Page 64 of Unnecessary Drama

‘We’ve all been there,’ she says. ‘I once had a meltdown and cried in front of everyone before we’d even left the house, because I couldn’t get my hair to curl right.’

‘That makes me feel a bit better,’ I say.

Penny looks at me closely. ‘You’re not into Henry at all, are you?’

I wasn’t expecting this question.

‘Oh. No. I don’t think I am. I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘I mean, I like him as a friend, obviously. Besides, I’m pretty sure he likes Lauren.’

‘He likes Lauren paying attention to him, because he’s a straight guy and she’s hot. But he’s interested in you,’ Penny says. ‘But that doesn’t matter. Your feelings matter. What you want matters. Or should I say, who you want matters.’

‘I don’t want anybody.’

‘I think maybe you do,’ she says, smiling at me. I’m scared she’s going to say more, but she doesn’t.

‘I wish I had what you and Harper have,’ I say.

Penny laughs. ‘We’re not perfect,’ she says.

‘You’re not?’

‘Well, okay, maybe we are. But we have our challenges. Like, for example, Harper’s family is very overprotective, and they worry we’ve gotten too serious too quickly. Harper’s older sister moved in with her girlfriend straight out of high school, and it went badly, she had a really traumatic break up. Her older brother got married young, and then divorced before he was twenty-three. And Harper is the baby of the family. They want her to travel, be single and unencumbered, date around, meet lots of people and not make the mistakes they did.’

‘What does Harper think?’

‘She’s pretends not to care, but it gets to her, a bit. Sometimes it feels like they’re just waiting for us to break up so they can say I told you so.’

‘What do you think?’

‘I think,’ Penny pauses. ‘Maybe, they’re right. Life might be easier if we were single now and met later. But, I love who Harper is now. I don’t want to meet her at twenty-nine and miss ten years of knowing her.’

‘That’s very romantic,’ I say.

‘I know.’ Penny smiles.

‘What are you going to do?’ I ask. I see, suddenly, why Penny’s dating agency would work. She exudes relationship wisdom. I want her to run my whole life, not just my love life.

‘I’m going to keep loving her and see what happens,’ Penny says. ‘Anyway, my point is, there is no perfect relationship. The timing might be wrong, people might be trying to set you up with someone else, everyone might be telling you it’s a bad idea, but if the person is right, it can be worth the risk.’

‘Thank you,’ I say. There’s another knock on the door then, and Jesse’s face appears.

‘Oh sorry, I’ll go,’ he says.

‘No, I’m just going,’ Penny says, and she slips out of the room.

Jesse hovers in the doorway.

‘I was out looking for you,’ he says, accusingly.

‘Thank you,’ I say. ‘But I was fine,’ I add.

‘Right,’ he says and turns to go. ‘Oh, here’s your jacket,’ he says, and throws it on the end of my bed.

‘Thank you,’ I say, and this time, I do mean it.

He walks out, shuts the door and then almost immediately opens it again, poking his head in.

‘I’m not going to have sex with your sister,’ he says.