MONEY TREES, gossip girl [DISCONTINUED]

18

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A SISTERLY FEUD
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WHEN Cristian wakes up to the news (via Gossip Girl) that today is Zoya's birthday, he instinctively blames himself. His assholery is never-ending.

So, in an attempt to make up for forgetting his— essentially— only friend's birthday, he comes up with a game plan. He expects Obie to go all out, or as out as guilty-rich people like Obie will go, so he decides to bring something else to the table: normality. Zoya is like him in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to backgrounds. They have nothing in common with their school peers, and that's exactly what makes them get along so well in the first place.

After getting dressed for school and narrowly avoiding the urge to resist lapsing, CJ calls Zoya as he bounds into the kitchen, where Giada is cleaning up the remnants of the family breakfast CJ always skips.

Zoya picks up on the first ring, sounding particularly disgruntled, "Hello?"

"Is now a bad time?" He asks, freezing at her annoyed tone.

He hears her sigh on the other end, "No, it's fine. It's just that Gossip Girl ruined everything. Again."

"Are we talking about GG posting about your birthday?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Zoya practically seethes, "It was probably Julien who sent that tip in. She knows exactly where it hurts and I hate that."

"Maybe I'm just not understanding something, but your birthday is supposed to a happy day, and I get the feeling that you aren't happy."

"That's because I'm not," She confirms, an undertone of bitterness that he doesn't take to heart. This has nothing to do with him, and likely everything to do with her sister, "Today's not just my birthday, it's also the anniversary of my mom's death. I don't want to get into all that right now, but I celebrate my birthday until the day after. And of course Gossip Girl had to post about it, probably because of Julien, so now I'm getting birthday memes from people that were calling me 'pizza face' last week."

"Fuck them, and fuck Julien," Cristian snickers, moving to lean against the counter. Giada sends him a pointed glare at his foul mouth, "They're all a— jerks, anyways. I know it's easier to say than do, but just try to ignore them. You know who your real friends are."

"I do. Thanks, CJ."

"Thank me tomorrow," He corrects her, "I was thinking we could go to a movie or something. There's a theater that's rerunning Sorry to Bother You, and I know you've been wanting to see it."