Page 87 of Borrow My Heart

“I’m in it,” I suddenly realized. Of course I was; that was why she and David had recognized me.

The girl nodded slowly.

I clicked on the username. I couldn’t tell from the bio whose account it was—it didn’t have either Dale’s or Asher’s name. The handle was HaveItYourWay. That phrase seemed familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d read or heard it before.

I scrolled down until I found part two and clicked on it.

The video went almost exactly how I remembered that afternoon going. Dale and Asher walked in to the café, Dale making fun of Asher. And then there was a shot of me, in the corner. A flashing arrow and the wordsWait for itappeared above my head. I hadn’t realized they knew I was sitting there the whole time. Apparently, I hadn’t been as hidden by the plant as I thought.

The video cut to the table, where the mocking continued.

“You’re being so mean,” Asher said.

“Uh, hello, maintain character,” Dale said.

“Oh please, I’m a master editor. I can edit anything out.”

“Part three already up,” a voice said as the video ended.

I sighed and scrolled to the next video. What I thought would be a video of the Formica tabletop, due to Dale’s shock at my arrival, was actually an upshot of him. He waggled his eyebrows at the camera as if happy with this turn of events. The shot of me in the corner from part two flashed on-screen along with the wordsRemember her? She apparently felt the need to save my pathetic friend.Then I heard Asher’s voice. “Gemma?”

The camera panned to me. “Hi,” I said.

Asher slid out of the bench seat and hugged me. “I told you I’d hug you when I saw you.” Speaking of pathetic, the look on my face was that of a hug-starved loser. Whether this was Asher’s account or not, the editing was very familiar. It was definitely Asher’s editing.

“This is bad,” I said out loud.

“You don’t have to watch any more,” Chad said.

“Over three million people have already watched it, why not you?” Darren said.

“What?” I asked, my eyes shooting to the view count. He was right—part three of the saga had well over three million views. “He used me to go viral.” My voice cracked.

“Just turn it off,” Chad said.

My finger shifted to the comments button.

“Don’t read the comments,” Chad said. “Comments can be very bad.”

I didn’t listen, I clicked because I was obviously a fan of self-inflicted punishment. The top comment, with over ten thousand likes and hundreds of responses, wasSomeone who lies that easily is either in on the scam or a total sociopath.

That comment was about me. Ten thousand people agreed with that comment.

“He left that up?” I said, more to myself than anyone. If thiswasAsher’s account, he could’ve deleted the comment. It wouldn’t have been hard. He had replied, though. His response read:No, she’s just super nice! A save-the-day-type girl.

I narrowed my eyes. I had told Asher he was a save-the-day-type guy at one point. He was definitely not a save-the-day-type guy. He was a save-himself type guy, it seemed. That meant thiswashis account, didn’t it? Dale hadn’t heard me use that phrase.

“You okay?” Chad asked.

My heart felt like it was beating in my throat. I could hardly breathe. Everyone had gone quiet, watching me. Humiliation crept across my cheeks, burning my skin.

“So was it staged?” David asked as if this was just one big joke. “I’m on Team Staged.”

“As opposed to Team Sociopath?” I snapped.

I handed the girl her phone. I didn’t even know her name and her phone had destroyed my life in less than five minutes. I couldn’t be here anymore. Why had I watched the video? I searched for my sister and finally spotted her across the yard, I beelined toward her, Chad on my heels.

Zoey was sitting in a camping chair, drinking a beer and talking with a small group of people. When I arrived, I said, “Can wego?”

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