Page 64 of Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon
I’m standing outside of a bar called Fells Point Tavern, and I’m thinking about doing a spin move and speed-walking back to my apartment because I’m not sure I even want to be here.
“You should go,” Grace said back at her house half an hour ago withEdward Scissorhandson pause. I’d just explained my phone mishap from earlier—how I thought Meredith was Grace.
“What?” I asked. I was surprised, a little hurt, too. “Really?”
“You said she’s pretty, right? And nice?”
“Yeah, but…we haven’t finished the movie yet.”
“Eh.” Grace shrugged. “Like you said, it gets dark and sad. Maybe we skip that part—end on a high note. You know, those two beautiful idiots hugging.”
I looked at the TV.
“Plus,” Grace said. “You gotta think about it from Meredith’s perspective, right? She asks you out. Then you respond by telling her you were just thinking about her, accusing her of booty texting you, then vanishing. I mean, you probably made her feel bad. Or at the very least you confused the shit out of her. You need to go just to prove that you’re not a complete weirdo. I mean, even though you obviously are.”
A group of people in their twenties dodge me now on their wayinto Fells Point Tavern. They’re wearing horrendous sweaters and laughing. A band is playing down the street at The Horse You Came In On. I can hear it from here. The temperature is falling fast, a singing drunk girl runs by dressed as Buddy the Elf, and I wish I’d stayed with Grace instead.
When she was looking at my phone before, she told me that Brynn was beautiful. She was right, Brynn was beautiful. When she said it, though, the first thing I thought was that Grace is also beautiful. I nearly said it, even:You’re beautiful, too, Grace.I didn’t, though, because that would’ve been too much to say to a friend. Because that’s what Grace and I are, I remind myself. We’re friends.
Through the bar’s steamed-over window, everyone looks like they’re having fun in there. More people with ugly sweaters enter, and when the door opens, music and laughter come out. I remove my phone from my back pocket. What would Grace say if I texted her and told her that she’s beautiful and that I want to come back and watch the end ofEdward Scissorhandswith her? The answer I come up with is humbling, though, considering how convinced she was that I should leave her house immediately and come here to be with someone else. Grace wouldn’t have done that if she wanted me to stay. Right?
Either way, it’s too late, because I see Meredith now through the window. And when I do, her eyes go wide with recognition. And now she’s smiling.
Meredith has to shout overthe noise. “You made it!”
“Hi. I did, yeah.”
She’s in a gray, form-fitting sweater with snowflake-shaped polka dots, looking as pretty in her big glasses as she did back at her shop. “Come on. We got a good spot.”
Two women stand at a high-top table. I recognize them from Precocious HQ.
“This is Ginny, and this is Gabby,” Meredith tells me. “Ladies, this is Henry, Cal’s brother.”
Ginny and Gabby lift their beers, we shout hellos, and Meredith asks me if I want a drink.
“I’ll get it,” I say. “Save my place. Anybody need another one?”
Ginny and Gabby point to their full beers and say no. Meredith says she’ll take a gin and tonic.
Maybe it’s weird to pop over to their table, say hi, and immediately run off. But aside from hanging at a bar with two kids the other night, this is the most social I’ve been in a year, so I need a second to myself while I wait for my drink. The bartender is wearing a T-shirt with a picture of the leg lamp fromA Christmas Storyon it.Fragilé!
“Nice shirt,” I tell her. “Must be Italian.” She winks and tells me Happy Hanukkah.
When I return to the table, the ladies are comparing paper cuts.
“Wrapping presents is a legit health hazard, Henry,” says Ginny, who’s wearing a red-and-green holiday cardigan. “Look at this. It’s like I got shivved in prison.”
The wound on her index finger is pink and angry. “Yeesh.”
Meredith and I tap our gin and tonics together. “I got one, too,” I say and take a big Christmas tree–tasting sip. The leg lamp lady must’ve liked me complimenting her shirt because this is the strongest drink I’ve had in years.
“If I have to wrap one more biodegradable educational toy, I’m gonna set the store on fire, by the way,” says Gabby. She’s in denim overalls and a red turtleneck.
“She’s joking,” says Meredith. “Gabby loves her job. Right, Gabby?”
Gabby makes her voice sound robotic. “Yes. I love my job. And I don’t want to murder any of our customers, even the kids who lick everything.”
“Damn,” I say. “This turned dark. We’re murdering kids now?”
