Sylvia stood but stopped in her tracks, seemingly shocked.
“Excuse me?”
I cleared my throat to gain confidence. “I said, we are. Harper and I are marrying next Saturday.”
“What?” Her hand flew to her chest. “I’m so sorry! Where are my manners! Congratulations! I had no idea. Well! That changes things a bit,” she laughed, sitting back down only to stand right back up. “I have to get a few app’s from my cabinet. Hold on.”
With her back to us, Harper pinched my shoulder. She threw her hands up in question. ‘What are you doing?’ She mouthed.
I pressed the air, telling her to hold on but she kept staring at me, shocked. I held my finger up. ‘Please,’ I silently begged just as Sylvia turned back around.
“Alright,” she said. “We’ll start the paperwork now. I’ll just need the marriage certificate as soon as it’s finalized. The sooner, the better. Time is of the essence what with classes starting soon. Let’s see.” She grabbed her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger, thinking. “I think I have everything I need for the application already in your files. Yup, just the certificate will suffice.” She smiled at us. “Congratulations, you two.”
Harper and I filled out the new application then stood to leave, Sylvia wrapped us each in a hug again and we left her office as coolly as possible. Harper waved to punk chick once and we swiftly walked as fast as possible without arising suspicion toward the exit. Harper busted through the large wooden doors, out into the sun.
“What. Was. That.?” She asked.
“Harper, listen. I know it sounds crazy.”
“Crazy? I can’t marry you! I...I...Why did you tell her that?”
“Harper!” I yelled, edging us toward a few benches near some trees. We were drawing people’s attention. Quietly I continued, “Listen, our college is paid for. That’s awesome, right? But how are we supposed to attend? We have no money. No prospects. No real jobs. No parents to rely on. We are utterly alone, Harper. It’s just you and me. We’ve got the crap end of the stick our entire lives. Just...think about it.”
She shook her head back in forth at the grass below us, her arms folded across her chest. “This is just too crazy, Callum.”
“What other choice do we have? Huh? Tell me. How are we going to survive?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly, “but this is not the answer.”
“I know we haven’t figured out all the particulars but this is the only way, Harper. You have to see that.” She opened her mouth to answer but I cut her off. “No, don’t answer. Just promise me you’ll think about it?”
She closed her eyes and seriously thought for a moment. I began to panic that she would say no.
“Fine,” she said. “I promise to think about it.”
“Thank you,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Harper and I worked at the restaurant for lunch, earning three hundred dollars altogether. It was a start. We had the choice of working The Bowery or heading toward The Hope House. We were sick of mooching off our friends so we opted for The Hope House. We sat outside the welcoming doors, not surprisingly the first ones there and settled on the sidewalk, leaning against the stone facade.
“How is this going to work?” She asked.
“Well, we sit here and around five o-clock when the line starts to swell to impossible numbers, we pray that no one tries to knock us from our choice spot.”
“Very funny,” she said. “I mean the marriage thing.”
“I’m not asking for a real marriage, Harper,” I said. Her eyes fell to her lap. “I propose an agreement.”
“Alright.” She brought her eyes to mine. “What are the terms?”
“We stay married until the end of the school year, then annul.”
“You can’t annul a marriage after a year, can you?”
“Okay, we divorce then but it’s not a real divorce, Harper because we wouldn’t actually be married. I mean technically we’d be married but we wouldn’t practice,” I said, clearing my throat at how uncomfortable the conversation had turned, “practice all the things married couples, you know, practice.”
“Got it out there, buddy?” She teased.
“Shut up,” I laughed, a red blush creeping up my neck and attacking my face. “God, this is embarrassing. Listen, I just want you to know that I wouldn’t try to take advantage of you. There would be an understanding between the two of us. We’d live together as roommates, just like before.”