by Kelly Oram
He glanced back at his game and then gave Jordan a pained look. “I only want one of your tickets. And you have to use the other one.”
Jordan laughed. “That’s still a date.”
“The best date you’ll ever go on, mamacita. Come on, just as friends. Teammates, even.”
“Teammates?” I asked as Jordan laughed.
Jordan grinned at me. “We joined an intramural soccer league together this summer.” She turned back to him. “Fine. You win. One game. It’s not a date. And I am totally wearing my Rob Loxley jersey.”
Junior groaned at the last stipulation. I could only assume the player she mentioned was on the Galaxy and not the Red Bulls. I smiled at the thought. I hardly knew Jordan, but I could easily see her going to a sporting event wearing the opposite team’s colors and taunting all the New York fans with it.
“Fine. Deal,” Junior agreed. When all of his friends began cursing, he said, “Suck it, losers. I gotta go help my future wife.”
And with that he turned off his game and gave us his full attention. “What’ve you got for me?”
Jordan handed him the box of computer parts. He glanced in and whistled. “What happened here?”
“Uh, well, my brothers dumped a bunch of coffee all over it, and then they tried to fix it by drowning it in 160 proof vodka and burying it in rice.”
Junior nodded absently, already picking through the pieces of my laptop and examining them. When I mentioned the vodka, he sniffed one of the parts and then smirked. “Clever.”
Jordan and I shared an incredulous glance. “Clever?” I asked.
Junior took the box over to a cluttered table and, after clearing space, began spreading out all the pieces of my computer. “Yeah, dude. Coffee is nasty stuff for a computer. Especially if it’s loaded with cream and sugar. It mucks up everything and corrodes it. I wouldn’t have thought of using vodka, but it seems to have done a good job at cleaning it off.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
I glanced at Jordan again in disbelief, and she grinned. “Who knew?”
Junior sat down, turned on a bright light, and looked at the motherboard underneath a magnifying glass. After a brief examination, he tsked. “You were using it when they spilled the coffee.”
“Yeah. I was finishing up a big project. I had several different programs running.”
“Sparks?”
I nodded.
“Smoke?”
I blew out a breath, remembering the moment, and grimaced. “Yeah.”
He nodded, as if he’d expected that answer. “With it working so hard, you short circuited it pretty good. I can try a few things, but I’m guessing I won’t be able to do much. Your motherboard’s fried.”
My stomach rolled. Screwed. I was screwed.
“What about his hard drive?” Jordan asked.
I nodded, a spark of hope allowing me to take a breath. “The computer can be replaced, but I need the files. That project is due in the morning and is a third of my grade. I could jeopardize my scholarship if I can’t recover it.”
Junior abandoned the destroyed motherboard to examine the hard drive. “Well, let’s not panic until we see what condition this bad boy is in. It looks pretty okay to me.”
It took him all of two minutes to pop my hard drive into what he called a disk enclosure and plug it into his computer. “You are one lucky dude,” he said as he opened a folder on his desktop and started sifting through files. “Not only do you have the most amazing roommate on the planet, you have files.”
My heart skipped a beat, unable to handle the relief that jolted it. It seemed too good to be true. I finally released the air I’d been holding in my lungs, and my entire body sagged. “I have files.”
“You have files!” Jordan cheered.
Junior nodded. “All of them. You acted fast enough that there doesn’t seem to be any damage to the hard drive at all. Taking apart the computer and cleaning it off like that totally saved you.” He shook his head and chuckled. “Vodka. I’ll have to keep that in mind. Even the rice was a smart move.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you kidding?”
Junior looked up at me. “I never kid about computers, dude. Rice pulls the moisture out of anything. Since you separated the hard drive quickly and stuck it in the rice, if any moisture got in there, it was dried right away. This drive is totally fine. Pop it into whatever new computer you buy, and you’ll be all good to go.”
