Page 3 of Hello Forever
“Um,” I said, realizing I had no idea how the actual game was going. “They’re okay. They’ll be better when I’m workingthere.”
Mom’s eyes opened wide. “Did you decide? Are youtakingit?”
“Yeah,” I heardmyselfsay.
She came all the way into the room and hugged my head in one arm. “I’m proud of you. But I’ll miss you! Can Ivisit?”
“Of course.” I hugged her back a littleawkwardly.
“I worryaboutyou.”
“Why?” I chuckled. “Because I have no job, no friends and noboyfriend?”
Mom grabbed the back of my neck and shook me a little. “Youhavea job, but it doesn’t happen to pay actual money. Youhavefriends, who all moved to Chicago and New York. And your boyfriend wasadick.”
“Jeez, Mom. Tell me how youreallyfeel.”
“I hope you meet aniceboy in Massachusetts. That place might be a littlelonely.”
It might. But I’d already decided I was going, whether it was crazyornot.
ChapterTwo
One Month Later
My mother had warnedme that every new job came with a few consecutive days of “what the fuck did I just do?” She wasn’twrong.
Even before I started the actual job, I ran into trouble. Just finding somewhere to live in Henning was tricky. The town was small, and I didn’t want roommates. Also, November was half over. Housing in a college town is a lot like musical chairs—the music only stops every August and December. I’d missed the season when everyone moves in and out, so the few available apartments were the dregs ofthelot.
And I didn’t have a car. That was probably the last nail in the coffinofdoom.
The first place I’d seen was a basement apartment underneath a professor’s house. It smelled like dampsocks.
Then I was shown a perfectly suitable place in a nice development, but it was so far out of town that I’d have to bike on a busy street with a narrow shoulder in every sort of weather. Taking my life into my hands during a snowstorm wasn’t a great idea, even if I did want that tidy little kitchen and a balcony overlooking an appleorchard.
Ohwell.
By the time I made it to the last place on my list, I was pretty discouraged. The listing on Newbury Street was described as an “efficiency over the garage.” That could mean anything, but I made an appointment by email with somebody named Caleb, and I showed up at one o’clock hoping forthebest.
Newbury Street was pretty and lined with old houses. I liked it immediately. And when I knocked on number twenty-four, a really handsome guy came to the door to greet me. No—make thattworeallyattractivemen.
Hello, NewburyStreet!
“I’m Axel,” I said, shaking the firstguy’shand.
“I’m Caleb, and this is Josh,” he said,studyingme.
“You’re the owners?” I asked. They were both about my age. Too young to behomeowners.
Caleb crossed his arms. “Yeah. I’m a mechanic in the next town, and Josh is a student at the college. That’s why we bought thisplace.”
Well, damn. I guess I was just a slacker. “Good location,” I said, trying to befriendly.
“Right,” Caleb agreed. “The thing you need to know about your potential landlords is that we’remarried.”
“To each other?” I said, sounding just a little more stunned than was polite. I didn’t get a gay vibe off these guys at all. Then again, I’d known them for less than sixtyseconds.
“You have a problem with that?” Caleb askedimmediately.
