Page 37 of June

“Well, I’m changing it.”

“That’s okay. I know your mom’s birthday, too.” Jodie smiled at her.

“Make itmybirthday,” Viv added from below them.

“I know your birthday,” Jodie noted.

“You know my birthday?” Viv asked, softening a little.

Jodie moved until she could hang her head over the side of Caroline’s top bunk to look down at Viv and replied, “Of course, I know your birthday. Do you not know mine?”

“No, Ido,” Viv said softly.

“Okay. Can we get back to the fact that I now need to respond to Enid?” Caroline asked.

Jodie shifted back and said, “Tell her that you want to hang out.”

“When?”

“Now.”

“Again, it’s ten in the morning,” she repeated. “I want togoout with her. Ten in the morning isn’t exactly the sexiest time of day.”

“Why not?” Jodie asked. “You could have brunch.”

“Brunch?” she said. “I don’t want to have brunch with her.”

“You want to have sex with her.”

Caroline gave Jodie wide eyes and pointed to the bed beneath them, where Viv was currently lying. Jodie shrugged and looked apologetic.

“Take her to the dining hall,” Viv suggested. “Have the Belgian waffles. You make them yourself, and that can be fun. Then, you can walk around or something or get off campus. Maybe go mini-golfing.”

“Mini-golf?” Caroline asked.

“Yeah, it’s fun. The one near us has an arcade, too. You can make a day of it and win her a prize with your tickets, or she could winyouone. Then, you have an excuse to ask her to dinner because it’s nearly dinnertime, anyway, and you can go somewhere cheap; eat street food, maybe. Then, you can decide what, if anything, to do after that.”

Caroline shifted untilherhead was hanging over the side of the bed, and she stared at her roommate in disbelief.

“What? Where didthatcome from?”

“It’s just an idea,” Viv said when she lowered her book and shrugged just like Jodie had moments earlier.

Caroline shook her head and smiled at her just as her phone vibrated. Jodie stole it off the bed where Caroline had left it.

“She wants to know what you’re doing right now. Should I tell her that you’re contemplating how to ask her out on a date?”

“What? No.” Caroline took her phone back and started typing her own message. “There. I sent it.”

“What did you say?” Jodie asked.

There was a quick reply from Enid, so Caroline didn’t answer. She just read it on her phone.

Enid Becker: That sounds like fun.

???

“Hi,” Enid said.

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