My phone vibrates in my hand, like a bomb is about to explode.
Layla. One minute early.
“It’s her!” I shout, embarrassingly loud. “You’re gonna stay for this, right?”
“Uh...” Maggie says.
“You have to! Please stay.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll stay!”
“Great! Thank you. So I’m going to pick up now, okay?”
“You got this.”
“Do I?”
“I think so?”
“Wait, there’s a chance I don’t got this?”
“No, no, you do, you do!”
The phone keeps buzzing. I’m so confused.
“I have to do this, right?” I ask. “Layla might be the key!”
“Okay! Yeah! Sure!”
I accept the call, and Layla Banerjee fills the screen.
She’s wearing a light blue workout top, her thick black hair in a ponytail. She is just as hot on FaceTime as she is on her grid. But, similar to Chord, she’s, like, adult hot. Which instantly makes me even more anxious than I already was.
“Hi!” she says.
“Hi, Layla,” I say.
“Oh my gosh, you look... exactly how I remember you looking.”
“Well, yeah. That’s kind of my thing.”
She smiles, with warmth and pity. “Right. Of course. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. My friend Maggie is here too,” I blurt out, turning the phone toward her. “Just so you know. Maybe you know her? Maggie Sp—”
“Hi, Layla!” Maggie says, her voice more high-pitched than I’ve ever heard it. “You probably wouldn’t know me because we went to school so many years apart. But hi!”
“Nice to meet you, Maggie,” Layla says. “I actually have someone here with me too.” She pulls a furry head into frame, all floppy ears and sad eyes. “This is Chester. He’s my roommate till we find him a home, aren’t you, boy?” Her voice goes even higher than Maggie’s just did. “You’re such a very good boy too. The very best boy.”
Chester barks right into the phone.
“You and your family wouldn’t happen to be on the lookoutfor a dog, would you, Carter?”
“Uh...” I’m not connecting with this dog the way I did with Peaches. And I don’t even understand how adopting Chester would be logistically possible. Would Layla drive him across the country?
“His name is kind of like yours, actually! Chester... Carter...Could be a sign.”
“Oh, funny.” I exchange a quick look with Maggie, who vehemently shakes her head while trying not to laugh. “Yeah. No, I don’t think my family wants that. Right now. Unfortunately. But definitely a cute dog. Very cute. Very good. Good boy.”
