It's a Match!

by Zoë Marshall

“It’s okay; I’m a heavy sleeper. Have fun!”

  “Will do!” And with that, Ava left the room.

  Sutton began placing her books into the tiny bookshelf by her closet. She was careful to alphabetize them by last name. She was mildly obsessive-compulsive about her book organization.

  Once all of her books were in their proper place, she began the slow process of hanging up her many clothes.

  SUTTON LOOKED AROUND the quad at the freshman boys throwing a Frisbee around on the grass. It was a beautiful day out, with barely a cloud in the sky. The air smelled crisp, like springtime, though it was technically fall. The grass was lush and green, and she wondered how it stayed so nice. It was a welcome change from San Francisco weather, but she was also looking forward to the snow that winter would bring. For now, she was going to soak it all in.

  Sutton was thinking about whether or not she would ever date again. She knew eventually she would probably have to, but she couldn’t imagine it. Not after Aiden. Once upon a time, she had been a hopeless romantic. She’d believed in love above all else, which she certainly didn’t learn from her parents. She’d probably learned it from her love of classic romance novels. Then Aiden came along and she knew a whole new kind of love.

  But, in the end, she’d realized he had not felt the same. She was torn apart thinking about how good an actor he was. She’d truly believed every word he had said. She’d believed in the look in his eyes when he’d gazed at her. She’d believed in the chill she felt when he would place his hand gently on hers.

  Then he’d disappeared, seemingly out of nowhere. It was like he’d become a completely different person overnight. He became a stranger. And she’d realized the person she was mourning the loss of was merely a ghost. But that didn’t make it any easier.

  In fact, it probably made it harder. If she knew he occasionally missed her, that he sometimes heard a song that reminded him of her and it stung a bit … maybe then she could learn to let it go. It was the betrayal that kept hold of her, a very tight and all-encompassing hold. Cole had told her she needed to date someone else to get Aiden out of her head, but she hadn’t felt ready. Maybe she never would. And maybe she should have trusted her best friend.

  Sutton thought about the first time she’d seen Aiden after they broke up. Aiden had gone to a different high school, so she was luckily able to avoid him. It had been months, and the pain was just as fresh as it was the day he turned away and left her alone.

  Sutton was feeling particularly lazy after yet another sleepless night. She was supposed to meet Cole in an hour to go to lunch. She decided to forgo a shower and just throw on whatever outfit was closest to her. She threw on some yoga pants and a coffee-stained white tank top. She applied a very small amount of foundation and then called Cole.

  “Hey Sutt. What’s up?” Cole answered, after one short ring.

  “I’ve decided not to care about my appearance today.”

  “That’s fine. I never care about my appearance,” Cole replied, laughing a bit.

  “Do you want to meet there or ride together?”

  “I can pick you up.”

  “Okay, I’m ready whenever.”

  “Okay, I’m just going to change, then I’ll come get you.”

  About twenty minutes later, Cole texted to let Sutton know he was in front of her house. She grabbed her purse and walked outside. As she approached the car, she heard Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes playing loudly through the stereo.

  She got inside and glared at Cole. “Really? This song?”

  “It’s a great song.”

  “You bet your ass it is. But it’s also not something I want to listen to after a breakup.”

  “Sutton, I get that you’re hurting and I know how hard it is – believe me. But it’s been months. He’s not worth this. He doesn’t deserve being on your mind at all. I know it’s easier said than done—”

  “Sure is.”

  Cole changed the station and they drove to the restaurant. Surprisingly, Cole found a parking spot right in front. It was usually vastly more difficult to find parking in the city.

  The two walked into the packed restaurant and talked to the hostess. She informed them she had one table available and could seat them right away. They followed her to the back corner and sat down.

  “Wow, we’re having some good luck today,” Cole said.

  “Hooray for us,” Sutton replied flatly.

  Sutton and Cole ordered their burgers and talked about football and Sutton’s latest writing project. At least thirty minutes later, something caught Sutton’s eye. She cocked her head to the side for a moment as she tried to figure out who this person was. He had a cold expression. She hadn’t met his eyes, but suddenly she knew. Her heart began racing and her hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t even hold her water glass.

  “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “That’s because I have.” Sutton’s voice was trembling and she turned white. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

  Sutton had dreamt about the first time she would see Aiden again. Many, many times. She had played the scene over and over again in her head. She practiced what she would say, what he would say….

  She had written the story a million times, and now it was right there, three tables away.

  Sutton turned back toward Cole. “Has he been here the whole time?” She whispered, leaning toward Cole.

  “Well … I think so. He’s having dessert.”

  “Who’s he with? I can’t look over there again.”

  “It’s not important. Just ignore him.”

  “He’s acting like I don’t exist. Surely he saw us walk in,” Sutton replied, her head reeling.

  “What do you expect him to do? Come give you a big hug and tell you he misses you?”

  Sutton’s eyes filled with tears and Cole put his hand on hers, attempting to calm her. “I’m sorry, that came out badly. I just can’t stand to see you hurting like this. He’s just not worth it.”

