“You said you were up for it.” Grace removed their appointment card from her pocket.
He watched the calligraphy skate across the cardstock, forming and re-forming their names.
Grace & Marcus
Marcus & Grace
She cradled it like it was a golden ticket.
He studied her face; the honey glow from the center’s lights reflected across the brown of Grace’s cheekbones as she hid an excited smile. “We jumped the six-month wait list,” she said.
“Coley got the appointments for us, didn’t she?” he asked.
Marcus felt her bristle.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Nothing.”
“Well, it’s going to be great. Marisol and her girlfriend did it last weekend.”
“Aren’t they about to break up?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“And didn’t Jacob and Keisha try this too? They’ve been fighting ever since.”
They both paused to look up at the building. Marcus imagined the shadows from its towers growing larger, big enough to swallow him. Grace crinkled up her nose with curiosity, the pinch of it making her scattering of freckles hard to see. That look was usually his favorite, but maybe not today. He bit his bottom lip and fussed with his jacket.
“You scared?” she asked.
A shiver ran through both of their bodies, one colder than the few winter snowflakes starting to fall around them.
Marcus glanced away from her inquiring eyes. His heart did a somersault, and not because he was afraid of it being taken from his chest. Everyone said that part didn’t hurt. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to know exactly what his heart might reveal.
“No,” he replied.
“Then let’s go in.” Grace barreled forward.
* * *
The lobby glowed red. Its walls enfolded them into a velveteen pocket. It felt like they’d walked inside a whimsical plush heart.
Grace figured this was how it should be. She blinked twice to be sure the walls weren’t pulsing. She thought she could hear the thuds and thumps of a thousand heartbeats. Maybe it was the hearts sitting in golden sarcophaguses just beyond the door. Maybe it was just her own. Maybe it was all just part of the experience.
She’d heard so many great reviews about the Heart Scale Center.
Marcus’s hand found the small of her back, one of her favorite ways that he touched her.
They walked farther inside.
Almost every couch was filled with a person. A motion picture flickered across a silk screen, showcasing scowling couples entering the Heart Scale Center and stepping into separate rooms, then emerging with smiles so big you could count all their teeth. The montage ended with the words, Welcome to a better way to love. Every heart tells a story. Find yours here.
She wondered if she and Marcus would be like that. Though they hadn’t been fighting lately, they hadn’t really been doing much of anything else, either.
A woman in a tailored blue suit sat at a large desk. Grace smiled at Marcus, then stepped forward. “Hello.”
“Welcome! We’re so happy you’ve come to learn your hearts’ story. Last names, appointment card, and registration paper, please,” the woman said. A heart-shaped brooch began to vibrate on her lapel, drawing Grace’s attention.
Is that a real miniature heart?
Marcus nudged her.
She flinched and pulled out the card, then the paper, tattered and worn from weeks of folding and unfolding, running nervous fingers over every line, and scanning all details of the procedure. She handed it to the woman. “Last names are Williamson and Tucker.”
The woman gave her a clipboard with several forms and a writing stylus. “Fill these out together, and bring them back to me when you’re done.”
Marcus fumbled with the board. Grace caught it before it plummeted to the floor.
The entire room paused to look up at her. She flashed a sheepish smile. This wasn’t the time to be clumsy. That’s what her mama would say if she were still alive. She’d also probably tell Grace she had no business up in here. Some questions didn’t need answers.
But for Grace, every question had one.
Grace and Marcus found a nearby couch to plop down on. They scanned the forms together. The ink revealed questions, one set for her and one set for him.
Is your heart healthy for removal?
List any heart-related surgeries or diseases you’ve had.
Have you been in love before?
Are you currently in love?
Grace pointed the writing stylus at each one and searched Marcus’s eyes, trying to guess his answer before he said it. She knew him very well and prided herself on being able to anticipate how he felt about most things.
Even though he hated when she answered for him, she liked knowing that she could—that she knew the shape of him.
How many people have you loved?
This question made her sit upright. It was the reason they were here. The tiniest tendril of apprehension curled in her stomach.
Her father had told her never to ask questions she didn’t want answered, and maybe this was one of those times when she should’ve listened. She and Marcus were high school sweethearts destined to become lovebirds, together forever. That was what everyone always said. But this question bubbled up from time to time: Has he ever loved another?
They’d taken short breaks. It was possible. And what would that mean?
As soon as they’d gotten their college acceptance letters, more questions had crept to the surface. Did they love each other enough to make it through going to different schools, in different cities?
If the procedure showed that Marcus’s love for her was heavy, then she’d know what they should do. She’d ignore her best friend Coley’s warning that college changes you, silence her suggestions that she and Marcus break up and give each other clean slates. She’d have proof that they really belonged together. She’d have more faith and be able to stamp out those tiny doubts.
Grace nibbled her bottom lip.
“I don’t know the answer to that question,” Marcus said. “Do I include, like, my mom, dad, grandparents? How am I supposed to list everyone I’ve ever loved?”
“I guess we could skip it. The form says we don’t have to answer them all.”