“Who?”
Oh. Shit. “Uh—the guys inside? Blue Shirt and Curly Hair?”
“You know their names?”
“I overheard them talking when we walked by,” I say with a shrug. This explanation makes no sense, but what is Madison going to do about it? Call me out and theorize that I already lived a whole life with those guys as my friends and then time traveled to before we met?
Not likely.
“You could hear them over the music?” Madison asks.
We’re outside, and I can barely hearherover the music.
“Yep. Your guy’s Patrick, by the way. Maybe pretend not to know that when you meet him. How exactly—”
Madison’s eyes widen, and she turns so her back is to the door.
“Oh my God, don’t look now, but here they come. Itoldyou. We arehotgirls.Yes,” she exclaims with a tiny fist pump.
No way.
I lean to the side so I can look past her shoulder. Sure enough…
“Holy shit, it worked.” Ihatethat it worked, but I’m also in awe of Madison and the genius, apparently, of teen magazines.
“I told you. Approach-and-swerve.”In a louder voice, she says, “Anyway, that’s why I’m thinking I might switch over to engineering. Or maybe computer science?”
“But you hate math—” I start, but Patrick’s eager voice cuts in.
“Did you say engineering? I’m an engineering major!”
Madison turns to look at him, her eyes wide with innocence. I finally register what she’s doing. Oh, she’s good. Was she always this good? Her genius was wasted on Jake.
“Noway,” she exclaims, hopping up and down on her heels with excitement that I’d swear was genuine if she hadn’t already made it clear that she has no interest in him—yet. “What a coincidence. I have so many questions. Maybe we can talk about it over there—”
She grabs his hand and pulls him across the yard. Patrick stares but goes with her, slightly open-mouthed, and I’m taken back to their wedding and the incredibly moving speech he gave about how he’d fallen in love with her at first sight. So strange, to clock it happening in real time. He glances at Ellie, and that look says it all—he’s already a goner.
And then there are two.
I turn to Ellie and reach out to shake his hand. In another life, this motion belonged to him—he initiated our handshake. He initiated the whole conversation. Later, he joked about how awkward he was, shaking hands like it was an interview, not a party. This time, I take charge.
“Hi, I’m Josephina—but everyone calls me Joey,” I say as his hand grips mine.
The first time I spoke these words to him, I wasn’t aware of what a major moment it was. Sure, he was cute, but I had no clue what we’d become.
He was just another cute guy at a party, until he wasn’t.
Ellie’s eyes widen in surprise. He chuckles.
“Is that funny?” I press.
But I already know.
“No, it’s just—I’m Elijah, but everyone calls me Ellie.”
Only now does he let go of my hand. I mourn the loss of contact.
“I bet you get a lot of shit for that,” I joke.
