The Class of 2016 WhatsApp group.
Jenna (texting)
We should do something to celebrate Haley coming back to town.
Thursday afternoon. The WhatsApp group — The Class of 2016 — has been quiet for most of the day. Jenna's message lands in forty-odd phones across Grand Forks.
Kelsey (texting)
Yes. Absolutely yes. She's been back almost two weeks and I haven't even called her yet and I feel terrible about it. What are you thinking, like a dinner thing?
Travis (texting)
Good call Jenna. Poor girl deserves a proper welcome home.
Colton (texting)
Agreed. Count me in if it's somewhere I can actually get to. And Jenna — good on you for thinking of it.
Haley (texting)
You guys don't have to do that. But also I won't stop you.
Jenna (texting)
I'm open to anything. We could go to the Bar & Kitchen but that's hard for Colton.
Colton (texting)
Honestly — come to ours. The house is big enough, Kelsey can confirm we have a functional kitchen and actual chairs, and I don't have to figure out whether the ramp at the Bar and Kitchen is a suggestion or a commitment. We'll make an evening of it. Someone just has to tell me what to bring from the liquor store.
Kelsey (texting)
Colton's right, we have the space. I'll cook — or we can all cook, which is more fun anyway. Haley, you're not wriggling out of this one. Jenna, name a night.
Haley (texting)
Do you think we could invite Reggie?
A pause in the thread. Not a long one — maybe fifteen seconds — but long enough that it has a shape.
Jenna (texting)
Yes? Obviously yes? Why is that even a question, Haley. Someone add him.
Travis (texting)
Yeah for sure. Good guy.A beat, then, because he is Travis and cannot help himself:Does he drink or is he still on the sparkling water thing.
Colton (texting)
Add him in. He knows where we live.
Reggie (texting)
You've forgotten I'm in this group. Thanks, you all enjoy. I'll run into you all another time.
Jenna (texting)
Reggie. No. You are not pulling that. You are literally in the group chat. That means you are in the group. Get in the car.
Haley (texting)
I asked specifically. That was not a rhetorical ask.
Colton (texting)
Reggie. I'm the one who can't get to places easily and I'm not using it as an excuse. You don't get to.
Kelsey (texting)
Don't make me drive to your house and knock on the door. You know I will. Jenna, name the night and add him before he figures out how to leave the group.
Travis (texting)
Bro I will come get you. I have a truck and no plans.
Reggie (texting)
No, really. You all know I don't go to those things. I ran into Haley the other day and told her how happy I was that she's back in town. And I meant it. Enjoy your gathering. Really.
Haley reads 'I ran into Haley the other day' and reads it again.
Haley (texting)
The other day. We cooked dinner together, Reggie. You made rooibos and I did something to the chicken and we talked until it was late. I'm not sure 'ran into' covers the full invoice but I'll let you characterize it however you want. What I won't let you do is use it as a reason to stay home. I asked specifically. That's still true.
Jenna (texting)
Wait — you cooked dinner? Like, at his house? Reggie. REGGIE. You had a whole evening and you're in here saying 'ran into her the other day' like you bumped carts at the Save-On. That is so much worse than just saying no. That's a no with a cover story. Haley asked for you by name and that means something, so you are going to get in Travis's truck or you are going to explain yourself better than that.
Colton (texting)
Reggie. You already let one person in this week. Don't make it a one-time thing.
Travis (texting)
Truck's warming up. I'm not even joking. I have nowhere to be and I know where you live.
Reggie (texting)
No really. Please. I do not fit into the group that way. I never have. I don't know why Haley asked for me, but please excuse me from this. I think the world of all of you, but I really am not comfortable attending. Enjoy yourselves.
Jenna (texting)
Okay. Okay, we hear you. We're not going to drag you. But Reggie — the offer stands, and it doesn't expire. If you change your mind at any point, even ten minutes before, even from the driveway, the door is open. That's all.
Haley (texting)
I heard you. I'm not going to argue. But I asked for you specifically, and that's still on the record. Do what you need to do.
Colton (texting)
Door's open. Leave it at that.
Travis (texting)
Truck's going back in the garage. For now.
New chat, the next day.
Haley (texting)
That was really nice yesterday night. Thank you for doing that. All of you. Especially Colton for hosting.
