Page 53 of Okay, Cupid

There it is. I look at Alice, the idea now hopefully planted in her head.

“You never know,” I say. “Someone could. It’s not too late.”

“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” Huy hands me my box.

“Jude, are you coming to the bus stop with me?” Alice asks.

“Oh, uh …” I break eye contact with Huy. “Yeah. It’s not that far from mine.”

“Cool.” Alice lets her purse hang off her shoulder. “Bye, Huy. Thanks for the donuts.”

“No problem. I’ll see you around?” It’s almost like they’ve suddenly remembered that there’s this wall between them. Or at least, they think it’s still there. But I can see how it’s broken around them. Alice and I walk out of the bakery with our donuts in hand, and I wait for Alice to get on the bus before I walk off toward mine on Geary.

I have a plan; pieces are set in motion. I can picture it so easily. At the recital, I know what I’m going to do.

I can almost see the finish line now. It’s so close.

There’s just a little further to go.

Not to jinx myself, but I’m feeling really good about this. Even Leah loved my idea once I sat down and explained to her how I wanted to do things, what I’d need her to do. I give Cal the same spiel as I gave her earlier, the two of us spending another night together after Leah and Richard needed each other for a job, the leftovers of our takeout spread before us on the coffee table at Cal’s house.

“You don’t have to help me, you know,” I tell him. “I know you’ve got your own assignments to worry about.”

“Jude, please,” he scoffs at me. “Besides, I’ve been waiting for the chance to see you perform in an orchestra ever since you showed me your schedule.”

“It won’t be much of a performance,” I promise him. “Just me turning pages.”

“Maybe Alice will be struck with some bug, and you’ll really get the chance to shine?”

“Yeah, if that happens, I’ll kindly ask you to run me down with Richard’s car.”

“I mean, it’s a Tesla, so it’s not like I even have to be behind the wheel.” Cal laughs. “Do you really think that you’re nearing the end with these two?”

“It feels that way,” I tell him. Thankfully, I don’t have to explain myself. Cal knows the sensation the same way that I do. That feeling that you’re nearing something big, something that’ll change the entire game.

Sometimes it’s as simple as the lead in to a kiss, when you see the two people tilting their heads, their lips meeting, and that euphoric rush hits you. Other times it’s slower than that, when a gaze lingers or fingertips touch by accident.

I can feel myself getting closer and closer. To that final moment, to passing the test.

To this all ending.

And that’s all it takes to bring myself down. I don’t know, it’s dumb to think that I’m already so close with Neve and Alice, but I enjoy hanging out with them. I like being around them. They make me laugh. And it’s nice to get to feel like a normal teenager. More than once, I’ve had to remind myself that I’m at Hearst to do a job, not to have fun.

“You okay?” Cal asks me. “You went all quiet on me.”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

But the way he looks at me tells me he knows something’s up. Cal reaches for the remote, turning off whatever YouTube video essay he’d pulled up, because for some reason, he can avoid most overtly human things except long video essays about media he’s never consumed.

“I want boba,” he says, turning to me. “How does boba sound?”

“Really good, actually.”

Cal takes my hand, leading me back out into the dining room. “We’re going out to get boba,” he tells me.

Cal and I grab our jackets, and we’re out the door in record time, moving through the neighborhood until we find ourselves free of the winding streets.

“Is it weird that I don’t want this job to end?” I ask him. Because I have to. I want to talk about this, and Cal obviously picked up on the signals. Why else would he have invited me out?