Page 8 of Just Another Meet Cute

As I watched the sun set over the trees behind the laundromat, I finally accepted defeat and shoved my laptop into my bag. I wasn’t even sure what I was thinking. This was a horrible plan from the start. Like super senseless. Rash. Moronic. A half-baked plan.

I had time to work on a couple of crossword puzzles while I waited.

Even though this wasn’t exactly a date, I felt like I had been stood up. Now all I wanted to do was drown my disappointment in a tub of red velvet ice cream.

Glancing around the partially empty street, I waited for the light to turn before I went to my parked car. Well, Linh’s parked car.

Maybe I should tell Mom that Ryan stood me up. That was better than telling her the truth, and embarrassing enough that she and Dad probably won’t ask any questions. Almost as embarrassing as the truth itself.

Why did I think this was going to work? I mean, it’s not like my life was a plot in a cheesy romantic movie.

Not even a Lifetime movie that premiered at eleven o’clock at night on a Wednesday or something.

And believe me, I’ve seen a lot of those growing up.

Mom and Aunt Sarah had traditional movie nights at least twice a month.

Some weekends it was binging cop shows like Law & Order .

Other days it was Lifetime movies. In November, it was always Hallmark Christmas movies. Those had an extra dose of cheesiness.

But movies were definitely not real life. I mean, just because Ryan said he was planning to come by didn’t mean that he would. Maybe he was busy. Or maybe one of his other sisters came already. I didn’t think to keep a lookout for them.

Digging into my bag for the keys, my arm bumped into someone standing next to me. “I’m so sorry, I—” My mouth flopped open and I blinked once. Twice. And then all I could do was gape because suddenly there he was right in front of me. Barely a foot away.

Ryan.

My hand flew to my mouth. “Oh my God, it’s you!”

He glanced over at me, gave me a polite smile, and then … turned away.

Okay …

Over the past few days, I’d imagined a hundred scenarios of how we’d meet again.

I’d look great, thanks to the additional hour of primping in the bathroom.

Especially since Linh lent me her fancy makeup that she usually reserved for special occasions.

And Ryan would look handsome and surprised, but extra excited to see me.

But now … okay, he was still handsome, but the excitement was a bit lacking. In fact, he barely seemed to notice me at all. Which was weird.

Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I glanced over at him out of the corner of my eye again. He bobbed his head and adjusted one of the earphones he was wearing. And he still. Didn’t. Look. At. Me.

Should I say hi? Reintroduce myself again? Give up entirely? It seemed like such a waste of an entire week of searching only to give up with him a few feet away.

But I didn’t have a plan for this. It’s just … how could he not remember me? I thought we had a connection. Had something , at least. Did I imagine it? Maybe I wasn’t as memorable as I hoped, but he still should have remembered how we met. At least that was pretty memorable, humiliating as it was.

Unless he was used to handing out tampons to girls every weekend.

My fingers slowly reached out to touch his sleeve. Inch by inch. A little shaky. Just when he was within reach, Ryan suddenly moved away.

For a split second, my heart stopped. I automatically backed up a few steps before realizing that Ryan had only moved because the light decided to turn green at the worst possible moment.

Seriously bad timing.

Still debating whether or not to follow him, I looked up at a loud honk.

Followed by two shorter but equally loud honks.

A navy car barreled down the street and weaved between two cars in front of it.

It swerved a little into the left lane and didn’t slow down, even though the light was red. Instead it shot straight at Ryan.

And he kept walking.

Oh my God.

OH. MY. GOD.

“Look out! Ryan!” I yelled out so loud that it felt like my lungs were about to burst, but he kept moving forward. What kind of song could he be listening to?

In a moment of panic, I lunged forward and shoved him out of the way.

As I plunged to the ground, it almost felt like I was falling in slow motion.

I didn’t even have time to brace myself for the fall.

Yet somehow, like in the movies, Ryan immediately turned in the air midway and caught me in his arms. There was a surprised look on his face as we both tumbled to the ground together.

His hands and forearms cradled my head, but my elbow still scraped against the pavement and instantly stung.

Thankfully, the car swerved in the opposite direction and narrowly missed us. It barely slowed down before barreling down the next street. Tires squealed as it turned the corner.

My heart was pounding so loudly that it was practically ringing in my ears. It took a minute or two for me to realize that Ryan was talking and snapping his fingers in my face.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah … yeah, I’m fine.” I pushed myself upright. My carefully styled hair flopped to the side. I shoved it off my face. “Wait, are you okay?”

He looked relieved and a little in awe. “I’m good, thanks to you.”

We sat there for a few seconds or so awkwardly looking at each other before a car honked. Ryan coughed. “Uh, we should probably get out of the street.”

“Oh crap.” I jumped to my feet just as he held out his hands to me. It didn’t hit me until I was already standing that I missed the opportunity to hold his hands and let him help me up.

Nice going, Nina.

He handed me my bag and held up the slightly smashed coffee cup. “Sorry I made you spill your drink. I could get you a new one if you want.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was done anyway.” I slid the bag onto my shoulder. “So that car was crazy, huh? Should we call 911 or something about him?”

Ryan jabbed his thumb over his shoulder as we walked across the street.

“Someone at the coffee shop saw what happened and called the cops already. You were kind of dazed, so you probably didn’t hear them.

But I think we should probably wait until the police come before we leave.

In case they want to ask any questions or something. ”

I stopped in front of a bench. “So, we just wait here … together?”

“Unless you want to go inside the coffee shop?”

“No!” I cleared my throat and sat down. “No, I think I’d rather stay out here. Get some fresh air and clear my head. Calm down a little bit. I’m still a little shaky.”

