| |
Carly stood at the edge of her bed and dove on to it, face down. She pulled her cellphone out of her back pocket and then, lying on her stomach, she opened the Love Is Blind app and checked her inbox. There were no pending messages from NYJedi. Carly bit down on her bottom lip and clicked the envelope icon.
I think we should try to meet again, she typed.
Carly looked at the blinking cursor, waiting for her next set of words to follow. But she had none. All she wanted was to meet NYJedi once and for all and see if there was still anything between them or whether she should just put the whole thing to rest. She wanted to find out if she really liked him or if she only thought she liked him because deep down, she knew that it would never happen.
Carly hit send and stared at the screen.
In less than a few seconds, her phone beeped.
She clicked on the new message.
Okay, the message read. It was from the Jedi.
One word, okay. Carly’s heart began to beat fast. She pushed herself up and sat cross-legged on her bed. She typed a response. When? she asked.
Almost immediately, NYJedi replied. Tomorrow at 2:00pm. Meet me by the benches at the lakeside park. I’ll be waiting.
Tomorrow? Carly wondered. She looked around her room—not for anything in particular. What? she mumbled. Carly drew a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. Tomorrow at 2pm. I’ll see you then, she typed back and hit send. Tomorrow, she would see for certain if she had any real feelings for NYJedi.
Carly lay her head down on her pillow and stared up at the ceiling. What happened at the cafe was unexpected—seeing Mick, her dad being there, and being confronted by Charlotte. She remembered Ella’s phone call and wondered what people might have actually seen. The brief conversation with Mick had caught her off guard as well—not to mention the fact that Jenna turned up out of nowhere.
The more Carly thought about it, the more uptight she felt. Why does everyone need to be involved, anyway? It’s my life! she argued.
* * *
MICK WONDERED IF MEETING Carly to admit that he was—that he is NYJedi007 was a good idea. But he knew he needed to do this. He needed to come clean. He was in too deep to back out now. His feelings for Carly had grown even more than when they were exchanging messages. Knowing her now—having her so close to him—made it harder to walk away.