M

oss the hardwood floors of my small student apartment in Cambridge. Those floors had heard m

’s campus and heading for New York City. How I was going to fit all

ur two cars, we would be able to fit all this crap. I toed one of the smaller boxes out o

was leaving student life behind and hadn’t indulged nearly as much or as often as some of

job in finance in—predictably—the Financial District. I had a signed lease for a loft I would be sharing

get this far, but I was finally on my way. I had a shiny, brand-new degree from one of the top Ivy League universities

piled up in a messy bun on top of my head and spending the

voice filtered into my self-congratulato

ont of me. Laughing, I managed to steady myself just before face-planting and picked my way across my op

pixie face. Nervousness made her big gray eyes round and shiny. “I kno

n counter and handing it over to her. “ finally, it’s on to the next step. Harva

he sighed. “I guess. Our lives are fi

as I pointed my beer at my chest. “I don’t really see it as our l

icked off between her fingers. “Why didn’t we apply for jobs somewhere in Cambrid

er. “But now it’s time to move on.

before finally taking a few small sips of beer

at the same firm, a miracle feat that I took as a sign from the universe

s too much for her. “If you weren’t go

’re too smart not to have ended up in one

best friend in the whole world and had been for years. We met during freshman o

mplete opposites in almost every way. We were a text

ick and black. I’d also never been accused of being thin. In the chick lit I had piled fou

nd gentle to my bold and, sometimes, a little brash. Where Gracie only spoke when she had something to say and was very shy around new people, I

going in Houston for a weekend, I met a couple around my age, and not only did I know the

e asked me to be a bridesmaid. It was crazy, but it was also fun. We were still

of foot-in-mouth disease. I rolled with it, but there had been some instanc