Under the Same Stars(56)
“No, thank you,” I said, because I could also be private. I might’ve shown him Katie’s bachelorette weekend dossier and revealed what color underwear I wore, but somehow this felt more personal than that. I winked at him, though. “I think I can handle it.”
***
But, as it turned out, I could not handle it. I got about as far as entering my name before a profile picture stumped me and I decided I needed a wingman—or wingwoman. Hey, are you around today? I texted Natalie.
Tell me when and where! she replied, and I laughed. We texted regularly but hadn’t seen each other in a while. Her summer had been swamped, too.
An hour later, we were camped out on Little Sunflower Bakery’s patio with iced coffees and almond croissants. “Wow, holy crap,” Natalie said after I filled her in on my quest for true love (or however the bridesmaids liked to frame it). Next to Marco, she was now the only person I’d told. “So that’s how you and Davis happened?”
“Yes,” I said. “His cousin Reese is one of Katie’s bridesmaids, so she set us up.”
Then I recapped my date with Chad, which involved telling her about partying at Princeton with Derek. “What a fucking creep!” she exclaimed, loud enough that coffee addicts and pastry lovers at nearby tables glanced over at us.
Both of us blushed, but soon started giggling. Natalie took my hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Mads.”
“Thanks,” I smiled at her. We’d become friends in the weirdest way, but somehow, it was easy between us. “It was awful, but I’m okay and have moved past it.”
“Good.” Natalie nodded. “Now, before we make you the best profile ever, I need to know where we stand with Connor.”
“Just friends,” I reported. “He’s still with Lauren, and she’s gotten sick of me third-wheeling them.” I rolled my eyes. “But if Marco’s over, we all hang out together.”
Natalie slightly raised an eyebrow.
“Connor and I still hang out at night, though,” I said. “Lately we’ve been ordering cheap Chinese and watching whatever his brother recommends on Netflix. We’re starting Emily in Paris tonight.”
“Alright, I’m not going to comment on Emily in Paris,” Natalie said. “I don’t want to spoil anything, but is it safe to say you’re still pining after Connor?”
I hesitated, but eventually nodded. “I can’t shake the feeling that we’d be good together, and I know it’s not going to go away unless we try.”
“Uh-huh.” Natalie pulled off a piece of flaky croissant and popped it in her mouth. “So then let me ask you this…” She gave me a look. “If you can’t stop daydreaming about Connor, why are we signing you up for this student dating app?”
Feeling my pulse speed up, I avoided answering by taking a sip of coffee.
“Is it an effort to get over Connor?” she pressed. “Or is it…?”
“Is it what?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.
Natalie didn’t buy it. “Ah, so we are pulling a Davis.”
“No!” I blurted, then amended, “Yes—no. I don’t know. I mean, it worked, right?”
“Yes, it got us to talk and ultimately brought us back together,” Natalie agreed. “But it was messy, painful, immature, and overall, yikes.”
“I’m not trying to make him jealous the way Davis made you jealous,” I said. “I just want to see if it’ll get him to notice me.”
“I think the only way he’s gonna notice you in a new way is if you show direct interest 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’t know them. 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 echoed her. 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.