rockstar ✭ lrh

03 - come over

ELISE
✭

"Dude, look at this."

A phone is shoved in my face, the light from the screen much too close to my eyes. So much so, that I can't see a single thing coming from the device that's pressed against my nose, even when I cross my eyes to try.

"I'd love to, but I might be blind, now."

A mix between a scoff and a snort comes from the owner, a signature noise coined only by Cassie Lavera. "Who taught you how to use sarcasm?"

"Calum." I smile.

She rolls her eyes, moving the phone back an inch so that I can actually look at the content, still having to squint from the short term blindness it gave me. "Yeah, well, Calum learned everything he knows from me, so you're welcome."

It's my turn to roll my eyes. "Thanks," I turn my attention back to the phone, some sort of article stretching across the screen. "What am I looking at, exactly?"

"I don't know if you know this, but there's this thing called reading, and you just move your eyes across the words—"

"Okay, shut up," I give her a nudge on the shoulder. "Who's using sarcasm now?"

"I popped out of the womb using sarcasm," She deadpans. "This is not news."

"Anyways," I wave her away, knowing more than anyone that my best friend really does have a knack for sarcasm, a close second to her bluntness. "Do I really have to read this whole thing, or can you just tell me what's so important?"

But as soon as I say the request, my eyes catch the words "Hemmings", "mystery girl", "frontman", and "steamy night" sprawled across the headline, bold letters and all.

I sigh. "They just don't leave him alone, do they?"

Cassie laughs, a sigh of her own pushing out. "What do you mean they?" She points back to the screen. "It's that girl, she does this every time."

I frown. "Every time what?"

Cassie blinks at me, as she does sometimes to remind me when I'm being a bit dim. "Are you forgetting who our sworn enemy is?"

"We have an enemy?"

Cassie narrows her eyes at me, an accusing finger accompanying her glare. "You know, sometimes I swear you don't pay attention to half the important shit I tell you."

I wince. "You say a lot of things, Cass."

It's not a lie. Cassie always has some form of breaking news for me, and half the time I can barely remember what she said, let alone what it's about. But, this obviously has something to do with Luke, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit curious.

"I'm gonna choose to ignore that, for now," she shakes her head at me and I stifle a laugh. "Because this is urgent." She wiggles the phone screen at me again.

"Alright, alright, what's the big deal?" I shrug.

"Does the name Sidney ring a bell?"