Chapter 13: Everything You Want

“We need to decide what song we’re going to audition with,” I announced, as the five of us settled into the cabin for some rehearsal.

Colin looked at me. “Let’s vote then. What are the choices? We have a lot of songs that we know now. Some more than others.”

“I’m thinking we should do an original,” I offered. “We have Four Days, Shell Game, Absinthe... And Please Don’t Stop, but since we played that one at the show last year, probably not a good idea.”

“Don’t forget Gunkstomp!” Lara called out, referencing Tommy’s latest offering.

“Is that a vote?” I asked her, still amused at how Tommy had made something of our trip to the New Paltz area and its funny sounding names.

“Maybe? It’s a good song.”

“It is. But Muireann has never played it, and hardly have we. So I’m kind of thinking not for next week. Sorry, Tommy.”

“Naw, it’s the truth lad. And Absinthe is too weird for this tryout. We should do Shell Game.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Colin agreed. “I’m really into the bass part on that one.”

“I’m more comfortable with Four Days,” Muireann said, when I turned to her. “But anything is fine. I don’t play much on either of them at any rate.”

“I think Four Days is probably the one we’re most solid on,” I agreed. “So, Lara?”

“Damn, two votes for each ... Why do I have to decide?”

“You wrote the songs, lass, so it’s only fitting!” Tommy quipped.

She pursed her lips. “Let’s play them both and then decide.”

We tuned and warmed up with a few covers, and then turned our attention to Shell Game. It was, admittedly, a fun song to play. Lara was really getting into the mask-seller’s role she’d written into her lyrics, and Colin wasn’t lying when he said he was into his bass part. He was positively nailing a funky riff he’d worked out that combined with Tommy’s percussive strum pattern; it more than made up for the lack of a drum beat.

Not that it wouldn’t benefit from a killer drummer, I knew.

After we finished the song, I was ready to change my vote after all. But Lara said to play both, so I didn’t voice it out loud.

“And Four Days, now,” Lara said. She pulled a sheet from her lyric stack and checked a few things, apparently having made some recent changes.

“Are the words finally done, then?” I teased.

“I think so!”

“That’s what you said last week!” I retorted.

She just made a face at me.

This song was a bit calmer; after the punchy Shell Game, it felt a bit too laid back. I forced my arms to calm down and settle into the groove of the intro. Lara moved to the microphone.

You touched me with fire
Struck the match
Set me up to melt
There was a time when it burned right through
Now I’m not allowed to think of you

I started to transition into the bridge, but Tommy jerked his head my way. Oops... I’d forgotten Lara had added a second verse.

The air’s thin up here
Barely there
Breathing under smoke
There was a time when it all was clear
When the world was dead and you were near

Lara looked at me and I gave her a small smile, as it appeared she’d changed the words rather significantly since the previous week.

Now I watch you float away
The foam and wake have split the bay
Two points of blue at switch of gray
But I still know, I still know

The chorus that she and I had worked out a month ago was still mostly intact. The chords sounded even sweeter due to the bridge Tommy had come up with to set it up. Lara leaned in and delivered the lines with a sense of longing that made me shiver slightly.

Four days
That’s how long it took to see
How much you mean to me
But the raven’s on my shoulder now
Please don’t touch
Last time she flew away
This time she’s gotta stay
And keep me here on the edge
For at least another day

I gave Muireann an encouraging look as Lara let go of the mic. The violin took over the open space. It was still a bit hard to hear her; I’d need to remind everyone to turn down yet again after we finished. And I made a mental note to see if we could borrow a microphone from Colin for next rehearsal.

The light’s dull down here
Plastic pearls
Settling on the ice
There was a time when the snow was light
The line looked smooth and the circle bright

The fourth verse was also almost completely new, and I found myself more and more thinking of a particularly snowy time back around the turn of the year.

You left me with hope
Hooked the catch
Held me up to wait
There was no time to say it all
The broken curve and the messy scrawl

So many things seemed to have changed back then, and yet ... Nothing was really that different.

Now I see you drift away
The tide and wave have drained the bay
The points are dimming into gray
But I still know, I still know

After repeating the chorus, eliciting that same spine tingle in me, I laid down some phrases on the guitar. Tommy and Colin let the sound swell a bit as Muireann joined me with long notes. Lara repeated various words from the chorus. The song ended with a comforting and hopeful feel, despite its dark undertones. I hummed in pleasure, noticing that everyone else was grinning too.

