Page 113 of The Lessons

“You guys, you will never guess what happened to me yesterday.” Justine was trying to act calm, but her grin was out of control, her eyes darting all over like a crazy person.

Renee made eye contact with me. “Let me guess. You met a guy?”

“Sort of! I was missed-connectioned!”

“No way!” Renee gasped. “Okay, that’s cool. What happened?”

“Wait. What’s missed-connectioned?” I asked.

“Like on Craigslist. You know, Missed Connections?”

I looked blankly at her and then at Renee. Surely I wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand.

“Missed Connections,” Renee explained, “is a section on Craigslist?wait. Do you know what that is?”

I nodded. I wasn’tthatout of it.

“Well,” Renee continued, “let’s say you’re on the bus one day, and you lock eyes with a handsome stranger, but then you have to get off at the next stop. But you really had a moment, and you can’t stop thinking about him. You can go on Craigslist and post a message about it in Missed Connections. If the other person felt the same, they might see it and get in touch.”

“Really? Wow. That’s crazy.” I wrinkled my forehead and looked back at Justine. “So, were you the poster or the, uh, subject?”

“I was the subject! He called me the Brunette Beauty on Beale Street. Oh, guys, it’s so exciting.”

“So are you, like, going out, or what?”

“We’re going to dinner next Thursday!”

“Hmm, Thursday night date, eh?” Renee replied like she was considering the option. “Pretty good sign. Must not want to wait.”

Justine was positively glowing. I knew how she felt. And I hadn’t felt like that, since…well, life D.R.A. That stood forDuring Ryan Andrews.

“So, here’s a question,” I interjected. “How do you know when a guy is into you? I mean, outside of a posting on the Internet?”

“Gifts,” Renee said without hesitation.

“Hard-on,” Justine replied right after.

The disparity between the two answers made us all laugh. “Okay, okay, I guess I was hoping for something a little deeper than that.”

“Like his hard-on inside you?”

“Guys,” I said, frowning.

“Hmm. I could tell Derek liked me because he couldn’t stop touching me before we started going out.”

Justine made a grossed out face.

“Oh calm down. Nothing creepy, just little things, like how his skin would brush mine often enough so I knew it wasn’t by accident. He’d make up things so, like, he’d have an excuse to brush my hair.” Renee trailed off, looking wistful for a moment before she remembered the reality of her situation. “Fucking prick. What I wouldn’t give to be in the same room with him and a hairbrush now. I’d beat his dick with it. The spiky end.”

We both offered a nod of solidarity.

Justine took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. “I think it’s easiest to tell when they start to make excuses to be around you. Like, he chooses you over his video game buddies on a Saturday night.”

Video game buddies? Since when did grown men have video game buddies? Maybe I hadn’t been missing out on as much as I’d thought.

“Why do you ask, Natalie? Is there something you want to share with the group?” Justine smirked at me.

“Oh, no reason. I just had a date the other day and was curious if I was reading his signals right.”

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