Jenna (texting)
Okay but Colton's kitchen deserves a lot of the credit. That island. I want it. I'm not ashamed to say it. Also you ate three helpings of the pasta so I'm going to need you to admit that too.
Kelsey (texting)
It was really good to see you. I mean it. We should have done it sooner and that's on me. The island was a gift from me to myself so I will accept that compliment on its behalf.
Colton (texting)
Glad we did it. Same time next week if people want. The ramp is definitely a commitment, for the record.
Travis (texting)
Good night. Colton your nachos were elite and I will die on that hill. Same hill as the nachos. Architecturally speaking.
Haley (texting)
I can't next week. I have scans at Kootenay Boundary. And the bus takes three hours each way so I'll be beat.
Jenna (texting)
Oh. Right. Yeah, of course. When are they? Just so I know roughly.
Kelsey (texting)
Is someone driving you, or are you actually taking the bus both ways? Because that's a full day, Haley. That's a lot to do alone.
Colton (texting)
Let us know how it goes. When you're back.
Haley (texting)
I'll take the bus. It's no big deal. My parents are working. The bus is fine. I can nap.
Jenna (texting)
Haley. It's six hours on the bus. Round trip. On the day you get your scan results. I'm not saying that to make you feel bad. I'm saying it because I want you to know I'm aware of what that actually is, and 'I can nap' is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
Kelsey (texting)
I would. I really would. I can't get a sitter on short notice for the whole day and Colton needs — Tell me the date and I'll see what I can do. I'm not promising but I'm not done yet.
Colton (texting)
If I could drive I'd drive you myself. That's not a useful thing to say and I know it. I'm sorry, Haley. Tell us how it goes when you're back.
Travis (texting)
I've got a job site that week and my foreman will fire me if I disappear again. I already used my excuse. I'm sorry. I mean it. You shouldn't be doing that alone.
Haley (texting)
It's really fine. Truly. I've done this bus ride several times and I might as well get used to it.
Reggie (texting)
I can drive you, Haley, if you'd like.
Jenna (texting)
Oh thank God. Sorry. I mean — that's really good of you, Reggie. That's the right call.
Kelsey (texting)
Good. That's good.
Colton (texting)
Reggie. Appreciate it. Haley, let the man drive you.
Travis (texting)
Solid. Good man.
Reggie (texting)
My car isn't comfortable but it's only an hour by car and three by bus. I've done it both ways.
Haley (texting)
I know your car. It's very small and extremely impractical and yes.She sends it before she can think of a reason not to.Thank you, Reggie. Tell me when and I'll be ready.
A week passes.
Jenna (texting)
Haley, how did the scans go?
The question sits there in the thread and Haley reads it twice.
Haley (texting)
Clean. Everything was clear. No new findings. I'm back. I'm fine. That's the report.
Kelsey (texting)
I'm really glad. I mean that.
Colton (texting)
Good news. That's the one that counts.
Travis (texting)
Really glad to hear it Haley. Seriously.
Jenna (texting)
So Colton, can we come over again next week? Pretty please?? :D
Colton (texting)
Same deal as before. Bring something to drink and I won't make you use the ramp twice. Kelsey, you good with that?
Kelsey (texting)
Already thinking about what to make. Yes. Reggie, before you start composing your exit — the offer extends to you too. Same terms as last time. No expiry.
Reggie (texting)
Thank you. That's very kind.
Jenna (texting)
That's it? That's all we get? 'Thank you, that's very kind.' Reggie, I swear to God. Fine. We'll take it. But you're on the list.
Kelsey (texting)
Noted. See you when we see you.
Travis (texting)
Haley, is he like that in private? You rode with him for two hours. Does he actually talk?
Haley (texting)
He talks.
Kelsey is suddenly interested.
Kelsey (texting)
About what?
Haley (texting)
Everything. And nothing. But really, I don't know if I could have gotten through this without him.
Jenna (texting)
Without him. Okay I need everyone to notice that she just said without him. That is not a 'ran into each other at the post office' sentence. That is a whole different sentence.
Colton (texting)
Good. That's the right word for it, Haley. I mean it.
Travis (texting)
Reggie, you going to say anything?
Reggie (texting)
No.
Jenna (texting)
Okay. Okay, that's actually kind of perfect. I mean it. That's the right answer.
Kelsey (texting)
Yeah. Same time next week, then. All of you.
