Page 49 of The Accidental Text

Maggie:So was mine

Chase:I don’t like this conversation.

Maggie:I don’t like it either.

Chase:Back to the party. I’ve got nothing going on tonight. I’ll be your wingman.

I look down at my phone. Chase … my wingman? Is he saying he’d come to the party with me? I’d meet Chase … in person?

I have no idea how I feel about this. So many thoughts going through my head at once. I’m not so sure I want to meet him in person. I’ve never thought of this going beyond what it already is. I’ve never once pictured in my mind seeing Chase in real life. It was never on my radar.

I look around my bathroom, all the thoughts coming at me in rapid succession. Me … and Chase … meeting. Would that be a bad thing?

My phone beeps, and I look down at it.

Chase:I mean on the phone. I’m not inviting myself to your work party. I just meant I’ll be on hand to help.

My heart slows down when I see this. I hadn’t even realized it had picked up. I also feel a range of emotions. From relief to … something like disappointment, maybe? Like for a few seconds, I’d started to entertain the thought of having Chase at the party, meeting him in person. Seeing that smile of his in real life.

My phone beeps again.

Chase:Did I scare you off?

I stare at my phone, chewing on my bottom lip. I’m not scared … just contemplative. Okay, I was initially a little freaked out, I’ll admit. But now the thought has entered my head and feels like it’s on replay. Like a skipping record.Meeting Chase. Meeting Chase. Meeting Chase.

DoI want to see Chase for real? We haven’t even talked on the phone. I don’t even know what his voice sounds like. It seems like there are a lot of steps to take before meeting in person. But nowadays people meet online all the time. On some sites you meet someone in the morning and are hooking up by the evening. I’ve never been interested in anything like that. That’s also not what Chase and I have. We have more than that. A shared bond.

I look at myself in the mirror. Taking in my green eyes and my brown hair in big wavy curls over my shoulders. I can see my chest rising and falling in my reflection.

I nod at myself in the mirror. And then pick up my phone.

Maggie:Do you have a suit?

Chase:??

Maggie:You know, a suit. Like one you’d wear to church.

Chase:I know what a suit is. Yes, I have a few of those.

Maggie:Want to put one on and meet me at a party?

I watch as the three dots appear and then disappear and then appear again. Was this a dumb idea? I feel like I may have acted on an impulse and now I’m second-guessing myself. I threw it out there without thinking that Chase might have the same thoughts I was having. Maybe he never wanted to meet me in person.

After a few eternal seconds and the persistent thought that I should figure out a way to take it back, to rewind my words, my phone beeps.

Chase:Do I get to sit in the Lambo?

I laugh. One of those nervous ones. Breathy and not all that joyful sounding. I text back.

Maggie:Of course

I watch as the three dots do their thing again. On and off. On and off.

Chase:I’m in. Send me the address.

Before I can take it back, before my mind convinces me I should do otherwise, I send him a text with the address to the shop and then I let out a squeal. It’s a nervous one, and I feel almost like I’ve dived out of a plane as I realize what I’ve just done.

My phone beeps and I look down at it.

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