Slide Into My DM

Chapter Eleven

Megara

Paper plate in hand, I can’t decide if I want another vanilla cupcake or try the chocolate. The succulent-looking icing on top is the same flavor either way. Plus, there’s still plenty enough of both for the rest of Frankie’s engagement party.

They’d originally planned on a Saint Patrick’s Day thing, lots of green and beer, but it landed on a Tuesday this year (leaving classes and work to get in the way). Instead, I helped my best friend and bride-to-be land on a more Spring-themed get-together the weekend before, with plenty of barbecue and mixers. Nothing too girly for her grunge heart and rustic enough for Ralph, even their gifts were atypical to the occasion. (The last gift I witnessed was a his and hers set of roller-skates.)

Vanilla cupcake in hand, I turn away from the table, surveying the large number of people crammed into the small space of the deck. Gifts are apparently done, the couple is hugging various people. Then, Frankie spots me and waves. We manage to meet by the corner railing.

“So? Did he come?” she looks around. “I know I’m supposed to know everyone here but there are still a few people I don’t recognize.”

Shoving the rest of the cupcake in my mouth, my cheeks hamster. I shake my head, and muffle out “No, he said he couldn’t make it.”

“Well… at least we tried. He hasn’t said anything else about meeting up then?”

I shake my head and swallow hard the last bit of icing. “It’s probably for the better, anyway.”

“Maybe. It’s good… right? Maybe just being confidants is what you need. Sort of… therapeutic, yeah?”

My gaze dips, I scratch my nose. “Right.”

“I’m actually kind of proud of you. When you like someone, even the slightest bit, you get sort of micro-focused on what a relationship could be like. Flirting, dates, what the future could be. Sometimes, you get so excited you’re ahead of yourself. But now, look at you! You’re able to just have a friend and be there for them.”

Trying to see the silver lining, I smile. “Right… you’re right. Friendship is just as important.”

Thomas

Green Solo Cup in hand, I haven’t had a single sip of my Irish Car Bomb. Looking across Chad’s deck, I absently people watch as the evening of this Saint Patrick’s Day party unfolds. Guy and girls liquored up, guys in ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ tees and girls in green plaid skirts, guys drinking more than they ever should, and girls using this like another slutty Halloween. It’s a mess.

Without pre-gaming and without grabbing a drink upon arrival and without keeping up… I am becoming so viciously aware of how obnoxious this all is. The incoherent behavior, the obnoxious yelling and laughing, the inappropriate PDA… again, it’s a big mess. And add technology into it? It becomes a s**t show of i********: stories and posts, f*******: status and picture updates, live YouTube streams… all for what? To show off how much they can drink? To show off their stupid outfits? To show off how much money they have?

Even without drinking anything I have a bad taste in my mouth. I am thankful for the family I have and the financial stability I have. I know there’s nothing wrong with having money and therefore having nice things… but damn, why waste it? I'd started that whole Sparks Joy thing, thanks to Meg, and now’s another instance I do not at all feel joy.

How is any of this meaningful? It’s not.

Unable to help myself, I look through Meg’s personal profile on i********:. She’d posted all these pictures of the engagement party she’d help throw for her best friend. Then pictures from the school library as she gets ahead in her classes. From Triple G’s recommendation, she joined my gym, and it’s clearly paying off. And even when she’s at home, whatever she has to say in the comments are thoughtful and genuine.

She cares. With every fiber of her being, she cares about everything she does. Everyone in her life is important to her.

I look back into the crowd ahead of me and realize I know maybe a third of the people by name. Like she’s said… all those ‘nothing’ conversations meant something. Meant something to her, meant something to me. I still smile when I see a new DM, my heart still races as I read her words. She is significant to me.

Meg is significant to me… and it’s time I show her.