Haley (texting)
Same time next week.
Another week passes.
Haley (texting)
I just want to thank everyone again for yesterday, especially Colton and Kelsey for hosting. These gatherings really mean a lot to me.
Kelsey (texting)
The Class of 2016 hasn't been this close since graduation. It's SO good to have you back in town, Haley.
Jenna (texting)
Every single week. I'm putting it in my calendar as a recurring event and nobody gets to argue with me about it.
Colton (texting)
Happy to keep hosting as long as people keep showing up. And as long as someone else does dishes. Kelsey's being generous — she did most of the actual work. I supervised from a chair and called it hosting.
Travis (texting)
I did the dishes. I want that acknowledged.
Jenna (texting)
How have things been, Haley?
Haley (texting)
I'm doing ok. Seeing a hormonal specialist next week. Hoping to get healthy enough that I can work again. Not that there's any work to be had in Grand Forks.
Kelsey (texting)
A hormonal specialist — that's good, that's the right move. And don't write off working from here. Reggie does it. It's not impossible.
Colton (texting)
Grand Forks is light on options but it's not nothing. If you need a name for anything — doctor, specialist, whatever — Kelsey has built a list of every useful person in the valley. The working-again part will come. Don't let it be the thing you're measuring yourself against right now.
Travis (texting)
What kind of work are you looking at? Like, back into what you were doing in Vancouver, or something different?
Haley (texting)
I don't think I can handle Vancouver again. I didn't hate it, but I still have days I can't really do much.
Jenna (texting)
Yeah. That's fair. The days you can't do much — are those getting less frequent, or is it still pretty unpredictable?
Kelsey (texting)
Remote work is real, though. If you end up staying — and I'm not assuming, I'm just saying — it's worth thinking about. Reggie figured it out from here. It's not a consolation prize.
Colton (texting)
Don't rush the Vancouver question. That's not a decision you need to make while you're still in the hormonal specialist waiting room.
Reggie (texting)
Do you have a ride, Haley? To the specialist?
Haley (texting)
No, but it's just at Boundary here in Grand Forks. I can bus it. It's ten minutes.
Reggie (texting)
I'm willing if you are so inclined.
Jenna (texting)
Reggie. You know the specialist is in Grand Forks, right. It's ten minutes. You're offering to drive her ten minutes.
Travis (texting)
Man's logging miles. Respect.
Kelsey (texting)
Let him.
Colton (texting)
Good.
Reggie (texting)
I am offering to drive her ten minutes, correct. But no pressure. If you'd rather take the bus, I get that. I probably would.
Jenna (texting)
Okay he is so aware it's ten minutes. He knows it's ten minutes. That's not the point, Reggie, and you know it's not the point.
Haley (texting)
I'll take the ride. Thank you.
Travis (texting)
Every mile counts. I stand by my previous statement.
Kelsey (texting)
Good. That's settled.
Reggie (texting)
Just text me the date and time. I'll be there.
Travis (texting)
I don't know how to ask this so I'll just ask. Are you two a thing?
Reggie (texting)
No.
Travis (texting)
Well that was convincing.
Reggie (texting)
It's true. I asked Haley out when we were in high school. She said no. I hadn't talked to her for seven years before she came back to town. And now that she's here, I'm just glad to be able to be helpful now and then in these small ways.
The thread sits open on Haley's phone and she reads Reggie's last line twice — the high school ask, the seven years, the small ways. She types and then sits with it for a moment before she sends it.
Haley (texting)
The small ways are adding up, Reggie.
Jenna (texting)
Okay. I'm going to say the thing nobody is saying. 'I'm just glad to be helpful in small ways' is the saddest possible framing for a man who drove someone an hour each way to get scan results, and I'm not letting it stand unopposed. That is all. I've said it. Someone else can talk now.
Kelsey (texting)
He means it, Jenna. That's the thing. He actually means it.
Travis (texting)
Ok, so is that why you haven't come to a single social gathering in ten years? You're sulking because a girl said no in high school?
Jenna (texting)
Travis, I know this is hard for you but don't be a dickhead, just this once.
Kelsey (texting)
Seriously, Travis, he's being kind and helping more than all of the rest of us. Don't make it ugly.
Colton (texting)
Travis. Drop it.
