The Reclamation

17

"Just send it, Vada! Stop overthinking it!" Mia practically screams at me.

"It just doesn't sound right! I feel like it's too pushy!" I retort.

Today has been amazing. The museum was gorgeous, and we stayed there for three hours before finally heading back. Now we're in the car, and I'm stressing myself and Mia out while my finger furiously hits the backspace button on my phone. Mia has been helping me formulate the text I'll be sending to Nick to ask if we can talk after school. Each time I read it, the worse it sounds.

"Read it to me again," she says.

"I can't, I just deleted it."

"Vada!"

It takes a few more minutes, but we finally come up with a message I'm at least semi-happy with. It reads:

Me:
Hey, Nick. I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry I didn't reach out sooner. But I was wondering if you would like to meet up after school today? Id love to grab a coffee at Starbucks and talk.

"Okay, now send it," Mia instructs. My finger hovers over the 'Send' button, but refuses to tap. Before I can react, Mia pushes on the back of my hand so my finger hits the button.

"Mia!" I shriek.

"What? You said the message was fine. You'll thank me later." I know she's right, but I still let out a frustrated grunt to express my displeasure.

I stare at the message that I just sent, waiting for a reply. Waiting. Waiting. But nothing appears. I look at the time, and it's only been a minute since the text was sent. I turn my phone off and throw my head back against the headrest with a soft thump.

"Chill out, he's probably in class right now. I doubt he'll answer right away."

"Yeah... I guess." Nick was never one to ignore a notification in class, even with Mr. Cambie's strict 'No phones' policy. I can just imagine him seeing my name pop up on his phone and sliding it right back into his pocket. "Distract me. Let's talk about something else," I practically plead to Mia.

It's about ten minutes later when I feel a buzz.

Nick:
Okay

"He said okay," I read to Mia.

"Perfect!"

"No, not perfect! He's obviously still upset! That was totally a passive-aggressive okay!"

"Either way, did he or did he not agree to go get coffee with you?"

I sigh. "Yeah."

We stay silent for a second, and then Mia breaks the pause. "We're going to get back a little early. How about some frozen yogurt?"

"I'd love some," I say.

Fifteen minutes later, Mia pulls the Tesla in to the frozen yogurt place a few blocks from her house. We determine that when we get back, we will wait together at Mia's house until about 2:55. This will give me just enough time to get to Starbucks and meet up with Nick after school, and Mia will walk to dance. No one will know what we did today.

"Thank you for such a wonderful day," I say, bringing my frozen yogurt back to the table.

"Of course, I'm glad you had fun. I'm also glad we finally had a first date."

I chuckle. "Me too." I take her hand before I sit down and steal a kiss. It's short, but it's so sweet. Mia smiles.

"So, what will you say to Nick?" She asks between spoonfuls of froyo. I ponder this, finding myself in a similar place as the last time I tried to talk to Nick.