Page 95 of The Beta Test

My mind whirls over this new information. From listening to Jake talk, I know some guys from the hockey team. And a lot of guys from our high school team do come to the east coast because there are better college hockey programs, so it’s not totally unreasonable that some of them would end up at Boston University. Jake is planning to come to BU for that exact reason next year. And me, of course.

“What’s his name?”

“Dan Wheeler.”

I pop up from my chair so fast it knocks into the edge of the desk with a loud thwack. “DAN?!”

Now it’s her turn to cut me an incredulous look. “... yeah?”

My mouth bobs open and close multiple times. My brain tries to wrap itself around the mental image of Analiese and Dan not only being matched on Connection Services, but also dating.

“But like… does he know your name?” I ask.

“What kind of question is that?” She flicks her dark hair over her shoulder.

My hands wave in front of me as I try to conjure the words to explain Dan’s memory problem without totally insulting him.

“Like when you guys hang out, does he say ‘hey, Analiese’ or does he go ‘hey, you’? You know?”

She stares at me flatly, then turns around to apply some dark lipstick. “I’m not sure I should dignify that insane question with an answer. Are you feeling ok? Did you stay up late texting Jake again?”

Yes, I did. But that’s not the issue here. I drank three cups of coffee, so my brain is firing on all cylinders. Still, it’s true that my line of questioning is not ordinary. It’s not my fault though—it’s Dan’s. Or is it just me he can't remember?

My phone buzzes in my hand.

Jenna: Oh, you’ll know. It should be there any minute. I just want to make sure it arrives safely.

The Dan issue can wait. “Have you seen any packages from Jenna?”

Analiese looks at me in the reflection of her mirror, and I can tell she’s glad I decided to switch topics. Getting her to open up will take time, but I’ve never been put off by a challenge. We’ll get there eventually.

“No? Did you check your student mailbox?”

“Right, good point.” I open the reminder app on my phone and set a reminder to check my mailbox in the student center tomorrow. “We should leave for the party soon. Are you almost ready?”

“Yep,” she replies with a pop as she rubs her lips together to smooth the lipstick. “But we’re waiting for our dates to arrive.”

My head jerks back in surprise. This girl is giving me whiplash today. “Um, what dates?”

Just then, a knock sounds on the door.

“Those dates,” she says, springing up to open our dorm room door. “Why are you acting like you don’t know the plan?”

Maybe because there’s a plan I don’t know about? Or maybe Analiese and I did discuss this, and I totally blanked it somehow? I open our shared calendar to see if there’s other attendees on the event for tonight, but the door opens before I can look.

There, standing at the door, is none other than Dan Wheeler. He’s wearing what appears to be a normal outfit with a cape thrown on top. His light blonde hair is charmingly disheveled, and he smiles broadly at Analiese.

“Hey there, Wednesday,” he says, his eyes smoldering in her direction.

Analiese giggles—giggles!—at him and gives his cape a tug. “I like your costume.”

I take in Dan’s ‘cape’ and realize it’s actually a bedsheet tied around his neck. Just… wow. It seems impossible to put less effort into a costume.

“Her name isn’t Wednesday and you’re not wearing a costume,” I state loudly. There are too many unnatural things happening here and someone has to anchor us all in reality. That someone has to be me. A laugh sounds from the hallway, but I can’t see who it is. That’s not important at this moment.

Dan and Analiese tear their eyes away from each other (with great difficulty) to look at me with annoyed expressions.

“Hey, Avery,” Dan says.