Haley (texting)
Reggie. You said you don't go to those things. You've been driving me to appointments and texting in this group chat for three weeks. Those are also things. I'm just noting that for the record.
Reggie (texting)
I've been in this group chat for twelve years, since it began two years before we all graduated. I've always responded, even when I moved to Vancouver for five years. I've never disappeared. Let's not make too much of a few short errands.
Jenna (texting)
Twelve years. Reggie. You've been here the whole time and you just described it like filing taxes. 'I've always responded.' That's the most low-key sentence I have ever read and I went to school with you for four years. I know what low-key looks like on you. That's low-key with its collar up.
Travis (texting)
Bro just take the win. Nobody's trying to make a thing out of it. Except maybe Jenna. But even she's got a point this time.
Colton (texting)
Twelve years in the chat and three weeks of showing up in person aren't the same category, Reggie. You know that. We know that. We're not making too much of it. We're just counting accurately.
Haley (texting)
Filing a tax return doesn't make rooibos. I'm just counting accurately. Same as Colton.
Travis (texting)
And for the record, I wasn't dissing you earlier. Just saying we all lose some, not only you. And we don't all stop showing up in person. We take the hit and show up the next time.
Reggie (texting)
I didn't stop showing up in person. I've never gone to any of your gatherings since I've known any of you. I don't belong there. I didn't even go to the prom. I show up in my own small ways when I can. It's not impressive but it's what I can do, and I do it.
Jenna (texting)
You didn't go to the prom. Reggie, I didn't know that. I thought everyone — I didn't think about whether everyone had a — You've been in this chat for twelve years and I didn't know that.
Kelsey (texting)
I knew. I just never said anything about it. Which I'm realizing is not better.
Haley (texting)
I didn't go to the prom either, Reggie. For different reasons. You said you don't belong at those things. I keep trying to figure out if you actually believe that or if you've just said it long enough that it became the same as believing it. Those are not the same thing. I'm still counting.
Colton (texting)
For the record. You belong. That's not a performance. It's just accurate.
Reggie (texting)
Why didn't you go to the prom, Haley? I didn't know you didn't go until now.
Haley (texting)
My dad. He had a cardiac event the week before. Nothing fatal, but we didn't know that yet when prom came around. I stayed home with my mom because she couldn't sit still and somebody had to. I never told anyone because it felt like a weird thing to bring up after the fact, and then enough time passed that it was just — a thing that happened. I was seventeen and my dad was in the hospital and I watched my dress hang on the back of my door all weekend. So yes. For different reasons. But I know what it is to be in the town while the town is somewhere else.
Jenna (texting)
I had no idea either. About you. I was at that prom. I have pictures. I didn't think to wonder who wasn't in them.
Kelsey (texting)
Neither did I.
Travis (texting)
Damn. That's a rough weekend to be seventeen. Glad your dad made it.
Colton (texting)
So neither of you were there, and nobody noticed, and ten years later you're both in a group chat on a Friday afternoon in Grand Forks comparing notes. I'm not making a point. I just think that's worth saying out loud.
Another week goes by.
Jenna (texting)
Haley, how are the hormones??
Haley reads Jenna's question and types standing at her parents' kitchen counter, one hand braced on the edge of it.
Haley (texting)
Still calibrating. The specialist thinks the dosage needs adjusting. So I go back in two weeks and we see. Some days are good. Some days I sleep until noon and don't feel bad about it, which is new. The sleeping-until-noon thing might just be Grand Forks.
Kelsey (texting)
The adjusting phase is the worst part. It took my aunt almost four months to land on the right dose. Two weeks is not forever. Are you eating okay?
Colton (texting)
Good days and bad days is still progress. It counts.
Travis (texting)
What does 'still calibrating' mean in human terms. Like, good week overall or rough week overall.
Haley (texting)
Rough and good in the same day, usually. This week the good parts have been in the evenings.A beat, and she almost stops there, but she keeps going.Honestly the only thing keeping me sane right now is Wednesdays. So. Rough-and-good, net positive.
Kelsey (texting)
Wednesdays.
Colton (texting)
What's Wednesdays.
Travis (texting)
Yeah I was going to ask that.
Haley (texting)
Oh...well...it's nothing, really. I see a friend on Wednesdays and talk about what's been going on. It has really helped.
