CHLOE BAKER'S LOST DATE

Chapter Twenty-Six: Second Time Around

"Wait, wait, wait," Jameela says. "You're with Ben now?"

I dip my head shyly. It's Monday morning, and I just told Jameela that I was at the museum with Ben yesterday because I know she loves dinosaurs too. Maybe not as much as she loves Jonathan Bailey, but it's close. "Yeah."

"How did that happen?"

I think back to Friday night, which feels like a million years ago now. "Jack didn't show for our date."

"What? Again?"

"He called this time, but he gave me these tickets to a show we were supposed to go to, and then when I went it was Ben's show."

"Ben's in a band?"

"No, he manages them."

"Oh, cool. Not as cool as being in the band, but you know, still cool."

"Right. Anyway, he was there, I was there, one thing led to another and ..."

Her eyes are big. "You went home with him?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. I'm impressed."

"You are?"

She raises a shoulder. She's wearing a top in a shade of orange that I know is her favorite "Kate color." It looks great on her and brings some needed light into this dreary office. "Wouldn't a thought you had it in you, to be honest."

"Had what in her?" Addison says, arriving with her bike helmet in hand. Her hair is wet from the rain outside, the droplets clinging to her braids, but the rest of her is dry. She has this awesome rain outfit she wears on her bike on rain days.

"She slept with Ben," Jameela says.

"Ben? Not Jack?"

"Yeah, I—"

Jameela smiles wide. "It was super romantic. They met at a concert. Like it was fate."

Addison scowls. "Cheating is not romantic."

That's a punch to the stomach. But before I can defend myself, Jameela interjects.

"She didn't cheat on Jack. They were barely dating."

"Uh-huh, you think Jack agrees with that?"

"It's not up to him."

Addison puts her bike helmet down on her desk. "Oh, come on. This is just like that couple in that show you're obsessed with."

Uh-oh.

"What are you talking about?"

"Kate and what's his name. He was engaged to her sister, right? And they kissed or some shit in the wedding chapel?"

"They'd broken up."

"Please. I watched that shit. He was simping for her from the get. And that scene in the library? And all that nose-bumping and almost kissing, and you're the object of all my desires? They were cheating."

Jameela's face is bright red, which clashes with the orange of her top. "You're one of them, aren't you? All this time, and I never knew it."

"One of who?"

"A Polin!"

Addison sits in her chair. "I don't even know what that means."

"Guys?" I put up my hands. "Maybe we should change the topic?"

Addison looks at me. "Back to your cheating?"

"It wasn't ... I'm not proud of it, okay, but I broke things off with Jack. And we'd never even kissed. I don't think it was cheating. But it wasn't my finest moment for sure."