I watched her as she walked down the street, joining the crowds of other revelers from the past night who were making their way back to their own apartments and houses. Soon enough, I couldn’t see her anymore, and I turned to go back inside.
I couldn’t believe what had happened last night. The Margie who’d opened up to me so much had started off as someone unimaginably shy. When she’d bumped into me that day, I had no idea it would turn into this.
I sighed as I returned to my bedroom to get ready for a shower. I had so much work to do today. At least now I could see the light at the end of the tunnel because graduation was coming up soon. Soon, I’d be free. At least until I found a job.
Shit, that reminded me I had to get on that too. Seized by a burst of energy, I opened up my laptop and decided to write an email to my supervisor from my internship. If they gave me a job, I’d be golden. If not… Well, I’d have to figure something else out.
My phone rang—it was my mother. I picked it up, even though I didn’t really feel like talking to her right now.
“Hi, honey, how are you doing?” she asked.
I was suspicious of her tone. It sounded like she was going to bring the smackdown on me for some reason… But I couldn’t imagine what that reason might be.
“Fine,” I said. “Just finishing up some homework before class tomorrow.”
“Good. I wanted to ask you… Have you thought about your plans for the summer?”
There it was. And I’d just been thinking about it, too. I had no idea what to tell her because I hadn’t really thought about it at all.
“I uh, emailed the people from the internship at Robinson so we’ll see what they say,” I started. “And I plan to look for other options… as well…”
“What position will Robinson offer you?” she asked.
This is what I hated about talking with her. She asked way too many detailed questions when I didn’t know the answers myself. It always made me feel like I was falling behind, even though I knew I was doing my best.
“I’m not sure what yet,” I said honestly. “Probably Marketing Associate, I think that’s their entry level position.”
“
Entry level position? You can’t wrangle something better? After all, you did do an internship with them…”
I tried to keep my anger under control, remembering the lovely time I’d had with Margie. “We’ll see,” I said curtly, hoping to get her off the topic. I’d learned a while back that one of the most effective techniques for dealing with her was “gray rock”—just be as boring as possible so she stopped asking questions. It worked sometimes.
“What about dating? Have you found a date for Marcy’s wedding?”
I froze. I’d completely and utterly forgotten about my cousin Marcy’s wedding. I was glad my mother had reminded me, actually, because I would have simply not shown up.
“Um, yeah,” I said, thinking of Margie. Even if she didn’t want to go, I could take Miriam or someone. But was Margie even my girlfriend? And would I want to introduce her to my mother so soon? Would she even want to—since she was still so new to being in a same-gender relationship?
“Oooh, who?” asked my mother, suddenly sounding a bit like a schoolgirl.
“Um… Just a friend,” I said, unwilling to get into that whole conversation. “I was thinking I’d take Miriam if she’s free, remember her?”
“Maybe…” said my mother. “What about Nicole?”
“Nicole?”
“Your girlfriend?”
“Mom, we broke up like, a long time ago. Years ago, even.” What the hell was she doing bringing her up?
“She was a nice girl. Maybe you should get back together?”
“No, Mom. We broke up for a reason.” I really wanted to tell her I was dating someone else now, but I couldn’t. I would be on the phone with her for another hour as she interrogated me about every aspect of Margie’s life.
“Hm. Well, I liked her. I’d certainly be happy if you were dating her again.”
“Good to know, Mom,” I said, though I was sure she missed the sarcasm in my voice.