Page 73 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
And maybe that was a sign I was doing the wrong thing.
That night, I scrolled throughBrentwood Babbleuntil the blue LED light of my phone burned into my retinas. The blog only went back two years, but I typed my name in the search back and scrolled, and scrolled, lost into the realm that was the high school’s gossip website. Going into my senior year, I’d scoured the pages day in and day out, but now, two weeks later, I opened the webpage up for the first time since the Most Likely Tos dropped.
The comments on the MLT post were mostly the same—shock that so many in the Top Tier had been thrown under the bus, amused at the treason, or confused by the callouts. The owner of the site, Ava, had posted a few new threads since last Monday.
BRENTWOOD’S NEWEST IT COUPLE: LACEDON
This Week’s Juicy Gossip
ALERT THE MEDIA—It Must Be Date Night!
It was the article about us showing up at Allen’s Alley. She mostly talked about Jade and Connor, tying in a bit of Reed and Cindy, and briefly mentioned Landon and me. Since Ava was Maisie’s BFF, she left out the Coke waterfall ordeal, but even though it hadn’t been written about, someonecommentedabout it. A picture, in fact.
Maisie was in plain view, with her mouth dropped in a shockedO. Her boyfriend’s eyes were round as he stared at the mess he’d created, his body a blur of motion as he’d been in the process of pushing his chair back.
I looked at the comment attached to the picture, my stomach dropping.
JDBobcatBabe01: Did the weather call for rain?
Of course, given the angle the photo had been taken at, it could have been no one other than Jade. That was Jade’s Babble handle, too. My stomach plummeted further as I read through the comments poking fun at Maisie. Why had she even taken the picture? Why did she care so much?
Most of the other comments were in regard to the post, where Ava had keyed heavily onJannor’s Cuteness!!!andLandon’s new sweetheart?!For some reason, my skin crawled reading it all, especially about Jade and Connor. No one had any idea that they’d argued the entire car ride to Allen’s Alley. On the outside, they were a picture-perfect couple. No one knew how they really were at all.
Of course they don’t, I thought bitterly.That’s the whole point.
I went through the comments, but there was only one about me.
BundlesOfBobcats: Anyone else thought Landon and Madison were going to end up together?
The thread devolved from there, though, focusing on Landon and Lacey’s relationship.
GirlWithBangs: anyone else feel like Lacedon are the perfect fit??
Hunt4Bulldogs: no wayyyyy. she’s related to the grim reaper—landon can’t date devil adjacent! he can do so much better
ForgetForever: with how picky he is, you’d think he’d be into someone who doesn’t have grown out roots and bad fashion. sorry. someone had to say it.
GirlWithBangs: I think she dresses cute ):
Hunt4Bulldogs: you can be wrong LOL
JDBobcatBabe01: It’s so weird, right?? something doesn’t add up…
I gripped my phone tighter, my thumbs moving before I realized what I was doing.
MOBobcatBabe02: Why can’t we just be happy for them?
I couldn’t even explain why I commented it. It wasn’t as if I’d been a true Lacedon shipper since their public announcement—because, to be honest, Lacey had a bit of a hard attitude to swallow—but seeing everyone join the Lacey Churchill hate train bugged me. Some of the comments were plain mean.
The rush of adrenaline that came with hitting the post button almost made me lightheaded, but it was short-lived. I hadn’t tagged her, but would Jade be notified since she’d commented on this message thread? Would she open it, recognize my username, and see how Idefended the new couple—therefore goingagainsther take?
I rushed to press the delete button, but at that exact second, my screen lit up with an incoming call.Logan.
My insides dipped, this time for a whole other reason. I flung myself up out of my cozy laying position, one of my stuffed animals tumbling onto the floor. Smoothing down my hair—which was ridiculous, since this wasn’t a videocall—I let out a single slow breath before pressing the green button. “Hi,” I greeted in a small voice, tucking my knees closer to my chest.
Logan’s voice was equally as soft. “Hi.” Just the one word melted something inside me, chasing away the thoughts and bad feelings that’d bloomed the second I’d opened Babble. Logan was like a mood stabilizer, turning all the negativity tooff. “I told myself I shouldn’t call you.”
Well,thatchased away some of my warmth. “Why not?”
