Malefactor [H.S.]

24

I've been sitting in this restaurant with Riley for close to an hour now and I'm really wishing I hadn't agreed to come.

We were supposed to get lunch on Saturday after Harry dropped me off but she ended up getting a text from her boss at the diner asking if she wanted to cover a shift. She needed the money so she said yes, which was fine by me. Since I worked yesterday, that wasn't an option, either. We agreed to go out today instead. I was initially excited for our late-afternoon outing, but it's quickly turned into a game of dodgeball where I narrowly avoid every question she throws my way about what happened the other night. It was easy at first to redirect the conversation, but the longer we've been here, the more relentless she becomes.

"I just don't understand why you won't tell me," she pouts, taking a long sip of her Diet Coke. "Was it that bad?"

Her patience is wearing thin with my refusals to divulge information, but my patience is wearing even thinner from her constant questions. Apparently, someone doesn't know what the word 'no' means. I'm about two seconds away from snapping on her.

"Riley," I sigh, getting ready to tell her to leave it alone, when the waitress appears. I smile at her as she drops off the bill, but when I pick it up, my eyes nearly pop out of my head at the prices listed. My total is over $30 and all I ordered was a hamburger and a soda. I slam the booklet shut, shoving it towards her. "This place is fucking expensive. Why did you wanna come all the way up here?"

She made us hop on the subway and take it up to the Upper East Side. Normally, we eat at one of the places we're pretty much regulars at in Brooklyn, but since we're not staying in our apartment still, she didn't want to go back down there. She insisted on coming up here, and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

We aren't far from Luminary. She did this on purpose.

"It can't be that bad," she defends, opening the booklet. Her jaw drops at the sight of the bill, slamming it shut and looking at me with wide eyes. "I'm gonna kill Niall."

"What? Why?"

"He was the one who told me to come here. I never would've if he told me these were the prices, though."

"Why didn't you bother to look up the menu first and check?" I groan, pulling my card out of my wallet and tucking it into the booklet. "We can put the whole thing on my card, just Venmo me."

Riley nods, going on her phone to do just that. "I don't know, it didn't occur to me."

The waitress comes by and takes the booklet, walking off to go run my card. The second she's gone, I say, "You didn't think to check the prices for a place in this part of Manhattan?"

"Don't yell at me!" she defends herself. "I learned my lesson, clearly."

"A very expensive lesson," I mumble, pressing on the notification from Venmo that alerts me of the transfer from Riley. I immediately transfer the money over to my bank account, wincing when I see the reminder that it can take up to three business days. I really hope this doesn't make my account go into the negatives or I'll kill both her and Niall.

Since she always has cash on her from tips while waitressing, Riley is the one to leave a twenty percent tip on the table. The second my card is brought back and we're told to have a nice day, we head straight for the exit. The food was good, but nowhere near worth what they're charging. Rich people really love to get scammed.

As we begin to walk down the sidewalk, Riley turns to me with a smile. "So, do you know how to get to Luminary from here?"

I almost make a smartass reply but ignore the urge. I nod, leading the way. We're only a few blocks away so it should take us no more than ten minutes to get there since neither of us is walking particularly fast after having just eaten.