Page 27 of Songs of Summer
“Hmm, that’s a tough one,” Maggie groaned.
“Want to do one and one, and we can share?” Matt offered.
“Sure, sounds good,” she answered, impressed by the boldness of the suggestion.
The bartender headed to the kitchen.
Matt slid onto the seat next to her as if it were the mostnatural thing in the world. Maggie didn’t mind. After all, they were sharing dinner. Being without Jason on this crazy journey was starting to get to her. Not that this guy reminded her of Jason. They were opposites, physically. Airbnb guy had cropped light brown hair with ginger highlights and the perfect amount of grub on his face. Jason was more prepster than hipster, with the smoothest skin and dark brown hair cut in basically the same bowl-like style that he’d had as a kid. She loved that about him. Maggie wasn’t big on change, another reason to be true to herself and get out on the first ferry in the morning.She was self-aware too!
“My dream is to own a record store.Thatis so badass!” Matt marveled, interrupting her thoughts.
“I know nothing else. It was my parents’ store. I grew up in it.”
“Sounds like bliss.”
“It was,” Maggie says, with more than a hint of melancholy, which embarrassed her. She shook it off.
“How did you get into music journalism?”
“It’s kind of a funny story. The quick version is my parents got divorced when I was sixteen and my mom started dating this drummer in a heavy metal band. She dragged me on tour with him on weekends and vacations, and I started writing about it for my high school newspaper. My teacher turned one of my pieces in toRolling Stoneand they published me…at seventeen.”
“How Cameron Crowe of you.”
“Indeed. I’ve seenAlmost Famousa zillion times—the best.”
“For me it’sSay Anything—you know, the boom box scene.”
“Sorry, but that may be the cheesiest music scene in movie history.”
“Try the most iconic music scene in movie history,” she said, sulking a little.
“Please, that dude—”
“Lloyd Dobler,” she interrupted.
“Excuse me, Lloyd Dobler, making a total fool of himself for that girl. So cheesy!”
“Try so romantic! If you love someone, you don’t care about making a total fool of yourself.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “OK, chill. It’s not like I dissed the greatest record store story of all time.”
“If you dissHigh Fidelity, I swear I’m not sharing tacos with you.”
Matt spun around on his stool and puffed his chest out like a rooster. He was wearing the same Pretenders T-shirt that Catherine Zeta-Jones’s character wore in the movie. They both laughed—really laughed. And then they laughed some more at how much they were laughing.
The bartender returned with their place settings and awkwardly waited for them to stop laughing. Which made them laugh even more.
Maggie thought about how good it felt to let go like that. It was the kind of comic relief that was so deep, it pushed any tension up and out.
“Your food will be out in a few minutes,” the bartender announced when they finally quieted. They both smiled and nodded, but he remained standing there with them like a third wheel. In all fairness, he and Maggie’s new companion had started out on an equal footing.
He turned to Matt. “Ready for the big wedding day?”
Matt shook his head and rolled his eyes simultaneously.
“Oh, are you engaged too?” Maggie asked.
“No, my mom is getting married.”
