AND THEN THERE WAS ONE.

three.

"Really?" Indie raised her eyebrow.

"Surprising, right? Considering I haven't been back down in the last two years?" Nori chuckled.

"Are you nervous at all?"

"No. My parents and I have been speaking a lot these past few months. They apologized, and they actually want to be in Noä's life."

Indie nodded. Her outlook on their relationship differed from Nori's. To Nori, Indie was someone she considered a friend. Due to her not knowing Indie's true feelings, her hesitation was deemed as shyness, and Nori was the talker. Therefore, Indie knew quite a lot of Nori's life, while Nori only knew the basics, or what Indie was comfortable sharing.

"How do you feel about getting a second job?"

Indie peers up from the work-administered tablet, her eyebrows furrowed together. "I barely like the first one, bitch."

"I know, but there's this club out in Philadelphia known as PLAYGROUND."

Indie nodded; the name had passed through her ears quite a few times. It was one of those high-profile clubs that always had a line out the door. The name was more than fitting, as it was grounds for all of the city's most elite bachelors, bachelorettes, rappers, CEOs, and athletes. Often, Philadelphia's very own Eagles frequented there.

"They're bringing in different management, so they're cleaning house. New everything, including bartenders and bottle girls."

"Oh Nori, girl, please." Indie shook her head.

She knew exactly where this conversation was headed, and her interest in it had quickly subsided.

"Indie, just listen. Sometimes these girls bring in so much as ten thousand dollars a night," Nori defends.

"Yeah, because they're not just selling bottles," Indie states matter of factly.

"You know that I'm not on that," Nori shook her head. "I know you have your parents to lean on, but some extra money wouldn't hurt."

"I'll get my money elsewhere," She waves off.

"Okay," Nori nodded in understanding. The last thing she wanted to be was pushy. "I would like for you to come to the auditions with me though."

"For?"

"Support," Nori winked.

Indie shook her head. It hadn't been a full week since her last spout in the city of brotherly love. Her face was healing nicely. Thanks to her shea butter, no permanent scarring would come as a result of Cash's revenge.

Through her beating, Cash didn't just try to scare Indie away from Blaze; she wanted her to stay far away from Philly as well, but Indie never took too kindly to being told what to do, let alone from a person she didn't too much favor.

Camden wasn't known for its nightlife. The allure in Philly lay in its energy, the constant hum of possibility. You never knew what to expect, and that provided the rush that Indie often sought in life.

She knew that nothing good occurred whenever she crossed that bridge, yet living so close in proximity made it hard for her to fight that temptation.

"So?"

"I don't know Nori, let me thin—

Buzz. Buzz.

Saved by the bell. Nori holds up a finger, bringing her vibrating phone up to her ear.

"Xin chào?" Her cool southern drawl switches off.

Indie watches in awe as Nori falls into her Vietnamese tongue, a language she was fluent in and had been since fourteen. She was taught by Nien's mother and had plans of making Noä fluent as well.