Free Miss Match by Erynn Mangum Page A

open. "So that's how I know you!" She grins. "I
thought you seemed familiar. We had the same homeroom, right?"
    Nick's grinning as well. "I think so. Ruby Palmer." He says her name
all reflectively, shaking his head. "Man, I had the biggest crush on you in
the seventh grade. What happened to you?"
    I didn't think it was possible, but her blush darkens even more. "My
family moved the beginning of my eighth grade year. I moved back after
college. Wow. Good to see you again."
    "Yeah, you too."
    I'm really trying not to burst into a happy dance.
    Nick checks his watch. "Well, I got to go. See you guys
Wednesday."
    "The Hernandez family is here, Laurie." Brandon is watching the
parking lot.

    Lunch rolls around and I go to Bud's, where Mikey greets me with a
smug smile.
    "Well, look who is here," he says airily.
    "Stuff it, Buddy."
    "That would be my father. I'm Mikey. Nice to meet you."

    I eat at Hannah's desk.
    "'T'ell me about your church," Hannah says in between bites of her
hot dog.

    I blink. "We're nondenominational."
    "No, I mean about your church," she says. "What are the people like?
Do most of the people in the singles' class go there?"
    "Yeah. Nick teaches a class Sunday mornings too. The people are
great. I've been going there all my life." I watch her eat for a second.
"Want to come this Sunday with Dad and me?"
    Her face brightens. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."
    I lick mustard off my finger. "Are you coming Wednesday?"
    "Yeah, I think so."
    I finish my burger. "Let me know if you need a ride."
    "Hey, Laurie?" Hannah asks, right as I toss my wrapper in her trash
can and stand.
    "Yeah?"
    She fiddles with her hot dog. "Right. So I went to get a Bible the
other day."
    I try to control the elation on my face so as not to scare her off.
"Oh yeah?"
    "Mm-hmm." She takes a deep breath and throws her hands up in
frustration. "There's like thousands to choose from and they all have
these weird initials on them and some are leather and some are hardback
and some are pink and if that's not enough, you have to choose size and
shape and if you want an index or not. And what on earth does red lettering mean? Because I picked one up that said that, and I didn't see any
red letters." She lets out an aggravated huff.
    I smile at her. "How about I go with you?"
    "Would you? Laurie, that would be great." She smiles a huge smile.
    Hannah is definitely making some serious progress.

    Ruby and I each take our curriculum home with us. I look through the
books to see what I'll be teaching.
    Lesson 1: Apostleship.
    This could be deep.
    The front door opens. "What's up?"
    "Hey, Brandon."
    Brandon sits on the sofa. "I thought you might want to catch a movie
or something tonight."
    I balance my chin on my hand. The invite has come many times over
the years.
    Over the years. Like a flash of my camera, I realize my dear friend
has grown up.
    Sometime in the past seventeen years, his shoulders broadened, his
face lost the baby fat residing on his cheeks, his eyes took on something
other than the innocent seven-year-old glint.
    It makes my stomach hurt to see it. What if what Brandon said a
week ago comes true?
    "One day you might wake up, and I'll be married with a couple
of kids. "
    One of my ducks in a row bearing Brandon's name skirts out
of line.
    I have a feeling chocolate isn't going to help this problem.
    "What's wrong?" Brandon's forehead creases in a frown.
    "You're ... old."
    He starts laughing. "Wow, what a compliment!" He stops. "You're
not laughing."
    "Come on, Brandon, I'm serious." I close the curriculum.
    "Laurie, I'm only twenty-four. That's not that old. What's gotten into
you? I've never seen you like this before." His voice gets quiet.
    "We're growing up. I mean, you're twenty-four. You have been able to buy alcohol legally for three years." I am finding it difficult to put my
thoughts into words.

    He smiles gently. "Well, Honey, don't worry about that. I'm not
going to buy it."
    "We're not ...