Page 32 of Swiped
Justin frowned and leaned protectively toward his sister.
“Sorry, I’m just distracted,” Nat mumbled, feeling small. She should have known this would be the downside of hiring siblings. It’d always be two against one. She sighed, trying to radiate self-actualized contentment. “Isn’t it just completely gorgeous out here today?”
Her phone pinged.
Nick:tbh I was kinda popular. Prom king means you’re popular, right? Or that you had the money for a very large bribe?
Nat smiled brightly at Jo. “And he’s so funny! Oh my God.” She went back to typing.
Jo nodded like a cruise activities director who had just been told the pool was contaminated. “Great! That’s super great, but like, you’re gonna actually meet up with him, right?”
Nat nodded as darkness dripped back into her mind. Of course, Jo didn’t think someone would actually enjoy talking toher. She managed a quick, affirmative hum, but kept typing to Nick.
Jo tucked a loose strand behind her ears and nodded. “Cool, cool.”
Nat:OMG I didn’t even go to prom! I just watched old BBC DVDs all night with the other weird kids.
Nick:OK you would’ve destroyed me in high school. I secretly wanted to date the cool smart chicks like you.
Justin cleared his throat. “So, boss, when’s the date?” he asked, his whisper-soft voice pushed to top volume.
Nick:I bet you do that whole sexy librarian thing . . .
“When?” said Nat. “I don’t know. Soon.”
Justin frowned and stood with his empty lunch wrappers. “Hasn’t come up yet, though? And it’s been three days of messaging?”
“Not yet. Relax, geez!”
Nat:Shhh. No talking!
Nat giggled.
Jo turned to Justin. “Catfish?” she stage-whispered to her twin. “Lurker? What do we think?”
Justin shook his head sadly. He tossed the wrappers in the trash. “She’s fish bait.”
Anger flared in Nat’s chest. That was too much. She looked Jo right in the eyes. “Excuse me? Is it so impossible to believe that someone would actually enjoy talking to me?”
Jo blinked in shock. “What? No! You’re great!”
Nat crossed her arms and frowned. “Gee, thanks. Your words meana lot.”
Jo’s face crumpled in confusion. “OK . . . did I do something? What’s going on right now?”
Justin took up the space next to his sister like her shadow, and Nat felt her aloneness echo at the sight of it.
She shook her head. “Look, we’re just doing our jobs. It doesn’t need to be anything more than that.”
“Yeah, we know,” said Justin. “The contest is just for the publicity, not to find, like, your soulmate.”
Jo chirped a nervous laugh. “Totally get it!”
Nat stood. “Actually, you two wouldn’t know this because you weren’t here when I created the app, but Ididstart it to find a partner. I know sometimes people like me seem weird or lame, or . . .” Nat took a breath, but she was too fired up not to say it. “Or maybe we seem likea lot.But I don’t need you to like me. I just need you to help me win this contest and then we can all get on with our lives, OK?”
Justin had lowered his eyes to the ground, and Jo was staring at Nat with a queasy expression. “OK,” she said in a meek voice as Justin nodded in agreement.
Nat took a deep breath and dumped her mostly uneaten salad in the trash. “Good. Let’s get back to work.”
