On the Same Page

by Haley Cass

“Listen. I’m not going to let you sit in my own house and insult my favorite person.”

I am immediately suspicious of a pretty social influencer, but it's looking like she's passing the Vibes Check

They could be your friends, too,

Gianna is lonely, her parents are distant and she never got the love she needed at home. She has a whole bunch of plastic friends, but Riley treats her with kindness. Gianna can't understand why Riley isn't interested in Gianna's life, even though it's clear to Riley that GIANNA is barely into Gianna's life.

Riley nodded slowly, but didn’t say anything back as she packed her final, folded shirt, gently patting it down.

Passive, accepting, but unmoved. She knows that this outburst is more about Gianna feeling abandoned than Riley.

She was, honestly, a delight!

Modest, too.

“Let’s start, first, by the look you gave her every time she spoke.”

Riley, protecting her sister. Her probably ND sister. Riley immediately passes the Vibes Check, even with that sus first chapter

“Yes, you are. And Ellie has had more than enough mean girls make her feel uncomfortable throughout our lives; I’m not going to subject her to it all over again in college. So, that’s why you haven’t met her.”

Riley is Ride-Or-Die, so I am Ride-Or-Die for her.

“Fine, if I’m so mean, then why are you my friend?”

Your whole life you've been pretty. Too pretty to learn that you shouldn't ask questions you don't want to hear the answers to.

“Cool. There are so many pretty girls I’ve seen around campus. Have you dated anyone here?”

And if you stop being a bitch with a Capital C, she might treat you with as much care as she treats her sister

We wanted you to get us into Grigio,”

Transactional. Vibes Check: failed. As if there was any doubt.

not liking what she was seeing.

Gianna, coming close to passing the Vibes Check. Yes, I know she will later, but it's nice to see it happening in real time.

Going cold turkey from being a Mean Girl wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, but Gianna was making a concentrated effort.

Vibes Check OFFICIALLY passed. She saw she was doing something wrong, something that hurt other people and didn't align with her values, and she corrected it. Despite obvious discomfort on her end.

She’d taught Gianna how to do her laundry last week, because, “All right, it’s not, like mean that you pay the girl down the hall to do your laundry, but… it’s weird.”

And Riley, setting the upper limit on the Vibes Scale. This woman is the best.

But being the better person that she was trying to become was new and harder and she sometimes didn’t feel as certain.

Vibe check confirmed

“At least, until I talked to my friend, Ellie Beckett, over there.” She lifted her eyebrows, sparing him a look of utter disdain, then glancing at Phillip to include him in it, too. “And I found out what insecure, petty, red flag losers you are, who resort to bullying women who are smarter than you, to make up for your obviously undersized dicks. Maybe you’d have already had date plans with a woman this weekend, if you weren’t such a raging asshole.”

GO OFF, GIRL!!!!!

But she also looked at Ellie like she hung the moon and at least half of the constellations, too.

Vibe Check passed.

she was putting some respect on its name,

Vibe Check Passing reaffirmed.

cracked

What a perfect descriptor. Jesus....

knowing she’s clearly stated that she is not the mooning kind.

She has not. Ask her. Ask her directly (as you're known to do, apparently). YOU set the distance rule, not she. This is a team affair, don't make unilateral decisions about the two of you.

“But, Gianna doesn’t look at you the way she looks at him.”

Joel gets it.

“Gianna looks at Owen like he’s an invasive insect that she’s ready to kill. She sees him on the sidewalk and she’s ready to squash him. She looks at you like you could go on a killing spree and she’d be like, good job, babe, they deserved it! I’ll call my lawyer!”

Joel GETS it!!

… I have nothing to forgive, dear.

Yup. The fuckin best. 10/10. Wish she were my fuckin Mammo.

“Gin martini. Dry. Lemon. Stirred,”

And she drinks real Martinis? Gahd damn she's the best.

And… I can see your point,”

If there were ever any doubt, vibe check passed with flying fucking colors.

“But, um – no. Wait–” Ellie started to protest,

Ellie hasn't completed a thought in maybe a minute here, and if that isn't the absolute most real and legitimate reaction to this news I could possibly read, I don't know what is.

“You’re still streaming!”

Jesus fuck. What a way to end the chapter. Fucking hell......

“If I told you, you would have tried to protect me and my feelings.

The way you did with your twin.

Riley on rakastunut sinua! Kuuntelin esitystä. Voi, kulta, olet odottanut niin kauan. Riley is in love with you. I listened to the show. Oh, darling, you’ve waited so long.

PASSED. PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS AND HORNS AND FLAGS!

“Uh… if you break her heart, I know thousands of chemical compounds that are lethal to human beings, several of which are untraceable.”

It's good that both main characters have their own Ride-Or-Die in their lives.