Page 60 of The Sweet Spot

My heart breaks into a gallop.Jeez, chill out, Wren!

But it’s so hard to chill out when it comes to Luca. Using every ounce of willpower I can muster, I ignore the notification. People texting during class is one of my pet peeves, and besides, I need this class. I need to take notes—if I can concentrate long enough to actually take them, that is.

After New Year’s Eve, I tried to wait and see if the universe would bring Luca and me together again. I needed to focus on school, and besides, I didn’t need a guy to make me happy—even if that guy was Luca Cardoso.

Plus, he’d just gotten out of a relationship, and I didn’t want to be a rebound—even if the sparks between us were flying hotter than ever.

But it was a conversation with my mother of all people that changed things.

“The universe?” she’d said, pulling out of downward dog to sit on her mat and stare at me. “Wren, what do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?” I looked at her askance. I’d been attempting to do yoga with her but talking about my feelings was distracting. “You’re the one who’s always talking about letting things happen as they may…how the universe will arrange things. You know.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “If that’s the way I’ve described it, little bird, I’ve done you a disservice. When I talk about the universe, it’s a matter of acceptance, knowing that ultimately it has our best in mind. Remember Gramma Kate’s serenity prayer?”

I nodded.

“It’s having the serenity to accept what you can’t change and the courage to change what you can. What you’re talking about is going into neutral. That doesn’t work. You still have to make decisions, to go for what you want.”

She was right, of course. I guess I was just afraid—it felt like no matter how many times fate brought Luca and me together, there was always something to keep us apart. And while he seemed to like me the times we’d hung out, what if ultimately, he didn’t like meenough? The fantasy of Luca had been so sweet; could I handle reality if he rejected me?

But that was just dumb. Maybe, like Mom said, I needed to go for what I wanted. Better to try, at least, so I could move on—whatever that looked like for me. Luca was no longer living abroad, so I knew he was around. Somewhere.

I still didn’t have his contact info at the time, but I had gleaned one important piece of information at the party: Luca’s last name. So, I looked him up on social media and lo and behold, there he was: hiking the Berkeley fire trails and around Big Basin. Cheesing with Kellan and Matt on New Year’s Eve. Horsing around with friends in someone’s apartment. Having dinner with his mother. There were tons of pictures of him in São Paulo and all over Brazil.

The pictures of him surfing over on Four Mile and Pleasure Point were my favorite, for obvious reasons. That boy could wear the hell out of a pair of boardshorts. I hearted one before yanking myself out of the thirsty haze I’d floated off into.Whoops.

I didn’t see any questionable photos of girls on his page, so he was probably single, right? And so was I. Maybe this was the confirmation I’d been looking for.

But that’d been a while ago.

I’m jostled from my thoughts by the rustling of papers and a general sense of commotion. Class is over. So much for my notes. Picking up my phone, I open Instagram and accept Luca’s request. Then I notice that I have a DM. My stomach knots up in anticipation.

Luca Cardoso: Hey, you ;)

Luca Cardoso and I are finally, officially, in touch.

* **

We message back and forth for a while, dipping in and out of each other’s DMs throughout the day. I get butterflies every time I see that he’s responded.

wren<3angel:hey yourself ;)

LucaCardoso: getting in touch prob shouldn’t have taken so long.

wren<3angel: Prob not

LucaCardoso: Why did it take so long?

wren<3angel: You’re asking me?

LucaCardoso: I’m asking hypothetically

wren<3angel: last names, for one thing. I know yours now tho.

LucaCardoso: What’s your last name?

wren<3angel: Angelos

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