Page 22 of Where It Begins
“Nope, no ketchup, but thanks,” Violet replies, her voice all pitchy.
The boy’s head lifts and his eyes light up. “Violet? Hall?”
She drops her hood and adopts a stiff smile. “Hey Jordan, how’s it going?”
“Good. I got a part in the play this semester. Are you working on costume design again?”
“Uh, not this time. Mathletes is keeping me on my toes this semester.”
“That’s too bad. It’s nice to see you.” He passes over the shake and the bag with the fries. “I threw in some ketchup, anyway. Just in case.”
“Thanks. See you around.”
“Yeah, have a good night.”
I wait until we drive away before I ask. “Would that be the Jordan you got all the practice kissing time in with?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s cute.”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t I ever meet him?”
“Because we only hung out when we were working on the play and he had a kiss scene because he was the lead role. I’m sure you can see where this is going.” She pushes her straw into her shake and tries to hide a smirk by taking a hearty slurp. Two seconds later, she’s holding the side of her head. “Ahhh, damn, you brain freeze.”
“So you practiced that scene together.”
“Obviously it was supposed to be closed mouth on stage, but we took creative liberties.” She flings a hand around in the air. “Anyway, that happened, and now this has happened, and I don’t know how to deal with it. And I’m terrified to text him because his mom probably reads all his messages.”
“I read your messages.”
“Yeah, but we have an agreement. When it’s no longer safe to read my messages, I’ll let you know.”
“I’m hoping that won’t happen for a couple more years.”
“Based on what most of the girls I know say about their boyfriends, you don’t have much to worry about there. I’d rather wait until the hormones have settled before I go making those kinds of life-altering decisions. My body is mine and all that jazz.” She pries the lid off her shake and dips a fry in the thick vanilla. “Ah, fries and ice cream, my arch nemesis and best friend, how I love you so.” She hums contentedly as she chews. “Do you want one?”
“I’m okay, but thanks. Back to the Michael issue. I think you can safely message him and ask if he’s able to talk. And then you can set the parameters for him. All your concerns are valid, and you can present it to him as valuing his friendship and your working relationship, and that you don’t want to disrupt the dynamic on the team, so it would be best if you kept what happened between you,” I suggest.
“Okay. I can do that. I’m so glad you’re my mom. I can’t imagine having to rely on my girlfriends for advice on stuff like this.” She pops another fry into her mouth. “Oh! How was the date? Did it go well?”
“It did, actually. We had a lovely dinner at Spiaggia.”
“And? Will you see him again?” Violet’s hopeful excitement makes me smile.
“I think so, yes.”
“Did you get a last name so I can internet stalk him and see what he looks like?”
“I did! His last name is Butterson.”
Violet frowns. “Butterson? That’s a weird last name. If you marry him, I’m keeping Hall. Violet Butterson doesn’t sound as nice as Violet Hall.”
I chuckle. “We’ve been out twice, Vi. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“Still. Doesn’t hurt to put that out in the universe.” She pulls out her phone, presumably to look him up.