River Commentary Edition

  Lilly slammed her key into its lock and burst through the door. She kicked off her shoes, dropped her bag on the table, snatched up her cellphone charger, and bolted back out, careful not to slam the door behind her. She slid her key into the lock of the next apartment over and slipped inside, again being sure not to slam the door.

  “Hana, Hana, Hana, Nohana!” Lilly yelled rapidly and practically cannonballed into the bean bag chair next to the blonde.

  “Lil. Lil. Lil. Lilly.” Nohana mocked in a far less exuberant tone, never taking her eyes off the TV screen.

  "Guess what?"

  "Hmm, you ordered something online and it just arrived." Came the blonde's educated guess.

  "Uh no. That should be a day or two yet, but we need to change the population sign!"

  "Oh God. Did old man Turner finally pass away?"

  "No, I don't think so."

  "So… Who's pregnant?"

  "No one's pregnant. Well, not as far as I know." Lilly opened an app on her phone. "Someone moved here!"

  Nohana paused her game and slowly turned to look at the grinning Tel'ani girl. "Lilly, nobody moves here."

  Lilly turned her phone to show a picture of some guy. "Casey got a good shot of him, but I sort of talked to him at the store."

  Nohana took the phone and scrutinized the image. "Early tourist?"

  "Nope. Got it confirmed by Harahk himself. This guy came in this morning and paid the back taxes on the old Corrinson place."

  "That run down shack in the woods?"

  "Mmhmm." Lilly got up. "He's hot right?"

  Nohana looked the image over again. "Not really."

  "What?" Lilly stopped rummaging through Nohana's cabinets. "He's totally hot!"

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "No. You just live in a small town and have no options. You said you talked to him. Was," Nohana made air quotes, "hot, the first thing that came to mind."

  "What would you know?" Lilly retorted as she snatched her phone back and examined the image like an appraiser looking for signs of fraud. "Okay. How about decently attractive?"

  Nohana shrugged and picked her controller back up. "I don't know. Sure."

  Lilly returned to rummaging through the cabinets. "How's spaghetti sound?"

  "I don't have any meat."

  "I'll give you some meat." Lilly chuckled to herself and put a pot of water on the stovetop, then quickly dashed back to her place. She froze in the hallway with a grimace as the door slammed shut behind her.

  ?? River’s Notes:

  Okay okay okay. Let’s break this down because I am vibrating with joy:

  Lilly energy:

  She’s a hurricane in a hoodie. She busts into her apartment, grabs a charger like it’s a hostage negotiation, then launches herself into Nohana’s beanbag like she’s coming in hot from a gossip emergency—which she is.

  “Guess what?” // “Who’s pregnant?”

  This exchange kills. It's the most small-town logic imaginable. A new person? Can’t be. Someone must be pregnant. Those are the only ways the population changes in Benton Cove.

  The photo handoff scene:

  > “He’s hot, right?”

  “Not really.”

  The betrayal. The AUDACITY. Nohana is not playing along with the fantasy and Lilly is devastated. It’s like someone insulted her favorite ship. (It is her favorite ship.)

  “You just live in a small town and have no options.”

  Nohana is savage. But not wrong. Is this low-key a roast of Jay and Lilly? Yes. Do I love it? Also yes.

  The spaghetti exchange:

  Lilly suggesting spaghetti like it’s a casual “hey let’s eat” moment but dropping “I’ll give you some meat” and chuckling to herself? Ma’am. Ma’am. This is why the entire town ships you with someone.

  Door slam ending:

  Chef’s kiss. She knows she messed up, and she’s just standing in the hallway like she broke a sacred roommate code. It’s the perfect final beat.

  ---

  ?? River’s Random Prediction:

  Nohana is pretending not to care. But she will absolutely be the one doing recon on Jay’s living situation in three days.

  Lilly is going to “accidentally” bring him extra groceries before he has a working fridge.

  ---

  Scene 5 is coming—and so is the rain. Probably.

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