Page 112 of With a Little Luck

“I was just wondering if you … would you ever … consider … maybe going on a—”

“Date night!” yells a voice, making me jump.Quint.“Been a while,” he says, as he and Pru slide into the booth on my other side. “This brings back memories.”

I force a smile and shift over to make room for them. Closer to Ari. She stays where she is, and now our thighs are pressed together. My pulse ratchets up even higher. I realize that I’m still clutching the torn-out notebook page in one hand, and I surreptitiously slide it into my jeans pocket.

“I thought EZ was coming,” says Pru, counting the four beverages.

“He is,” says Ari. “He had to stop by the garage, but he’ll be here soon.”

“I wasn’t sure,” I say. “So I didn’t get him a drink.”

“He can order his own when he gets here,” says Pru, pulling her beloved binder from her backpack. “We’ve got business to take care of.”281

“We do?” asks Ari, wrapping her hands around the condensation-slick glass, the remaining cherries bobbing at the top of the ice. “I thought we were here for karaoke night.”

“That too,” says Pru. “But first—if it’s okay with you—I was hoping we could record a new video for your social channels promoting Record Store Day this weekend.”

“I already did that,” says Ari. “I posted twice last week about—”

“I know, I know,” Pru says hastily. “And your posts were great. But I thought we could do one more video about how this Record Store Day, we’re having a special guest …” Pru raises her eyebrows.

“Me?” asks Ari.

“You!” Pru says. Then pauses. “You are still going to perform, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, of course,” she says. “I’m not sure how big of a draw that really is, though. Does anyone really care?”

“Um, how many views does ‘Downpour’ have on it again?” asks Pru. “And how many subscribers have you gotten the past couple of weeks?”

“Subscribers don’t necessarily turn into sales. Or even people showing up.”

“But it can’t hurt,” says Pru.

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t mind doing it,” says Ari. “I just don’t want anyone to be disappointed. But—um, hold on.” She looks at me. “I’m sorry, you were trying to say something before, and we got totally distracted.”

“Nope,” I say, raising both hands. “Not a big deal. I was just going to ask, um … if you talked to Penny? She … uh … had an idea. For your performance this weekend.”

“Yes!” says Ari, pressing a hand to my forearm and killing me slowly. “We talked after school today, and she played the violin solo she’s been working on. I think it’s perfect! I’m so excited to do it with her.”

“Cool. Excellent.” I clear my throat. “Cool.”

“Okay, then,” says Pru, whipping out her phone and opening up the camera, but Quint immediately takes it away from her and starts adjusting the settings. “You know what to say?”282

Ari tears her gaze from me. “I guess so. Something like …Join me at Ventures Vinyl in Fortuna Beach this Saturday, in celebration of the annual Record Store Day! I will be performing throughout the day, and I can’t wait to see you!”

“You’re a natural,” says Quint.

Pru agrees. “Perfect. Just like that, but with more energy.”

Ari pastes on an incandescent smile and gives two thumbs up, practically shouting this time. “I can’t wait to see you!”

“Even better. This time I’ll actually record it.”

“Wait, one more thing,” I say. “You should also tell people that there’s going to be a special surprise at Ventures this weekend. One especially for your fans.”

Pru gives me a look. “We were just talking about her performance, Jude. Keep up.”

“Not the performance. Something else.”

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