The clock on Avery's laptop screen blinked 1:28 PM. She had more than half an hour until the client was due, and already she could feel her brain shutting down from boredom. Oakley sat to her left, typing away furiously at a deck, while Archie scrolled TikTok with his earbuds dangling.
Avery sighed, leaned back, and opened the dating app. Just to kill time.
Profiles rolled past her thumb like a shuffle she wasn't even listening to. Swipe left. Swipe right. A girl with a yoga pose, swipe left. Another with beach photos and too many hashtags, swipe left.
Then..
She stopped.
A single photo lit up the screen: a girl with dark hair backlit by sunlight, her expression soft, half-smiling like she knew some secret.
Profile name: Summer.
Avery's lips curved without her permission. She clicked the bio.
"Big believer in new beginnings. Film nerd. Coffee before conversations."
Her chest tugged. The kind of tug that said: don't overthink this.
"Okay, hi there," Avery murmured, thumb hovering. "You feel… different."
She swiped right.
And almost instantly just two seconds later, her screen flashed:
It's a match!
"Oh my god."
She jolted upright so fast her chair squeaked against the floor.
Oakley jumped. "What?"
Archie pulled out one earbud. "Did you just see a ghost or something?"
"No," Avery squeaked, shoving her phone at them. "Worse. Or better. Or... I don't know, look!"
On her screen, Summer's profile glowed with a green banner: It's a match. And below, the first message already waiting.
Summer (Kara): tell me… what and where's the first place I should go in Bali?
Archie let out a low whistle. "She didn't waste time, huh?"
Oakley leaned in, squinting. "Wait, so this girl matched with you, and she's already asking for Bali tips? Isn't that like… fate? You're practically her tour guide waiting to happen."
Avery clutched the phone to her chest, half laughing, half panicking. "Oh my god, I can't! I don't even know what to say. What do I even answer? I don't want to sound boring."
"Easy," Archie said, smirking. "Tell her Uluwatu Temple. Classic. Sunset view. Romantic as hell. Boom."
Oakley rolled their eyes. "Don't listen to him. Just keep it light. Funny. Like… 'depends, are you more sunset or coffee kind of person?' That way, it's not just an answer, it's an opening."
Avery groaned, covering her face. "This is insane. I just swiped right, I wasn't ready for… whatever this is."
Oakley nudged her shoulder. "Then maybe you were. Look, you've been stuck in Phoebe-land for months. Maybe this is the universe giving you a push."
Archie grinned. "Yeah, besides… her name's Summer. Couldn't get more poetic for your sad little heart."
"Shut up," Avery muttered, but she was smiling.
Her thumb hovered over the keyboard. She typed slowly, each letter like a heartbeat.
Depends. Are you more sunset or coffee kind of person?
She hit send before she could delete it.
And for the first time in a long while, Avery felt the buzz of possibility under her skin.
***
Avery stared at the screen like it might bite her. The little delivered checkmark blinked back, but nothing else. No three dots. No reply.
She locked her phone. Unlocked it. Checked her email. Opened the app again. Still nothing.
"Oh my god, stop," Oakley groaned, snatching a paperclip and flicking it at her. "You're gonna wear out your thumb."
Archie leaned back in his chair, smirking. "Classic. Sends one text and suddenly she's acting like a high schooler waiting for prom night."
Avery glared. "This is not funny. What if she thinks I'm boring? What if..."
"What if," Oakley interrupted, voice dry, "she's literally just busy living her life and not glued to her phone like you right now?"
Avery exhaled shakily, bouncing her leg under the desk. Ten minutes stretched like an eternity. She almost closed the app again when her phone buzzed.
A notification.
Her heart leapt into her throat.
Summer (Kara):Why not both?
A laugh bubbled out of Avery before she could stop it. Relief and something sharper, brighter, spread through her chest.
"There it is," Archie said, watching her grin like he'd just won a bet. "Hooked. She's got you hooked already."
"Shut up." Avery's fingers flew. Good answer. Risky though, I'll hold you to it.
Another ping.
Summer (Kara):Guess that means you'll have to show me then 😉
Her face warmed instantly. She pressed the screen to her chest, groaning, which only made Oakley and Archie cackle harder.
And just like that, the conversation kept rolling. Jokes about food. Complaints about deadlines. Summer telling her she had the worst Wi-Fi in her guesthouse. Avery sending a photo of her desk buried in post-its.
Avery feel like she is alive again, finding someone that she can talk too and sharing the same excitement together, but she is still anxious what if one day they're choose to meet up?
Because the truth was, she wasn't ready. Not with the scars still visible on her skin, not with the chipped tooth that caught every time she smiled.
She wanted to. God, she wanted to. But wanting and daring were two very different things.