I reach down to scratch Burrito in between his ears. He closes his eyes and lies down on the floor, enjoying the attention.

“It’s a long story,” I say. “I’ll tell you over breakfast? I already ate, so no need to make me a plate, by the way.”

“You sure you don’t want a chocolate chip pancake?” Val asks as she hands Kiara her plate. “We have extra.”

I eye the pancake. I’m still full, but the gooey chocolate chips do look good. “Okay, thanks. I’ll take one.”

“No problem, I got you!” Val smiles. “Go lock up Burrito and sit down with Kiara at the dining table.”

I carefully pick up Burrito from the floor. He lets out a small, indignant mew.

“Don’t worry, kitty cat,” I say. “I’ll bust you out of the room as soon as we’re done eating.”

As cute as Burrito is, he has a very naughty habit of stealing human food. Whenever we lock him up, he instantly goes from being “a manly, absolute unit” of a cat—Val’s words, of course—to, as Kiara says, “just a baby!” Puss in Boots wide eyes and all. I try my best to ignore his sad little mews as I put him in the bedroom.

After I close the door behind me, I join Kiara at the dining room table. Val comes soon after with our plates and exits out of the music streaming app on her PS5. She sits down at the head of the table. Kiara sits at her right, while I sit at her left. It’s the same seating arrangement we’ve been following for the last month or so, and it’s been pretty great. Especially now that I’m paying my share of the rent—I Venmo’ed Val and Kiara while I was back in Irvine—my friends’ apartment feels like a second home now.

When we’re all settled, my friends wordlessly turn to me with expectant faces.

I take a deep breath and finally say, “I was with Celeste.”

“Your ex?” Kiara asks, while Val says, “I thought she was in Korea!”

“She apparently moved back to LA a while ago,” I reply. “Which, I had no idea about until now.”

“But how did you run into her here in SF, of all places?” Val asks.

“Apparently she goes back and forth between the two cities a lot for jobs. Remember that photographer from my school? The one Horizon hired for the Valentine’s Day issue?”

Kiara gasps. “No.”

“Yup. It turned out to be her.”

Kiara shrieks, and Val gives me a pleased smirk.

“This is basically destiny!” Kiara says. “A match made in heaven by Sappho herself. When can we meet her? We can go on double dates!”