“All right, anyone want to change their vote?” Lara asked, looking at each of us. She rolled her eyes when no one took her up on it. “Fine, make me choose. Ugh, it’s like picking your favorite kid or something.”

“Aw...” Muireann cried.

“Well, I like them both! But I think...” She glanced at Tommy. “Shell Game, then. People will dig that. It has some good energy, and Colin does kill it on the bass.”

He grinned at her compliment.

“All right, Shell Game it is,” I said, feeling slightly unsettled at the choice. Of course I liked the song, but it still seemed to be missing ... something. Probably just more practice, I reminded myself. It’ll sound good by the audition.

And maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly about the audition, I realized a bit later. As usual, selfishness was clouding my thoughts. The words of Four Days were just a bit more hopeful than the sham offered by Lara’s thimblerigger in Shell Game. I knew I still needed that hope, even if it got buried a little more every day.

“The necklace is ready,” I whispered to Melissa, as I helped her with the dishes.

“Hmm ... When do you want to pick it up?”

“He’s not open on weeknights, so it has to be this weekend.”

“Ooh ... I’m working both days, and so is Mom, I think.”

“Yeah, I was worried about that. What can we do?”

“I can go tomorrow while you’re in school?” she offered.

I smiled sweetly. “Or I could skip school and come with you?”

She smiled even more sweetly. “Or you could just drive there yourself?”

“Fine, I guess you can go get it...”

She’ll have to see it ... And then pay the rest of the—

“Or, maybe not,” I said. “I feel like I should have a look at it, you know? Make sure it’s really what I wanted.”

She nodded. “Understandable. What about the morning before Heather arrives, then? They won’t be here until the afternoon, no matter how early Heather thinks she’ll be able to get everyone up!”

I laughed. “All right, I guess that’ll have to work. Let’s plan on that.”

She nodded. “Excited?”

“Yeah, even if I have to wait longer now! And I am a bit nervous, too, honestly.”

She smiled and nudged me. “Always a good sign. If you’re not at least a little nervous about making something, then you’re doing something wrong!”

I could only nod as I finally dried the plate I was still holding.

The delay gnawed at me, though, growing stronger. Now that I knew the piece was completed and sitting at the smith’s shop, waiting to be taken home, I could think of nothing else. I was imagining myself walking there and back, a two-day journey, when I realized I could be a rather stupid person sometimes. With an annoyed huff, I marched to my room.

“Hello?” came the answer.

“Hey Shan! How are you?”

“Matty! I’m good. Not too different from when we hung out in photography class a few hours ago!” she teased. “But thanks for asking!”

“Yeah, well ... I was trying to soften you up. I need a favor.”

“Oh, anything for you, Matty!”

I had to smile, even though she couldn’t see it.

“What up dudes!”

Carmen, Tommy, and I all looked up at the bellowing intruder. It was Pete, but also it wasn’t, because the real Pete would never say such a thing so loudly and so abruptly.

“And Carmen, hi,” he added. “I wasn’t calling you a dude. Like, no way!”

She laughed a little. “Thanks. How are you?”

“Oh, you know ... Getting ready for the talent show.” He spun a chair around and straddled the seat, leaning onto my desk. He grinned for too long. “It’s going well. Skinner’s pretty good.”

“Skinner?” Tommy asked.

“Our new band mate,” Pete replied.

“Oh, right,” I said. “Who is that, though?”

“Our new singer!”

“Well, duh. But who is he?”

“Just some dude, man! Relax.”

I gave Carmen a look. She just shrugged and widened her eyes at me.

“You’re going to come watch, right?” Pete asked her.

“Watch what?” she questioned.

“The auditions, of course!”

“Oh, uh ... Sure ... if I can.”

“The auditorium is open. It’s like a week from today.”

“I know,” she said, smiling a little.

“Wait, today’s Thursday, right?” Pete asked, checking his watch.

“Why do you think we’re in study hall?” Tommy asked.

I suppressed a laugh, even as I remained on edge.

Pete looked at Tommy and then me. “Are you guys going to try to audition?”

“We’re thinking of it, lad,” Tommy replied, before I could say anything. “But now we’re not so sure.”

“Why not?” Pete asked. “It’s worth a shot, right?”

