Macie strolled out of the art building and into the quad. The sun was high overhead and the air teased of a hot Louisiana afternoon. She tilted her head back, letting the sun soak into her skin.
Her phone vibrated in her hand and she smiled when she saw the name on the screen.
“Hey, Pete. What’s up?”
“Do you have the notes from class today?”
“Be more specific. We have three classes together and you missed all of them.” Macie held in her laugh. Pete was a good guy, but he tended to party too much and study too little. He wasn’t anywhere near the top of their class and, yet, he had a job back in Baton Rouge already. How he landed it, she had no idea. He wasn’t the only person whose grades weren’t as good as hers who had jobs before she did.
“Okay, all of them.” He chuckled under his breath. “You know that girl I’ve been chasing?”
Macie laughed. “You mean Cate with a C. You’ve only asked her out since sophomore year.”
“Yep, that’s her. Apparently, I’m not as suave as I think. She thought I’d been joking this whole time.” He paused, and Macie heard a door close in the background. “She finally said yes a few days ago. We haven’t left my room since.”
“That is information I did not need to know, Pete.” Macie wrinkled her nose. “But congrats.”
“Thanks, and can I have your notes?” he asked a little more frantically then before.
“Yeah, but you’re buying me lunch.” Macie sat on the edge of the fountain and wrote herself a reminder on her hand to give Pete copies.
“Deal.” Pete sighed. “And thanks, Mace. You’ve been a lifesaver these last few years.”
Pete ended the call. Macie didn’t even have time to think about Pete when her phone rang again. She was suddenly popular. That wasn’t something she relished. She swiped to answer without looking at the screen.
“Hey, Mace,” Ford said on the other end.
He never called her. Ever. Unless Lauren was in full freak-out mode. She sat ramrod straight. “What’s wrong? Is Lauren okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. I just...” He hesitated and sighed. “Look, I realized something and I need to man up and apologize. I’m sorry.”
“Okay. For what?” This was getting weirder by the second.
“You’ve done a lot for the wedding and I... I was a jerk about the shower invitations. They really are fantastic. You do amazing work. So thank you for doing everything. We... I really do appreciate it.”
Macie wasn’t sure what to say. “Wow, okay. Thanks. That means a lot.”
“Good. I’m glad. I didn’t want that hanging between us. I’ve got to get to class. Talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
Macie stared at her phone like it would answer all the questions in the universe. Mainly why Ford called her. She replayed the conversation. It was nice that he thanked her. She’d worked hard to get the save-the-date cards, the wedding invitations, the shower invitations, the place holders, everything. She was finishing up the final touches on the programs, too. And he was a jerk about the shower invitations, but he okayed the final draft.
Unless...
She wanted to slap herself. Zac told Ford what she’d said. Why would he do that? And should she be pissed or grateful? It wasn't like she told Zac anything in confidence. Why would he even bother? They weren’t friends. She couldn’t not thank him either. She pulled up his number under ‘jackass’ and sent him a quick text.
Thank you. You didn’t have to do that but thank you.
He responded instantly. For what?
Macie shook her head. For telling Ford he was being a jerk.
No problem. He was being a jerk. It’s always my pleasure to point that out to him.
LOL
She slipped her phone in her bag and headed toward the student union for lunch. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. And victories deserved pizza.
With two slices of extra-greasy pepperoni, she settled into a corner booth and opened her tablet. Her Blind Friends app had been silent since they agreed to meet after graduation. She missed Guy. There wasn’t a message from him. Macie hated to admit being a little heartbroken by that, but she hadn’t messaged him either. It took two to play the game.
Dear Guy,
Now that you know, I’m going to keep calling you Guy. I’m not going to lie. This feels awkward now. Like, we’ve taken this huge step forward without actually taking it and I don’t even know what to say. But I have to say something, right? I mean, this is what we do. We talk. We’re honest with each other.
But I also feel like we need to stay anonymous. I want to tell you everything about myself, but I want to do it in person. If I tell you my name, it will break the spell. Does that make sense? I hope so.
My new job wants me to start before graduation. I’m meeting with the HR department to plan out my schedule until I can go full-time. It’s only going to be for a few weeks, but I’ll spend most of my time training, I think. Honestly I don't really know what to expect. This job isn’t what I was going for. It was the only one that offered though, so I had no choice if I wanted to stay here. I need to make the best of it. And I’m terrified and excited at the same time. It’s a lot to take in. I’m stepping blindly into this place. With the exception of us, I never do that. I research, study, prepare. There’s no