Jenna (texting)
A friend. Haley. 'A friend' and 'Wednesdays' in the same sentence from someone who three weeks ago said she didn't know who she wanted to call. I'm going to need you to say more words than that.
Kelsey (texting)
Wednesdays specifically.
Travis (texting)
Is it a person or is 'Wednesdays' code for like, a show or something. Because I need to know which direction this conversation is going.
Colton (texting)
Let her answer the question, Travis. Haley. What's Wednesdays.
Haley (texting)
Look, I'm not trying to be secretive. They just prefer I didn't say. They asked me to not mention them.
Jenna (texting)
They. Haley, I love you, and I respect that, and I am going to sit with this information like a normal person. I'm not going to be normal about this for very long, just so you know.
Kelsey (texting)
I'm not going to push. But whoever it is — they're doing something right. Net positive is the right metric.
Colton (texting)
If they asked, they asked. That's fair. Jenna, let it sit.
Travis (texting)
Respect the ask. But also — Reggie, you're being very quiet over there.
Reggie (texting)
I've invited Haley to my place on Wednesdays since she's been back. It started the first day we ran into each other at the post office and kept going. We cook and talk and then I run her home. It's not what you are thinking.
Travis sends a single period first, like he's making sure the app registers he's typing.
Travis (texting)
Not what we're thinking. Okay. I'm going to take that at face value.A pause — shorter than it should be.But I do want to point out that 'it's not what you're thinking' is exactly what someone says when it is what you're thinking. I'm not saying it is. I'm just noting the phrase.
Jenna (texting)
Reggie. Wednesday. Every week. Since the first day. You have been cooking dinner with this woman every single Wednesday since she got back and you described it in this chat as 'running into her at the post office' and then you told her not to mention you. Those are choices you made. I need you to hear me saying that those are choices you made, out loud, in a text, with witnesses. Also Travis is right about the phrase. I hate that he's right but he's right.
Kelsey (texting)
Every Wednesday. That's good, Reggie. I mean that. That's a good thing to be doing. Haley — I'm glad you have somewhere to be on Wednesdays.
Colton (texting)
Appreciated, Reggie. Both of you. Travis, let it land where it landed.
Haley (texting)
He cooks. I help. We talk. I go home. He asked me not to say because he knew exactly how this conversation would go, and he was right, and I'm sorry, Reggie. I should have held it better. It's the best part of my week. That's all it is. That's the whole thing.
Three dots. They appear, disappear, appear again, and stay longer than usual before the message comes through.
Kelsey (texting)
That's the best part of your week.A beat, and then, because she is not a robot and cannot stop herself, the next line comes before she has decided whether to send it.Are you two getting romantic? I'm asking because I want to know. Not because it's my business. I'm aware it's not my business.
Jenna (texting)
Kelsey asked it so I don't have to. Which is probably good for everyone.
Travis (texting)
I'm going to look at my phone very carefully and not say anything.
Colton (texting)
Haley. You don't have to answer that in here.
Haley (texting)
Reggie has made it very clear to me that he doesn't want to revisit his invitation to me from high school.
The dots appear, then stop, then appear once more before the message comes through — and when it does, it is very measured.
Kelsey (texting)
Okay. That's a strange thing to have to hear from him. He said that to you directly. Those words.
Jenna (texting)
'Doesn't want to revisit his invitation.' Haley, that is — okay, I'm going to need a second with that sentence, because that is the saddest possible way to describe a person choosing not to ask for something twice, and I think you know that too.
Travis (texting)
I mean. That's one way to put it.
Colton (texting)
He said it like that. Those exact words.
Travis (texting)
I mean, okay, so he isn't inviting you to some seventeen year old's idea of romance, but that doesn't mean there's nothing there.
Haley reads Travis's line and sits with it for a moment — it is not wrong, and it lands somewhere she did not expect Travis's words to land.
Haley (texting)
He isn't seventeen either. Neither am I. That's sort of the whole point.
Jenna (texting)
Okay Travis said a true thing and I need everyone to acknowledge that Travis said a true thing. Reggie. You are still here. We can all see the read receipts.
Kelsey (texting)
No. He isn't.
Reggie (texting)
In high school, I had crushes on both Haley and Kelsey. Both of them chose other men. I accept that and respect the choices they made.
The read receipts tick on. Everyone has seen it. Nobody says the thing they are all thinking.
