my throat dries up remembering that day in nini's bedroom back in salt lake. i know i'm talking to her right now - and i'm still thinking about how i went to her place last night - and, we're currently talking about instagram, but still. not the best timing, brain.
"ricky?? still there?"
nini's voice alerts me back into reality - a sigh of relief escapes my lips as i grip onto my phone tightly. "sorry, yeah, still here."
"why do you want me to check my instagram?" she asks.
"not now, tomorrow! just watch out at... what was it again? right, around 9 pm," i say, excitement building up inside me. i'm proud to say that my plan to bring kourtney and nini back together and find out what happened to nini at the same time is now in action. "you don't have any plans tomorrow night, do you?"
she chuckles lightly on the other line. "no, i already told you i'm staying home. i was supposed to attend something but... doesn't matter. anyway, did you call me just to say all that?"
"yeah, what about it?" i challenge with a smirk, even though she can't really see me.
"well you're weirder than i remember," she jokes. "i'll keep that in mind. see you."
the call ends and i shove my phone back in my pocket. turning around, i grin at kourtney who's standing confused.
"you know aiden brown?"
"vaguely. isn't he a senior in the color box production company?" she replies, eyeing me carefully. "what about him?"
"his parents are big shot producers - they're hosting a party tomorrow in their mansion and it's probably going to be filled with celebrities. jack got an invite from aiden cause they're in color box together, and he can get invites for us too," i explain. "it's a good opportunity, you know. since you're a makeup and fashion influencer. you can get more connections and have fun at the same time."
kourtney blinks back at me before saying, "still confused but homegirl would not want to miss out on a party like that. i'm in."
° the next day ; 7 pm °
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"never thought i'd be putting this to use," i say aloud as i look at my reflection in the mirror in front of me, flattening out some wrinkles here and there. "my mom sent this to me for my birthday last year."
"as i always say, mothers know best." kourtney touches up her makeup before glancing at me. "yup, you look fine."
"thanks for the approval," i chuckle. turning away from the mirror, i take in my surroundings. i realize i've never been in kourtney's dorm until now. she shares a room with another girl who's having a sleepover somewhere else right now.
looking around, it's pretty obvious which side of the place belongs to who.
on the left, there's a few posters of famous male celebrities and popular tv shows. books are left neatly in a table by the bed, and there's a shelf filled with vinyls. no record player in sight though, so i'm guessing her dormmate collects them for display.
on the right, the wall is filled with photos of kourtney's family and friends. i even see me in a couple of them that feature our days back in east high's drama club. stickers of motivational quotes also fill up space everywhere.
"why are you here anyway?" kourtney asks, breaking the silence. "thought you'd be going with... mhm, jack and howie - sorry but your taste in friends is terrible."
"ouch. you just don't like howie cause he's your ex."
"he's also a petty liar, but go off."
"okay yeah, he fell into lily's schemes once or twice, but what could he do?" i say, sitting down on the left-side bed. "she was highly persuasive. and intimidating. and manipulative. she had connections with north high's board, howie couldn't risk getting kicked out. not after all his parents' hard work to send him there."
"i doubt she could have actually got him expelled for not following her summer schemes, it's ridiculous," kourtney argues. "but at least he has the decency to pretend to be good. jack on the other hand? oh honey, i don't know what you see in him."
"he..." i try to think of a defense but come up blank. in all the years i've known him, he never once brought up a reason of why he's so obnoxious at times. i always assumed it was just his personality, how he grew up. even if there was another explanation, i wouldn't know it. "okay, whatever. i'm the one dragging you to this fancy party, aren't i? of course i'm coming with you."
"and why do you want me to go live on instagram during it?"
"for you to gain more followers? more followers means more people to buy the clothes you sell online. come on kourt, this event is once in a lifetime," i lie.
"can't argue with that," she grins. standing up, she grabs her purse. "let's go then, richard."
i let out a soft chuckle before following her out the dorm.
i'm actually not going totell kourtney what i'm up to. i feel like if i let it all happen naturally, everything will be more likely to work out.
something in me is thinking i'm complicating things when i could just have her and nini meet up at some cafe and have them talk - but, they obviously haven't contacted each other in a bit so why would they start doing so once i come in the picture?
that's why their meeting has to be by chance. or fake chance i guess since it's intentional on my part.
so what i have to do is get kourtney tipsy, have her live stream and act a little crazy, and hope that nini comes to check on her. i just know she'll be watching the live. it's obvious she's still worried about her best friend.
and how can i be so sure that nini will come to some random party and be welcomed in spite of the short notice? because one, she's nina salazar-roberts; why would they not let her in? two, when i was at her place the other night, one of the "trivial" things she told me about was how she rejected a role in a movie that was being produced by arthur brown. aiden's dad. the coincidence is weirdly in my favor but i'm taking it.
also, based on my phone call with her yesterday, she was probably invited to this party anyway. she just didn't want to go.
but when she sees kourtney tonight, she'll change her mind.
i think the plan is genius. it's a little stupid too because now that i'm thinking about it, a lot of the elements that go into making this a success relies heavily on my predictions being right. and i can't say i'm always a lucky guesser... but hey. the brilliance and stupidity of it all makes it the perfect ricky bowen scheme.
