London stared at their phone and tried to wipe Dahlia Woodson from their mind. There were two calls they had to make. Well, one, really, and they had put it off for as long as they could. It’d been at the back of their mind all day, niggling like an annoying itch. An itch they’d shoved away, purposely ignoring, ever since they’d been in LA. But Chef ’s Special season eight premiered tomorrow night. It was time now.
The other phone call was just for reassurance. That was the one London made first.
“London,” Julie panted into the phone after one ring. “Thank god you called. I might die tonight, and you should know where to find my body.”
“Julie.” London frowned. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m in Percy Warner Park. On the—where the hell are we again?” Julie’s voice faded away for a second. “The Mossy Ridge Trail. I’m on the Mossy Ridge Trail in Percy Warner Park. Write that down, for the police.”
“Julie.” London rubbed their forehead. “I know where the Mossy Ridge Trail is. Why the hell are you in Percy Warner Park at”—London checked the time, calculated two hours ahead—“ten o’clock at night?”
“I know. We have an hour until the park closes. I hope you give a nice speech, at my funeral.”
“Julie, I swear, if you don’t just get to the—”
“Dearest Ben Caravalho is training to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.”
“Yeah. I know. I talked to him last week.”
Ben had been Julie’s best friend since elementary school. London had been jealous of him for a long time, even though Julie had assured London they would always be her number one. The jealousy had been exacerbated by the fact that London had harbored an enormous crush on Ben all throughout high school, which had felt hopeless at the time, since Ben was super gay and London was still living under the illusion that they were just an awkward straight girl.
“Well, I’ve been trying to convince him what a horrible idea it is—”
“Julie! Why would you do that? Hiking the PCT is badass!”
“Yeah, and dangerous.”
London smiled. “Ben will be fine.”
“Anyway, he wanted to hike this dumbass trail in the dark to make sure he was prepared for night hiking. Which you apparently have to do in the desert in California, if you want to make the right amount of miles in a day, because it’s too hot to hike all day during actual daylight. Did you even hear that sentence, London? Did you hear how ridiculous it sounded?”
“So you went with him to convince him how ridiculous it is.”
“Exactly.”
“Is it working?”
There was a pause. London could practically hear Julie’s scowl.
“No. He is having a great time.”
“Hey, London!” Ben shouted into the phone.
“You know what Ben was just telling me before you called?” Julie cut back in. “That we’ll have to check for ticks when we get back in the car. This is why the best sports are played indoors.”
While London had focused on music in middle and high school, Julie had been a star basketball player. She still refused to believe any other physical activity compared.
She was also over-the-top, exasperatingly protective of the people she loved.
God, London really missed her.
“You should probably go then, so you can get back to the car before the park closes. I can call later.”
“Shut your face. We’re like ten steps from the car. I can talk.”
“So I won’t have to report your missing body to the police.”
“You know who hangs out in parking lots of creepy parks late at night, London? Creepy people. We’re not safe yet.”
London heard the beep of Ben’s car door.
“Okay. So we’re safe now. You know, unless there are ticks up my ass ready to give me Lyme disease. I’ll keep you updated on that.”
“Great. Can’t wait.”
“What’s up?”
London sighed. They would actually be entirely pleased to keep talking about Ben’s PCT plans, but they had to stop being a coward and talk about this.
“So the first episode of Chef’s Special airs tomorrow.”
It wasn’t a good sign that they heard Julie sigh.
“No shit. But yeah, about that. Wait—you didn’t get kicked off or something, did you?”
“I wouldn’t be allowed to tell you, technically. But no, I’m still here.”
“Of course you are. Good. Okay, so have you talked to Dad yet?”