“‘Gathering’ activity?” I ask. “We’re all here. There are only three of us.”
“Humor me.”
So we do. As I’m filling one out, I say, “You know, it’s nice it’s only been three of us affected. In my college dorm, there were six of us. And we were right next to a dorm with six guys. Can you even imagine how much more chaotic that would’ve been?”
“I’m not sure I would’ve survived that,” Owen says. “Plus, they probably wouldn’t have had pinwheels.”
As we finish with the certificates, Reese says, “Okay, load yourself up a plate and come over to the couch.”
She doesn’t have to tell me twice—I am starving. So I load up my plate and head over to our couches. Owen sits down next to me, close enough that our arms are brushing, and it gives me tingling all up my arm and neck.
Reese stands on the other side of the coffee table. “Okay, we are going to play a game called ‘The Wall is Up, But the Secrets Are Out: A Fondue-Fueled Q and A.’” She puts her hands on the sides of a fondue pot. “I’ve got slips of paper in here, each with a question. We’ll take turns pulling out a question, and then the person who pulls it out has to answer it. I was going to put the questions in a bowl, but” —she gestures toward the cabinets piled up in our kitchen—“they aren’t exactly accessible. This was on top of the fridge, though. Plus, who doesn’t want to see one of these at a party?”
“And wehaveto answer the one we pull out?” I ask, a little wary.
“I mean, where’s the fun if you don’t?”
“Okay, then,” I say, “you start.”
Reese makes a big show of reaching into the pot and pulling out a paper. “Okay, it says,What’s something your neighbor might’ve overheard through the ‘wall’ that you really hope they didn’t? Follow-up: confirm whether they did or not. Did I have to choose this one?” She runs her hands over her face.
“Okay, Owen. One night whenCharlie was working late, I decided to binge-watch the last few episodes of season two ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m really hoping you didn’t hear me sobbing my way through the final episode of the season.”
In much too innocent of a voice, Owen says, “I must’ve missed that.”
Reese sighs in relief as she takes her seat.
Then, in a quiet voice, Owen says, “Nooo, wait! He’s Angel again! Don’t stab him!”
Reese gasps. “You did hear!” She takes a deep breath. “It’s fine. You’re going next.”
Owen leans forward and pulls out a paper. “What are you going to miss the most?” He thinks for a small moment, and then says, “I’m going to miss the sticky notes on my wall. Even the one that simply said,Is this mildew or is the wall sad?Because honestly, that got me through a weird Tuesday.”
I chuckle. I don’t even know what I was thinking when I wrote that one. But I’m definitely going to miss the notes, too.
I grab a slip of paper from the fondue pot. “What was the most underrated perk of having no wall?” I hardly even have to think to come up with my answer. “The ease of getting Owen’s help, like when I couldn’t reach the top of the fridge, or when I desperately needed light.”
“Or,” Reese says, “to have him come, wielding a drill, ready to fend off an intruder.”
Owen chuckles, shaking his head. “I am never going to live that one down, am I?”
“Not if I have any say in it.” Reese grabs a paper. “If you could keep one part of the shared-wall era forever, what would it be?Hands down, it’s how easy it was to eavesdrop. Not that I ever did that!” she says with a sly smile. “I’m just saying that I’ll miss the opportunity. The power of knowing I could hear embarrassing moments from both of you and stockpile them for future blackmail… Priceless.”
I give her a playful shove as Owen leans forward to grab a paper. “Tell us about a time you heard something you weren’t supposed to.” He thinks for a moment, then chuckles and scratches the back of his neck. “Okay, so one morning, I was getting ready for work, and I heard Charlie through the wall giving herself a pep talk.”
I can already feel the heat rising to my face.
“She said, ‘Okay, you’ve got this. You’re smart, you’re capable, and your eyebrows are doing exactly what you want them to today.’ I wasn’t supposed to hear it, obviously—but I was inspired. I gave myself the same pep talk the next morning in the mirror. And honestly? My eyebrows looked great that day. And I accomplished a lot.”
“In my defense,” I say, “my eyebrows were great that day, and I wanted to acknowledge theircontribution.”
Reese nods. “And we all know that a strong brow game is the gateway to a strong life.”
Shaking my head, I say, “And I was this close to keeping up my ‘cool, mysterious girl next door’ persona. This is exactly why I now whisper all my pep talks directly to my concealer.”
“Honestly,” Owen says, “you should start recording them and selling them as motivational voice-overs.”
I reach forward and grab out a slip of paper. “Give an acceptance speech for surviving the Great Wall-less Era. Okay, I’ve got this.” I stand and walk around to the other side of the coffee table, facing my roommate and the guy I’m falling for faster and faster every day. Then I clear my throat.
