I slid opposite her, clutching my lunch bag while Sal fetched his from the fridge. Small talk. Not my best subject. “So, how long have you been dating?” I managed.
Her tone sharpened. “Six months. He didn’t mention that?”
“No, it was a group conversation, so he gave me the basics.” Could he please hurry up so I could avoid the interrogation?
She gestured to my fleece. “You work at True Tech?”
I glanced at the emblem. “Yes.” Why did I need to check? She’d think I was an idiot.
“They have lots of great stuff there.” She smirked, propping her chin up.
“Yeah, I guess.”
She snuck her tongue between her teeth and leaned in. “Well, if Sal needs a suggestion, I like the purple glitter cases for the ePhone 15.”
Why wouldn’t she tell him that? She and I just met.
Sal slid into the seat beside her. “What are you talking about?”
“Personal style.” She flipped her hair and winked.
“Really? That’s great,” he said with the overenthusiasm of an infomercial host. He laid his arm out on the booth behind her. “You know, it’s lucky you two met up today. Zero was just saying she wanted to redo her room–”
“I did?”
“–and I don’t know anyone who has better taste than you.” He widened his eyes meaningfully at me and jerked his head at his girlfriend.
Oh, god. He wanted me to fish for her preferences. Why couldn’t they just talk to each other?
“Who needs help?” Janice tentatively put a pretzel stick to her teeth.
“Zero.” He gestured across the table, this time with a meaningful look to her.
“Oh my god.” She pressed a hand to her heart. “That’s your name? I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I never introduced myself properly.
“Your parents aremean,” she blurted out.
“Janice,” he snapped.
I snorted and poked at my lunch. “You have no idea.”
Sal gestured between us. “Zero’s in tech. That’s binary code shit. She’s half the frickin’ language of the universe. All she has to do is meet a nice girl named Una, and they can live happily ever after: one and zero.”
“Sounds sweet.” I shrugged. I supposed they didn’t make guys named Uno. I poked lettuce back into my sandwich. “But my parents didn’t actually name me Zero. I changed it.”
“Why?” he asked.
“And why that?” Janice flinched, and the table rattled.
Based on their sharp exchanged looks, he must’ve nudged her under the table.
I wanted to escape. Not just now, but back then. To take my life back.
But we weren’t close enough to go into all that.
“I…wanted to own the fact I’d been underestimated.” I tried to even my voice and meet their puzzled gazes. “Plus, Zero is the most powerful number.” My lip twitched up. Maybe Sal was onto something with that binary code stuff.
