The Other Side of Tomorrow

Get it together, Willa. He’s only a guy.

“Well, um, thanks for … catching my dog.”

He throws his head back and laughs, and that’s when I notice one of his ears is pierced. A slender silver hoop rests in his left ear. I’ve always been irked by guys with pierced ears, but this guy pulls it off.

“I don’t know, I think maybe he caught me,” he says when he stops laughing.

I blush again. “Right …,” I pause. “Well, thanks again.” I wave awkwardly and start back down the street.

When I reach the end, I can’t help but turn and look behind me.

The guy is still watching me, and when he sees me looking he smiles wide, not at all bothered by me catching him.

I wish I had his confidence. If it’d been the other way around I would’ve quickly averted my gaze.

“There you are!” Harlow’s voice startles me. She’s holding two wrapped sandwiches with two water bottles dangling precariously between her fingers. “What happened to you?”

“Perry got loose,” I explain, walking up to her.

She sighs and glares down at the dog. “Bad Perry.”

Perry wags his tail and sticks his tongue out. “He looks really torn up about his bad behavior,” I joke.

We grab a table and I tie Perry’s leash to my chair—if he runs this time, he’s taking me with him.

“He needs to go to obedience school,” I grumble as Harlow hands me my sandwich. I unwrap it and my mouth waters.

“Aw.” She pets his head. “He’s not that bad. Plus, he’s still a baby.”

“You’re going to be saying he’s a baby when he’s ten.”

She giggles. “Probably.”

My phone vibrates in my bag, and I quickly grab it in case it’s my mom telling me something important.

Instead, it’s a text from Meredith.

Merebitch: Hoe r u home?

Me: Out with H.

Merebitch: Rly? Where?

Me: Monsterwiches.

Merebitch: I’m 2 blocks away. I’m coming over. Don’t fucking leave before I get there.

Me: Wouldn’t dream of it.

“Who’s that?” Harlow asks. “It’s not Mom complaining about me forgetting to do the laundry again, right? I mean, she knows I forget it on purpose all the time, so why does she keep bitching about it? She tells me to do it. I tell her I forgot. Wash, rinse, repeat—without the actual washing part, of course.”

I snort. “No, it was Mere.”

“Should I go get her something?” she asks, wiping her hands on a napkin.

“Yeah probably, or else she’ll steal our food.”

Harlow snaps her fingers. “I’ll be back then. Just make sure Perry doesn’t try to eat my food.”