He nodded and sat down beside me. “Sounds like a good plan.”

Things got quiet for the next few minutes as we sat on the bench together. Cars occasionally drove by, but all you could really hear were some birds and music from the coffee shop whenever someone opened the door.

Now that the adrenaline had died down and our lives were no longer in danger, I couldn’t believe that I was finally sitting next to Ryan.

I could reach out and poke him if I wanted to.

(But I wouldn’t because that would be so weird.) After being the only thing on my mind for days, I finally found him.

And he still didn’t seem to recognize me.

Like he knew I was thinking about him, Ryan turned his head and gave me that adorable dimply smile that I’d been thinking about for days. “So, uh, before I forget, thanks for pushing me out of the way. And saving my life.”

“That was just luck.”

“No, it was super brave of you. The way you shoved me out of the way was like a superhero. Like Spider-Man or something. And not the flashy Spider-Man in the movies, but the ones in the comics like—”

I laughed. “You mean like in The Amazing Spider-Man #334 , where he fights against the Sinister Six?”

Ryan’s mouth dropped and he stared at me. “You—you read comics?”

Oops, I didn’t mean to say that out loud. It slipped out.

Before I had surrendered the key chain to Tim, I had ended up giving in and reading and rereading Ryan’s personal essay—short as it was—so many times that I practically had it memorized.

But I also skimmed his report and the Spider-Man comic that was on the flash drive.

Definitely not enough to carry on a conversation now though.

“I just know a few things.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I finally noticed the scrape on my elbow. “Oww …”

Ryan blinked rapidly and dug in his pockets. “Oh no. Here I have some tissues.”

“It’s okay. It’s not really bleeding or anything.”

“Still, it probably hurts.” He snapped his fingers and jumped to his feet. “I know, let me get you some ice. I’ll be right back.”

“Thanks.”

The small thoughtful gesture reminded me so much of him taking care of me during the hike that I couldn’t help but smile. He really was such a nice guy. One of the main reasons I wanted to see him again. I mean, yeah, he was still super cute, but it was his personality and kindness that drew me in.

When he got back with a bag of ice, I held it against my elbow. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“So, I have to ask.” I leaned back against the bench and frowned at him. “What the hell were you listening to that you didn’t notice the car? Or hear the yelling and car horns?”

“Oh.” He blushed until practically the tips of his ears were pink. “It’s stupid …”

“Come on. I’m dying to know.” I put down the ice and made the X sign in front of my heart. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

Ryan grimaced and let out a sigh. “Okay, I was listening to this audiobook mystery. It’s by E. Hahn, and it was almost at the end and … I guess I was so into it that I wasn’t paying attention to anything else. Like I said, it’s dumb.”

I tried not to laugh since he looked so embarrassed. It was super hard though. “I get it. Mysteries are addicting. At least the good ones are. And it pulls you along until you’re so invested that there’s no choice but to get to the ending.”

Ryan nodded eagerly. His dark hair flopped across his forehead. “Don’t tell me that you’re a mystery lover, too.”

I tried to think of something witty but my mind was blank. So I just played it cool instead. “I like all sorts of books. But next time you should probably cross the street before you listen. To be on the safe side.”

He let out a booming laugh. “Yeah. Just in case you’re not around to save me again.”

“That’s a good idea.” Enough with the small talk. I shifted my weight back and forth on the bench and let out a deep breath before I took the plunge. “Are you sure we’ve never met before? Because you look very familiar.”

“No, I don’t think so.” His eyes flickered down to my empty coffee cup still on the seat between us. “Nina. That’s a pretty name. Now I’m sure I would have remembered you.”

Except he didn’t.

Narrowing my eyes, I searched his face for something—anything—but he continued to give me a small polite smile.

Then two things hit me at once.

First, maybe he didn’t recognize me because of my makeup. I mean, I was wearing more than I usually did. A lot more. I barely recognized myself when I looked in the mirror this morning. Plus, on my hike, I wore those huge sunglasses that covered half my face. And my hair was in a ponytail.

Second, if he didn’t remember me … then maybe this was my chance to make another first impression. A better one. Like WAY better. It wouldn’t even be hard. I was already off to a pretty good start. This was practically the definition of a rom-com meet cute, one that would make it into the theaters.

I mean, sure, I planned the whole thing, but a meet cute was still a meet cute, right? And it’s not like I planned the crazy car. That was a happy coincidence.

“So …”

I straightened on the bench. “Yes?”

Kicking his left foot at the sidewalk, Ryan jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “I was thinking, after we talk to the police do you—do you want to get some ice cream with me? I know this place nearby that makes awesome homemade waffle cones. It’s the least I could do, since you saved my life.”

For a split second, as he gazed down at me with such an earnest expression on his face, a pang of guilt seeped into my gut. He was such a nice guy, both now and on the hike. He probably wouldn’t mind if I told him the truth. After all, the more I lied to him now, the worse it was going to get.

But when I opened my mouth, nothing came out.

The thing is, it wasn’t every day that I got a chance to rewrite history.

Instead of being the weird girl he met on the hike who got injured and wet her pants, I could be the cool girl from the coffee shop.

The one who knew about Spider-Man comics and liked mystery novels.

The one who went around saving people and probably had her entire life planned out.

And definitely didn’t have any family issues.

The girl I always wished I could be, at least for a little bit.

And this was something I was definitely going to take advantage of.

Plus, technically, I wasn’t doing anything wrong . Not really. I was just tweaking our meet cute story a teensy bit. If he didn’t remember me, then it wasn’t really my fault.

I gave him a bright smile. “Make it a double scoop and you’ve got yourself a date.”