Page 22 of You Had Me at Hockey

I use my phone to video myself in my new outfits in front of the big mirror in my bedroom, trying a few different combinations. I pin up the skirt to the mini length I want it. Maybe I’ll do a video of me hemming it. Then I flop down onto my bed. “I’m tired,” I tell my phone. I almost spill the beans that I have a date tomorrow night but zip my lips right up. My life is an open book—mostly. There are some things I keep to myself, and relationships is one of them. There were rumors about me and another YouTube vlogger last year and people go crazy for that shit—some of his ardent female fans thought I wasn’t good enough for him, some of my haters insulted us both, ugh. And we were just friends! I can only imagine what people would say about me dating Josh Heller. And I bet he has lots of female fans who wouldn’t be happy about that.

This disheartens me.

“Blah,” I say aloud, pushing up off the bed. Clothes are scattered around the room, but I have work to do. After I eat. And change. And pop out my contact lenses and switch to glasses.

Dressed in my softest sweatpants and sweatshirt, I sit on the couch while I eat and watch TV. Sometimes it’s good to stay off social media, so I watch old Friends episodes. I love that show. I love their friendships and their struggles, although I do find the show is not very diverse, which strikes me as odd given how New York looks these days.

My phone pings with a text message and I lean over to peek at it.

Josh.

My instinct is to toss the food aside and grab my phone. But I finish my dinner, set down the plate, and pick up the phone.

Hey Sara. How was your day?

I smile.Busy! I’m about to go into my editing cave.

Good thing I caught you before you turn into a bat.

Ha ha. Def not a bat. Tho I am nocturnal. And I’m almost blind.

I’m nocturnal too.

Do u hate mornings?

With the heat of a thousand bonfires.

Me too.

So…tomorrow night? Still on?

Yes!I pause, then delete the exclamation mark.

Great. I’ll pick you up at 6 for dinner.

Okay sounds cool.

After, we can walk to a wine bar not far from the restaurant.

Perfect.

Excitement sparkles in my veins. I can’t wait to see him again.

Game starts soon, better go.

Oh! You’re playing tonight!

Yeah.

Good luck!

Thanks. See u tomorrow.

I send the thumbs-up emoji and set my phone down. Then I grab the remote for the TV and start searching for the channel with the game.

Chapter 7

Josh

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