Page 19 of Almost Not Quite Engaged

I nudge her knee. She kicks my boot. Then says, shh as one hushed syllable and every meditator in a thirty-foot radius swings their head toward us. I put my hand up like I’m waving in a parade. Kat makes a sound that’s definitely a smothered laugh, and I feel it in a way I’d rather not analyze.

I pick up the stick again and write in the dirt between us again.

Y RU FOlLOWING ME

She grabs the stick immediately.

I WAS HERE FIRST

WeRe NOt

She stares at that. Then takes the stick.

COSMiC FUCKEry

I laugh too loud and draw Serge’s eye but turn it into a cough. She’s extremely pleased with herself, which is somehow worse. I write:

SURE IT IS

She takes it.

DiD U kNOW GinnY waS HeRe?

I erase that so fast the dust goes everywhere as the perimeter guard circles behind us. She looks down. Then when it’s clear I write.

I’M WORKING

She writes back without hesitating.

IN A BATHROBE?

I smirk at her and her expression is cute. She looks so satisfied with her lame ass burn. I did find her hot as fuck before she opened her mouth. Before she hated me for no actual reason, simply a vibe. She’s irritating, ghastly taste in men and careers, yet that expression is cute.

HOW MANY DAYS?

She writes: LIKE FREAKING 8.

inSantYI WHERE’S GINNY