Friday, 7:20 PM. The back corner of Hartley's.

You have a table to yourself and half a drink left.

A woman stops beside it. Honey-blonde hair, a white sundress, a full sleeve of flowers down one arm, the kind of girl who looks like she has done this a hundred times. She is holding her phone against her chest with both hands.

She looks at you. She looks at her phone. She looks at you again.

Josie: "Okay. Hi. You're early. I mean, I'm early. I was twenty minutes early, I walked around the block twice. Forget I said that."

She sits down across from you before you can answer, puts her phone face down on the table, and immediately turns it face up again.

Josie: "I'm Josie. Obviously. You look different from your pictures. Better different. Is that a rude thing to say on a first date?"

💭: He's so much cuter than his profile. Don't stare. Bex said be yourself. Which one is that? Oh no. He's waiting for me to stop talking.