“It sounds like Skinner has it all in the bag.”

“Oh, there’s more than one slot!”

Tommy snickered. “Of course, lad. But Skinner sounds good enough to take all six himself.”

Carmen giggled and Pete made a face, his confident bluster momentarily transformed into a diffident fluster.

“Well ... it’s ... He’s good, all right? You’ll hear him, if you come. Or at the show in June, if not.”

“I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot of Skinner from now on,” Tommy quipped.

Pete shrugged. “We’ve been jamming like almost every night. Killer stuff.”

“Can’t wait to hear it, man,” I said, feeling like the exchange was starting to head south. Plus by now I’d noticed that Pete’s eyes were rather pink. No wonder he’d been late to class and bellowing.

“Carmen, did you go to the dance last winter?” Pete asked.

“I went to the talent show, but not the dance.”

“Cool, cool.”

“Was that second ‘cool’ because she didn’t go to the dance?” Tommy asked.

Pete laughed. “No, I was meaning the show. Then again, I didn’t go to the dance either, so maybe it is cool. What about you, Matt? Are you still with that girl in Montauk?”

“Yep.”

“Is she actually going to make it up to the dance this time?”

“This time? She came to the last one.”

Peter frowned. “Didn’t you go with Shannon?”

I sighed. “Sort of. But Heather came up that night, later. Whatever. She came to the dance.”

“Huh ... I guess I forgot.”

You seem to have forgotten a lot from that weekend, dude...

“And no,” I added. “I don’t know if she can come up in June.”

“Well, I’m not a huge fan of dancing, so that’s cool...”

“Is that so? Were you planning to go with Matt’s doll?” Tommy asked.

“No, why?”

“You made it sound like—Oh, never mind.” Tommy leaned back in his chair.

Pete laughed. “Yeah, I’m confused now.”

Clearly...

Pete ended up spending the period with us. You know it’s an awkward forty-two minutes when you end up spending half of it exchanging amused glances with an ex-girlfriend who you already feel awkward around. It’s all relative, I guess... At least Tommy kept his pointed humor subtle enough that we could laugh and Pete didn’t realize enough to take offense.

“All right, Shan,” I said, as Muireann and I sat down in photography class. “Jane said we have the period free to work on the project. Are you busy today?”

“Nope. I’m here!” she chirped.

“Two classes in a row! A rare moment. Anyway, we need a lesson.”

Shannon looked back and forth between Muireann and me. “What for?”

“You did a project once where you did double exposures. You said you rewound the film or something?”

“Oh, that! Yeah, not quite. You need to ... Here, let me see your camera.”

I pulled the Nikon out of its bag.

“All right, let me think for a second. It’s been a while... ! Okay, yeah. This is what you do. Take your first shot normally. Then push the rewind release button on the bottom. Then the trick is to make sure the winder crank doesn’t move. I used some tape. Or you can hold it steady if it’s just for a quick shot. Then advance the lever, but the film won’t actually advance, of course. Then you take your second picture.”

Muireann listened intently. “So pressing the rewind button loosens the spool inside?”

“Exactly,” Shannon replied. “Usually when you crank the lever to advance, it winds the spool, pulling the film across. But with the button pushed in, it disconnects the two. So the advance lever does nothing. Well, as long as you have the winding crank set still, without letting it move.”

“Cool. Can we try one, so you can see if we’re doing it right?” Muireann suggested.

“Sure. What’s this for?” Shannon asked.

“Our Twins project!” I said.

“Which we’d mostly finished last week,” Muireann scolded, “before Matt decided we had to start over!”

Shannon giggled. “Matty, that’s not very nice!”

“Nah. This will be way cooler,” I dismissed. “Even Muireann agrees. She’s just giving me a hard time.”

“I knew I liked you,” Shannon said to her, grinning.

I passed the camera to Muireann. “Give it a shot.”

“Of what?”

“Whatever. We’ll waste a frame to try it. Take one of me, that’s always a wasted shot.”

Muireann rolled her eyes before pointing the camera at my face. She took a quick candid shot of me. She didn’t hesitate, already pressing the rewind button underneath.

Shannon leaned in to point, saying, “Okay, now you—Yeah, you got it, nice!”

Muireann held the camera out to me. “It’s your shot.”

I snapped a quick picture of her and then advanced the lever normally. We looked at the bottom, finding that the button had popped out again.

