Page 55 of Fractured Ice

"I won't get swept up."

"You might."

"Emma."

"Saturday night," she says, making a note on her clipboard with an air of finality. "Seven o'clock. Wear something you don't mind standing in. It might drizzle. I’ll think about it and pick the best booth for your talents."

"You said it would be easy."

"It will be easy. Drizzle is easy. Sprinkling, not even a full rain, is basically nothing." She caps her pen. "Also I want to hear about Dylan."

The pivot is so immediate I lose a step. "How did you know about Dylan?"

"I heard you and Rory talking about him, but I was too focused on an assignment to join you."

"I mentioned him once."

"I remember everything that might eventually become useful information." She says it cheerfully, without any apparent self-consciousness about it. "I have a whole filing system. It's mostly organized around which of my friends is going to have the most interesting drama this semester." She pauses. "You were always going to be near the top."

"I don't have drama."

"Sienna. You're writing a profile on the guy you've had a complicated situationship with since you were toddlers. That’s fire and drama just waiting to happen!"

"It's not a situationship."

"It's something."

"It's an assignment."

She gives me a look of profound patience. "The date, please."

I consider not telling her, which would take more energy than it's worth because Emma has a particular brand of relentlessness that is entirely cheerful and completely immovable, and I don't have the reserves for it today.

"Slapshot Burgers," I say. "Tonight."

Emma stops walking.

"Tonight," she repeats.

"It's just dinner."

"Slapshot Burgers is a great first-date location. It's not trying too hard. It's well-lit so you can actually see the other person without being in a weird romantic darkness situation, the booths are comfortable, and they have the good bread." She resumes walking with renewed energy. "Good call on his part."

"I'll pass that along."

"Come see me in my room after." She points at me. "Not in the morning. After. The second you're home."

"It might be late…"

"I don't care. I'll be up." She pulls out her phone, already typing something. "I'm going to make you a checklist."

"Please don't."

"Just a few things to watch for. First-date green flags. First-date red flags. Whether he looks at the server like a human being. Whether he lets you finish your⁠—"

"Emma."

"I'm helpful."