messy bun on the top ofherhead.
Out came her uncomfortable contacts, replaced by her thick-rimmed glasses. She was officially in for the night. Morgan spent hours scrolling through feeds, every once in a while pausing to scribble a note about what types of flowers a girl preferred, or what sports team a guyrootedfor.
They seemed like insignificant details, but putting a Gator and a Seminole fan together could be disastrous. Morgan needed to account for every aspect. And the details were becoming more difficult than she had firstanticipated.
When her eyes started hurting from staring at her screen, she put her laptop aside and began brainstorming the perfect dates. The beach, the theme parks, even low-key putt-putt golf made the list of potential dates. She didn't know where she was putting everyone yet, but she didn't want to waste a singlemoment.
Morgan continued to brainstorm and at one point put the pad of paper down and set her head against the wall. She closed her eyes imagining all the happy couples she would put together and all the things she would do with the extra money when her businesstookoff.
She didn't mean to fall asleep with the lights on. She hadn't even realized she had until Lacey was stumbling into their room. The smell of beer and cigarette smoke assaulted Morgan's nostrils from acrosstheroom.
“Oh, good, you're still awake,” Lacey said more loudly than necessary. “I wassint sure if you'd beasssleep.”
Morgan sat up in bed. Her glasses had fallen askew on her nose thanks to her accidental nap. She straightened them while running her hand across her cheek. She tended to drool in her sleep and wanted to wipe away theevidence.
“You've been drinking.” It wasn’t aquestion.
Lacey kicked off her shoes. “Notthatmuch.”
“Did youdrive?”
Lacey put her hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. “No, Mother, I did not drive myssself. Todddroveme.”
“The guy with the acne?” Not that a bad complexion was the only thing Morgan had against the guy. She'd seen him post one too many offensive things online and couldn't understand why Lacey wasintohim.
Her friend pinched the bridge of her nose. “I knew you would actlikethis.”
“Likewhat?”
“That.” Lacey waved her arm in Morgan's direction. “All ‘I know everything about dating, even though I've never had a boyfriend. No one can find love without my help. Blah, blah, blah.’” She'd deepened her voice in a mock-impression of Morgan that sounded more like a wheezy grandmother than a college junior. She hated to admit how accurateitwas.
“You're drunk,” Morgan said, turning her body in her bed, poised to get up and take care of Lacey. Despite the mean thoughts swirling around in her head, they were still bestfriends.
Morgan knew Lacey was lonely. She wanted so badly to find that special someone but didn't trust Morgan's methods. Lacey thought if she went out enough times, talked to enough guys, she would eventually discover the right guy. And maybe she would, but Morgan wished she would acceptherhelp.
She'd been secretly putting together a profile of her best friend. She didn't need unrestricted access to her social media accounts to know what made her tick. She just needed more time and a biggerclientlist.
Seeing Lacey stumble as she tried to get dressed in her pajamas, only served to increase Morgan’s motivation. She hated seeing such a funny and awesome girl lose herselflikethis.
“Here,” Morgan said, getting up and grabbing the shirt that had gotten stuck over Lacey's head and shoulders. “Letmehelp.”
Her friend allowed the assistance and plopped into her bed as soon as she was dressed, not bothering to wash her face or brush herteeth.
When Morgan turned off the light, the room was flooded with darkness, and thankfully silence. No one roamed the halls of their dorm, and the only sound that entered their room was the soft wail of a siren in thedistance.
She expected snoring any second from Lacey's bed but was surprised when she heard her voiceinstead.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Morgan didn't respond, so Lacey continued. “Todd isajerk.”
“I know.” Morgan's voice was so soft, she worried Lacey might not hear her. She cleared her throat to try again, but Lacey spokefirst.
“I don't think your dating service is horrible, you know. I'm just scared there's no one out there who will be a good matchforme.”
Morgan wanted to argue, to tell her dearest friend that she was wrong, that there was someone out there for her. Unfortunately, she hadn't found the perfect match yet. Lacey was a frustrating jumble of contradictions: loud but sensitive, outrageously offensivebutkind.
Morgan didn't want to put her with another guy who only wanted one thing. She wanted Lacey to find true love. Shedeservedit.
