Page 76 of Chase Lovett Wants Me

“My fic is being flooded with horrible reviews. And some of them have outed my real name. And there’s a freaking picture of me with bedhead! How will I ever leave my room after this?” Tears well again.

Tally rolls the chair back and crosses over to my bed. She hugs me and I cry. Then she takes my phone and reads all the shitty things people have said. She also reports the review with the picture of me. “Look, I know right now this feels like the worst thing in the world, but there are three new reviews from people who are in love with this story. And honestly, I can understand why, because it’s superhot and until half an hour ago, I wasn’t intoLotRfic and now I’msuperintoLotRfic. Like I want my friend Hammer to make us shirts and stuff.”

I laugh and wipe the tears away with the sleeve of Chase’s shirt. That I’m still wearing. “People are going to be dicks.”

“Let them be dicks. Fuck all those assholes. You write hot shit. If you hide from it, you give them power, so take it back and just own it, Cammie,” Tally says. “Don’t let them win.”

“I just...don’t want to always be labeled as a weirdo. It’ll be like high school all over again.”

Tally gives me a small, sad smile. “People love you exactly as you are, Cammie. I do, and I’m pretty sure Chase does even if you haven’t said the words yet. I know Essie fits into the cool girl box and that parts of you wish you could be that too. But Essie has her own stuff. We all do. And the grass always seems greener on the other side. I know right now everything feels shitty, but the people who really matter love that you’re your own person. Barbie and Annabelle look like they have it together, but they’re swans. They have a pretty veneer, but under it all they’re struggling too, and they take it out on other people. Show them they don’t have the power to knock you down.”

“That was an excellent go-get-’em-tiger speech,” I say.

“Thanks. I know how it feels to be different, maybe not in the same way, but I still get it. Hiding won’t make this go away.”

“Okay.” I slap my thighs. “Let’s get me dressed for maximum don’t-fuck-with-me vibes.”

Half an hour later—I had to put tea bags on my eyes for ten minutes to calm the redness—I’m dressed and ready to leave my room. If Tally wasn’t with me, I don’t think I’d be able to do this. Also, I’m trying to intercept Chase before he returns to res so I can break the news before someone else can.

We don’t even make it to the lobby without getting heckled.

“This sucks balls.”

“Arwen sucks a lot of balls,” Tally quips.

I laugh, because what else can I do? “Truth.”

We’re approaching the front doors when Chase and Brody walk through them.

Two guys high-five them.

Brody and Chase look exceptionally confused.

Chase’s face lights up when he sees me, but his brow quickly furrows as a group of girls pass me and Tally, whispering and giggling. One girl calls me a weirdo and another one calls me a slut.

“This is going to be so fun. I might as well get a face transplant.”

“Fuck everyone.”

“I feel like they already believe that’s what I do.”

Tally rolls her eyes. “By that logic, everyone who writes murder mysteries should be locked up because they’re serial killers.”

“This!”

“Lovett and Stiles!” Some guy I vaguely recognize appears out of nowhere. Chase and Brody are still half a room away. “Heard about your girlfriend. Guess I know why you two are so tight.” He motions between Brody and Chase. “You ever want to add one more to the party, you know where to find me.”

“I wish I had the power of invisibility,” I mutter.

“The fuck are you talking about?” Chase asks.

“Everyone knows, man. She’s a real freak, huh? Letting you both give it to her.” He makes a thrusting motion. “Just like your brother, huh, Stiles?”

Between one blink and the next, Brody has him pinned against the wall with his forearm barred across his throat. Chase jumps in and tries to pry his arm free.

I can’t hear what Brody says, but the color drains from the guy’s face as he also tries to unbar Brody’s arm from his throat.

A group congregates and yellsfight, fight, fight. People are such idiots.

---