Page 5 of The Cuffing Game
There was silence on the other end. Mia didn’t have to see her to know Jeannette was chewing her lip, a habit that both sisters shared when they had a lot on their minds.
“Sure,” Jeannette said finally, her voice falsely bright. “I’m at school now so I’ll talk to you later. Hope you figure things out!”
“Thanks, J. I’ll keep you updated.”
After they’d hung up, Mia opened the group chat she had with her friends and started typing.
Hey, y’all. Sorry but...She hit the backspace button. Already, her message sounded pathetic.
Some bad news. But not all hope is lost!
She groaned. She sounded like someone from a Shakespearean play.
Finally, she screenshotted the cancellation notice and shared it without any message.
Their responses were instantaneous.
KALLIE MARTIN (she/her):WTF??????
DAMIEN CARTER (he/him):Is this a joke?
ALEX DOMINGUEZ (they/them):What are we going to do now?
DAMIEN CARTER (he/him):Pray, I guess.
Mia watched as her friends’ confusion and despair filled her phone screen, her own fingers frozen with dread. She stared at the blinking cursor but couldn’t figure out what to say. Whatwerethey going to do now?
KALLIE MARTIN (she/her):We should just go indie. We don’t need the SPC! We can make our own show!
DAMIEN CARTER (he/him):With what money?
ALEX DOMINGUEZ (they/them):Maybe we can try resubmitting next semester?
Mia went to her desk drawer and got out her four-year planner. It was obnoxiously heavy, practically a novel in its 140 pages of 48 monthly spreads and other helpful pages.
In the summer, after she’d registered for her fall-semester classes, she’d gone on the school website and found theprevious spring’s course catalog to make a list of the classes she’d have to take next. They were mostly GE classes like biology and math that were overly intensive but unfortunately required for her to graduate. She’d been planning on loading her spring semester up with such classes so she could focus on stuff for her actual major the rest of college.
MIA YOON (she/her):I can’t do next semester, sorry. And I know Damien and Kallie can’t do next year. I’ll try to think of a solution. Will keep you updated.
Could we independently produce the show like Kallie suggested?Mia thought.Set up a GoFundMe? Crowdfund on social media?
The door to their dorm opened, and Mia jerked her head up to see Celine, her roommate, coming back into the room with a big box. It was 7 a.m. on a Monday, but she was already in full makeup. The only time of day Mia consistently saw Celine in their room was in the morning, since that was when she made her makeup haul posts or recorded her videos.
“Oh good, you’re awake!” Celine said. “Good morning! I just got a new shipment of makeup, so I have to record a video. Hope that’s okay!”
Mia collapsed back onto the bed and tried to match Celine’s friendly and polite tone. “Yeah, you’re totally fine. Thanks for the heads-up!”
Mia and Celine weren’t exactly friends, but they were friendly enough that Celine knew about Mia’s show, and Mia knew Celine was a beauty influencer who specialized in Asian makeup products. Other than that, they had virtually no overlap, since Celine hardly ever watched movies and Mia never went to parties. Well, besides the Alpha Tau one they went to during the first week of school.
Although Mia hardly ever wore makeup, she listened in as Celine recorded her latest video. Not only did her roommate give the best tips, but her voice was incredibly soothing, too.
Since she still had a couple hours until her first class, Mia rolled over until her face smooshed against her pillow. She must have dozed off, because when she next opened her eyes, Celine was back in her own bed, hugging her pillow close to her chest as she stared down at her phone.
“Ugh, he left me on seen again!” she whispered.
And that’s when Mia got an idea. It most likely wouldn’t work, but at this point, Mia was desperate to try anything.
“Hey, Celine?” Mia asked. “Do you have a crush on anyone? Ideally someone who goes to our school?”
