“No problem,” I said. “I guess I’ll just…”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a thing.” (???????)
“Sounds fun.”
“Yeah. Okay. I’ll see you soon?”
“Yes, please,” said Ruby. I swooned so hard I almost felt seasick. Surely she was putting my health at risk.
“You know where to reach me,” I said—lamely, but she laughed anyway. She gave me another quick hug, waved, and joined the guys in whatever it was they were going to do next. Before I walked away, I noticed that she had two open seats to choose from, and she chose the one next to Mikey.
When I returned to the main room, Jamie was gone, and so was Natalie Reid. Only a few stragglers remained, and Dee and Gaby eyed them warily from behind the counter. I ran out to the parking lot, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jamie and Natalie leaving separately, but I saw neither. I checked my phone, but Jamie hadn’t so much as texted a goodbye. It’s late, for Jamie, I thought. I’m sure she just went home. I was getting good at lying to myself. If I kept practicing like this, one day I might even believe it.
I forgot all about getting pancakes with my dad until an hour before I was supposed to meet him, at ten-thirty the next morning. My body woke me up, sweaty and panicked, and I checked my phone to find a reminder text from him, sent at five-fifteen a.m., which for him was sleeping in.
See u 10:30 Mantequilla—JR
My dad signed all his texts like I might forget who the DAD in my phone referred to otherwise. And still no mention of his apparently impending move. I texted him back (Sounds good!) and tapped my conversation with Ruby in case she’d texted me late last night when I was already asleep. Obviously that wasn’t the case, but you could never be too careful. I really had missed a text message once. It was from my mom, not a girl, but it could happen. So a minute later I checked again.
I wasn’t in the mood to see my dad, really, but I knew I should be grateful for the distraction. It wasn’t that I’d expected Ruby to text me, but what a relief it would have been if she had. Without it, I was left to my own horrible imagination of what she might have done with the rest of her night. She’d said she was done with Mikey, but couples like that were never really done. Brody Warshaw and Alina McCaskill had been on and off since literally the fifth grade. They were not good together, clearly, but no one knew what to do when they were apart. Once when they were broken up, the stock market crashed. It was all over the news. Sure, it was a coincidence, but then again…was it?
Ruby and Mikey felt a little like the alt Brody and Alina. I worried that if something more serious than a cheek kiss didn’t happen soon, I would lose my chance for good. And then I would finish high school as single as I’d started it.
That said, the cheek kiss was pretty freaking great. I touched the spot on my face where it had happened and closed my eyes to replay it over and over, giving myself the good kind of chest pain every time.
I’d wanted to tell Jamie first thing. Had she still been there when I came out of the coffee shop, I knew Ruby kissed me would have been the first words out of my mouth. In the sharp morning light, I realized that might not have been the best idea, and I felt momentarily grateful she’d left, saving me from myself. But then I remembered Natalie Reid, and punched my pillow, and got up to get ready.
* * *
—
I was told (mostly by my dad) that Mantequilla was an institution. Though the food was delicious, this was somewhat difficult to accept, especially if you read some of the snottier reviews online. The cafe was situated in a strip mall between two constantly rotating storefronts—currently, an orthopedic-shoe outlet and a nail salon decorated to look