Page 1 of Falling Backwards
CHAPTER
ONE
M A G G I E
Please, God, let Luke’s annoying ass decide to stay away from Merritt’s tonight.
The request has floated in and out of my mind a handful of times since my work shift ended and the rest of my night had permission to begin.It was loud at first since Luke and I left the restaurant at the same time as the few other closers and he was fresh on my nerves, and then it quieted while I was at home getting ready to go out with the girls, and now it’s raising its voice again.We’ll be at the bar very soon, and if he’s got the same idea for the night that we do, then he’ll be there soon too—if he isn’t there already.
The truth?It’s not terribly likely he’ll go somewhere else.He and his friend know the Merritts and love their cozy bar exactly like my friends and I do; it’s their preferred socializing spot just like it’s ours.
My cheeks are warm with preemptive aggravation.
I’d say I’ve had enough of him for today, but that’s something I can say about Luke Bramhillanyday.
I’ve also had quite enough of how the Uber driver’s air vents have been blasting hellfire into the cabin of the car.I know we’re in the last few days of October and we’ve seen some cold weather, but this heat hasn’t been comforting to me.It’s been making me feel like I can’t breathe.
I finally decide to ask him to lower the setting, but I get drowned out.In addition to the music playing, he and Joy are chatting away in the front seat about the picture of his kids that’s taped between two vents.If she’s as uncomfortable with the heat as I am, she’s doing a stellar job of ignoring it—but of course she is, because she absolutely loves kids.And for better or worse, she’s pretty young at heart herself, so it’s kind of hard to talk over her when she’s animated about something.
It’s hard forme, that is.Emma doesn’t have trouble with it.But she’s been lost in thought for the last couple minutes and she also likes being warm, so she’s just quietly hanging out here in the back seat with me, letting pink-haired Joy be her bubbly self, not interjecting anything I can piggyback off of.
At least we aren’t cramped back here, I guess.That would be even worse.
And honestly, the trip from our apartment building to Merritt’s isn’t very long, so we’ll be out of the car in…well, we’ve just passed Mellow Burger, so about a minute.
Mmm.I would really love some of their spicy fries right now.That place isn’t one of our favorite eateries for no reason.
This is Friday night, though, and Friday nights are reserved for the bar owned by the couple who lives across the hall from us.Plus, it’s always extra important that we go there after a long or frustrating workday, which today was for all three of us.
The scrape on my left hand stings like it’s waking up from an hours-long nap, ready to be mad again.I sigh as I recall stupid Luke’s stupid laughter.If he ends up at Merritt’s tonight, I—
“You ladies back there have any kids of your own?”
I drop the involuntary Luke-wrought scowl from my face.
Emma finally breaks her silence.“Nope.”
“Aw.Well, they can be a handful, but being a parent is also fun.Kids are hilarious.”The driver chuckles.“I’m sure you three will understand someday when—”
“Why are you sure of that?”she cuts in right as I think,Ah, that’s gonna get her full attention.“You’ve been a fine driver, okay, which we appreciate ’cause way too many people don’t take vehicles seriously, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t let you know it’s rude to make assumptions about a person’s future as a parent.I don’t know where society got the idea that it’s cool to be like,‘When are you gonna have kids?’or,‘Someday when you have kids, blah, blah,’but it’snotcool.It’s irritating and uncomfortable for a lot of people.”
A brief slant of white streetlight illuminates her gesturing at herself, me, and Joy.
“What if none of us can get pregnant?”she goes on.“What if we have trauma you don’t know about?What if we don’t evenwant—?”
“Okay, yes.Absolutely.”The driver is nodding almost desperately.“I’m sorry.You’re right.I’m so sorry.”
Pretty sure I can feel his blush from back here.
Poor guy,I think, though I agree with Emma’s point.I know her assertiveness often rubs people one wrong way or another.She isn’t mean, but she isn’t made of sugar like Joy is, nor is she wont to be quietly polite like I am.
An advantage to her mini rant: the driver’s embarrassment seems to be what gets him to finally turn the heater down.
“Well, anyway,” Joy resumes from the front seat, her tone blithe.“You said your little girl is dressing up as a veterinarian for Halloween?That’s the sweetest thing!”
Now that my discomfort can abate, I’m able to pay a bit more attention to everyone else.Emma is back to being in her head, which is turned to her window; I have a feeling she’s dwelling on the promotion she lost to her boss’s daughter today.She’ll talk more about it later, I know, so I tune in to Joy saying the three of us are just going to watch scary movies at home this year.Then she goes on to reminisce about us dressing up as the Powerpuff Girls more than once when we were younger.
Yes, even if my stomach still wants Mellow Burger, the rest of me wants to be tucked into any one of the familiar booths at the bar with my best friends in the world—the only family I have left around here, really, with my parents now living across the country.
