The Troubles of Dating

"Geez, you have been glued to your phone since last night? Who the heck has your attention?!" Kalina prods, nudging Wren as she sends a text. She had been texting a bull she met at the Birch Carnival that summer and things were getting a bit flirty. Wren flushed pink, keeping her phone away from the prying Kalina. To the side was Veloria, sipping lemon ice water and staring off at nothing as per usual.

"It's just a guy I am talking to, it's fine..." Wren chuckles nervously, her response earning a sassy "ooo" from Kalina.

"Does he like memes? If he does, he's a keeper, 100%."

"I-I don't know, probably? Memes are good, I mean I am sure he likes them."

"Come on Wren! This is a potential boyfriend, you have to make sure he is the right one!"

"Men are hopeless, date women instead." Veloria pipes up, earning shocked glances from the two other heifers. Veloria rarely spoke, but when she did, she had the attention of everyone in the room. Wren laughed loudly, her stomach clenching from the force.

"Hey, I would love to, but none of the girls I swiped on matched with me." Wren giggles, earning a snort from the quiet heifer. Wren's phone makes a "ping" noise, and the girls gather around the phone to see the response. 

"What did he say?" Kalina whispers.

"He asked me what I was doing right now." 

"Send him a meme oh my gosh, I have a good one holdup. Lemme air drop it." Kalina says, whipping out her phone.

"Nonono, I've got this. I am just going to tell him I am hanging with some friends. Nothing super secretive, but vague enough to keep him interested." 

Kalina sighs, nodding and retreating back to where Veloria was sitting. Veloria follows behind, taking her place back by the window. A few minutes go by, a few "pings" resounding every now and then, but by the look on Wren's face, nothing interesting seems to be happening. Until another ping resounds. Wren, quickly wasting no time swipes up, her eyes scanning the screen and getting wider by the minute. A gasp ignites in the room and startles the two relaxing heifers, who immediately rush to Wren's side to get a closer look. 

"What's going on? What did he say!??!"

"He wants to hang out on Friday."

'WHAAAAT?!?" Kalina shrieks, Veloria wincing from the high pitch. 

"Y-Yeah, he wants to hit up the diner in Aurelia Village, and then maybe go and do some ceramic painting."

"Ooooh that sounds nice! You have to tell me how it goes. Gotta give me alllll the deets." Kalina grins, Veloria nodding her head in agreement. 

"Yeah, of course! Gosh, this makes me super nervous. It's been a while since I have been on a date, do any of my nice clothes even fit me anymore?" Wren laughs, the panic slowly setting in. Yes, it had been quite a while since her last date, and her last relationship, really. It ended on quite the sour note as well, her girlfriend up and leaving her without a word. Was she not good enough? Would she be good enough for this new guy?

"Hey, don't worry, girl. If something goes wrong, just text or call us. We can have a secret code phrase, like: "Man I could really go for a large fry right about now", or even "Hey I just wanted to call and see if you were still interested in that bag I had for sale". Just something you can remember just in case you need one of us to come and rescue you." Kalina says, giving the panicky heifer a friendly, supportive nudge to the side. 

"Thank you, girls. What would I ever do without you?"

"Go on a date without a secret rescue phrase," Veloria whispers, making the other heifers snort. 

"True. Well, I better go get an outfit picked out at least; it'll be one less thing to stress about when the time comes." Wren chirps, waving goodbye to her friends and heading to her stall, the two ladies giggling as she leaves.