Page 52 of How to Write a Rom-Com

Liam: Not a chance. You?

Lucy: It’s a little foggy.

Liam: Happy to fill in the blanks for you. You went on a bender at a one-year-old’s birthday party and had to be dragged out under duress. There was talk of calling the police. Real bad influence on the kids.

I send him the middle finger emoji.

Liam: Kidding!

Liam: I guess you didn’t eat or drink enough yesterday because you were too busy losing to me on the bouncy castle. Rookie.

Lucy: I feel like I’m going to die.

Liam: You’re not going to die. Did the pancakes help?

Lucy: I haven’t made it out of bed yet.

Liam: SMH. Have something to eat before the raccoons get it. You’ll feel better. I’m at the restaurant all day if you want to drop by.

Lucy: I will be hiding from you for several days, hoping you forget me and the embarrassment that I am.

Liam: Not possible.

My stomach is in knots from my performance yesterday, but even more so because I miss Josie, and I can’t bear being apart from her when she is hurting.

After I clean myself up in the bathroom, and try not to scream at the horror that is my face, I make my way outside and see a takeout bag from Liz’s outside on the porch. I heat up the large stack of pancakes and try to FaceTime Elle, but she doesn’t answer. A few minutes later, she calls me back using audio, not video.

“Hey! I’m at the store, what’s up?” she says.

“Well, we’ve reached the point in the story where I make a small-town fool of myself,” I say, my throat raspy.

“Uh-oh,” she says, concerned. “What did you do?”

I relay the whole miserable story to her, scowling when she snickers at my many memorable antics.

“You drank sangria? And nothing else? Maybe not the best idea on the hottest day of the year,” she says once I’ve finished the whole sad story.

I drum my lips and sit down with my pancakes. My stomach grumbles. No wonder I’m hungry. My anxious stomach and the extreme heat took away any appetite.

“Yeah, I think it may have had something to do with the fact that I’m falling for a guy who I’m lying to,” I say bluntly.

“You’re falling for him? That’s quite a confession,” Elle says, a wary tone in her voice.

“I don’t know what to do,” I murmur, the thought making my stomach tense.

“Lucy, you need to stop asking everyone else what to do and ask yourself what is best for you! Only you know how you feel,” Elle says, the sympathy back in her voice. I stare down at the food on my plate, my appetite quickly fading. “That was an invitation for you to tell me how you feel, by the way,” Elle adds.

“Oh,” I say surprised. I struggle to find my next words. “Can I get back to you on that?”

“No,” Elle says with a laugh. “Just don’t think about it. If I asked you right now, how do you feel about Liam, what would you say?”

I could see myself falling in love with you.

Oh shit.

“Oh shit,” I say out loud, shocking Elle.

“What?” she says, concerned.

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