Page 88 of In What World

“There’s a real myth around me that I’m a Goody Two-Shoes. I’ll have you know that I smoked pot when I was seventeen.”

Priscilla starts making a siren sound with her mouth, then speaks into an imaginary walkie on her shoulder. “Can I get some backup? I’ve got a dangerous suspect here with me. She smoked pot as a minor. What do I do in the meantime? I’m afraid cuffs won’t be strong enough for this one. Her name? Harriet Styles.”

“Is that Priscilla Covington-French?” Lana asks.

“Hi, Lana!” Priscilla says.

“I thought I recognized your voice,” Lana says. “Our whole family lovesHeartbeats. We watched it together every Thursday for years. Wish it was still on! You should’ve won the Globe.”

Priscilla gives me eyes. “Would you believe that Marlowe here tried to tell me she didn’t watch at all?”

“She was lying to you like she lied to me about the dresses,” Lana says.

“I’m a little alarmed by how willing you are to rat me out,” I say to Lana. “I’ll have you know I already came clean to Priscilla myself.”

“Did you tell her you’re the one who put the show in our shared family calendar?” Lana asks.

“She didn’t, actually,” Priscilla replies. “Were there themed viewing parties? Any episodes she particularly liked? What would she say after each episode?”

“We really have to go,” I interrupt. “I promise I’ll explain everything soon. Love you.”

After I hang up, Priscilla’s got a hand on the collar of my tank. “Liar,” she teases.

“Like I said, I couldn’t let you know how much I’ve thought about you,” I say, feeling the heat all over.

She presses her lips to my ear. “Perhaps you can make it up to me? Maybe you can point to every part of my body you’ve thought about? I know the passcode to the costume room now…”

“Check your phone,” I say, grinning. “We need to let people know we’re back.”

Priscilla does a big scroll through her notifications. “If Erik saw all these unanswered messages, he’d rip this phone from my hands and fix it.”

She calls him.

“Not you cold-calling me,” he answers, loud enough for me to hear him on the other end. “Are you done being mysterious and off the grid? Your location services weren’t even working.”

“Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain,” she tells him.

“Is that our state motto?” I whisper.

Inside joke, she mouths.

“So youarein Iowa,” Erik says. “Okay. Hmm.”

“What?”

“Have you not seen the email?”

“Which one?”

“It’s in For Cilla’s Review,” Erik tells her. “Please tell me you’ve kept up with the tab.”

“I’ve kept up,” she lies. “Just haven’t checked it today.”

“Let me know what you want me to reply,” he says.

“An email you don’t know how to answer? That hasn’t happened since Marlowe.” She winks at me. “By the way, Erik. You’re a great assistant, as I know you know. But I wanted to tell you that you’re also my friend.”

“You probably need better work-life boundaries, then,” Erik says.