“What about the Indian guy who works at the coffee shop across the street?” Hannah said.

“The one with the beard who always wears plaid?” She nodded excitedly. “Okay . . . what about him?” I asked.

“Well, he’s kind of cute, right?” Hannah turned to the others, receiving only a minor signal of affirmation from Liv.

I shook my head. “I’m pretty sure he’s, like, twelve,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“No, he’s definitely older. He’s got a beard,” Hannah stated.

“I think you’re forgetting that Indian boys start growing facial hair at the ripe age of seven,” I said, turning toward Tania, who nodded in agreement. “I’m not really into younger guys. And even if I was, I’m not going to date some random guy from the coffee shop just because he’s Indian.”

Why did people always assume two people would be compatible just because they shared the same ethnicity? I would never walk up to a friend and say, “Hey, you know Joe? He’s Caucasian. And since you’re Caucasian, I thought the two of you would be perfect for each other!” That would be ridiculous. Joe would only be considered “perfect” if he and my hypothetical friend shared hobbies or interests, or complementary personalities—none of which were being taken into account with coffee shop dude.

“I agree, it is a bit random, but I don’t know. Maybe Hannah is onto something. This might be a good opportunity to push past your comfort zone,” Liv suggested. “I mean, you’ll never know what possibilities are out there unless you try.”

“Thank you, Liv,” Hannah piped up excitedly. “I think you should really consider it, Leila. Who cares if he’s younger? It’s scientific fact that women live longer than men. Which means if you marry someone younger, it’ll all balance out in regards to life spans.”

“You don’t plan a relationship based on who will die first,” I exclaimed, dropping my head to my knees. I let out a muffled groan. If this was their idea of helping, I might have been better off on my own. The only problem was, I didn’t have anyone else in mind.

“This is crazy,” said Tania, quickly jumping to my aid. “We can’t just set her up with random coffee shop guy. It has to be someone we know and think will be compatible.”

We all sat around thinking. After what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes, Hannah jumped to her feet. “I’ve got it,” she said with a huge grin on her face. “I think I know someone.”

“Really? Because this can’t be like the time you set me up with that ex-felon,” Liv said, the sudden memory causing me and Tania to break into giggles.

“He wasn’t a felon!” cried Hannah as she sat back down in a huff. “He was charged with a misdemeanor, and I told you, I didn’t even know about it until after I set you up!”

We could barely contain ourselves at that point, and the three of us burst into laughter as Hannah’s smile quickly dissolved into a frown. Although her intentions were always good, it was no secret that Hannah’s matchmaking skills were a little rough around the edges. In addition to the ex-felon, she had also managed to set up two other friends who coincidentally turned out to be cousins, and her hairstylist Pam with Liv’s brother, not realizing that Pam was actually a lesbian. For years, it was a running joke among our friends, and Hannah’s oversensitivity to the subject always gave us even more reason to tease her about it.