𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘅 , 𝟴𝟬𝘀

4 = good attempt

SATURDAY, JUNE 3rd 2023

after a long morning of conspiring together to figure out why river is now dreaming of my memory, it has led us to one idea—question the founders.

"what do you get out of all this?" i stomp my way into luca's office, catching him off guard as he stands by the printer. "what's in it for you?"

"woah," he chuckles, an uncomfortable expression morphing onto his face. "what's going on?"

"you tell me. why am i here? why am i working with all of you if we aren't getting anywhere? because you all know something i don't, right? you're just stringing me along, for what?"

"kennedy," his hands shoot up in defense. "i'm very confused, can you explain what you mean?"

i'm out of breath from racing in here, and luca notices, "come on, take a seat. what's up?"

i take him up on his offer of sitting in the chair behind his desk, "it—it's been 2 years since we've put our minds together to try and figure out where corey is. you guys are the founders, the only people i know that could have even a fraction of an answer to all of this! and i'm what you guys have been studying, how do we not have any leads?"

"we do have leads." luca nods his head, reassuring me. "these possible portals you mapped out are a great help—"

"but that's the thing, they're just possibilities." i say. "there's actually zero evidence that they even exist. it's just a shot in the dark."

"kennedy," luca takes my hands in his as he leans against his desk. "i promise on my life that we are not hiding anything from you. we want to figure this out as much as you do. we aren't hiding anything, we're on the same team."

my look of uncertainty begins to fall as i start to believe him and his words again.

"we'll head out on a expedition this monday to test the potential portals." he looks down at the paper he just made a copy of. "we'll go in order of how you wrote them, with the viper room being last."

my stomach drops at the thought of testing out the grounds and electromagnetic field at the viper room.

i'm scared we won't find anything—even more scared that we will.

"sound good?" luca asks.

i nod my head, swallowing hard, "yeah."

he gives me a soft smile, "you want some boba tea?"

=

"you know what they say, big hands, big—"

"kennedy!" my shoulder is nudged by quinn. "you in there?" she laughs, waving her hand in front of my face.

"yeah, sorry." i shake my head. "what were we talking about?"

"nothing, lily was just talking about that guy she saw at trader joe's." quinn fills me in on the conversation i zoned out of a long time ago.

i left work a good hour ago and decided to meet my friends for an early dinner—after running to trader joe's of course.

"anyway," lily sighs from across the table, stirring her dragonfruit tea with a metal straw. "i'm throwing a party tomorrow night at this villa in bel air. apparently, rudolph valentino used to party there a lot."

"how'd you swing that?" quinn's eyes are wide.

"i know a guy." lily shrugs.

"yeah, your father." quinn laughs.

my phone lights up from under the table as it rests on my thigh—a text from jason.

jason : any news about luca?