By the time it was over, she stood frozen in front of her dorm room.
“I don’t know where the fuck you are, but something’s come up, so I’m gonna need you to write my speech. Use Peter’s notes, whatever, you already know what I want to say. Get it to me by midnight. Don’t make me sound like a pussy. And remember, Charlotte—I give my recommendation to the art department on Monday.”
Shit.
She checked the time—4:50 p.m. That gave her seven hours to come up with an entire commencement address if she skipped the clothing swap, dinner, Nina’s pregame, and the Lawn Party.
She would make this work, she had to. If she started now, she could work through dinner and bang out a mediocre draft by nine. It didn’t have to be good, it just had to be…vaguely commencement-address-shaped. Roger would rewrite it anyway, he just needed a template.
She could do this. She wrote his tweets, didn’t she? This was just…. several hundred tweets.
Jackie would understand if she skipped the clothing swap. They’d have the rest of the night together. If Charlotte could just explain, everything would be fine.
She quietly let herself into their room, easing the door open and shut in case Jackie was still asleep. But the covers were thrown off the other bed, clothing scattered across the floor.
Her phone trilled.
TEXT MESSAGE FROM JACKIE SLAUGHTER TO CHARLOTTE THORNE, 4:55 PM: where are you? I went early to help set up, these kids are so trendy I can’t stand it. conrad hall lounge, come quick before the good stuff is gone!!!
Oh, this was not good. This was very not good.
But what could she do? She couldn’t risk the department transfer. It was her only hope of staying at Front End without completely losing her mind.
Wouldn’t Jackie prefer she skipped the clothing swap so that they could go out tonight?
Sure, Charlotte didn’t like it. But this was her job. And she was here to work.
TEXT MESSAGE FROM CHARLOTTE THORNE TO JACKIE SLAUGHTER 5:07 PM: Change of plans, Roger’s making me write his speech for tomorrow. Heading to Mead Library to crank it out. I’m so sorry but I will see you at Nina’s! We will dance it out!!
TEXT MESSAGE FROM JACKIE SLAUGHTER TO CHARLOTTE THORNE, 5:21 PM: :/
TEXT MESSAGE FROM CHARLOTTE THORNE TO JACKIE SLAUGHTER, 6:12 PM: Do you remember literally anything our commencement speaker said? I swear I have no memory of them, there’s a blank void in my mind.
TEXT MESSAGE FROM JACKIE SLAUGHTER TO CHARLOTTE THORNE, 6:31 PM: no
TEXT MESSAGE FROM JACKIE SLAUGHTER TO CHARLOTTE THORNE, 7:33 PM: u gonna make it to dinner? we’re getting taco bell
TEXT MESSAGE FROM CHARLOTTE THORNE TO JACKIE SLAUGHTER, 7:38 PM: Still working, I’ll grab something from the vending machine.
TEXT MESSAGE FROM CHARLOTTE THORNE TO JACKIE SLAUGHTER, 9:05 PM: Finished! Where are you?
TEXT MESSAGE FROM JACKIE SLAUGHTER TO CHARLOTTE THORNE, 9:11 PM: nina’s
TEXT MESSAGE FROM JACKIE SLAUGHTER TO CHARLOTTE THORNE, 9:11 PM: left something out for you
Charlotte couldn’t say her commencement address was any good. She was by no means a compelling writer, and Roger Ludermore was about as far from an inspiring role model as a person could get. The draft she sent her boss was a mess of clichés, bullet points, and bland remarks borrowed from other commencement speakers, rewritten just enough to pass the smell test. It would not win any awards.
But it existed, and she turned it in well before Roger’s midnight deadline.
As she unlocked the dorm room, she felt if not proud of her output, then at least gratified that she’d salvaged the rest of her evening. Jackie’s text messages were clipped but not hostile, and she could work with that. Sure, Charlotte wished Jackie had waited to get ready with her, but she couldn’t expect her to sit around all night in an empty dorm room. And also, yeah, Jackie’s feelings were valid. She had the right to be ticked off. But they were both adults, they’d be fine. They’d been here before.
It would all be fine.
And then Charlotte saw her bed.
Jackie had laid out an entire outfit for her. A heather gray crop top with the Hein crest on the breast pocket, paired with distressed black denim overalls cut at the thighs into shorts. She’d even put out clean white ankle socks beside Charlotte’s sneakers, and a pink scrunchie to tie her hair back if she needed to.
Charlotte rubbed the fabric of the shirt between her thumb and index finger. Pure cotton, never worn from the looks of it, also cropped by hand. She turned to the trash bag hooked at the end of her bed and—ah, yes. Discarded denim and gray fabric.
Jackie had made this for her.
Simple. Comfortable. Sexy but not too feminine, not complex or colorful. The perfect outfit to dance in. The perfect outfit for her.
TEXT MESSAGE FROM CHARLOTTE THORNE TO JACKIE SLAUGHTER, 9:30 PM: Thank you so much. On my way up now.
Chapter 11
As predicted, the funfetti-tinis made Charlotte want to barf. The pink party cups Nina used to serve her monstrous creation did nothing to distract from its murky brown coloring.
Charlotte caught Jio discreetly pouring their bastardized vodka soda into Matt’s party cup. They gave her a helpless shrug before declaring “Delicious, honey!” and sailed over to kiss Nina’s cheek.
Jackie threw in the towel next. “I can’t do it,” she muttered. “I’m not strong enough.”
With a polite word to Nina, Matt excused himself for the bathroom. Charlotte guessed that his funfetti-tini would soon grace the communal bathroom’s sink.
“What did you guys do after brunch?” Amy asked. She perched on the edge of her bed, swinging her legs back and forth in white patterned tights. Her feet were fastened into mint green sneakers in preparation for the dance party. She looked like a life-size Polly Pocket.
Charlotte took a determined pull from her drink, awkwardness prickling at the back of her neck. Jackie plunged ahead for them both. “I took a nap,” she said. “Then Jio and I went to the clothing swap and got Taco Bell.”
