toxic | j. baker¹

thirty-four

Vegas-Two Months Ago

Luna scrolled through her phone from the backseat of the Uber after she had just been picked up from the airport for a spur-of-the-moment trip to Vegas. Layla had organized a concert for Coop at a small venue in Las Vegas and their group of friends had taken it upon themselves to come up with a great idea of making a weekend out of it. Layla had even extended the invitation to Luna but she wasn't sure if she'd take her up on the offer since she was off in Europe and had seemed to go MIA once summer started.

She hopped out of the car, waving goodbye to the driver, and made her way into the hotel, getting guided in the direction of a penthouse by one of the bellhops. "Hello!"

"Luna! You made it!" Layla squealed from the top of the balcony. "I thought you were stuck in Spain!"

Everyone else had walked out from their rooms hearing the girlish squeal emitted from Layla's mouth, and were completely caught off guard once they saw her.

"I thought I'd surprise everyone," Luna shrugged. "Surprise!"

"Consider us surprised," Spencer chuckled, running down the steps along with everyone else. "This weekend just got a whole lot better."

He engulfed her in a hug, before she made her rounds over to Layla, Coop, and Patience, also giving them some friendly hugs. She stopped in her tracks eyeing Jordan who was standing a bit further from everyone else and sent him a small wave.

"Vegas baby!" JJ bellowed from the top of the steps, tilting his head to the side. "Luna? Girl, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see the show," she raised her arms in the air. "And I kind of missed everyone while I was away."

"Thanks for coming," Coop nodded her head. "I appreciate you coming down here from Spain."

"Of course," she grinned. "I would not miss a weekend in Vegas with my friends for anything."

"Well, now, that everyone's here," Layla grinned. "My dad arranged for us to have a private gaming suite. Come on, Luna, I'll show you your room."

Luna grabbed her outstretched hand following after Layla and also thanking Spencer who had grabbed her bag, and who had been following the two girls to the room. Luna couldn't say she was surprised by how extravagant not only the penthouse was but also their rooms considering all of this was paid for by Layla's dad.

"For as long as we've known Layla's dad I don't think he's ever done anything as extravagant like this for any of us."

Jordan's voice sounded through her room as he watched her pull outfits out from her suitcase, setting them down on the floor in an organized fashion.

"I think the nicest thing he's ever done for me is sending a get well soon card after Layla gave me the flu in 8th grade," she turned around to face him. "This was clearly all for Spencer."

"Would you hate me if I asked how you were?" he questioned, leaning his body weight against the doorway.

"You can come inside," she motioned her hand. "Actually, I'd prefer it if you came inside."