Page 60 of Perfect on Paper

“I guess. I definitely won’t forget this. It’s a bit of a departure from my usual thunderstorm routine.”

“What’s that?”

“Phish Food, blankets, horror movies.”

A clap of thunder over the steady hum of the rain pelting the cliffs. That one was closer, but not so close I worried.

“Horror movies! Great choice,” Brougham said approvingly.

Well.Thatwas interesting. With Brooke’s taste in movies—or lack thereof, really—I’d been long deprived of a movie buddy who wasn’t Ainsley. I cleared my throat. “Um, when did you say you needed to be home by, again?”

“Hot cocoa or hot chocolate?” Mom asked, hovering halfway between the kitchen and the living room. In this case, “hot chocolate” referred to a particularly indulgent recipe she’d picked up from one of the teachers at school a couple of years back. I personally thought of it as “rich people hot chocolate,” but wasn’t going to call it that with Brougham in earshot.

I pretended to think about it. “Well, given Ainsley polished off the Phish Food, I vote hot chocolate.” I turned to Brougham, who had just tucked himself in on the sofa, cocooned in what had been my favorite fluffy turquoise blanket as a kid. “Agreed, or…?”

Brougham pulled the blanket tighter around him. Momwas notoriously stingy with central heating. She believed there was never a need for it in California. “I didn’t know there was a difference.”

“In this house, you can have powdered hot cocoa,” Mom said. “Ordecadent, creamy,real dark chocolateslowlymelted over a saucepan and stirred in withfull-creammilk.”

“Settle down, Mom.” I grinned. She should’ve worked in marketing.

“Well, I would also like a hot chocolate, and I want Alexander to make theright decision.But it’s up to you.” She gave him a megawatt smile.

Brougham looked between us then shook his head. “Well, how could I say no when you put it like that?”

“You couldn’t. I’ll be back in five.”

“Wait, are you watching the movie with us?” I called after her.

“I wish, sweetie, but I have tests to grade.”

“I think one of those is mine,” Brougham said to me.

“It is!” Mom’s voice rang out, distant but audible. “I’ve already graded it. You did very well, you just need to tighten the paragraphs a little next time, hon.”

Brougham stuck out his lower lip. “No worries. Thank you!”

Well, if Mom wasn’t joining us, and Ainsley was upstairs editing a new video she wanted to upload in the morning, then it was just Brougham and me. Which meant we had full control of the TV. Just the way I liked it.

“Any suggestions?” I asked, scrolling through the list of available movies with the remote.

“Hmm, depends. Are you more into jump scares, or generally unsettling shit?”

“Idolove being unsettled.”

“There’s a new one out that’s supposed to be creepy.Poppy,I reckon it’s called. But I don’t think it’s got the best reviews.”

“Sometimes things that aren’t the critics’ favorite turn out to be pretty okay,” I said.

“Totally agree. So I’d be down for that. Otherwise… wait, have you seenRespawn?”

I blinked. “I don’t think so.”

“Really?With the Pincers, and the moving objects, and…” He trailed off at my blank expression. “Youhaveto.”

“It sounds terrible.”

“It’s campy. It has a cult following!”

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