Page 64 of The Déjà Glitch

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Gemma said. She shook her head to erase the bulk of it. The thought of going home and hiding under a blanket in front of the TV with Rex all night tempted her, but Lila’s party was still on the docket, and she was worried a certain rock star would take it personally if she didn’t show up to his concert after he had done her the favor of securing her whole team tickets. “Listen, Lila, I know we have plans tonight for your party, but Nigel Black gave me backstage passes to his show, and I’m wondering if you’d rather—”

Lila gasped so loud that Gemma flinched. She threw her elbows up and leaned against the side window as if Gemma had a tarantula on her lap.“You have passes to Nigel Black’s show and you’re just now telling me?”

Gemma threw a hand over her heart. “Lila, you scared me! I thought something happened!”

“Somethingdidhappen! You were holding out on me! Yes, I want to go. Yes, I’ll go.Yes, we are going to go upstairs to get ready forbackstage freaking passes to Nigel Black’s sold-out show at the Hollywood Bowl.” A smile almost broke her face. “Do you even hear me right now? People wouldkillfor this! I mean, this is, like, holy grail rock god territory. This is thebestbirthday present you’ve ever given me!” Lila reached for her purse where she’d stuffed it by Gemma’s feet and threw her other hand at the door to open it.

Gemma actually hadn’t thought of the passes as a birthday gift, but she silently let the assumption go without comment.

Lila stopped halfway out the door, visibly vibrating with excitement. “Oh.” She suddenly paused and leaned back in, where Gemma hadn’t even unbuckled her seat belt. “My party. Well, that was going to be people stopping by the bar later, so no biggie, but we should keep the dinner res because they’re going to charge my card if we don’t show.” She grimaced, and Gemma laughed, knowing the threat was real. And expensive.

They moved upstairs and Gemma opted for a shower. She had been running around all day, and despite a new shirt, she did still smell a little bit like coffee. Standing beneath the hot water was a cleanse she needed, a fresh start from everything from that morning.

Once the last remnants of her latte bath had been washed away, she got out and wrapped her hair—which did not smell like smelly shampoo because Lila had thrown it away—in atowel and assessed the outfit Lila had laid out for her to wear. A short black romper that tied at the waist with long sleeves waited on the bed. The neckline dipped a tad lower than she was used to, but she figured it was fit for a rock-’n’-roll show. As were the pair of wedges sitting on the floor with a heel of reasonable height that looked like they hadn’t been worn. She shopped in Lila’s jewelry collection and borrowed a simple gold necklace with a pearl pendant that fell in a timeless teardrop. Once she was dressed and had blown out her hair, she messaged her dog sitter to confirm she could swing back by and take Rex for an evening walk and give him a scoop of food since her plans had changed. If they had to pick up the passes back at the radio station, make it to dinner, and haul it up to the Hollywood Bowl, she would not have time to run home in between.

She found Lila at her dining table in front of a lit-up round mirror, carefully underlining her left eye with black liquid liner. Gemma could see she had already painted her lids using the open shadow palette of shimmery shades of purple and rose. The set was called Glamour Goddess and came from a celebrity makeup line, and Lila would surely turn to Gemma once she finished with herself.

Lila spun in her chair and gave Gemma a once-over with a smile. “You look hot.”

“Thanks. You look like half a raccoon. Are these new?” she asked, and held up the wedges.

Lila waved a hand. “Yep, and all yours if you want them. Sponsor sent them, and they’re too short for me.”

Gemma smiled to herself, figuring that was the exact reason Lila had picked the chunky suede shoes with anklestraps for her. She would add them to her pile of free Lila castoffs and probably never wear them again after that night. “Thanks. Can I get something to drink?”

Lila turned back to her mirror to line the other eye. “Help yourself.”

Gemma saw more cans of the seltzer Lila had served her that morning, orange-mango flavor from a line of all-natural drinks that she had never heard of, and she wondered, honestly, if Lila had to shop for anything at all or if she subsisted entirely on free samples.

She popped the top and pulled out her phone to call Carmen.

“What’s up, Gem?” she answered.

“Hey, are you still at the studio? Did Nigel’s people ever drop off the passes?”

“Sure did, Gemstone. Are you going to come get them? Or do you want to meet me at the Bowl?”

Gemma tossed the options around in her head. Going to get them would eat time out of their evening, but meeting at the Bowl would be easier said than done in a sea of concertgoers.

“We’ll come get them.”

“Weas in you and that guy you were climbing like a tree in the booth earlier?”

A flash of heat scorched Gemma’s face. She almost choked on her sip of orange-mango bubbles.

“No.I meanweas in me and my friend Lila. I’m taking her to the show for her birthday.”

Lila overheard her conversation and blew Gemma a kiss through the cutout wall connecting her kitchen and dining room by way of the breakfast bar.

“So, you’renottaking the writer dude to see the rock star after he saved our show by getting you to do the interview with said rock star.”

When Nigel had offered them the passes, Gemma had visions of attending with Jack. Maybe they would even hold hands in the stage wings as they listened to her favorite songs. But that was before things had fallen apart.

“No. He’s not coming,” she told Carmen.

The clunk of chair legs hitting the floor told Gemma that Carmen had been rocking back as usual and had sat up to pay attention.

“Cool if I use that extra pass, then?”

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