It had worked. Something so simple had worked. She answered for herself, like a goddamned adult. Ooh, did she owe the Wright Family swear jar if she only thought the swear word? It went to their next family fun night, so might as well. There was the new bowling alley and arcade opening.
E: Sandpiper, 5:30.
R: Great, see you Tuesday
“Thank you,” she said, actually meaning it.
“Anytime, lady. If my love life is non-existent, at least I can help with yours. Now, can we watch that one scene with the dude with the pointy ears again? The actor who was in Pirates of the Caribbean.”
“Anything for you, Jules.”
Watching Orlando Bloom dressed as an elf was far from some sort of hardship. Jules poured more sparkling wine, and they snuggled together under the blanket. Grown-up grape juice with her bestie was the perfect Friday night for Elissa.
four
two sonorans
A whirlwind of inspiration struck Ryan Sunday around lunch. After suffering weeks of writer’s block, he jumped on this opportunity and grabbed all the books, his laptop, and his noise cancelling headphones and set up shop on the kitchen table where there was plenty of space to spread out. Several hours later, a tap on his shoulder startled Ryan. With noise-canceling headphones on, he’d missed Iz returning from their errands.
“Jesus, Iz.”
“Sorry, Ry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” Something was off. His usually chill friend and roommate—because who else would put up with a spoiled rich kid—had a crease in their forehead and their voice was leaden. “Your brother’s been texting. It might be important.”
Ryan took the phone from their outstretched hand, handling it like a rattler. He didn’t want to see what his brother had texted him, but it likely had to do with the phone number from three nights ago. Or maybe his dad had changed his mind. Yeah, and if pigs could fly…
“Only one way to find out, Ryan,” Iz said, reading him like a book. They’d been friends since kindergarten, and Iz had been one of the two people who’d always had his back. Since his grandmother was gone, it was just Iz now.
“Yeah, but…”
“And yet, you’re still staring at that thing like it’s going to bite you. I guarantee it won’t.”
“I know.”
Iz rubbed at the crease between their eyes. “Ry, not tonight. Just fucking see what your brother wants.”
“Okay, Iz, thanks.” He unlocked the phone as Iz trudged to the living room with a tired wave. As soon as he was done here, he’d have a conversation with them. He hated when Iz’s mood dipped. His friend was the furthest from a whiny bitch as was possible to be, but this listlessness was worse.
Ryan straightened the papers strewn all over the table, put them next to the books with multicolored sticky notes stacked in haphazard piles, careful not to knock over his collection of beer and soda cans. He glanced over the messages. His brother had been texting him for the last thirty minutes.
A: Hey, how did it go?
A: You there?
A: When’s the date?
A: Do I need to call her?
And more of the same. Ryan replied, if only to get his brother off his back.
R: Tuesday 5:30 Sandpiper.
There, that should satisfy Mr. Stick-up-his-ass. Now to see what was wrong with his friend.
While Ryan handled Alex, Iz had changed from the bright outfit earlier into jeans, a plain T-shirt, and tennis shoes. The makeup was gone, too. Without them, Iz looked the same as they’d been in high school, round face, nearly black hair a smidge below their chin, dark brown eyes with a touch of sadness in them. The only clue Iz wasn’t that person anymore was the red polish on their nails.
Ryan snuck up behind them. “Boo!”
“For fuck’s sake,” Iz said as Ryan laughed.