Jenna (texting)
Both of them. Reggie, I say this with love: you just handed this group a live grenade and walked away from it.
Travis (texting)
Yeah. Both of them. I heard it. We all heard it.
Colton (texting)
I appreciate that you said it straight. That takes something.
Haley (texting)
I know what I chose. I know what it cost you. For what it's worth — I know.
Kelsey (texting)
Me too.
Jenna (texting)
Yes, it cost him to say that, but it's still a live grenade and we all know why. Whatever happened ten years ago between Haley and Reggie doesn't mean that's still what's happening now.
Kelsey (texting)
Jenna.A beat, and her voice — even in text — has gone very careful, the way it does when she is choosing each word separately.What happened ten years ago isn't what I'm asking about. I know the difference.
Travis (texting)
Okay I'm going to stay very quiet now. You're all doing fine without me.
Colton (texting)
Jenna's right that it's a live one. She's also right that then and now aren't the same category. Reggie said what he said. Let it settle where it settles.
Haley (texting)
I don't think Reggie handed anyone a grenade. I think he said something true and clean and everyone in this thread knew it was coming and nobody knew what to do when it arrived. That's not on him. He didn't say then. He said chose. Those are his words and I think he meant them exactly.
Reggie (texting)
Look, even if Haley was willing to reconsider, which she has given no indication of, I'm not. I know I wasn't anyone's first choice in high school. I'm still not today. But I'm only twenty eight and I still hope to find a girl who chooses me first. And that's not her. She chose. And it wasn't me.
Haley (texting)
I've given you no indication? Reggie, I have never known you to lie. Ever.
Reggie (texting)
I'm sorry, you're right, I should have said nothing. I was trying to make it easier.
Jenna (texting)
Reggie. She just told you that you were wrong about giving no indication. And you said sorry and walked it back. That's the second time in five minutes you've made something smaller than it is to protect someone else from having to deal with it. I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just saying I see you doing it.
Kelsey (texting)
She called you out. By name. In a group chat with everyone watching. And you apologized. That's not nothing, Reggie.
Colton (texting)
Reggie. The 'make it easier' part. Who were you making it easier for.
Travis (texting)
I'm going to go ahead and not answer that for him. But I want it noted that I had the restraint not to.
Haley (texting)
Look, I know I started this by accidentally mentioning Wednesdays, but the rest of this hasn't been me. And the last thing that was said, about me having given no indication...that was just wrong. So I'm going to set the record straight no matter what it costs me. Since I've been back, Reggie has been the only person that doesn't make me feel like a circus act. I love you all but he just has the ability to look past my issues and still see the girl that's there underneath. And it has been several weeks since I made clear to him that I was developing feelings for him. And he told me clearly that he thinks the only reason I want him is because I think I can't get a white guy now that they cut off my breasts, and he's not going to be my consolation prize. That's where we stand. I'm sorry, Reggie, but that's the honest truth.
The read receipts tick on. All of them have seen it. The thread is very still.
Jenna (texting)
Reggie. She just told the whole group chat. I'm not going to pile on. I just want to say — that took something from her, and you know it did, and whatever you say next is going to matter.
Kelsey (texting)
That's not a consolation prize. That's just not what that is.
Travis (texting)
Reggie. I've said dumb things in this chat and gotten called on them. I'll return the favour. What you told her — that she only wants you because she thinks she can't do better — that's not protection. That's just a different way of making yourself small and calling it honesty.
Colton (texting)
Reggie. She said consolation prize was wrong. I think you should let yourself be wrong about that.
Reggie (texting)
I appreciate your saying the true thing, Haley. I had let a lie stand. You told the truth. I am grateful.
Jenna (texting)
Okay. So you're grateful. Now say the other thing.
Kelsey (texting)
It's not a consolation prize, Reggie. I'll keep saying it until it lands.
Colton (texting)
She put it on the record so you wouldn't have to carry it alone. That's what just happened. Don't let 'I'm grateful' be the whole answer.
Haley (texting)
I know why you said it. I'm not asking you to take it back. I'm asking you to tell me whether you believe it. Because grateful and believed are two different things, and I think you know the difference, and I think everyone else in this thread does too.
