The Reunion by Kayla Olson(28)

We were so close for so long, but now there are parts of him I don’t know yet. Parts of him, despite our history—despite the small voice in my head telling me it could be a mistake to let down my guard—I want to know. I lean closer, breathe him in. He smells like ginger-peanut sauce and, underneath that, fresh laundry.

I center our faces on my screen as we give our best smiles to the camera, then snap. It’s a great shot, a keeper on the first try.

“Tag me,” Ransom says. “I’ll share it, too.”

“Same,” Ford says, right before stuffing half a taco in his mouth.

My fingers fumble over the screen—why are my hands shaking? I silently count to five, calm myself. When I’m steady again, I post three quick stories, no captions, tagging them in each. It’s done.

“I should probably get going so I’m not late to my fitting,” I say, noticing both the time and a missed notification from Jimmy saying he’s waiting outside.

“Beware of Tabitha and her straight pins,” Ford says, in a considerably better mood than when he sat down. “Ask for Melody if you get your pick.”

“Noted,” I say. I take a few final sips of my shake, stopping just short of brain freeze. “Thanks for inviting me, guys, this was a blast.” I pull out my wallet, looking for some cash to leave for the bill.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ransom says as I slip out of the booth. “You can get mine next time.”

I’m quite certain Ransom isn’t hurting for cash, so I take him up on it. “See you tomorrow at Dan and Xan’s,” I say. “Thanks again.”

I feel faintly buzzed as I leave, even though I haven’t had a sip of alcohol all day—only half a strawberry shake and a strong dose of proximity to Ransom. My mind is caught on his last two words to me: next time.

Pull it together, Liv, I tell myself as I slide into the car. We’ve got an entire show to shoot over the next week, and it’s never going to work if I start looking at him as anything but my costar. We’re still relearning how to be friends.

My phone buzzes inside my handbag—it’s a text from Attica that simply says, Brilliant move

Brilliant or reckless, I think. Possibly both.





Spotted: Handsome Ransom + Lovely Liv


By Zenia DiLitto // Editor in Chief, Pop Culture, DizzyZine.com

Hello hello, my lovely Spinners—and thank you all for playing along with my game of speculation this week re: the Gemma Gardner Situation, as I’ve taken to calling it! It’s heartening to see it’s not just yours truly who suspects things might have taken a turn for the rocky—or at the very least, the murky—between Ransom and Gemma… though I do appreciate those of you who chimed in to assure us that Gemma is looking well as ever in her recent Snapaday posts.

I can’t resist the opportunity to note, though, that there’s still been no evidence that she and Ransom have actually been in the same place lately. Regarding that one post that wasn’t a selfie, there’s no proof that the second coffee cup pictured actually belonged to Ransom—THOUGH before you @ me, I will reluctantly admit (a): if Gemma has been through a recent breakup, I want whatever she’s using to still look like the glowing queen she is, and (b): I am aware that Ransom’s drink of choice is a mocha with cinnamon on top, which is exactly what was pictured. BUT STILL. NO ACTUAL EVIDENCE OF HIS PRESENCE. Ahem.

Now that we’ve got that straightened out, can we talk about that story drop in Liv’s feed? In case you didn’t see it, check out the photos below. Look how cozy she is with Ransom—and that strawberry shake, could she have picked a more romantic-looking beverage?! It screams “we’re having a BLAST and I want you ALL to KNOW IT!” Well, we know it now, don’t we? Don’t lie to me, Spinners, I know this is what we’ve all not so secretly been hoping for since the episode where we saw Honor and Duke kiss for the first time (and, honestly, we all knew that kiss was inevitable for YEARS before it finally happened)… seeing everyone’s OTP looking legit cozy with each other in real, actual life? I don’t know why it’s so comforting, but it is. It’s like all is right in the world—tell me it’s not just me. Be still, my fangirl heart!

Let the speculation begin below! If you spot anything out in the wild that might be of my interest, you know where to reach me. (Or, if you don’t, it’s [email protected]!)





10




It’s Friday night, more than twenty-four hours since I finished at the costume fitting, and I’m still sore in the spot where Tabitha jabbed me. Fortunately, getting dressed for the cast-and-crew party Dan and Xan are throwing at their house tonight requires zero straight pins.

I’ve picked out the perfect outfit, something that strikes the right balance of cool and casual: black skinny jeans, stylishly ripped at the knees, with a soft gray sweater and a vintage black leather jacket on top. For the finishing touches, I’m wearing a layered silver coin necklace, black ballet flats, and a white handbag from my closet; my hair is down in waves that look natural, as if I haven’t spent an hour getting them just right.

Bre drills me on lines as I get ready for the party, going over scene after scene. Even though the table read isn’t until Monday, I want to make sure to nail the emotional beats, so we’ve been drilling off and on since I got the script. This episode is classic Dan and Xan—solid and streamlined, but with heart, subtle in the way that makes the writing look easy.