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Her eyes widened. “Really? Tonight? Oh gosh. Okay. I can do that. I mean I was going to the party anyway, but could meet before. Ahh! This is so exciting. And nerve-wracking. And—”
I held up a hand. I didn’t need to be part of her breakdown in the hallway. “Quiet, please. She who holds her tongue gets the man and all that jazz. Just be there. And be ready to pay after,” I reminded her.
She closed her mouth and nodded enthusiastically.
The plan was in motion.
If she thought she was nervous, though… she had nothing on me.
It was easyto get Flow to agree to let me borrow his car. He only had plans to hang in his basement, surrounded by pickles and chips, anyway.
“I’ll have it back in a few hours,” I promised. I threw a twenty at him for his services and left.
My destination? Tremaine’s Diner. But not to go inside and eat.
Instead, I parked slightly out of the way, but with a clear view of the booths by the window, where I told Aria to sit. From here, I watched her enter the diner and find the table, where she fidgeted with all her whosits and whatsits. She always had a slight nervous energy to her and was constantly fidgeting with things.
After sitting alone for a few minutes, the waitress came over. Aria plastered on a fake smile and sent her on her way, no doubt telling her she was waiting for someone.
Then she waited some more.
And even more.
About twenty minutes after she arrived, my phone pinged with a text.
Aria:He’s not here. It’s almost 7:30. What happened?
Me:Bummer. Looks like he didn’t want to come. So much for true love!
Aria:We had a deal, though!
Me:Listen, the contract was to consider setting the two of you up. If he doesn’t show, that’s on him. Nothing I can do about that.
She read my last message, then flipped her phone down on the table. Her face fell as she took a shaky deep breath.
If I were closer, I probably would have seen a few tears fall down her face. I paused, my lips pursed and twisted. I didn’t want her to be upset or get hurt. I knew my plan came with downsides and I had to make tough choices.
Really, I was doing them both a favor. I was saving them from the inevitable heartbreak that would come down the line.
I had seen it all too often. Every time Dad got divorced, he went into a funk for about a week, holed up in his room watching true crime dramas on TV. He only came out for soccer, leaving me alone to deal with life in general.
Even Malia hadn’t been immune to the misery of love. We hadn’t even known she had been dating someone until they had split. Though her heart was as black as mine, she too moped around, barely talking for almost a month.
We still didn’t know details about the situation or who the guy was. Whoever it was hurt her so bad, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I didn’t trust myself not to do something about it if I found out his name.
I glanced back up at Aria, finding her fiddling with a straw wrapper and staring into the abyss, completely zoned out. I wondered what she was thinking, but realized I didn’t have time to deal with that.
Not wanting to get caught, I hightailed it out of the parking lot and headed to the address Malia sent me.
The party was in full swing when I finally arrived. The Teller kids usually hung out separate, so I wound my way around the mansion of a house until I found Ali and Malia in a back room.
A sense of complacency overcame me as I sat with my friends. They passed me a soda, and I practically gulped it down.
“How’d you get here?” Ali questioned. “Isn’t your car still out of service?”
I nodded, wiping my hand over my mouth for drips. “Flow lent me his. Not like he was using it tonight anyway.”
“I heard that!” Jett shouted. “Leave my man alone. He’s having a good time.”
