The Night We Met
by Abby Jimenez
Contents
6: Larissa
Overview
Larissa starts an early shift with Lexi, exposing her financial strain and side hustles. Lexi questions Larissa’s chemistry with Mike and senses misalignment. Through playful texts and social media, Larissa grows closer to Chris and learns both his parents are gone. At work, scarcity looms, underscoring Larissa’s reliance on free meals and memories of poverty.
Summary
Before dawn, Larissa rides to work with Lexi, turning down cappuccinos because she can’t afford them. Lexi jokes about sugar daddies and unconventional side gigs, prompting Larissa to reveal she donates plasma and is seeking more income to pay her mother’s medical debts. Lexi describes selling worn socks, planting the idea of income from odd hustles.
Conversation shifts to Larissa’s new relationship. Lexi bluntly says Mike isn’t right for Larissa, arguing there’s no heat. Larissa defends a safer, rational approach, contrasting it with her mother’s destructive choices. When Lexi teases about “Smash or Pass” on Chris, Larissa resists, betraying a spark she won’t admit.
Chris texts Larissa that Woofarine killed a frog and left it in his bed, and they banter with photos. Larissa follows Chris’s private social account, sees his feed full of Woofarine, group photos, and then a post about his mother’s death; she realizes both his parents are gone. She lingers on his saved book quotes, connecting with a passage she loves.
At the café, Janessa is curt as opening begins. Larissa and Lexi prepare the shop while reminiscing about food insecurity growing up. They appreciate the free staff meal, strategize stretching food, and dream of someday donating better pantry items. The chapter closes with Larissa’s present scarcity underscored by memories of childhood poverty.
Who Appears
- LarissaNarrator; struggles financially, debates her feelings for Mike, bonds with Chris via texts and his social media.
- LexiLarissa’s coworker/friend; suggests side hustles, questions Larissa’s chemistry with Mike, provides blunt comic relief.
- ChrisTexts Larissa about Woofarine’s frog incident; his private IG reveals his parents’ deaths and love of books.
- JanessaMike’s sister and café manager; curt during the morning opening, highlighting a tense work environment.
- WoofarineRescued dog; kills a frog and becomes the focus of Larissa and Chris’s playful texts and photos.