Jaylen S. was the youngest daughter of retired NBA basketball legend Maceo S., who was now a popular sports commentator for ESPN. Rumor had it her sweet sixteen was going to be one of the biggest bashes of the year, even though it was only February. Her father had rented out 1 OAK in the Meatpacking District. The adults would be in the VIP area while every socialite teen who was anybody danced the night away. Jaylen S.’s godfather had been one of her father’s teammates and was now a part owner of the Miami Heat. He was apparently showing up with his own kids and a private plane full of their hard-partying friends from South Beach.

The thing about new money versus old money? New money was way more fun. Old money came with lots of baggage—outdated and uptight societal rules of behavior that frowned on being showy with your inherited cash. New money had no such restrictions. If anything, it was expected for the nouveau riche to throw it and show it as much as possible.

The theme of Jaylen’s party was ’90s Hip-Hop. And the invitation was the coolest one Kimmie had ever received … once it was explained to her. She had been delivered a small box containing a little black plastic square object with a tiny screen and two AAA batteries. When she popped the batteries in, the screen lit up green but remained blank. Thinking it was broken, she showed it to Devon M., the law student who stayed with her and Lolly whenever their mom was out late or traveled.

“Where did you get this?” Devon asked, turning the object over in her hands.

“It’s supposed to be a party invite, I think,” Kimmie said. “What is it?”

Devon explained that it was a pager, a popular form of communication in the ’90s before everyone had cell phones. “Haven’t you ever heard of a beeper?”

Kimmie shook her head. “What does it do?”

“People used to use it to send phone numbers. You would call the number back when you got to a pay phone. Doctors used them mostly, so they could be reached outside of the hospital. Drug dealers used them, too, but eventually the cool kids adopted the look as well. Some beepers could receive text messages.”

On cue, the pager vibrated and emitted a series of high-pitched beeps, startling them both. Just as Devon had explained, a message appeared. Jaylen’s illin’ 90s hip-hop par-tay deets arrivin’ soon … ish!