  “We have to go.”

  “But we haven’t finished eating yet.”

  “I don’t care. We need to get the check. I feel sick. I can’t be here anymore.”

  “Okay, I understand. I’ll get the server’s attention.” Cole motioned the waitress over and let her know they needed the check. He paid and they walked out slowly, careful not to draw attention to themselves or walk too close to Aiden.

  Sutton refused to look back in his direction. She didn’t want to see his cold expression again. She didn’t want to see who he was with. Of all the restaurants in San Francisco, of all the times they could have inhabited the same restaurant….

  Sutton thought about how many things had to align to get them in the exact same place at the exact same time. She had been wanting to get this over with for months. She’d known she’d run into him eventually, but it hadn’t played out the way it had in her head. She knew now, truly knew … he had never cared about her at all.

  She pulled her phone out of her purse and texted Cole.

  Okay C, I think I’m ready.

  He texted back right away, as usual:

  Ready for what?

  To move on.

  Move on from what?

  From Aiden.

  YES!!!!!!!!!!! Thatta girl, Sutt! Time to find you a distraction. We need to get you back out there. Have you met any suitable guys yet?

  Sutton looked back at the group of shirtless boys running around, bodies glistening with sweat. She smirked a bit.

  Not yet. But I haven’t really tried. I’m not sure how.

  I was talking to a buddy from my Intro to Psych class and he was talking about some new dating app called Matchbox. Something about swiping up or down or something, based on a few pics and a small bio.

  That seems a little superficial.

  Well, yeah. I guess it can be, but you can at least get some convos started up, maybe get a better idea of what you’re looking for.

  I don’t know what guy
s I even want to talk to.

  Geez, Sutt. You have a very specific type. Even I know that. But we need to break that mold. Don’t take offense, but you have horrific taste in guys.

  Sutton scoffed inwardly, then cracked a smile as she realized he was completely right.

  You should talk. Your ex is a train wreck. So, I suppose you would make better dating choices for me than I would?

  Well … yeah.

  Too bad you’re five hours away. Not much help you can be from there.

  Oh my god, I have the best idea ever!

  Yes…?

  Who are the only people who would make better dating choices than we would ourselves?

  I don’t know … who?

  Each other, dummy. We’ll make Matchbox accounts for each other. We’ll pick who the other will date. It could be a really fun experiment.

  Sutton thought about it for a moment. What could it hurt? She certainly wasn’t going to put herself out there without a push. And, as Cole pointed out, she did have awful taste in guys.

  I’m in.

  I think this is going to be really good for us. This is the start of a new chapter in our lives.

  Sutton was contemplating a life beyond Aiden when a Frisbee hit her lightly on the arm. “Ouch!”

  One of the shirtless boys rushed up to her with an apologetic expression. “Oh my god, I am so sorry! I have two left hands.”

  “Really? Like your right hand is reversed?”

  He furrowed his brow, determining whether or not she was joking.

  Sutton read his expression and turned beet red. “Oh, you meant a play on the whole ‘two left feet’ thing, huh? I am the most gullible person on earth.”

  He smiled widely at her. “Did you know gullible isn’t even—”

  “in the dictionary?” Sutton interrupted. She heard this line every single time she told someone she was gullible. She wished people could come up with some new material.

  He laughed and nodded his head a few times. “Not quite that gullible, I see.”

  Her face slowly cooled down and she extended her hand to the shirtless boy. His abs were a thing of beauty. “I’m Sutton.”

  “Hi, Sutton. I’m Jeremy. I’m sorry again about the whole hitting you with a Frisbee thing.”

  “It’s okay. I understand, you have a very serious medical condition. It wouldn’t really be fair of me to fault you for it.”

  “You’re funny, Miss Gullible. I’ll see you around.”

  She felt her cheeks reddening again as he grabbed the Frisbee from the ground next to her and ran off toward his friends. In theory, he was attractive. But something about him felt off and Sutton couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

  COLE PUT HIS phone down and immediately took a seat at his desk. He wanted to start creating Sutton’s profile as soon as possible. He hated knowing his friend was in pain, and if there was anything he could do to help, he had to do it.

  He sat staring at his computer, looking at Sutton’s Facebook page, wondering which pictures would be best to use. He had to use the one of her sticking her tongue out while staring at his eggplant Parmesan distastefully, of course. Sutton hated eggplant. That and raw onions were the only foods she wouldn’t eat. Other than that, she was a very adventurous eater.

  Then Cole stumbled upon the perfect profile picture. The day Aiden broke up with Sutton, she and Cole had spent the day at the zoo. They’d been sitting on a bench staring at the monkeys, and she took a long sip from her blue raspberry slushy. She’d immediately gotten brain freeze. In the picture, she had a small pink flower behind her ear and her hands pressed to the sides of her face in agony. Cole had taken the picture without her knowledge and from then on, it was always his favorite picture of her….

