I swear on Stephen, this is my last text. PS: I work in the field. Happy to recommend a therapist. Or two.
He was typing back before my fingertips left the screen.
Field? I knew you were a prostitute! How much did they pay you for this? And who’s Stephen, your pimp?
I almost crushed the phone in my hand. The audacity!
I was beyond sure that he was the boy Ludmilla had texted—and he seemed beyond sure I was Ludmilla. The girl had clearly left out a few key details, like the reason he’d blocked her, orperhaps the fact that this guy had the emotional maturity of an expired yogurt.
My acquaintance, Ludmilla, used my phone because apparently you blocked her. So, no, I don’t know you, and I don’t intend to. Stephen Hawking is a physicist—Google him, maybe learn something about black holes instead of sticking your head in one. I’m blocking you now. Have a nice life. Or not.
I went to the settings and hunted down the ‘Block this contact’ option.
Then—bzzz.
Clearly, my brain wasn’t at her best past midnight, as it took me a few blinks to realize what was happening.
Mr. Unknown was calling me! I dropped my phone onto the mattress and backed away. What was I supposed to do?!
Okay. Deep breath. No need to panic, Yvaine. You’re a future neurosurgeon. You fight literal brain diseases—and he certainly suffers from MALE: Massive Ape Logic Evasion.
You’ll answer. You’ll calmly inform this primate that there’s been a misunderstanding. That you are not Ludmilla, and you are not interested. You have twenty-three uncles and cousins, a father who could bench-press a pair of minivans, and a mother who played wereball so well that she redefined the meaning of violence. So yes, you have backup if you need it, which you wouldn’t.
Ultimately, what harm could answering a call possibly do?
CHAPTER 8
YVAINE
Icrawled across the bed, eyeing my phone as it was still vibrating. What should I say?
Good evening?No. I shook my head.
Maybe,What can I do for you?Invites too many unwelcome answers.
Yvaine speaking, thatseemed too formal.
Or I could just decline the call outright.
I highly disliked Ludmilla for putting me in this situation. Side note: Warn Makena about her other friendships outside of us. Why was I so undecided about an ignorable stranger? Maybe because I wasn’t used to this kind of interaction. The attention I received from the male population was very, very cautious and very, very polite. I was the daughter of the Alpha and the twin of the wereball team captain, after all. Most of the opposite sex was just too intimidated to talk to me; limb loss wasn’t worth asking me out.
I rubbed my clammy hand against my tights before I clicked accept.
“Yello?” I blurted out.
Way to go, Yvaine.
“See? I knew you didn’t block me.”
I bolted upright.
That had to be the huskiest voice in the whole world. It could win contests, first prize for deepest baritone category.
I just blinked, my facial structure refusing to hold my mouth closed. I couldn’t find the right words.
“Helloooo?Are you there, baby?”
Babyagain. That pulled me right out of my strange daze.
