Page 48 of Fake Dating & Matchmaking 101

She bites her lip, thinking. “Um… this bonfire dance. I was a sophomore.”

So, she remembers.

“I was a senior,” I say.

Skye nods. “Wonderful, wonderful. This was a significant event for you two. I can see that written on both of your faces. Tell me more.” She folds her hands together.

Is this what it feels like to be around someone whose sole purpose is to listen? The woman’s so still and calm. It’s like her only job in the whole world right now is to care about whatever’s said next. Maybe this is why people pay for therapy.

I wouldn’t know about that though. Never been.

She gestures toward Olivia. “Why don’t you go first, dear?”

“Right.” Olivia clears her throat. “I guess it was—er… a significant event for us because… um… Cole here asked me to the dance. He drove his dad’s truck over to… um… to my grandparent’s house. I lived there.”

Oh, man.

This is about to get embarrassing. This is one of those memories I’ve worked so hard not to drag up in my mind, over the years.

But as Olivia talks, I remember exactly how it felt, driving to Trent’s house that day.

I had a fresh, newly laminated driver’s license in my pocket and I felt like a real big-shot in my dad’s wheels. I stopped at the Farmdale grocery store and bought this cheesy bouquet of carnations that were definitely past their prime. I pulled up into that driveway and my heart was racing.

Trent’s grandmother answered the door and I asked to speak to Olivia.

The whole thing unfolded like a car crash in slow motion.

Skye peers at me. “You now, dear.”

“Okay…” I reach up and scratch the back of my neck. I don’t want to talk about this.

But they’re both waiting.

“So, yeah, I guess Olivia was doing her homework or something, but she came out to talk to me. We stood in the driveway. I asked her to the dance. She said no.”

Sounds harmless enough.

It didn’tfeelharmless, though. That day, I felt like my heart was getting stomped by a herd of elk.

I drove home, tossed the carnations out somewhere between Silver Creek and Farmdale, and promised myself never to think about Olivia that way again.

Kept my word, too, pretty much.

Until this morning.

I rub my neck some more. “Maybe there’s not so much to hash out after all.”

Skye shakes her head slowly. “Cole, I’m going to respectfully disagree with you, there. This moment of time you’re discussing is actually an opportunity for healing. If there’s hurt there—which I can see there is—then it’s worth fearlessly exploring. I’ll leave you both to it. Befearless, my friends.”

She balls her hand into a fist, maybe to demonstrate the strength we’re supposed to muster up. Then she pats us both on the shoulders before floating away to the next couple.

Oliva won’t meet my eye. She bites her lip.

“I haven’t thought about that day in a while,” I tell her. I brought flowers. I was innocent and young and naive and nervous. Icared. She trampled on my heart.

“I haven’t either,” she admits. “Weird that I brought it up, isn’t it? She picks at the elastic hemline of her legging, where it wraps around her ankle. “Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, it was the only time you asked me out.”

You said no.

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