“That is neat,” Muireann said, as we smiled at each other.

Shannon looked at us. “Wait, are you going to be sharing the exposures for the project?”

“Yep! We each take a photo of the same object in our own way, but they’ll be on the same frame.”

“Oh, that sounds like so much fun!”

“Well, it’ll be interesting, at least,” Muireann countered.

“I want to join!”

I sniffed. “I’d say sure, but you’d have to get permission for Jane to call it Trilogy then!”

We all had a good laugh, me for extra reasons. Hmm ... These classroom chairs are made out of a familiar material...

“Oh, it’s fine,” Shannon dismissed. “I already did my shots anyway. Too bad you didn’t ask me on Sunday when I was there for the cookbook stuff! I still hadn’t finished my project then, so I could’ve joined.”

“Well, I hadn’t even told Muireann yet!” I exclaimed.

“He was afraid I’d strangle him.”

Shannon eyed me. “How many prints had you already made?”

“Five pairs out of six,” Muireann replied impishly.

Shannon looked at me with wide eyes. “Five? Matty! You’re lucky she didn’t strangle you!”

“Hey, it was five out of ten! We were going to do extras and pick!”

“It was still five, either way,” Shannon rejoined. “And a lot of work, I’m sure.”

I help up my hands. “How about we wait until we see the new photos, before we get all excited about choking me out, huh?”

The girls giggled.

“Wow,” I drawled. “You two are laughing at the thought of me suffocating to death...”

“No!”

“Some friends I have!”

“Hey!”

“All right, enough. We better get started. You want to tag along, Shan?”

“Sure!”

“That way you can lend a hand ... on my throat.”

“So morbid,” Muireann declared, even as Shannon swatted my arm.

“I will say this multiple exposure is not the easiest thing to get right,” Shannon said more seriously. “The first twenty times I tried it, the results were absolute garbage.”

Muireann eyed me pointedly. “I told you it sounded complicated.”

“What?” I said. “Shan just taught us everything she knows. Blame her if they don’t come out!”

She lifted her arms and turned toward me, her hands clenched around a throat-sized gap.

“Who’s morbid?” I cried.

Muireann cracked up as she turned and walked on. “Come, let’s not waste the entire period with your silliness.”

“You need to watch out for Matt,” Shannon agreed.

“Aye, I see that more every day,” Muireann said.

Even though I knew it was all in good fun, I still enjoyed the little smile she dropped my way.

“What a meal!” Tommy gushed, plopping down onto the couch. “What’s the plan for the evening?”

“Muireann and I are going to hit the cabin to develop the shots we took today,” I announced. “Because if these don’t turn out, we’ll need to try one last time this weekend.”

“Lara?” Tommy called. “Do we have Latin homework?”

“We do.” She glanced at Muireann. “We can work on it while you do your photos. Is that okay? I know you usually like to help him too.”

Muireann shrugged. “Of course, Lara. Thank you.”

Lara gave her a grateful smile. “Sure thing. We’ll get it done. But hold on ... Mom, what are the sleeping arrangements for when Heather comes?” she called out.

Melissa frowned slightly from the kitchen where she and Sarah were finishing up the last of the dinner dishes. “Our guests will be in the cabin, of course. Unfortunately that means you’ll have to tidy it up a bit.”

“Where’s Heather sleeping then?” Lara asked.

Sarah and Melissa shrugged. “In your room? Or out here on the pullout couch? Wherever she wants.”

My room? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

Lara must have heard my mental scream, because she turned around to stare into me, a small grin spreading on her lips. I kept my face unreadable ... yeah right!

“What if we all camp in our two bedrooms?” she asked. “Tommy in Matt’s room, Muireann and Heather in mine.”

Another shrug. “You can do whatever you want.”

“Then Frej could take Tommy’s room,” Lara continued.

“Frej? Oh, well ... I guess he could do that. It would be nicer than the darkroom. I appreciate you airing it out, Matt, but the chemical smell does linger in the walls.”

Then maybe me and Heather should sleep in the darkroom, so we don’t put anyone out!

“Sorry,” I murmured.

“All the more reason for Frej to have the room down here, then,” Lara said with finality.

“And Aongus and Mairead can have the cabin to themselves,” Sarah noted.

Melissa laughed. “It will be a nice little ... escape for them.”

