Page 49 of Daydream

Anastasia raises her shoulders and smirks at me, like she’s somehow just easily unraveled a great mystery. She hasn’t; I’ve already considered all of this. “Because you like her, Hen. Which is amazing, but I get why it’s hard to process if you haven’t liked anyone before. If the idea of her being with someone else makes you unhappy, make a move before someone else does.”

“You’re not being as helpful as you think you are,” I groan.

“Iamhelpful, you’re just stubborn. Don’t fucking procrastinate with your feelings, Henry. If she’s so great that you want to be around her all the time, someone else is going to think she’s so great and want to be around her all the time.”

“You should come to Santa Monica today and meet her,” I say, not bothering to answer the stuff she said. “Make your assessment in person.”

“Nice deflection, but no. The pier sounds like a nice place for a first kiss, though. Very romantic.”

“Definitely more romantic than pressed up against a door.”

This time a handful of grapes fly in my direction.

“DEEP BREATH. YOU’RE FREE,” HALLEsays to me quietly as we wait for everyone to get out of their various cars in the parking lot.

“I don’t feel free.” She nudges me with her hip and shushes me, so I lower my voice. “They’re not riding with us on the way home.”

Kris and Bobby said a group date was discrimination toward single people, i.e., them, and demanded to be invited. Mattie said he was happy to be discriminated against because his fear of seagulls makes him strongly anti-pier. I also think he’s seeing his ex again. To balance things out, because apparently that’s a thing we need to do, Halle invited her work friend, Cami, and Cami’s roommate, Ava.

Bobby and Ava are both from California, so on that basis alone, despite the fact they’re from totally different places in California, Aurora and Halle assumed they’d be a good match. They’re not. I’ve just had to listen to the two of them arguing about sports teams for the entire ride here.

“I still think they’re a good match. All that rage toward each other has got to go into something.”

“That’s like saying they’re a good match because they’re both blond. It makes no sense.”

“Love doesn’t have to make sense.”

“The only thing Bobby loves is happy hour and free food.”

Halle nudges me again with her shoulder, but she’s suppressing a laugh. We watch the pair of them continue their argument, now on basketball instead of baseball, and I clearly don’t see what Halle sees. By contrast, Cami isn’t talking to Kris at all, instead choosing to talk to Emilia and Poppy.

“I assume you’re ditching us,” Robbie says as soon as he joins us with Lola.

“That would be correct,” I say, unsurprised when I’m met with an eye roll.

“Only you could get away with inviting us all to an event then leaving us,” Lola says. “It’s like you don’t want me and Halle to be friends.”

“I don’t. Halle is the nicest person I know, and you are the most terrifying. I don’t want to mix those two personalities.”

Lola bursts out laughing, but when I look at Halle she appears shocked. “You can’t say that,” she mouths, but I know Lola well enough to know what I can and can’t say. She likes it, which I don’t understand, but I try not to ask too many questions.

After some negotiations, we—well, Halle—agree to meet up later after spending some time doing our own thing. The others mostly want to go to the beach anyway, whereas I’ve promised Halle to help her win a prize.

“I haven’t been here since I was a kid,” she says as I slip my hand into hers and we walk along the pier.

She looks down at our joined hands then up at me. “I love how committed to the date experience you are.”

It takes me a second to realize what she means. I truly don’t remember the moment I decided to reach for her hand. “I forgot this was supposed to be an experience. I just like it. We don’t have to…”

She holds my hand tighter as I start to unweave my fingers from hers. “No, I like it, too.”

“Good. Games or funnel cake first?” I ask as we approach the entrance to Pacific Park, the amusement park element of the pier. She considers my offer, eyes bouncing between the various counters then back to me.

“Games, then tacos, then funnel cake, maybe? I feel like it’s onlyfair to tell you how bad I am at anything that requires hand-eye coordination.”

“This is a great opportunity for me to tell you I’m great at everything.”

“Again. Tell me that you’re great at everything,again. Your humility is my favorite thing about you, by the way. I’ve literally never won a teddy at these things—not even the shit tiny ones.”

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