Under the Same Stars(35)
(From Shelly’s tone, I was assuming Marco was the one dodging commitment.)
“Yeah,” Shelly said as she moved her backpack so Marco could sit down, “this is my shadow for the weekend. Her name is…”
She trailed off when Marco dropped into the desk next to mine. His hair was rumpled like he’d just woken up from a nap. “Mads,” he finished for his not-girlfriend. “Madeline Fisher-Michaels. She and I go way back.”
Shelly’s brow pinched in confusion.
“We went to school together,” I explained.
“Elementary, middle, and high school,” Marco said with a winning grin. “I was always two steps ahead of her.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why do you act like that’s something to brag about? You’re two years older than me.” I shrugged. “No one cares.”
I mean, Shelly sort of did. About our seating arrangement, at least. She looked like a mix between an angry cat and a wounded kitten. Marco caught on quickly, giving me an on-purpose-or-maybe-not-on-purpose shoulder bump before switching to the spot Shelly had saved for him.
She lit up like an angel atop a Christmas tree.
“My dad is also his family’s maybe Realtor,” I said (Marco’s parents still hadn’t decided to list their house), “and we’re obsessed with ?lvarez dining establishments.”
“Oh, I know!” Shelly exclaimed. “Ember & Ash is amazing, right?”
“Amazing,” I agreed. “Two Fish—their brunch place in Pennsylvania—is also incredible.”
“Then you must be over the moon we’re hosting the bridal shower there,” Marco said.
“Wait, what?” I leaned forward so I could see Marco across Shelly’s desk. “Katie’s bridal shower?”
He leaned forward, too. “Yes, Katie’s bridal shower. My mom’s worried that unless they rent out the entire space, Two Fish will be too small to accommodate the guest list.”
“Oh, don’t worry, they will.” I crossed my arms over my chest, and mumbled, “Seems like a present grab to me.”
Marco’s lips twitched. “I did look at their registry. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart.”
“Crate and Barrel?” Shelly guessed, trying to rejoin the conversation. For all I knew, she thought Katie was my sister. “Williams Sonoma?”
“Yes,” Marco and I said in tandem, right as the lights flickered. Introduction to Microeconomics was about to begin. “Plus Amazon.”
Katie had made sure to cover all the bases.
***
The Princeton field hockey team congregated in Forbes’s dining hall for dinner. Shelly had introduced me to everyone, and it felt amazing to be with people who cared about the sport as much as I did. Eventually, the girls started asking about me, myself, and I, and I couldn’t help but smile as I talked about my family and where we lived. “She’s also going to have a sister soon,” Shelly added when I said I just had one brother. “Austin is getting married this December.”
There was a moment of silence before an electric current seemingly zipped through the room, everyone bursting with questions. What is it about girls and weddings? I wondered.
“Do we like Katie?” Lois Hansen, the player from the Netherlands, asked. Her English was accented, but nearly perfect. “I sense there’s a vibe there.”
I sighed, not very eager to talk about Katie. Lately, she’d been working her way into everything, but I didn’t feel closer to her at all. “She’s Katie. My brother loves her.” I shrugged. “I’m a bridesmaid.”
More enthusiastic squeals. “That’s so sweet!” a junior said. “Has she picked your dresses yet?”
“Actually, yeah,” I said, perking up. “I have a photo.”
When Amanda had emailed me my bridesmaid dress, I’d been shocked at first. Our dress was, in fact, the gown Courtney had modeled at the bridal salon: cranberry velvet with a tastefully lowcut neckline and ruffled sleeves. Katie has decided she wants us all in a uniform style, her sister had written. Please see the attached document with more information about sizing, ordering, etc. Let me know if you have any questions!
Mrs. Gallant must be thrilled, I thought. She’d loved that gown.
And it was pretty, but I wondered what happened to the dresses it seemed Katie had actually wanted.
The conversation shifted after I said I knew nothing about Katie’s wedding dress.
It shifted to the famous eating clubs’ parties.
My stomach started to squirm as the girls talked. Were we going to a party?
“It’s Tiger Inn tonight,” Shelly told me, sipping the last of her chocolate milk. “The theme is State Night.”
My eyebrows knitted together. “What does that mean?”
“Party like a state school,” someone said. “Which roughly translates to go as wild as you possibly can.”
I stayed quiet, on the brink of having an internal panic attack. Even though Princeton’s coach hadn’t explicitly said anything, I knew Shelly and the team weren’t supposed to take me to a party. There were rumors in the recruiting circuit that unofficial visits involved parties, but no one on my club team had ever proven them true. Plus, we were going to be playing field hockey tomorrow! Right after classes!