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Gripping fear crept up the back of my throat.What if I could never write again?
“Here we go.” Chester slid a tray of shots onto our usual small standing table.
Pulled from my thoughts, I smiled my thanks and threw back a shot.
After moving to Epiphany with my bestie, we’d met Juno and Chester onWhat the What?Our friendship was forged in fire, and no matter what path we each took from here, we’d be forever bonded.
Six months ago, we’d hung out every day. Now, waiting three weeks for a night out at Pour Decisions had felt like an eternity. The floor was sticky, the speakers cracked with too-loud music, and the beer was cheap. Basically, it was perfect. And being here with Morgan, Juno, and Chester felt awesome.
I needed to stay focused on the present, or else I’d miss out.
“Are we filming tomorrow, Glitter?” Chester asked.
“Don’t call me that when we’re here,” she whisper-yelled.
“Are we filming tomorrow,Juno?”Chester asked.
A pleased smile crossed Juno’s face. “Yes.”
Chester very well knew she didn’t like to be called Glitter in the real world, only when she was filming in her influencer groove. She still added a lot of glitter to her face though, no matter the occasion.
Sometimes I couldn’t tell with Chester if this kind of slip-up was an accident or if he was hoping someone at the bar would recognize her, and by association, him. The way he was glancing around the crowd with a hopeful smile suggested the latter.
Morgan ignored the shots and took a sip of the beer she’d been nursing. “How is the social thing going, Juno?”
“She’s afood influencer,”Chester said.
Morgan shot him the side-eye, as she so often did.
“It’s good but exhausting,” Juno said. “There’s this pressure to always be creating and posting. I’m working on trying out longer videos so I don’t have to post every day.”
“Every day?”Morgan asked.
Juno nodded. “If you’re not fresh in people’s minds, it’s like you don’t exist at all.”
Morgan crinkled her face. “That sucks.”
It did suck. It sucked hard. And not in the good way, either.
If I couldn’t write, at some point people would stop checking in on my blog to see if I’d written a new post. At some point Eterni-Tea would become my eternity.
Sourness swirled in my gut.
The sound of a text dinged on my phone. I checked, and it was from a number I didn’t recognize. That was usually not good. Still, curious, I checked it.
???: Send feet pics.
I blockedthe number and put it out of my head. That certainly wasn’t the worst of what I’d been sent. Every one of my crew had received weird “gifts,” messages, and calls. It was best to ignore them. Or, if you were Chester, collect them.
“What about you, Layana?” Juno asked. “Do you get a lot of downtime working night shifts?”
“Sometimes,” I said. “The time switch is still disorienting. My body just does not want to sleep during the day.”
She nodded. “Makes sense. But you’re getting in some writing time now, right? I saw your blog the other day. The one on the yeti man. It was hilarious. I loved it!”
I loved it. Based on the blog comments, everyone and their momma loved it.And every one of them couldn’t wait until I posted again.
I told Juno, “Thanks.”
