Chapter Eleven. Riley
Chapter Eleven
Riley
When I shut the door to my room in the villa, I flop down onto the bed.
What was today? I’m so confused. I didn’t expect to have such an intimate conversation with Luna.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Liv, counting the familiar four rings.
As soon as I hear the start of her voicemail, it settles me.
“Liv, you wouldn’t believe this. Today—” My voicemail is interrupted by an insistent knock on the adjoining door that separates my room from Rhia’s.
I pause, torn with indecision as my gut plummets.
Even though Rhia is a real, living, breathing person I could talk to right now, I’d rather leave Liv a voicemail.
It might be a rambling one-sided convo, but I hope that somewhere she can hear it. Rhia knocks again.
I look at my phone. The contact photo of my sister is her grinning on our dads’ boat, her hair windswept and salty. It’s been two years. Maybe it’s time to let myself talk to someone who’s still here. “I’m sorry, Liv. I’ve got to go,” I whisper, and hang up the call.
I get up and open the door, and Rhia comes barreling in.
“Where have you been?” she asks, plopping down on the bed.
“Um, on the food tour you skipped?”
Rhia rolls her eyes dramatically, and I ignore her and start to change into the shorts and T-shirt I sleep in. “Luna doesn’t hang. So explain to me why she was up all night with you and then spent all day with you drinking wine and eating tapas?”
I walk into the bathroom and grab my toothbrush. “I mean, have you ever invited her out?”
“She’s the boss. She’s supposed to invite us,” Rhia calls from the other room. She returns a moment later with two sheet masks and hands me one.
I spit out my toothpaste, and we both start plastering the masks over our faces. “She’s twenty-one and this is her first headlining tour. Maybe she didn’t know she was supposed to be the one to ask. I’m probably just closer to her age, so she wants to hang out. It’s nothing.”
Rhia tries to raise an eyebrow, which makes her mask fall off her forehead. “The lady doth protest too much.”
I walk out of the bathroom and climb into bed, and Rhia sits cross-legged facing me.
We only just met, but I can already tell she’s a night owl.
I haven’t had a sleepover where we stayed up and talked all night since before Liv started using, and sitting here in our face masks and pajamas suddenly makes me feel like I might cry. So instead I talk.
“Can I ask you something? Just between us.”
“Cone of silence. Shoot.”
“Does Luna like girls? Is she bi? I know she’s with Hudson. But I just…” I trail off, not wanting to say too much. I’m glad the sheet mask is covering my face, because I can feel my cheeks turning red and hot.
Rhia whips off her sheet mask and drops it into a dripping pile on the bed. “I needed you to see the shock on my face. You think Luna’s hitting on you?”
Hearing her say it like that makes me feel unbelievably stupid. “Whisper! Shhh! But I mean, no. Not really. I mean, that would be crazy … right?”
Rhia’s eyes are wide, and her brow is furrowed in thought.
“It actually would kind of make sense,” she whispers.
“Like, I know they give a good show onstage, but have you ever seen her and Hudson getting cozy anywhere else? He’s never at rehearsals, never around.
I’ve never seen her photographed on vacay kissing some guy.
Maybe they’ve been trying to keep it quiet. ”
I feel weird talking about Luna like this. But I need to talk to someone. “You won’t tell anyone this, right? Not James and Anya, even?”
“I won’t, I promise,” Rhia confirms.
I distract myself by peeling off my mask, not meeting her eyes. “I’m probably just reading into things too much. But I kind of feel like there is some sort of vibe between us.”
“So? What are you going to do about it?”
“I mean, nothing! What could I do? Ashley already told me to keep it professional once. And Luna has a boyfriend.”
“I’d flirt with her,” Rhia announces boldly. “Or you can fake flirt with me and see if it makes her jealous.”
I shake my head. “I don’t play games like that.” I lean my head back against the plush headboard, squeeze my eyes shut, and groan. “I don’t even have game.”
“Yeah, you low-key don’t,” Rhia agrees. She lies down on her side, facing me.
“But honestly, neither does Luna. Famous people are notoriously socially weird because they’re living in, like, a fantasy world where everything is catered to them.
Just ignore Ashley, since technically Luna’s her boss anyway, and keep hanging with Luna.
I mean, what do you have to lose anyway? ”
“My job?”
“You’re the one who said this is just for the summer.” Rhia’s eyes flash with mischief, challenging me to argue.
I don’t take the bait. Instead I get up and dig through my luggage until I find my snacks. I toss candy and chips to Rhia. “You’re right. But in that case, I’m going to have to debrief you on every single interaction Luna and I have had. It might take a while.”
She rips open a bag of popcorn. “Lay it on me.”