hand. “Oh, that was Chloe. You were pretty wasted, Soph. You probably don’t remember.”
Sophie narrowed her eyes. “Very funny, Will.”
A waitress appeared with two mugs, interrupting us. With a wink, she set each down on the table. “Two double-shot cappuccinos.”
“Thank you,” William and I said in sync.
“Anyway, I’ll let you two enjoy your coffee,” Sophie said. “You should come around and properly introduce Chloe to the rest of us, Will. We’re all very . . . excited.”
“Of course you are,” he said blankly.
“We’re just happy for you. It’s great that you’re moving on . . .”
Moving on? From who?
The muscle in William’s jaw twitched as he plastered on a bright smile. It seemed to satisfy Sophie, and she grinned, pulling her full lips into a charismatic smile once more before retreating with a flick of her ash-blond hair. I didn’t miss the stares from each member of their table as she returned to her seat.
“Moving on from who?” I searched my memory again. I didn’t recall William dating anyone all junior year. Was this what he meant by loose ends?
His expression gave nothing away.
“I’ll find out anyway,” I reminded him.
“That might be true, but I don’t care. I don’t want to talk about it.”
I brought my cup to my lips, the biting taste of gin and tonic from the mug surprising my taste buds.
“So, Chloe. What interests you? Apart from revenge, that is,” William asked. His body language had done a 180, no doubt for our audience. I was thankful that he was as committed to our image as I was.
I shrugged. “Shoes, shopping . . .”
He scoffed, apparently not believing me. “You’re not like them.”
That was true. What had I even done all summer except for plan out my vendetta? “Well, I guess I’m not much like you guys. Maybe even the opposite. I like indie music, thrifting clothes . . . math and stuff, I guess.”
“Interesting,” he said, as if he genuinely cared. If he was interested, he could be looking for cracks. It’s not like he’d actually want to hear about my long-term aspirations for a Nobel Prize or my short-term goal of finding the best places for undiscovered vintage pieces in LA. He might have said he was with me on my revenge against Level One, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t looking for a way out of my blackmail. “What kind of music?”
It seemed like a harmless question, but revealing any more of myself than I needed to made me feel uneasy. For similar reasons to keeping his full name, I wanted to keep our agreement formal. I’d keep my love of British indie rock to myself. “Lots of stuff. What about you? Any hobbies?”
William raised an eyebrow, and I realized how stupid the question was. William was one of those people who was involved in everything. “Well, there’s obviously the lacrosse team. I swim, sometimes I do polo . . .”
“You even have horses?”
He nodded.
“Right.”
I looked over his shoulder at the girls again. They were having what looked like an intense conversation, and it made me squirm in curiosity. Were they talking about William’s last girlfriend? Who was she?
“What about your parents?” he asked. “Your dad’s a CEO. What about your mom?”
“She used to model,” I said. “She retired before I was born.”
“Oh?”
I could see him putting pieces of me together. God, this was turning into first-date conversation for real. “So . . . are we able to function as a happy couple now?”
He shrugged. “I guess. You know, I never would have picked Monica to be best friends with someone like you.”
I stiffened, and I hastily looked behind his shoulder to check that his words hadn’t carried. “Why do you think that?”
William stirred his near-empty mug, his face smug. “She was so carefree and crazy. You’re different. All business.”
If he knew that my insides felt like they were constantly being twisted as I battled to stay composed every day, he wouldn’t say that. I needed to be all business. How could I keep going as my old self after everything that happened last year?
“I guess I’ve changed without her here,” I said, avoiding his gaze. Though my mouth softened, the rest of my muscles remained stiff, like any second I could buckle.
“So have a lot of things. I mean, even the girls have—”
“Stop,” I said, cutting him off. I didn’t want to hear excuses. I wanted my best friend back.
We sat silently. The only noise in the little shop was the upbeat music