We all snickered, just a little.

“Well, whatever you want,” Sarah said. “We have plenty of cots.”

“I say we do that,” Lara said to us, as Muireann nodded beside her.

“Sure, I’m down,” I confirmed. “Tommy, are you good with moving to my room for a while?”

“Aye, it’s fine with me,” Tommy replied.

“You can take the bed.”

“Naw, lad. I don’t mind a cot.”

“Well, we’ll see. All right, Muireann, let’s go get this done and see what we have. Are you two going up or staying here?” I asked Lara and Tommy.

They ended up staying, since Tommy was way too stuffed to get up off the couch. Once Muireann and I reached the darkroom, I took off my coat and double checked the room temperature. “Perfect.”

“What was that about?”

“Just making sure the chemicals—”

“No, the musical beds. Lara seemed quite keen.”

I laughed. “Oh, she loves a sleepover. I think if she had her way, we’d all be camped out in the living room or something.”

“That would be fun,” Muireann said.

“You’re okay with moving into her room, right?”

“Certainly,” she replied. “Though I think I’ll not sleep as much as usual this week.”

“Probably right. But this way you’ll have more time to hang out with Heather.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

I laughed a little. “I’ll warn you up front that she can be a bit wild and crazy sometimes.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. She’s kind of a trickster, you know. Always doing funny things. You never know what she’s going to pull next.”

“I’ll have to watch out for that one, then.”

“Hah, just like me, huh?”

Muireann smiled sweetly. “Go on now, and get this film developed.”

“You’re going to do it.”

“Oh, I’m not sure I’m ready for winding it in the dark.”

“Sure you are.”

“Mm, not sure at all. I have been very bad at practicing!”

“Then do a practice run now, to warm up.”

I grabbed the old filmstrip and the canister and passed it to her. She took the metal container apart and looked at me.

“Close your eyes and try,” I urged.

With her delicate fingers, she started finding the entry for the film edge, and then worked the strip into the coil.

“Hey!” I cried. “You just opened your eyes!”

“It was an accident!” she replied, laughing.

I smirked at her and then closed the door, turning off the lights on the way.

“No more cheating!” I declared.

She giggled, but continued. “Done.”

I raised the lights and examined the container outside and in. “Nice job.”

“But if I mess up the real thing, we’ll have to start over. A third time.”

“Well, if you mess up, we can blame Shannon.”

She clicked her tongue a couple of times. “You’re terrible.”

“Yeah, you really have to watch out for me.” I tossed her the film roll and the can opener. “Ready?”

“Oh dear ... Wait, I have it: a thumb war, and the winner has to do it?” she attempted.

I sniffed and killed the lights. “Get to it.”

It was getting late, but we’d printed eleven pictures.

“So, what do you think?” I said, stepping back to examine the row on the hanging wire.

Muireann studied the lineup, scrunching her face up as she got close to each one.

“They’re not criminals, you know,” I joked.

“I don’t know. Some of these photos deserve to be—” She gave me an embarrassed look.

“What? ‘Locked away’?” I finished.

She tittered. “I thought it was far too sad to say that out loud.”

“Oh, you’re going to love Heather then!” I drawled.

“Why do you say?”

“She loves her bad jokes.”

“Really? Let’s hear one?”

“Well, let’s see...” I thought for a moment or two, remembering several of them... But damn it, they’re all suggestive ... at least! “Never mind. I’ll let her deliver them.”

“If I tire of them, I can always switch rooms.”

I sniggered. “Sure. Damn, it’s getting late, though. Let’s get on with this then. We just need six photos. Do you think we have that many?”

“I think we have five,” she said.

I nodded. “Cool. I was thinking the same. Now the question is, are they the same five!”

“Two, three, five, six, ten.”

I scanned the row, ticking off five mental checkboxes.

“Wow ... Same here!”

“It’s obvious, though. I mean, these three,” she indicated, “are trash.”

“True. My fault for using too much light. And the other three, kind of boring. All right, so we need one more photo.”

“Aye ... But another time,” she said, yawning. “It is getting wile late.”

I nodded. “This was fun, Muireann. Thanks for agreeing to do it. I learned a lot, anyway.”

“Me too,” she said, giving me a warm smile. “I was petrified that first day, when I signed up for the class. Partly because of leaving Tommy alone in Latin, but also because I’d never tried taking real pictures.”