I was so stunned I fell back to the couch and just stared at nothing. “I can’t believe it,” I muttered, shaking my head. “They actually saved my project. Granted, they’d been the idiots to destroy my computer in the first place, and I still have to buy a new one, but they saved my project.”
I mean they’d truly saved me. I’d stormed out in a fit of panic and rage. I’d been so angry I hadn’t bothered to think about my computer at all until I’d spoken to Pearl and she’d calmed me down. It was only then that I’d thought about trying to recover my files. If Chris and Tyler hadn’t acted, I probably would have lost my project.
“And I can’t believe,” Jordan said, snapping me from my thoughts, “I agreed to a date with you for something that took five seconds. If I’d known, I could have done that myself!”
Junior and I both laughed. “But you didn’t know,” Junior said. “Knowledge is power, chica. And now that you’ve admitted we have an actual date, I expect you to make out with me after the game.”
Snorting, Jordan kicked Junior in the shin. “Dream on.”
“You can’t resist me forever, baby.” Junior grinned at me. “I owe you one, bro. Easiest date I’ve ever earned.”
Jordan rolled her eyes and glared at me when I laughed again. Her sour face only made my smile double. “Glad I could help you out,” I told Junior. I dug through my backpack and found a flash drive. “Think you could put my project on this for me? Or burn it to a CD?”
“For the guy who got me a front row seat to a Red Bulls match with my favorite mamacita, I can do both.”
I pointed out the right file and Junior copied it onto my flash drive. Another wave of relief washed over me as I took the drive containing my project and tucked it safely in my backpack. It was amazing how having this one three-and-a-half-minute file on an eight-dollar USB drive made me not care at all that I was going to have to replace my two-thousand-dollar laptop.
I wasn’t even angry with my brothers anymore. They were idiots, but they were impossible to stay mad at. Not that I wanted to keep rooming with them. But that was another reason I couldn’t hold their stupid coffee accident against them. They’d played a vital part in my meeting Jordan and finding my new place. Without something as drastic as them destroying my computer, I probably would have suffered living with them all year. Maybe even my entire four years of college.
I jerked to my feet when my song began pumping into the room. “Oh, wait, you don’t have to—that’s…” Junior was bopping his head along with the song, listening intently, and Jordan was watching me with intrigue.
As they listened, I studied my shoes and held my breath. I knew this was part of the process and that I’d have to play it for my entire class in the morning, but I was a total novice with the music tech stuff. The nerves couldn’t be helped.
“You composed this?” Jordan asked.
Letting out a breath, I rubbed the back of my flaming neck and shrugged. “Yeah.”
“It’s awesome.”
Her smile made me relax, as did Junior’s nod of approval. “It’s pretty tight. Glad you didn’t lose it.”
I blew out another breath. “Me too.”
The song ended, and Junior handed me the CD he’d just burned the song to. “You’re all set.”
I took the CD and profusely thanked him as I shook his hand. “Anytime,” he said. “It was nice to meet you. Now get out of my place.” He flashed me a smile. “No offense. I’ve got a game to beat.”
I laughed. “Good luck. Thanks again.”
“Thanks, Junior,” Jordan called as she joined me.
He stopped what he was doing long enough to give Jordan a devious smile. “Thank you, mamacita. I’ll see you soon. Dress sexy for me on our date, beautiful.”
Jordan left him with a parting snort.
With my project recovered and ready to hand in tomorrow, I suddenly had no idea what to do with the rest of my evening. I stood on the sidewalk for a moment, just sort of processing my relief. Jordan startled me from my daze. “Well, Nate, you’ve got your project back and I’ve got a new roommate. This calls for a celebration.”
Adjusting the box of computer remains she was still carrying for me since I had my backpack and my duffle bag, she grabbed my arm with her free hand and began to tug me down the street.
When we reached the corner, she dropped my arm and hit the button for the crosswalk. “I’m trying very hard to feel bad about making you have to go out with Junior,” I said as we waited for the signal to change so we could cross the street, “but, again, I just can’t do it. You really helped me out tonight. Thank you.”
