Page 104 of Late Bloomer
Laney shoots her a dirty look, but quickly fixes her attention back on me. “What, no love for your best friends, Opal?” she says, gesturing between herself and Miles.
“Hi, Opie,” Miles says, giving me a loose wave.
Even from here, I can see how red and glassy his eyes are, and I can tell he’s stoned. Well, at least that makes him a bit easier to deal with.
“What are you doing here?” I repeat, moving on wobbly legs to give Laney a stiff hug.
“Well, been so long since we heard from you, we thoughtwe would surprise you. Started getting worried you’d forgotten all about us now that you have all that big fancy money.” She shoots another sharp look at Pepper, but fixes me with a smile. “How ya been, buddy?”
“I’ve… uh…”
“Amazing,” Laney says. “So, get this. We’re finally doing it,” she says, gesturing again at Miles.
My eyes flick between them. “Doing what?”
Laney frowns. “Going on tour!”
I literally could not be less impressed. “Oh. Wow. That’s great.”
“Right?” she says, smirking at me. “Got lined up at a ton ofamazingvenues, dude. Like, you won’t believe some of these spots.”
“Wow,” I repeat, sounding like Owen Wilson. I’m too confused by this surprise and my argument with Pepper and everything colliding together all at damn once to form any coherent sentences.
“Iknow. And here we were, driving to our show in Atlanta, and I was like,Miles, wait, we can’t do this without Opal.”
“Be so bummed to do it without you,” Miles says, eyes barely open. I nod at him.
“So I was like, let’s go get the bitch and drag her on tour with us!”
“O-on tour? Why?”
Laney cocks her head, looking at me like we’re in a play and I’m messing up my lines. “Well, because it’s not like you have anything better going on, right?”
“I… uh… How did you know where I am?” I’ve made sure to never give her my address, and it’s not like my sisters would hand out that information. Especially to Laney.
She waves the question away. “Friend finder,” she says, shaking her phone. “Anyway. You in? It’ll be so fun. And listen, I know we’re in this dinky van, but we can make it work. If not, we’re so open to like, whatever you would prefer to travel in and have no problem switching it up. Babe,” she says, turning to Miles. “Do you still have that site up with the cool tour buses? Show Opal.”
“Dude, some of these are sick,” he says, trying to hand me his phone. I kindly slap his arm away.
“And like, listen,” Laney continues, as if she ever gives me an opportunity not to listen, “we were totally planning on like, sleeping in the van, doing it old-school like all the greats and shit or whatever but like, if you’re more comfortable in a hotel and stuff, we can totally be flexible. We want you to be comfortable, you know?”
Laney looks at me like she’s expecting me to say something, and I flap my mouth open and closed a few times. Luckily, Pepper spares me from having to make a comment.
“Excuse me, did you just admit to tracking Opal down on an app?” she says, voice rough and incredulous.
Laney glares at Pepper. “Who are you?”
Pepper places a hand on my shoulder, pulling me to her side. “I’m the owner of this land you’re standing on.”
“Ew. Property ownership? You should check your privilege.”
“Totally,” Miles adds, nodding.
I think my head is going to explode. Or Pepper’s might first.
“Answer the question.” She turns to me. “Opal, did you want them to know you were here?”
Laney rolls her eyes before I can respond. “It’s truly not that serious. We’re trying to do something nice for Opal.”
