“Hey, Lola, Gigi’s on her way back.” Phoebe herself suddenly appears in the doorway of the kitchen. She’s alone—no Teague, no goats, no random friends from Tickled Pink tagging along to gawk at the progress we’ve made (or haven’t made) in cleaning the school. Teague’s brother isn’t with her, either, which must be a major disappointment for Lola.
Phoebe’s also wearing herdo not fuck with me if you want to livelook, which I hear she used to use all the time in her old day job.
But she’s aiming it squarely at Lola, not at me.
Lola cocks her head and gives Phoebe a blank look. “Did shecallyou?”
Lola supposedly surrendered her phone signal when she agreed to be the next contestant onGigi Saves the Upper East Side’s Souls, just like Gigi somehow had all our phones reprogrammed to fail to find cell signal here too.
I assume Lola’s also totally cheating and on her cell phone all the time when Gigi’s not looking but pretending like she’s not, the same as most of the rest of us.
Except Phoebe.
Naturally.
She followed the rules until she found her backbone and told Gigi to worry about her own soul and then reclaimed her phone.
And now she’s giving Lola the boss-bitch look as she nods once. “Yes, she called me, and she’s curious how much progress you’ve made on digging through the cabinets in the biology lab.”
“Oh, I got an extension on that because I’m helping make Jane a TikTok star.”
“Jane,” Phoebe repeats.
Lola nods, her voice going higher. “Oh yes, Jane. We madetightfriends, and she’s going to teach the next generation on TikTok how to make Jane’s Garage beer. Dylan’s making cameos.”
My heart drops to my toes. Last I saw Dylan, his mother was shrieking and wringing her hands while Teague helped him into the house on the lake.
Phoebe folds her arms over her black tank top and taps her fingers against her biceps. “I talked to Jane this morning. That seems so out of character for her.”
“She’s coming around,” Lola says. “Dylan too.”
“You know Dylan?”
“I mean, I don’tknow himknow him, but I saw his picture, and I’m famous, so he must know me, and I asked Ridhi and Anya to put in a good word for me, and they make the best coffee, and they’re so sweet, so I know he’ll be in. Probably tomorrow.”
“Dylan’s out of commission for a week.”
Lola blinks.
“Impromptu vacation,” Phoebe adds.
I cringe.
“So maybe you should go get started on the biology lab?”
“If you want me to leave, just say you want me to leave, silly.” Lola titters.Again.“We’re friends. We can say things like that to each other. Air smooches, Tavi. Think about my offer. It would be, like,so greatto revitalize your career. I know it’s sagging because of this littlebreakhere.” She blows kisses to both of us, then floats out of the room.
Phoebe nods to the sink. “Nice job.”
“Thank you. I scrubbed it myself.”
She leans out the door, then leans back in, lowering her voice. “Did you get Gigi that thing for her birthday?”
Gigi’s birthday is in October. “How am I supposed to get it when I can’t get on the internet?”
“You’re supposed tomakeit.”
I stare at her for a beat before a snort-laugh slips out of my mouth.