She grinned at me. “Glad I could help. And don’t feel bad about my date with Junior. In truth, I planned to invite him to a game or two with me anyway.”
“Yeah? So you’re interested?”
She laughed. “Heavens, no. Definitely not. Junior only has meaningful relationships with video games. But he’s a good friend, and it’s always better to go to soccer games with someone who loves the sport as much as I do.”
When we crossed the street, Jordan turned us left on University Avenue instead of right, leading us away from her apartment and in the direction of my dorm. I followed without question, trusting that she knew where she was going. She seemed to have a destination in mind, and I honestly didn’t. I was content to simply walk around all night.
We strolled in companionable silence for a minute, until I broke it with an incredulous laugh. “I still can’t believe my brothers saved my hard drive with vodka and rice.”
Jordan chuckled. “That’s definitely a story to tell your kids one day.” She glanced down at the box of computer parts and wrinkled her nose. “I’m sorry we couldn’t salvage the rest of the computer.”
“I don’t even care about the computer.” And I really didn’t. “I have extra scholarship money. I can afford to replace it. But saving all my work from the beginning of the semester? You seriously rescued me. I owe you one now.”
Jordan’s eyes lit up. “Okay, if you really want to make it up to me, I’ll let you buy my celebratory dessert.”
I laughed. “Deal. So where are we going?”
“Actually, we’re here.”
My mouth fell open when I realized we were standing in front of the same café I’d been in earlier this evening—where I met Pearl. “Here? Of all the places in New York to get some dessert, you picked this café?”
This night had seriously been a strange one. Jordan pulled the door open for us. “I don’t get the punch line.”
I laughed. “Sorry. It’s just that I was in here earlier. This is where I met Pearl, and she talked me into e-mailing you. It’s funny that you’d drag me back here.”
“It’s fitting then, don’t you think? We celebrate in the place where it all started? Plus, they serve homemade ice cream. It’s to die for.”
Unable to argue with that logic, I followed Jordan into the café. “I have no complaints. The scones smelled pretty amazing earlier. It’s just quite the coincidence.”
“It’s really not,” Jordan said as we headed to the counter. “I work here. Pearl is one of our regular customers. Makes sense that you’d meet her here.”
That made me feel better. Of course Jordan would be connected to the place Pearl had been; they had to know each other somehow. I just hadn’t thought of it like that until now because Pearl had been so strange. I was glad the connection was something so regular and mundane. After that fortune cookie thing, I’d started to think I was going crazy.
As much as my life had just taken such a huge turn in the last couple hours, I’d started to convince myself that Pearl was some kind of mystical spiritual guide, showing up in my life at exactly the right moment, sort of like the Priestess Ellamara in the movie The Druid Prince. Prince Cinder had been an orphan forced to live on a farm with an abusive drunken foster dad. Then, at the most pivotal moment of his life, along came the mysterious, intriguing, and wise Ellamara, who convinced him to take a crazy journey. To take a chance.
Pearl had been my Ellamara. As cool as the priestess had been in that movie, it was a relief that my spiritual guide was just some random old Chinese woman who happened to know someone looking for a roommate, and clearly had a good judge of character.
“Hey, Colin,” Jordan said, pulling me from my thoughts. “We have cause to celebrate, so naturally we need two ice cream sundaes and a piece of that salted caramel cake.” She turned to me. “You’re going to love that. It’s the best cake in the whole city. And how about some hot chocolate? You like hot chocolate?” I nodded, but before I could actually speak, she turned back to the guy standing behind the counter. “And two hot chocolates. Oh, and some scones. He wanted to try the scones.” She turned to me again. “Anything else?”
“Considering you just ordered half the menu?” I smirked. “I think we’re good.”
She ignored my sarcasm. “Great. Get to it, Colin.”
Colin was the same guy who’d been working the counter earlier, and when he recognized me, he looked back and forth between Jordan and me a couple of times and burst into laughter. “Shut up, Colin,” Jordan said. Though, she could hardly be taken seriously when she was trying not to laugh herself. I was missing something.
