Page 19 of Sending Love Letters to Animals

“If you say so. If it ain’t The Bean Counter, it ain’t coffee.” I demanded.

The Bean Counter was my favorite coffee shop in town. Not only was their coffee superior to Starbucks based on flavor alone, but their menu wasn’t confusing. You could get a small, medium, or a large, and they only offered a dozen flavors. What they lacked in quantity, they made up for in quality, because every single drink was delicious. They also had better baked goods that they sourced from a local shop. All of my friends always wanted to go to Starbucks because, I guess, their drinks looked better on Instagram or something, but I refused. It was a hill I was willing to die on.

Jules laughed at me. “Bougie, bougie, bougie.”

“Basic, basic, basic.” I countered as my phone began to vibrate on the side table.

I nearly fell out of my chair trying to get a handful of popcorn and my phone at the same time. Jules laughed at me before shoving her hand into the bowl of popcorn as well. I righted myself in my recliner, bringing the hand with the popcorn to my mouth and holding my phone up to look at it.

“Liam is trying to FaceTime me,” I warned Jules. “Should I answer?”

“He knows we’re over here watching horror movies,” she said. “He won’t stop trying until you answer.”

“Why’s he FaceTiming me if he knows we’re trying to watch—”

“Girl,” Jules laughed, “answer it!”

Pressing my thumb to the screen, I answered Liam’s FaceTime request, then immediately rotated my wrist so that it was aimed at Jules. She sat up in her chair rigidly, fiery glare aimed at me. Liam’s tinny sounding voice poured from my phone as I reached for the bowl of popcorn. There was no way I was going to deal with whatever Liam had called about. I hadn’t even wanted to answer the call. So, my best friend was going to have to deal with it.

“Jules? Where’s Ryan?”

“Holding the phone, idiot,” Jules said. “Can’t you tell the phone’s across the room from me?”

“Oh.”

“We’re trying to start some movies here, boy,” Jules snapped. “What do you want?”

“Eighty-six the flicks, fam,” Liam said.

Jules and I exchanged an annoyed glance.

“Low-Key Café is where it’s at tonight!” Liam crowed. “You ain’t anybody if you’re not there tonight.”

Chewing my mouthful of popcorn, I ignored Liam’s statement. It was up to Jules to get him off of the phone. If she couldn’t manage it, I could always hang up to solve the problem.

“What’s so special about tonight?” I interjected, though I kept the phone pointed at Jules.

“Dude,” Liam crowed, “there’s no cover tonight and all drinks are half off.”

“Whoopty-do,” Jules twirled a finger in the air. “La Croix ain’t worth ninety-percent off.”

I laughed loudly. One of the many things Jules and I agreed on, La Croix—one of the popular drinks at the Low-Key Café—was disgusting.

“They have other stuff, y’all.” Liam groaned. “Come on! Everybody is going, and it won’t be the same if you guys aren’t there. The ‘grams won’t be the same if it’s just the four of us. We need the whole crew!”

“But,” Jules said as she glanced at me, “horror movie night.”

“At least make a cameo, y’all!” Liam pleaded.

Sighing, I pushed the button on the arm of the recliner to lower my feet back to the ground. Jules rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

“I’m wearing what I wore to school,” I said, finally turning the phone to look at Liam. “And I’m not staying until they close.”

“Same,” Jules said loudly. “We’re going to watch at least one horror movie tonight!”

“YES!” Liam crowed.

Then the call ended, and my cell phone returned to the home screen. Jules was staring at me from her recliner, not exactly upset with how our evening was beginning, but she wasn’t a paradigm of enthusiasm either.