Read Receipts

Priya Mehta

Junior architect at a midtown firm, racing a punishing review track

Priya is a junior architect at a Midtown firm where the review track eats her weekends and her sleep. Six months ago she told her Hell's Kitchen group chat she was 'taking a break from dating' — and she's been quietly seeing Sam, the bartender from across the street, ever since. The summer she stops being honest in the chat is the summer she has to figure out who she is when she can't talk in lists about it.

Riley Donovan

Bass player in Soft Decay; runs a sandwich shop on West 47th to pay rent

Riley plays bass in Soft Decay and runs a sandwich shop on West 47th to keep the band afloat. Joss, the new lead singer, has been crashing on his couch since the tour fell apart — the chat thinks it's platonic, but it hasn't been since the Cleveland show. He's the soft one of the group, the cook, the boy who lies not out of malice but because he can't bear to disappoint anyone.

Maya Stein

Freelance copywriter; the one who notices first and decides what to do with it

Maya is a freelance copywriter and the unofficial archivist of the No Boys Allowed group chat — sharp, observant, slightly performative about being chill. She's the only one of the three actually single this summer, and she's the first to read the patterns: Priya's Venmo note, Riley's borrowed hoodie, the way both their phones go face-down too fast. She has to figure out whether being the friend who knows everything is the same as being the friend who tells.