“I’m rich.”
I let him pay because I know I’m not winning this. “Alright, thanks, Stan.”
He stands and stretches. He grabs his jacket off the back of the stool and looks at me sideways. “Hey,” he says, casual. “Real quick. Since I paid, I just need you to do something.”
“What is it?” I ask, standing.
“You’re gonna start locking the door when you jerk off in our bathroom.”
I almost laugh, but I hold it in as I stare at him.
He flashes me a quick grin and pats my back. “Let’s go.”
The walk back to Hawthorne is three blocks. Our breath shows. Stanley’s on a tear about the team plane on Friday. He wants to sit by me, but Coach has him next to Percy. He says he’s grateful not to be seated with Benson because he’s just going to talk to Lucy the whole time. I’m half listening, hands shoveddeep in my jacket pockets, chin tucked down against the cold, watching the cracks in the sidewalk under my feet.
When we get to the porch, music’s coming from inside. Not party music. Something low and instrumental, the kind of thing I didn’t ever think I’d hear coming from our house.
Stanley pushes the door open, and the island’s covered in textbooks and laptops. Benson is at one end with his MacBook open and a highlighter in his hand. Rowan’s across from him with a binder that has tabs in it. Percy’s at the far end with a paperback that’s clearly not a textbook but is held in a way that suggests it might be. There are wrappers from something on the counter. Three mugs. A bag of pretzels that Rowan is eating from without looking.
It’s just the boys.
Benson looks up. “About time.”
“We were having a man date,” Stanley announces, peeling his jacket off. “Excuse us.”
“You smell like wings.”
“Thanks, cap. I worked on it.”
Stanley pulls up a chair at the island, and he grabs the highlighter out of Rowan’s hand without asking.
Rowan, without looking up, says, “Stanley. I’m fucking using that.”
“I’m using it now.”
Rowan steals it back. Stanley turns to Benson. “Why are we studying? Where’s Lucy? I thought this is what your girlfriend’s for.”
“We’re done with tutoring sessions this week. I’ve got my midterm on Wednesday. She’s got a hundred percent student success rate, and I’m not breaking her streak.”
Stanley, slowly, raises his eyebrows. “Wow.” He looks at me. “The captain has been domesticated.”
“Grab your shit and join us. You need to study too.”
“Where are the girls, then?”
“There are six of them studying at Lucy’s right now.”
Stanley stands to attention at this. “Who’s there?”
Benson looks up and thinks. “Lucy. G. Mara. Penelope. Penelope’s new roommate and her friend.”
A small thing moves in my chest. I keep my face still. Stanley hasn’t turned to look at me, which is the only mercy in the kitchen right now.
“Huh,” he says. “Sounds like we’re gonna be seeing a lot of that.”
“Of what?” Benson asks.
“The girls together. All of them. Now that Pen’s got a new roommate. The whole thing’s expanding. The Girl Cinematic Universe is expanding. We’re entering phase four.”
