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"Really?" I ask.
"Yeah, I guess people think coconut is South Asian. I don't know? It was hip but authentic and they can do it keto. So it's win-win."
"You like sweet and creamy?" I ask.
She nods. "But not too much sugar. My coach got us to all skip sugar for the season. Well, mostly. After, it was just… ugh. I used to love eating Sour Patch Kids. Now, I get a wicked headache after. Is that what it feels like to get old?"
"Kinda, yeah." I stop at the coffee shop. "This place has a good cold brew."
"I like an iced latte. With oat milk. Don't tell Imogen." Julie shakes her head. "She hates oat milk."
"She's behind the times," I say.
"She hates that, too."
We move into line behind a group of girls in cover-ups. They take turns ordering drinks with various non-dairy milks.
They move away. We step forward. Julie orders an oat milk latte. I order the same.
After I pay (she doesn't fight me), she laughs. "That's such a guy-date move, ordering the same thing."
"How many guys have you dated?" I ask.
"Don't even. I looked at your Instagram. I saw all the different women who tagged you. The ones who weren't rocking their new ink in their pictures." She raises a brow. "There were a lot."
"How far back did you go?" I ask.
"Far enough. Past, uh… I guess before your sister died. Did that change things for you?"
"It did."
"Did you and Imogen talk about that?"
I nod. "It woke me up, made me realize how much of my life was bullshit."
"She's not like that," Julie says. "Sometimes, I think she's too much not like that. She can only have conversations where she's checked out or where she's intense and honest."
"You don't like it?"
"I do. But sometimes I want to talk about a hot celebrity without her lecturing me on safe sex. Or I want to talk about eyeliner or dresses. But I'm becoming more like her too… obviously."
I move to the side of the coffee shop.
Julie follows. "You know, 'cause I tried to show up here and have fun and instead I started asking why she's fake all the time now."
"All the time?"
"When it's about her. She's good at big sister mode. She was really cool about me casually dropping I have a girlfriend."
"First girlfriend?"
She nods.
"What's she like?"
"Smart. Pretty. Intimidating. Maybe I should ask you for tips there."
"I don't know if I have any."