  Cole was folding laundry as he heard his phone beep. He picked it up to see a cryptic text from Sutton:

  I need to see you.

  What’s up, Sutt? You ok?

  Not really.

  I’ll be there in fifteen.

  Cole drove to Sutton’s house as quickly as he could. He knew it must be something huge. He found a parking spot right in front of her house and walked around to the back entrance. He avoided the front door as much as possible, because he was less likely to run into her parents.

  Security buzzed him in and he headed up to Sutton’s room. He knocked quietly, then heard Sutton meekly say, “Come in.” He opened the door to see Sutton sitting on her bed, staring off into nothing in particular. He walked over and sat next to her on the bed. “I came as quickly as I could. What’s going on?”

  Sutton didn’t turn to look at him. She maintained her blank stare as she said two simple words: “It’s Aiden.”

  “What happened?”

  “We broke up.”

  Cole’s heart instantly ached for Sutton, shocked to hear the news. “Why?”

  “I’m not really sure. He just said that it was moving too fast, that it was over.”

  “But he seemed so into it,” Cole said, sympathetically.

  “I know. But you knew we were kind of growing apart for a while.”

  “I figured that was just some sort of phase.”

  “So did I. I just kept hoping it would change,” Sutton said, finally turning to Cole.

  Cole put his hand on Sutton’s. “You’re shaking. What can I do?”

  “Just be here with me.”

  “I can do that.”

  The two sat quietly for a few minutes, then Sutton spoke up. “Can we go somewhere? I need to be distracted.”

  “Of course. What did you want to do?”

  “I can’t think. My brain is on overload. You decide.”

  Cole thought for a moment. “Let’s see … okay, I think I’ve got an idea.”

  “What?”

  “It’s a surprise. Let’s go.”

  Sutton just nodded her head slowly, then stood up and grabbed her purse. She followed Cole down to his car and got into the passenger seat. She didn’t say a word during the entire ride. Cole understood, so he didn’t either.

  Next thing Sutton knew, they pulled into the zoo parking lot. “Wow, I haven’t been here since I was a kid,” she said, wondering what exactly they were doing there.

  “I’ve got some news for you,” Cole replied. “You’re still a kid.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “I know how much you love little animals. I thought it would maybe cheer you up.”

  Sutton just nodded again.

  “We can do something else,” Cole added.

  Sutton’s voice was shaking as she replied quietly, “No, it’s fine. I’m sorry, I’m just a little in shock right now.”

  “I know, Sutt. Did you want to talk about it?”

  “Maybe … no … I don’t know. I just don’t understand what happened.”

  “Did you ask him?” Cole asked, curiously.

  “No, it seemed like he had his mind made up.”

  “Yeah, but you also need your closure.”

  “I guess,” Sutton replied, seemingly defeated.

  “Come on, let’s go check out some furry creatures.”

  “Okay,” Sutton replied. “I feel like I’m sleepwalking. None of this feels real,” she added.

  “I know. It’s a horrible feeling. But we’ll distract you.”

  Cole got out of the car and Sutton followed him to the line at the front. He purchased their tickets and told her they were going to get slushies. She nodded and they went to the snack counter. He, of course, got the Coca-Cola/cherry mixture and she got a blue raspberry one, as she always did.

  “Where do you want to start?” Cole asked, as they wandered around aimlessly.

  Sutton contemplated. “Monkeys?”

  “Sure. I think they’re around here somewhere. Follow me,” Cole replied, taking the lead.

  Sutton walked behind him and they eventually found the monkey exhibit. Sutton took a seat on the bench in front of it.

  Cole was standing near the fence, reading the information sign. �
��Hey, did you know that spider monkeys get their name from their long arms, legs and tails?”

  “Please don’t say the word spider. I’m nauseous enough already.”

  “Sorry.”

  Cole turned toward Sutton and watched her sip the slushy quickly. Then he saw the pained expression on her face as she put her hands up to her temples.

  “Owwww. Brain Freeze.”

  Cole quickly got out his phone and took a picture of Sutton as her eyes were closed. “Adorable.”

  Sutton opened her eyes again. “What is?”

  Cole put his phone away quickly. “The monkeys, of course.”

  Cole picked out a few more pictures: One of Sutton in the kitchen cooking her famous shrimp fettuccine Alfredo, another of her and Cole at the bowling alley. He decided that would do for now. Now for the profile….

  He wanted to keep it short and sweet. He began to type:

  “I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had the courage to go forth into its expanse, to seek real knowledge of life amidst its perils.” – Jane Eyre.

  I love the beautiful words that dance among the pages of the classic love stories. I can be mildly jaded when it comes to the search for somebody to share smiles with, but I still believe in happy endings, above all else. I decided to pursue writing as a result of my love of reading. I am a master chef and I have the sweetest laugh you’ll ever hear.

  Cole nodded to himself, satisfied with how well he knew his best friend. He debated whether to start searching for suitable dates for Sutton or to work on his biology homework. He quickly decided his best friend took priority over the various organs of the human body.