Simon and Alex are in thebox office, sharing a bag of Hot Cheetos. Their eyes follow me to the counter as I set my things down.
Simon clears his throat in my direction. “And where the hell were you last night?”
“What do you mean?”
“You left without saying goodbye,” Alex says. “We looked everywhere for you.”
“We?” Simon says, crossing his leg over the other. “I hardly noticed you were gone, to be completely honest. Did you go off with someone from the party?” He wiggles his brows at me.
“No, I just went home.”
Simon sighs. “Boring.”
Alex leans forward, eyeing me curiously. “Did you at least have a good time?”
I think back to the party. “Sort of, yeah.”
She blinks at me. “What do you mean,sort of?”
“There was this guy who asked for my number,” I say. “But I didn’t ask for his, so I don’t know if that still counts toward my goal.”
“Of course it does,” Alex says.
Simon scoffs. “Rookie mistake. You probably won’t hear from him again, so don’t get your hopes up.”
Alex hits his shoulder. “You don’t know that. He was the one who asked for your number, right? That means he’s into you.”
I smile at this. “You think so?”
Alex nods. “Of course. What was his name?”
My mind goes to the terrace, the image of him in his suit jacket. “His name was Christian,” I say.
Simon and Alex look at each other. Then Simon says very slowly, “Do you mean, ChristianChan?”
“He didn’t give me his last name. But he told me it was his apartment.”
Simon’s eyes widen. “Eric… you know who he is, right?”
“I mean, not really,” I admit.
Alex leans forward. “Eric, he’s the lead in the show. How did you not know that? He’s kind of a big deal here.”
“Kind of?” Simon says. “Everyone’s obsessed with him. What did you two even talk about?” He grabs my shoulders. “Tell useverything.”
“He just asked where I’m from,” I say. “And he hasn’t texted me yet, so I doubt he even remembers me.”
“Peoplenevertext the day after or they’ll seem desperate,” Alex says. “There’s a three-day rule. So you might hear fromhim soon. But who knows if those rules apply to people with his reputation.”
“What reputation?” I ask.
Alex presses her lips tight. She gives Simon a look, as if turning the question over to him.
Simon leans against the counter, lowering his voice. “If you really want to know, I’ve heard somethingsabout him.”
“Like what?”
“Let’s just say he has a certaintype,one you don’t exactly fit into,” he says vaguely, looking me up and down.
