“No,” Cherry said lightly. She didn’t follow me. I slowed, then stopped, turning back toward her. She wasn’t looking at me at all. Her attention was locked on her phone, which sat in her hands instead of where it belonged, tucked safely inside her locker.
“What—” I barely got the word out before she shushed me.
I laughed quietly and wandered back toward her, already knowing I was about to be dragged into something. Cherry tapped at her screen for only a second longer before setting the phone down on the bar. The low hum of a ringing line filled the empty space around us. I leaned in, trying to catch a clue from the screen, but there was no name displayed. Just an unfamiliar number staring back at me. Cherry was completely at ease, studying her bright red nails as she waited for the call to connect. It didn’t take long. Only a few seconds passed before a deep male voice answered.
“Who is this?” it barked. The bluntness of it made my face flinch, even though the voice itself felt… familiar. Not in a way I could immediately place. More like the feeling you get when an actor appears on screen and you know you’ve seen them before, you just can’t remember where.
“Levi?” Cherry purred, entirely unbothered by his tone. “It’s Cherry.” The line went silent.
Like she always did, Cherry managed to stun both Levi and me with a single unexpected move. My mind kicked into motion, gears suddenly slick and spinning. I had a pretty good idea where this was headed now. I turned my wide-eyed stare into a glare, fixing it squarely on my best friend. She looked back at me with a performance of false innocence so convincing it almost deserved applause. Finally, Levi broke the silence. His voice was nothing like it had been moments ago. The edge was gone, replaced by a low string of mumbled disbelief. I only caught two words.Oh… shit.
“Cherry?” He cleared his throat, pulling his composure back together. When he spoke again, the confidence I remembered slid neatly back into place. “What’s going on? What’s up?”
Cherry’s smile widened, her eyes lighting up in a way that reminded me of the fireworks Austin had set off just for me. “Actually,” she said sweetly, “I just finished work. Blair and I did.”
“Oh, word?” Levi replied. And I could hear it immediately. Just like me a minute ago, he had no idea what Cherry was about to unleash.
“Yeah,” she continued lightly. “And you know… we were just thinking it’s such a nice Wednesday night. Kind of a shame to waste it when we have absolutely nothing to do.”
Her tone was innocent. Almost convincing. But I had a feeling Levi could hear the mischief humming beneath it. I tilted my head, still staring at her, silently daring her to meet my eyes so I could say I know exactly what you’re doing without a single word.
Levi chuckled low on the other end of the line. “Nothing to do, huh?” he said. “I can fix that.”
Cherry’s eyebrows lifted, her smile stretching wide enough that I could see her teeth. “Oh, really?”
“Definitely,” Levi replied. His voice had gone smooth, almost velvety, and the obvious flirting made my stomach turn. “Let us pick you up.”
“Us?” Cherry asked, perfectly feigning innocence as she finally looked at me. The wink she gave proved just how calculated the whole thing really was. “Are you with someone?”
“I’m with Austin,” Levi said immediately, falling straight into her trap. “We’re not far away, actually. Five minutes, tops. Can you girls wait that long?”
“I think we can manage five minutes,” Cherry purred into the phone. Then she paused. “But Levi?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t be late.” She didn’t wait for his response before pressing the bright red end call button. Cherry looked up at me like a student waiting for approval from a teacher. I lifted my hands in front of me, palms up, demanding an explanation. I wanted to be annoyed with her. I really did. But a laugh was already crawling up my chest, impossible to stop.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I asked.
“What?” she laughed, shrugging. “Don’t act like you didn’t want to see him.”
“How do you even have Levi’s number?” I countered, choosing deflection over admission.
“He gave it to me,” she said casually, lifting her phone to check her reflection in the now black screen.
“When?” I asked, my mind scrambling to place the moment.
“When they came into The Pitt last week,” she replied, running her fingers through her bright red hair.
“When?” I pressed, shaking my head as the memory finally surfaced.
Cherry rolled her eyes. I could see it in the reflection before she turned to face me. “When you and Austin were staring into each other’s eyes.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks as the moment replayed itself. It had only been a week ago, but it felt like a lifetime. Back when Austin was still new to me. A book with only the first few pages read. And even then, I’d already been hooked by the words he was written with. Excitement bloomed in my chest as the full weight of what Cherry had just done settled in. This was why I loved her. She was reckless, sure, but her chaos always landed exactly where I needed it to. Without Cherry, my life would have fewer colors. I would be closer to black and white without her. And I didn’t want that.
“Yellow.”
I heard his voice at the exact same moment the door to The Pitt opened. The little bell chimed overhead, and it might as well have been ringing straight from my heart. Austin’s smile dusted his face like it belonged there. Like it had always been meant to live on his lips. Like frowns and scowls and anything darker simply did not exist in his world. I knew better than that, of course. But in this moment, it was easy to forget.
