Page 45 of The Luck of Finding You
TheNoraReview:Hey. Doing all right. Last night I hung out with one of my friends super late and it ended badly. Which is why I didn’t respond.
She was out with me. “That doesn’t mean it’s Tally,” I tell myself. I want it to be her, desperately, but I’m also anxious that if it’s not her, I’ve made a terrible mistake. Three little dots appear on my screen—she’s typing more. I wait anxiously to see what she’s going to say next.
TheNoraReview:I was with a guy friend and he admitted to liking me, and I told him I liked him too. Then when he asked why/if there was any reason I was hesitating, I told him that I might like you. Which then made me super confused because I do like you, I just don’t know/think that I like-like you. You know?
TheNoraReview:Sorry if that’s all super weird. I just didn’t know how to talk to him, and all I could think of to say was that I was meeting you and also liked you. Cause we are meeting and things could potentially change after that…but idk.
TheNoraReview:Just super confused.
My heart pounds in my chest, now sure that TallyisNora. Maybe I can make this work.
MoReads:Dang, it sounds like you were in a super tough spot last night. I don’t mind that you used me as an excuse. Maybe that’s something we can talk about when we meet (not using me as an excuse, but feelings, maybe?) Cause I’ve thought about it too.
MoReads:I mean, I made no assumptions that you and I were a thing, so dating or hanging out with other people is totally fair game.
I think now I might be digging myself into a hole.
TheNoraReview:Right. Have you been seeing someone?
MoReads:I haven’t. But I’m kind of a homebody, so I don’t go out much anyway, so there’s not a lot of opportunities for me to meet people.
Oops. Maybe I should have said yes, considering I have been falling for Tally in real life.
TheNoraReview:Okay. Sorry if I made things weird between us, that’s the last thing I wanted to do.
MoReads:It really is okay.
You didn’t make anything weird.
TheNoraReview:I haven’t dated in so long. I always mess things up. I feel like I’m going to mess everything up, so can we still be friends after we meet, even if it is completely awkward? My sister tells me that I self-sabotage my relationships because even though I read a lot of romance novels, I don’t actually believe in love. Maybe she’s right.
Tally doesn’t believe in love? I wonder for a split second ifIam the reason for that, but I’m hoping it’s more than that. Every time I’ve interacted with her on a romantic level probably hasn’t helped at all. I left the first time. Last night did not go well in terms of showing her what love is actually like.
Now I know what I can do. I can be her friend. I can show her all the love I feel without kissing or getting physical.
Wait.
Am I in love with Tally?
“Yeah, I think I am.” Mo runs over to me, barking and tail wagging. He jumps up so I can rub behind his ears, making him do his whole-body wag. I wish I could feel that happy right now. I might be in love with Tally, but I’m worried she might hate me now.
MoReads:You didn’t make it worse. There was nothing to mess up. You’re not going to mess anything up, I promise.
MoReads:You still want to meet next weekend, right?
TheNoraReview:I still want to meet, if you want to. Even though chances are I’ll mess that up too.
I want to call Tally right now and tell her to knock it off, tell her that she’s not going to mess anything up. Not any more than how the rest of us mess things up. That’s a human thing, and she’s not going to mess this—us—up. I won’t let her. But I can’t call her, so I do the next best thing.
MoReads:Don’t say that. You’re a freaking amazing human, and you’re not going to mess this up.
TheNoraReview:You don’t know that.
MoReads:I do, I know you well enough to know that you aren’t going to mess this up. It might be scary, sure. You might want to run away, but I’m not going anywhere.
TheNoraReview:Thank you. Truly.
MoReads:You’re welcome.
