"You are going to eat me out of house and home!" Tate exclaimed as I loudly slurped the last of my VERY large mocha frappuccino while batting my eyelashes at him in mock innocence. I skipped ahead of Tate and turned to smile at him over my shoulder as we left the InternationalSisterStudio.

It had been a long week of watching hundreds of actors and actresses audition for the smaller roles of the Seapunk Princess movie and I had never grown to hate the lines I wrote so much in my life.

Wiping the whipped cream from my face I sighed in satisfaction, watching Tate bristle. "Well, make sure you don't trick me into going to an awkward family dinner where I play a game of twenty questions about my love life next time."

I tossed the empty cup into the recycling bin and shot Tate a mischievous grin. "So if I want an extra pump of chocolate in my coffee, I'm gonna get an extra pump of chocolate in my coffee."

Tate threw his hands up in the air. "You are taking advantage of our deal!"

"You are the one that agreed to buy my coffee for a month. Make it clear in your agreement next time if you are going to be stingy," I countered as we made our way to Tate's car.

"Psh. You are one to talk. You were the one tricked into signing a dating clause," Tate muttered looking glum.

I smiled, looking up at the evening sky, watching the horizon turn bright orange. "Fair."

Our shadows grew long behind us as the sun continued its descent, sending bleeding brushstrokes of darkness across the pavement behind us.

Tate groaned, staring down at his flip phone. "This thing is always dying. I should probably get a new one."

I snorted. "Dude, yes. It's like fifteen years old."

We climbed into the car and Tate set his phone up to charge before reversing out of our reserved spot and out of the parking lot. The radio played Kings & Queens by Ava Max as we drove, setting a techno rhythm to our drive.

"Iz likes you by the way."

I smiled. "Iz is great. She sent me an email with like forty book questions. I may need to write a short side story to answer them all."

Tate tapped the wheel to the music as the chorus came on, muttering some of the words and epically failing to get them right.

"If all of the kings had their beans to go

We would pop the change and raise a bowl!"

I snorted but didn't bother correcting him. This was his usual response to every song. I would love and hate to do karaoke with him.

"Iz would flip!" Tate said once the chorus was done. "Like start screaming and we'd have to all buy earplugs type flip."

I leaned my head back against the seat, smiling at the image. "I know."

Suddenly, Tate's phone, now partly charged, started to ring. He hit the speakerphone button without glancing at the screen.

"Tate here, what up?" he shouted as he turned down the music.

"TATE?!? Why haven't you been picking up!" I recognized the panicked voice instantly, my heart stuttering in response to hearing him for the first time in weeks. It left a strange ache in my chest.

Tate snorted. "Woah, dude. Relax. My phone was dead. Just had a chance to charge—"

"Are you okay? Is Summers okay?" He continued, his voice chorded in concern, which was unlike the boy I had grown to know.

Tate glanced at me with a raised brow. "Yeah... why?"

"There's more," Aiden said. The car grew silent as Tate and I tried to piece together his cryptic message. "More stalkers," he clarified.

I gasped, my blood running cold. It had been a month since the stalker's attack in Canada, and my dramatic world had gone quiet. I had found a semblance of peace in the silence and now it was being threatened all over again. I assumed that the eye of the storm meant that the chaos was over. But the storm was still there, threatening to destroy everything.

Of course, there's more. Why would my life be anything but normal? Why wouldn't a writer's life be filled with near-death experiences instead of writing?!?

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Wait? Are you guys in the car?" Aiden asked.

"Yeah..." Tate said slowly.

I wrapped my arms around myself. "Aiden, you are freaking me out. What's going on?"

"I did some digging, You aren't safe."

Tate and I glanced at each other as Aiden continued. "They're people you know, Laliana. Stay away from the studio. Don't go back to your house. Tate, take her to my apartment."

"We just came from the studio, it's been pretty boring," Tate countered. "Lots of listening to people who look alike saying the same words over and over as a bunch of people stare at them."

"That could change at any moment," Aiden replied, undeterred. "Don't go back."

"Your place has been swarming with paparazzi for weeks, Dude. I'll take her to your mom's."

Aiden sighed, frustration clear in his tone. "Fine, just hurry and keep her safe."

Tate looked up at me and nodded, "I promise, Aiden. I'll keep her safe."

"Don't do anything stupid Summers. You hear me?" It wasn't a request. It was an order. I nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see me.

"She nodded," Tate announced helpfully.

"Promise," Aiden pressed.

"I promise," I said, past the lump in my throat. "Be safe," I added.

The line was quiet for so long that I thought he had hung up. Just when Tate was reaching to hang up the phone, Aiden responded. "I will." Then the line went dead.

The car moved onto the freeway, and we let Aiden's words sink in as the sky grew darker.

"I don't like this Tate," I said into the deafening silence.

Tate didn't respond. Instead, he furrowed his brow, his fingers suddenly tightening on the wheel. He swallowed slowly and scanned the road.

"Tate?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he bit his lower lip and let out an unsteady breath. "Laliana, I need you to do exactly what I say and I need you to trust me okay?"

"If this is a joke..."

His face turned pale. "I wish more than anything in the world right now that it was. But it's not."

I swallowed. "What do you need me to do?"

He glanced at me for a brief moment, his eyes steady on mine. "I'm going to need you to jump out of the car."

---

If your friend asked you to trust them and then asked you to do something crazy, would you do it?