Page 43 of Love and Other Goals

“Oh, right,” I say. “What will your Halloween costume be this year?”

Aaron is silent for a second before speaking lowly. “Maybe a broken heart?”

I stare at him without breathing for what feels like forever before I finally open my mouth. “Aaron?—”

“I know, I know. Don’t write that, obviously.”

I suspect my look must be attempting murder, because Aaron immediately adds, “I’m sorry, that was out of line. I shouldn’t have said that. A friend wouldn’t say that.”

My eyes drop and study the Sharpie in my hand, still poised above the name tag. Aaron must notice the same thing and says, “Um, a bunch of us OGs are dressing up as Greek gods this year.”

I write “Greek god” at the bottom of the name tag and peel it off. It seems like Aaron goes out of his way to make contact with my fingers when he takes the name tag I’m holding out, but I keep my eyes down.

He turns away to go into the room just as Mateo and several of his teammates breach the top of the staircase. At the Arrow meetings since our first date, our only interaction has been smiles from across the room. He’s always occupied with the soccer guys and I’m always tied up with the AOPis. But now that we’re officially boyfriend/girlfriend, I’m not sure how to play this. I hope Mateo gives me a clear lead to follow.

I shouldn’t have been concerned, because of course he does. With his characteristic subtle confidence, Mateo heads straight to me with a smile and gives me a quick hug before asking if I remembered Shawn from the other night.

I smile and reply, “Of course I do. Great to see you, Shawn—is Linh here with you?”

“Nah, she’s not here tonight, I’m just checking it out,” Shawn responds. “But maybe she’ll come with another time.”

“Well, let her know that she’d be welcome to sit with me if she wants to come but not sit with a bunch of soccer dudes,” I say with a smile as I write his name. “Every week we ask a question and write your answer on your name tag as a conversation starter. The question this week is ‘What will your Halloween costume be?’”

The guys all turn to each other mumbling variations of “Halloween?...Are you wearing a costume?...Are you dressing up?”

Mateo turns to me and asks, “Am I dressing up for Halloween this year?”

I burst out a laugh and tell him, “That is one hundred percent up to you.”

He furrows his brow. “But are you?”

Pointing to where my name tag says “Undecided,” I shrug and say, “I love fall, but Halloween has never really been my thing.” A thought dawns on me, and I gesture at the collective group and say, “But you all should definitely dress up as the guys from Ted Lasso.”

There’s an outburst of enthusiastic responses. I smile to myself as they start bickering over who would be which character and catch Mateo’s eye. “Well, now I know what we’ll be doing all night,” he says to me with feigned disapproval, making me laugh.

The band starts playing, so I give the guys their name tags with question marks instead of answers. They can fight and sort it all out later. Mateo turns to give me one last smile over his shoulder before heading into the room, his wink shooting a flaming arrow through my heart.

Near the end of Kent’s message, I sneak out the back door to head to the restroom. Maybe that 6:00 p.m. coffee wasn’t my greatest idea ever. I’m washing my hands at the sink when the door opens and Bailey stands right behind me in the mirror, arms crossed and hip popped. Here we go.

“You know, I have it on good authority that Aaron is basically totally depressed ever since he found out about your little dating situation with Mateo,” Bailey says, fake concern lacing her voice. I draw in a deep breath through my nose and exhale through my mouth as I turn off the sink.

Pulling out paper towels, I respond without looking at Bailey. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think my dating life is any of your business, Bailey.” I toss the paper towels in the trash, resisting the urge to clarify that Mateo is, in fact, my boyfriend. Not just a “little dating situation.” I turn around to find Bailey totally invading my personal space.

“I don’t get it, Lana,” she continues. “You already had a perfectly nice, totally cute and popular guy lined up to date you. Did you really need to go after someone else? You and Aaron so obviously liked each other, it seems a little immature for you to just drop him so suddenly.” Her tone and word emphasis has my blood running hot and my rational brain vacating the premises.

“Look, Bailey, I don’t understand what you have against me or the other AOPis, and I don’t understand why you care about this. My conversations with Aaron and my relationship with Mateo are of zero concern to you, so why don’t you just leave me alone?”

I charge out of the bathroom before she can respond, just as students are exiting the meeting room to head home or to the After Party. After partying is a big fat no for me tonight, so I rush down the back staircase to walk straight to AOPi. I send a quick text to the Beefs to let them know I’m bailing, and then I turn on my Christmas piano playlist. I don’t have my ear buds with me, but I just hold my phone and hope the muffled music will help me relax as I walk.

I’m a few paces out of the student union when I hear footsteps running behind me in the dark. My pulse quickens until I hear a familiar deep voice call out, “Lana! Wait!” I’ve never liked my name more than when Mateo says it.

He catches up to me in like two seconds and asks what’s wrong. “Are you upset that I hugged you before the meeting? I know we didn’t really talk about how we were going to handle being around each other at Arrow stuff, and that’s totally my fault, I should have planned ahead and gotten your input.”

He’s being so sweet and thoughtful, I can’t even stand it. I launch myself at him and throw my arms around his neck, face buried in his shoulder. His arms circle my waist as I say, “No, I’m not mad about that at all.” He doesn’t make a move to let me go, so I stand there until my tiptoes start protesting.

“I just had an unpleasant conversation with someone who’s not my favorite person in the world,” I say as I take a step back. His face looks concerned with a minor jealous tinge, so to make sure he knows I’m not this affected by talking with Aaron, I shrug one shoulder and add, “Bailey.”

Realization dawns on him. “Ah,” he says simply. We’re both quiet for a second before he asks, “Anything I can help with?”

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