Ace: Fifteen-minute rule?
Me: Yeah. No worries. I’m already over it.
Ace: Fanfuckingtastic. And seriously I’m sorry Lia. I crossed a line I know I did
Me: Water under the bridge.
Ace: Perfect. I’ll see you in 30…unless my mom kills me on the way out and in that case it’s been nice knowing you
I smile and laugh. Cassie’s been threatening to kill her whole family since before I was born, and it hasn’t happened yet. I have a feeling my buddy will make it out alive and well.
Me: See you soon.
I put my phone away and jump up, rinsing my plate in the sink and heading for my room to get dressed. Evie calls out after me. “Where are you going?”
“Out with Ace!” I call back.
It’s no surprise. It’s steady. Ace and I, we’ve always been a set. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
After Ace picked me up, we took the subway over toward campus to have breakfast at our favorite hangout spot. Zip’s Diner is basically a rite of passage for any Dickson student. It’s greasy, it’s kitschy, and it never fails to feel like home whenever we walk inside.
Ace doesn’t hesitate to head over to our favorite booth, and I slide in across from him.
“When did Finn say they’d be here?”
“Any minute now,” he answers and sets his phone on the table. “They tried to back out, but I used my sappiest complaints about all the time they’ve spent without us this summer and needing to download after last night’s party. Plus, I guilted them that Zip would be sad if they didn’t come.”
I laugh. “You are the man with the powers of manipulation.”
“Hey now. I prefer to recognize it as the power of persuasion. It’s what they already want, I just make it more obvious for them, that’s all.”
“That’s how you got Blake Boden to be your friend too, isn’t it?”
Ace laughs. “It might be.”
“Yo,” Finn’s voice greets, pushing Scottie in front of him in her chair and tucking her in her spot at the table before shoving in next to Ace. They do a little bro-hug battle thing before settling down, and Zip comes over to take their drink orders.
We all order our food too, since we’ve been here so many times before and don’t even need to look at the menu, and Scottie starts talking about the party last night with stars in her eyes.
“Listen, I just want to know where Gunnar found some of these people. Lilian Latrain was there. Lilian Latrainnn. Do you know who that is?”
“Obviously not,” Ace says, chewing on a piece of buttered bread and licking his lips when the butter smears on his chin. I hand him a napkin around the table and then take a baby wipe out of my purse for him to use. Hehatesthe smell of butter on his face.
“God, you’re a fucking animal,” Finn teases. “Can’t even keep the food in your mouth, for fuck’s sake.”
Ace gives him the finger and focuses his attention back on Scottie, taking the wipe from me gratefully. “So, who the fuck is Lilian Latrainnnn? We’re all waiting. I could stand to hear something fucking good from that shitshow of a party after all.”
Scottie laughs. “Finn knows who she is.”
“Yeah.” He grins at her. “Because you stalk her videos constantly.”
Scottie squeals. “You say that like it’s weird. She has eight million followers, Finn. The equivalent of New York City’s population.”
“Eight million?” Ace shrieks. “Say what now? Who the hell is this chick?”
“She’s a beauty influencer,” Scottie explains. “And a travel influencer. And kind of an entrepreneur. She comes from a rich family, but she’s built so much wealth of her own.”
“Oh yeah!” I say as realization sets in. “I’ve seen her! She does videos with all the emojis, right?”
