Sophia: how was your show?
My sisters, my lawyer, my business manager, and now Xave, are the only people who know about my alter ego, and Sophia always sends me a text after a gig to see how it went. Thankfully, she only sent the text an hour ago, so she hasn’t had time to worry about me not answering.
Damon: it was good
Damon: did Madalyn apologize yet?
I heard all about the drama between Sophia and her best friend while I was home for Christmas, and while I love my sister dearly, both she and Madalyn love drama the way I love solitude, so they always seem to have some sort of fight or drama going on between them.
When the text has been sent, I open my thread with my friend.
West: remind me again why I thought spending a whole week here was a good idea
He sent the text last night, but the lack of follow-up texts tells me he’s either too busy to notice I didn’t answer, or he’s not surprised I didn’t because I’m not the best when it comes to answering, or even reading, my texts when I’m in a mood.
Damon: because you’re a glutton for punishment and figured it was a good way to prep for the future
Finishing the last of the water, I exit out of my texts and open one of the food delivery apps on my phone and scroll through my options. I’m in the mood for lots of greasy comfort food that will make me regret all my life’s choices when I’m done stuffing my face, and I scan the menu for a nearby diner that fits the bill. Once I’ve picked what I want, I put in an order for way too much food, but whatever. At least I’ll have leftovers for tomorrow and won’t have to worry about venturing out of my room to track down food.
Thankfully I already booked an extra late checkout time, so at least I don’t have to call down to the desk and deal with that because there’s no way in hell I’m getting up early tomorrow.
Once my order goes through, I give the site a chance to refresh, then check the progress to see if I have enough time to take a shower while I wait. The app says it’ll take about forty minutes, so I take my phone and the mostly finished water, along with a full one, into the massive bathroom so I can showeroff the last twenty-four hours, and like Xave said, forget they ever happened.
7
XAVE
The doorto my hotel room closes behind me, and I head over to the California king. Letting out a heavy sigh, I sink down on it and mentally go over the checklist of things I needed to take care of.
I sorted everything out with my and Damon’s room cards, so that’s all done. And I met up with my contact to tell him where the cabin is and hand over the car we stole so he and his team can take care of them. The bag of our abductor’s personal effects and the other stuff we stole from the cabin is sitting in the corner of the room so I can do my own investigation later, but at least the crime scene and car are being dealt with.
Before I met up with my contact, I grabbed something to eat at a fast-food place a few blocks away so I wouldn’t pass out from hunger, but that was a few hours ago, and my stomach is already rumbling again.
Now that I’m sure I’ve got everything checked off my list, I pull my phone out of my pocket and open one of my food delivery apps. I take a second to scroll through my options, then peruse the menu for a nearby sports bar that has good reviews.
I’m just confirming my order when a text comes in from my cousin.
Jace: he’s being stupid again
I don’t need to ask who he’s talking about to know he means Jax, and based on how Jax acted all Christmas break, I know what Jace is talking about without needing more context.
Xave: is he still obsessed with that hacker kid?
Jace: so obsessed
Jace: it’s both sad and fascinating to witness his absolute delusion about how obsessed he is
Xave: have you guys figured anything out since you got back to campus?
Jace: nada
Jace: well that’s not entirely true
Jace: we know this kid is as boring as he was before the break
Jace: and that my dumbass brother is apparently spellbound by his boringness
Xave: you know how he is