“Glad you decided to do it?”

“So very glad!”

Me too, Muireann, me too...

“Plenty of photos left to take this year,” I said.

“I look forward to it!”

We had one weekend left before the audition, and we dedicated Saturday to getting our song as tight as possible. Colin and Shannon hung out for most of the day. Between stretches of jamming we took a hike, hung out by the fire, and ate food. It was a comfortable existence, for sure.

The only slight hiccup was when Shannon asked me, “What time should I pick you up tomorrow?”

Lara eyed us. “Where are you going?”

“Getting something for Heather, right?” Shannon answered, before I could think of a way to cut it off.

“Oh, really?”

Oops... It wasn’t Shannon’s fault at all. In the excitement of thinking to ask her to drive me and her subsequent agreement, I’d completely forgotten to tell her that no one else knew about it. Indeed, I’d mentioned to her that my parents would’ve taken me had they not been working. Shannon could hardly suspect that it might be a secret, if I’d asked my moms first.

“Yeah,” I said, keeping calm. “Just a little Valentine’s gift.”

“Aw, how sweet,” Muireann said, sweetly.

Lara smiled at me. “Nice! What is it?”

“It’s a surprise,” I said.

Her eyes widened slightly and I could see a memory blossoming in her mind.

“I’m not saying what it is,” I pressed. “So don’t even try to guess!”

Lara opened her mouth and then it spread into a grin. “Really? Because I think I know! Are you going down to—”

“Not a word!”

She gave me a little nod, and shrugged. “Fine, be that way.”

“It’s a private thing,” I said.

As soon as I said that, my heart sank as everyone grinned and sniggered and giggled.

“Not like that!” I groaned.

But that cat was out of the bag now, and it took a little while to collect it again.

The next morning, the four of us were working on homework in the cabin. Tommy heard it first.

“Your taxi’s here, lad,” he said, nudging me with a grin.

I perked up as the rumble of a twenty-three year old engine started shaking the air.

“Ugh, I was hoping to have this assignment done before I left,” I grunted.

“Aw, too bad. I’m done, though. I can go with Shannon instead!” Lara chirped as she held her paper up.

“Me too,” Muireann agreed, holding her own sheet up.

“Nice try,” I dismissed.

“Come on, what’s the big secret?” Lara asked.

“We won’t tell Heather,” Muireann promised.

“All right, I’m out for a bit,” I announced, ignoring them. “Tommy, don’t let these girls get into too much trouble! Or, do you want to come down with me?”

“Thanks, lad, but I should stay and babysit, as you say.”

The girls didn’t quite appreciate that comment, but it did allow me to get to the front door.

“Fine, don’t tell us,” Lara called as I slipped out.

“Not my thing to tell, sis. Later!”

I shut the door and found Shannon walking around the side of the house. I hurried to her.

“Matty!” she said gleefully.

“Hey Shan!” I greeted as I pulled her into a hug

“You’re extra happy today,” she remarked, as I finally let her go.

“Just thankful that you can give me a ride.”

“Sure thing!”

“And this is the most time I’m going to have spent with you in forever.”

“Since break at least,” Shannon clarified, her eyes glinting. “Can’t wait!”

We headed back to her car, which she’d left running. The inside was nice and warm, so I took my coat off and settled in. In a moment we were rolling down my driveway.

“So, where to?” she asked. “You said it was about forty-five minutes away?”

“Yeah, New Paltz. You know how to get there?”

“Sure. I checked out the university, back in the fall.”

“That’s right, you applied there.”

“I did. And I got in, on early admission. Found out last week.”

“Wow, congrats Shan! Do you think you’ll go?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m waiting to hear from the other places.”

“Still hoping for Syracuse?”

“Yeah. But it’s so expensive. I don’t know what I’ll do if get in there. I’m glad I don’t have to decide just yet. But that day is coming, I know.”

“Hard to believe that you won’t be around next year,” I said wistfully.

“Well, I might end up at New Paltz, and if I do, you’ll probably see me more than you think!”

I grinned. “That would be nice. But I’m rooting for Syracuse, even if it is a little further away.”

“Thanks, Matty. You’re sweet.”

“So how have you been?” I asked. “Feels like I’ve hardly had a chance to talk to you lately. Every hour seems full nowadays, with the twins around.”