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“Yo,” Mal said, shoving me in the shoulder.
“What? You have to pee?” I said, moving to the side so she could get out.
“No. I asked if you had any other deals coming in.” She rolled her eyes, knowing I had tuned out, and she caught me.
I nodded, but in the back of my mind, I knew business had been slow. There was no need to admit that, though. “Of course.”
Malia smirked. “That’s not what the Fairy Godmother says.” She swiped at her phone and turned it toward me, a post open on the screen.
“It seems like money may be tight for the coach’s daughter soon. Business seems to have dried up for Una Nielsen after the scandal of the season. Maybe interfering with your best friend’s love life isn’t a great marketing tool after all…”
I stopped reading there and slid the phone back. “Whatever. I’ve had my fair share of complaints before, but, really, I’ve been a saint to them.”
Ali excused himself to the bathroom, leaving the two of us girls alone.
My fingers twitched under the table, messing with my bracelets before I shoved them beneath my legs. I couldn’t find my black scrunchie, so I had to settle on a navy blue one. It was close, but it wasn’t the same. The black one was my favorite. The soft cotton had been worn down just the right way, feeling velvety smooth under my fingers.
I wanted to tell Malia about Charlie. I wanted her opinion. The brutal, honest opinion.
But I couldn’t. Not yet. Not when I wasn’t even sure if my plan would work out in the end.
Instead, we talked about gossip and business. I bit my tongue.
“Hmm. The Fairy Godmother usually has the good gossip and doesn’t post unless she has proof.” Malia swiped her phone again, opening more posts and pictures, not even looking at me.
“Well, it just so happens I got a deal with other day.” I didn’t have to say the deal was with Charlie. Or that it wasn’t a paid option. Yet.
Ali slid back into the booth a second later. “A new deal? nice. Glad your job is up and running. Get Flow and Jett on top of things.”
I stared at him, reading deep into the tone of his voice. It was flat, disinterested. Like he couldn’t care less.
“Look, I already apologized. You seem happy in your life now, so why are you still mad?”
A soft smile crossed his lips. A pity smile.
It made me narrow my eyes and grind my teeth. Whatever he was about to say, I wasn’t going to like it.
And I wasn’t completely forgiven.
“You seriously don’t get it,” he said.
My eyes widened slowly, rage washing over me. “What is at about that phrase? Why is everyone telling me what I do and don’t understand lately?”
First, Charlie. Right before he spilled his guts about his feelings for me. But Ali wasn’t going to do that. And he wasn’t going to vent or rage on me either. Ali was an emotionally collected guy. He didn’t like being upset, so if he was still mad at me, then he had reason to be.
“Who else has said that?” Malia questioned, leaning toward me.
I opened my mouth to answer, but caught myself quickly. “No one. Never mind. I have to go.”
I jumped out of the booth and pretended to take a call as I rushed out of the diner. Just before I left, I looked over my shoulder at my friends still sitting there, no doubt talking about me quite literally behind my back.
Then my gaze shifted to the booth by the window where I had sent Aria not too long ago. Where I lied and said Ali had stood her up. That he wasn’t interested.
Setting my jaw, I whipped around and pushed through the main door, the bells jingling over my head.
Chapter 17
Charlie
