Adrenaline

14 | city of angels

We arrive at the studio twenty minutes after the rest of our group, having stopped along the way to pick up coffee. As we throw away our trash in the bin near the receptionist desk, Everleigh walks through the door drenched in the golden glow of a warm midday Los Angeles sun and wearing a flight attendant uniform.

        "Everleigh! Hi! Perfect timing." Seira nods to the receptionist to let her know she's with us. "Everleigh, this is Seira. This is Mav's friend I was telling you about."

        "And the Scream fanatic," Seira comments, having endured listening to Jun and I laugh at the campy horror movie. "Nice to meet you. Sorry I missed you in Vegas."

        "Nice to meet you, too!" Everleigh replies with a smile. "There was a lot happening in Vegas, don't sweat it. Sorry if I'm late. We had a delay."

        "The least surprising part of this is that you got here before Mav and he was already in Los Angeles."

        "Seriously?" Everleigh looks down at her uniform—a navy blue pencil skirt and blazer complete with a white embroidered pair of wings on the breast pocket. "You mean I had time to change?"

        Even slightly flustered, she looks beautiful enough to grace the cover of a magazine.

        I point at the door on the left. "Bathroom right there. We can wait for you!"

        "I love you," she sighs. "Thank you."

        Seira and I make small talk while Everleigh is in the bathroom. It's warm in the building so I shrug off my coat as Everleigh reemerges looking ten times more comfortable than she was before.

        "I'm so sorry, I haven't been home since Christmas so—" She pauses mid-sentence, eyes trained down at my chest which is clothed by a sweatshirt Jenny ordered me that says 'there's some ho's in this house' above a cartoon Santa. "Never mind, we're good."

        Seira smacks herself in the forehead at noticing our identical shirts. "Not you too."

        Giggles burst out of me. "Twins!"

        Looking at Seira, Everleigh says, "I'd say this isn't usually how I make first impressions, but it seems to be the only impression I make on members of your band and groupies alike. So sorry."

        I wave her off. "Don't worry, we love it."

        "But do we?" Seira questions.

        "Yes. We do."

I glance down at my phone to check the time. "I'd say we could wait down here for Mav but I'm sure he'll be a while so we can head up."

        Everleigh pulls out her phone. "Five bucks says he shows up in the next twenty seconds claiming he's slept in."

        Betting against Maverick showing up on time is easy money. "Okay, fine."

        She pulls up the timer on her phone and when it reaches nineteen seconds, Maverick rushes through the door dressed in sweatpants and a pajama shirt. Most notabe are his shoes: one is a tennis shoe, the other a Converse.

        "You little bitch." I glare.

        He stares back, blank and confused.

        I pull out my wallet and hand Everleigh a five-dollar bill.

        "Did you bet against me?" he cries.

        "Technically speaking, this time I bet for you." Everleigh pockets the cash.