Page 44 of All Our Nevers

“What about SALON!” Sophie shrieks.

“I love that,” I say.

“And whenever we’re all together,” she adds, “we can say we’re at the SALON!”

Andy starts to say “That’s kind of girly—”

But Nolan is already jumping out of his seat, shouting, “That’s perfect!”

“What do you say, Owen?” Sophie asks. “Will you accept an official position in the SALON?”

“It’s a hard job but the benefits are amazing.” I wink at him, just to see if I can coax a bit of that fire back to life.

Nolan adds, “Lifelong friendship up for grabs man, you in?”

Owen looks between us like he’s really thinking it over, then a huge grin bursts across his face. “I mean, if you guys insist…”

Sophie and Nolan immediately start squealing. They stand and grab Owen in a bear hug, jumping and rocking like ridiculous children. I look across at Andy, then nod sideways at them. We stand to join in, and then someone is chanting “SA-LON, SA-LON, SA-LON” and we’re all jumping and yelling far too loud after dark in this quiet neighborhood, but it feels pretty damn great.

Several hours later, lying on our backs in the grass, full of s’mores and beer and the unique fearlessness of night, I ask Sophie and Andy, “You guys aren’t gonna start having kids right away, are you?”

I have my yarn and crochet needle in hand, idly adding rows to a half-formed sweater where I lie. The yarn shimmers silver in the low light, the metal of the crochet hook warmed by my palm. I don’t need to look down at this stage of the piece, so I let my gaze trace the sky while my hands and instincts take over.

Sophie rolls onto her side in the grass, facing me. “No way. I can’t imagine having a kid during grad school. I need to do career stuff for like five more years before we even think about it.”

“Okay good,” I reply. “I mean like, whatever, you can do what you want. But I want all your free time for myself.”

“Did you guys know Owen’s gonna make partner by the end of the summer?” Nolan asks.

“What?” Sophie cries just as Andy asks, “That soon?”

Owen scoffs out a laugh. “I said I’m up for partner this summer, man, not that I’m about to make partner. It’s between me and one other guy, so it’s not a sure thing.”

Sophie sits up just long enough to lean across my body to smack Nolan on the arm. “Don’t jinx him! What’s wrong with you?”

Andy sits up next to her. “I didn’t know you were that close.”

Owen pointedly does not sit up, gaze stubbornly locked on the dark sky. “Yeah, I mean, that’s why I transferred to Boston, for the accelerated partner track.”

Andy’s only reply is, “Oh.”

And I would bet anything that I know what he’s thinking: I thought you came to be near me and mom.

God, poor Andy.

Sophie picks up on it too, because of course she does, and forges ahead with a change of topic, because of course she does.

“Nolan, what’s new with you? Dating? Work? Family?” she asks like someone who doesn’t speak to him daily.

His shoulders shrug against the grass. “Work’s fine. It’s just a job, yanno. But actually, you guys remember Melody?”

“The dating app girl?” Sophie asks. “Yeah, how are things going with her?”

“Bad,” he replies. “She ghosted me.”

“Oh nooo.” Sophie sits up again so she can look across my body towards Nolan’s face. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

Nolan is picking at a piece of grass, ripping it into smaller and smaller bits. “I think I just moved too fast.”