Reggie (texting)
I believe you believe it, Haley. I also know that, when actually faced with the choice, you've always chosen someone else. Which is okay. I am not bitter about that. But permit me my dream of one day having a girl choose me first. It hasn't happened in my first twenty eight years, but I'm hoping it will someday. And until then, I hope you will continue to accept my invitations on Wednesdays. And, I mean this totally seriously, after you do reconstruction, if you do, your choices will re-emerge, and you won't need to settle, and our Wednesdays can fade away, and we can both remember them fondly for what they were.
Haley reads it. All of it. The dream of a girl who chooses him first. The reconstruction clause. The Wednesdays fading away fondly. She sits with it long enough that the read receipt has been there for a while before she types anything.
Haley (texting)
You just put an expiry date on the only thing that's been keeping me sane, and you dressed it up as giving me options. I haven't chosen someone else since I came back, Reggie. I haven't chosen anyone. I've been sitting in your kitchen on Wednesdays telling you the truest things I know how to say, and you have been doing the same, and you just told this entire group chat that it has a shelf life conditional on my chest. I want you to hear what you just said. I need you to actually hear it.
Jenna (texting)
Reggie. 'After reconstruction your choices will re-emerge.' I've read that sentence four times. I know you think you're being generous. I need you to understand that you are not being generous.
Travis (texting)
Man. Yeah. What Jenna said. That's the sentence right there.
Kelsey (texting)
It's not a consolation prize. I said it and I'll keep saying it. But Reggie — The reconstruction line. That one's not protection. That's you deciding how her story ends before she does. You don't get to do that.
Colton (texting)
Reggie. She's not choosing you because of what she can't get. She's choosing you on a Wednesday when she could be anywhere else. Those are not the same thing. You know the difference. Let yourself know it.
Reggie (texting)
What exactly do you want of me, Haley? Exactly. Not feelings or taking you seriously or anything vague. What are you asking of me?
Haley (texting)
I want you to let me come over on Wednesday and not spend the whole evening building me an exit ramp. That's the specific thing. I want you to stop deciding in advance how it ends. I'm not asking for a promise or a plan or anything you have to protect either of us from. I'm asking you to stop telling me what I'll want after my chest looks different and stop making the Wednesdays into something we're going to remember fondly from a safe distance. You asked what I want exactly. That's exactly it. Stop architecting the ending and just be in the room with me.
Jenna (texting)
She said the specific thing. You asked for specific. That's specific. I'm going to stop talking now.
Kelsey (texting)
That's not a complicated ask, Reggie.
Colton (texting)
She answered the question you asked. That's your move now.
Reggie (texting)
Okay, I can do that, but you have to do it, too. Don't make Wednesdays into an onramp to something bigger. They're just Wednesdays. I pick you up at your parents' place, drive you over to my place after stopping at the grocery store, we follow whatever Youtube recipe you've chosen, ruin it, eat it anyway because there's nothing else, ruin our diets with strawberry ice cream, dance for a couple of hours, and then talk until midnight, then I run you home and if the temperature is anything above 15°C, I take the top down and you can freeze your ass. Good?
Haley reads it twice. The grocery store. The ruined recipe. The strawberry ice cream. The dancing. The top down in the cold. All of it in a list, like a contract, like a thing that can be held at arm's length by being named precisely enough.
Haley (texting)
Yeah. But I'm choosing the recipes. You have no taste and I have evidence.
Jenna (texting)
They're negotiating. I need everyone to notice they're negotiating. That's all. I've said my piece. I'm done. The ice cream detail is doing something to me and I'm keeping that to myself.
Travis (texting)
Strawberry. Bold choice. I would've said chocolate but I'm staying in my lane.
Kelsey (texting)
Good. Wednesday.
Colton (texting)
She picks the recipes. That's non-negotiable. I've seen what you cook unsupervised, Reggie. We all have. Let her have that one.
Travis (texting)
And if anyone here believes they're not screwing like bunnies after the dancing, I've got a bridge to sell you.
Kelsey (texting)
OMG are you????
A pause — not a long one, but deliberate.
Colton (texting)
Travis. We're not doing that in here.
Jenna (texting)
I am going to be quiet, but I admit, dancing and strawberry ice cream sound amazing. Travis, you have the timing of a car alarm.
Haley (texting)
I'm going to let that sit there without answering it, which I think is itself an answer, and I'm going to ask that the group takes that as the final word on the subject. Reggie, what time Wednesday?