a

across the street, turning the morning light into a dull, gray blur. I sat at Kiki's small laminat

ing two eggs in a frying pan with a plastic spatula. T

Kiki said, not turning around. "Are you

nking about what I'm going to do next. I can't stay on your couch forever, Kiki. My job at the diner pays minimum w

ought them over to the table, setting mine down along with

Kiki said. "Take a week. Take two weeks. But

s on my plate. I wasn't hungry, but

you yesterday," I said, chewing slow

ers of her mouth. "You were serious about that? I thought

e of the plate. "Think about it, Kiki. Look at every guy we went to

fish," Kiki

mmetrical features, the world hands him everything on a silver platter. Teachers give them better grades for participating less

i muttered, leanin

ectures. He spent three years trying to start a consulting business that didn't even have a website, and he expected me to pay for his groceries while

with your mother,"

face to leave him permanently." I crossed my arms over my chest. "A good-looking man has too many options. He has zero in

ing thoughtful. "So what is the alterna

I'm going to fi

g on her forkful of eggs. "Maya, you can't just

selves at him. Someone who has spent his entire life being ignored by girls in high school and college. If a man like that gets a pretty

transaction," Kiki said, thou

shifts, and I ended up homeless with fifty dollars in my pocket while my mother shares my bed with my ex-boyfriend. I am done with romance. If I am going to atta

r a long time. The only sound in the room w

ny rich, ugly men?"

. "That's the part we

out her phone. She unlocked the screen with her thumb and tapped through

this,"

ury resort located about two hours down the coast. The graphic showed a sleek, modern hotel per

this?"

d, leaning forward. "They are hosting a private investor retreat this weekend. Only tech founders, venture c

een. "And why are you

flu yesterday and can't go," Kiki said, a mischievous gleam appearing in her eyes. "She gave her pass to me so I co

the guest p

s a catch. The resort requires photo identification that matches the digit

the digital graphics rotate slo

hin in her hands. "We don't

of Kiki's living room with a paper noteboo

ecurity cameras and ID checks, we have to look at the

she had pulled up on her laptop. "The front entrance has guards and automatic bollards. But t

ere a

the maintenance crew leaves the side service gate unlocked on weekends because the

ve security fla

ged. "They assume nobody from the public would ever

n't met me

o. I had no apartment, no boyfriend, no savings, and no career. But sitting here on Kiki's

I need a dress,"

," Kiki said immediately. "It fits

nce I'm inside," I added. "Because if I get arrested for tre

smart, Maya. You used to memorize complex ballet choreography in t

the pen down on top of it,

art my new life, I might as well start it