Colin got hold of his giggles and gave me a thousand-watt smile. “Hello again, handsome,” he purred, winking at me when my eyebrows climbed up my forehead. He blatantly checked me out. Then, with a wistful sigh, grinned at Jordan. “You are one lucky girl. Can I come to your wedding?”
“Wedding?” Okay, I was missing something monumental.
“Colin!” Jordan shrieked. “Seriously. Shut up. You’ll scare him away.” She turned to me with bright red cheeks and big, round eyes. “Ignore him. He sucks.”
She dragged me by the arm over to a table in the corner of the room, just about as far from the counter as you could get. “Sorry about him. He’s awesome, but he’s as boy crazy as any girl. More, even. He’s way worse than me.”
I laughed. “It’s cool. I’ve been hit on by guys before. As long as he doesn’t start grabbing my butt, we should be okay.”
Jordan snorted. “No promises.”
“So what did he mean by our wedding?” I asked as we settled into a couple of chairs across from one another. “That’s not part of the rental agreement, is it? Because I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of commitment.”
Jordan let out a surprised bark of laughter, but then groaned. “It’s just…Pearl.” She shook her head in exasperation. “She’s been a regular here for months now, and she’s always interviewing ‘nice young men’ for me.” She made air quotes with her fingers.
I laughed, but thinking back on my meeting with Pearl—all of her questions, and the way she’d catalogued my personality traits—I had definitely been interviewed. “Interviewed for what?”
“Her perfect match,” Colin said, having arrived with a tray full of too much dessert for two people.
Jordan rolled her eyes. “Yes. My one true love. Pearl fancies herself a genuine Chinese matchmaker.”
“Yeah, and in the year she’s been hanging around she’s never approved of a single guy for Jordan until you, my friend.”
My shock must have been obvious, because Jordan kicked Colin in the shin and frantically shook her head. “She’s just a strange old woman, okay?”
I wasn’t so sure. Once again I had to squash the feeling that there was more to Pearl t
han what she seemed.
“She’s harmless,” Jordan promised. “Obviously, I’m not expecting a ring. I’ve got a hot date with Junior, remember?” That made me laugh, and Jordan finally quit panicking. “No fine print in the rental agreement. I swear.”
Colin made a choking noise and nearly dropped his serving tray. “Rental agreement? You’re moving in together already? Man, Pearl is good.” He grinned at me and said, “She’s married off two of our friends already, you know. You’d better watch out.”
He was teasing, but I think he was serious, too. My stomach flipped at the thought. Pearl had said she thought Jordan and I would be a good match. She’d used those exact words. Maybe she was a strange old lady, but she’d seemed wise, too. Not crazy.
Jordan’s cheeks flushed, and she kicked Colin again.
“Hey, Shortie La Forge; quit it,” Colin whined. “I’m not a soccer ball.”
“No. You’re just annoying. Get lost or you’re not getting tipped.”
Colin pouted. “You’re no fun.”
“You’re obnoxious. And you’re going to scare away my new roommate. I will kill you if that happens. Do you know how hard it is to find a good roommate in this city?”
Colin heaved a dramatic sigh. “Fine. I’ll behave. It’s nice to meet you…?”
“Nate Anderson.” I held out my hand.
Colin’s smile changed to something flirtatious as he accepted the handshake. “Not that I will mind Jordan having such a gorgeous roommate—fair warning I hang out at her place a lot—but weren’t you in here with a crazy hot girlfriend earlier?”
“Yeah, that was my girlfriend.” I frowned. “Wait. I’m confused. Are you—”
He knew what I was about to say, and beat me to it. “No. I’m only into guys, but I still know hot on a woman when I see it.” He winked. “How about you? My gaydar says you’re totally straight, but have you ever considered giving men a try? Because I’m desperately diggin’ your brand of sexy.”