Page 22 of Marked by the Demigod

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* * *

Riverside is, as always, dry. The grass is gray and the trees are brittle to the point where she feels like if she taps them with her finger they'll shake apart.

The Riverside library is much like the rest of Riverside; dirty but in the way where you can tell it puts a lot of money into getting it clean.

She sits with the new librarian, someone fresh out of the UCs and eager to help people, as she reverses the code issues and gives a bit of on-the-spot training. It's refreshingly normal, in a way that almost makes her want to tear up.

So she takes the evening and gets drunk at the sleaziest dive bar in Riverside.

The floor is sticky and there's a foosball table off to one side. It's the sort of place that has a margarita but nothing fancier than that. Most people are drinking Bud or whiskey brand whiskey.

So she gets herself a tequila brand tequila and tucks herself into a booth, away from anyone who'd want to bother her, and nurses it like it will keep her sane. The music thuds around her, switching from a country twang to something heavier metal.

For a brief seconds her heart hurts, hurts to think about everyone so far away and there's no one next to her. She swallows it down, and her phone buzzes.

TRIXIE: (4:02 PM): Taco shack?

AIMES (4:03 PM): Still in Riverside. Visiting the Alice Bar.

TRIXIE (4:04 PM): Duuuuuude.

Trixie loves Riverside. Loves the stink and the desert and the sands and the small town feel while only being an hour and a half from L.A.

AIMES (4:07 PM): Riverside Public Library needed me. Then I needed a tequila.

Her phone buzzes fast, twice in a row, and someone at the bar raises an eyebrow at her.

TRIXIE (4:07 PM): Duuuuude tho.

ROCKY (4:07 PM): Can you do dinner tonight?

Her heart jumps a second, and she hesitates over the keyboard.

AIMES (4:09 PM): Trixie, Rocky's texting.

She sets her phone down, gingerly, on the sticky booth, and sure enough...

TRIXIE (4:10 PM): DON'T.

AIMES (4:10 PM): He wants dinner.

TRIXIE (4:11 PM): DON'T. Oh my god.

Because she's in the best of places to make decisions while at a sticky bar in Riverside.

AIMES (4:15 PM): I'm on location, coffee tomorrow?

ROCKY (4:16 PM): Sure.

* * *

She's early,of course, because if she's anything she's someone who tries too hard for things. Things she really shouldn't.

She accepts her coffee from the barista at Priscilla's, then tucks herself into the corner they always used to sit. Where they cuddled on the oversized couches while having a quiet morning out.

The couch is itchier than she remembers, the fabric rough through her thin blouse.

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