Blended Ch 27

Piper takes out her phone, and in two minutes, she learns only one thing: Meghan has no public socials under her own name. Not even an old Facebook page that she never looks at anymore. Maybe she’s on the cutting edge of self-care; maybe she’s the healthiest person in the world and shuns bad habits like scrolling. Piper has her own suspicions. She thinks before composing her text to Riley, in which she confesses to stalking and shares her results without judgment or speculation. Riley can interpret that information as she sees fit.

A moment later, Piper has her reply: a picture of Daniel Craig as James Bond.

She frowns at her phone, unsure how to interpret that. She typically prides herself on her ability to read people, and this is obviously Riley signaling that she isn’t worried, but… she feels like she’s missing something.

That’s OK. She is not Riley’s mother, and being weird is not against the law. If it were, Riley would be in supermax.

She gets up to leave, and Kayla is there with someone’s club and a patty melt.

“We’ll talk later,” Piper promises, and Kayla smiles at her.

A smile is not what is in Kayla’s heart, but the one on her face is very convincing. Kayla tends to be awkward with most things; it’s why there’s so much that she resents and ignores, but here in the diner, she glides around like a dancer, surrounded by a fairylike aura of positivity and confidence.

For all her feelings of inferiority, one thing must be said for Kayla: of the four of them, she’s by far the biggest earner on an hourly basis. The tips she earns are insane. Piper’s getting a call. She wonders what Kayla’s actually doing with all that money; she has no rent, no car payment. She doesn’t spend it on normal stuff. She’s always picking up extra shifts. Normally, one would think she was saving up for a car or something, but Mary will just buy her one if she gets a license.

Piper shakes her head; letting her mind wander to stuff that isn’t her business is no healthier than scrolling socials. Her phone is going off. It’s Bella.

“Hello, beautiful,” she says.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Could this have been a text?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you so busy?” Bella asks dryly. “It sounds like you’re still at the diner.”

“You’re stalking me now?”

“I need advice.”

“From me? You must be ****.”

“Does that false modesty actually work on anyone?”

“Works on Flynn Stackwell.”

“Everything works on him.”

Piper watches Kayla serve other customers. “Not everything. Anyway, what’s going on?”

“Oh. They’re trying to get me to do a wet t-shirt contest.”

“I’m sorry? Who?”

“CCL. They say if I do it, I’ll get an invite.”

“Playing to your strengths. Sounds good.”

“Oh my god. Are you serious?”

Piper shrugs. “Why wouldn’t I be? What are we supposed to do? Pretend that we don’t have them?”

“It’s just…” Bella trails off, and Piper puts her face in her hand. She’s going to need another cup of coffee.