“Is that your boyfriend?” Jessica asks.

I can’t afford acting lessons, but lying is free. “Yes,” I say, looking up at her. “Yes, this is my boyfriend.”

She starts to hover over the phone. “He’s really cute,” she says.

“I know,” I say. Then I put the phone back in my bag. I don’t want her getting any ideas. There are no new photos anyway.

“How long have you been dating?” she asks.

“Um,” I say. “Like six months.”

“Wow,” she says. “That’s not nothing.”

“Not nothing,” I echo, then turn to Thomas. “Wanna get out of here?”

The girl he is talking to looks at me like I just slapped her in the face.

“Let’s do one more round,” he says.

I roll my eyes, then realize I want a soda. “Can you get me a Sprite?”

He nods and flags down the waiter.

“And fries?” I need to stock up on fat while Thomas is paying. I can go long periods without eating as long as I get enough fat. This is basically keto, right?

“How did you meet your boyfriend?” Jess asks as soon as I turn back around, like a little fly in my ear.

“Church,” I say.

DAWN.

I’m smoking a cigarette out my window, looking out for Karen’s Honda Fit and scanning Instagram. Exalted posted photos of various celebrities, most of whom I do not recognize, with text that says “Dating a Cancer” or “Dating a Taurus” and then various attributes.

I scroll for Leo. I don’t care what it’s like to date the other signs. But I pause on “Dating a Gemini.” That woman Steph scared away from Jay’s Bar—Lily—was a Gemini. Tara was a Gemini too. Leo and Gemini are supposed to be a good match, but it hasn’t worked out so well for me.

I scan the traits. The first is “Chats on chats on chats.” True. On our first date, Tara and I talked at the bar for five hours. We completely lost track of time, and she accidentally missed dinner with her dad. I remember being jealous that Tara’s dad took her out to dinner. But I was happy she skipped it to spend time with me.

The second is “Legitimately curious about you.” That’s also true. Tara always asked me about my day, my interests, my dislikes. No one ever seemed to care that much about what I thought or what I was doing. She gave me the attention I deserved.

The third is “Sex!!!!” Ugh, our sex was good. I can’t even think about it.

The fourth is “Sassy & sarcastic.” Finally, something I don’t miss. Sass is fine, but I don’t get sarcasm, and it was Tara’s first language. I like to mean what I say and say what I mean. Unless I’m lying to get something, but that’s different.