Page 4 of The Fangirl Project
Jake is oblivious.
He runs a hand over one of the pieces of shoulder armor Max is wearing, studying it closely. “Damn, I just cannot get over how awesome these are. You look like a real fighter; it’s so freaking cool. IwishI could pull that off.”
Max’s face relaxes a little as he tosses Jake a smile. “I told you I’d help you with a Daxys cosplay, if you wanted.”
Feeling cut out already, I clear my throat. Jake startles slightly, but his grin is focused full force on me once more within a split second, and it’s so easy to smile back at him.
“Max, this is Cerys, the girl I told you about.”
I balk. Is that it? Five years of being best friends, of sharing in-jokes and cutting class together and swapping homework to help each other out, and the grand sum of my introduction isthe girl I told you about?
Unless…unless Jake’s already told himso muchabout me, I need no introduction? Maybe he’s gushed about me nonstop to all his new pals and I’m “the girl Jake has a crush on,” or at least “the girl Jake doesn’t realize yet that he has a crush on, but he won’t shut up talking about her and it’s obvious to everyone.”
Yeah. Yeah, that’s it. It’s got to be.
This is the classic friends-to-lovers story; I know how it goes. It’s like inThe Duff—he’s my Robbie Amell and just needs to see me in a new light, that’s all! I force myself to relax, to pay attention as Jake carries on talking, now waving a hand in Max’s direction, his arm still slung around his shoulders.
“Cerys—this is Max. He’s at my new school. Remember, I’ve told you about that guy in my physics class, I met him at soccerearlier this summer when I switched teams after the move? This is him! And get this—he’s ahugeOWARfan, too! Talk about serendipity, huh?”
“Really?” I say dryly, and let my eyes skirt over the cosplayagain. I can’t help it. Even his pants aren’t, like, just normal pants. Where do boys evengetleather pants? “I’d never have guessed.”
“And you’re the newbie,” Max says. His voice is lower than I was expecting. Slower. He soundsbored,which is a very nice way to treat his new friend’s best friend. He clearly did not choose to take the high road, like I have. What an ass.
But if this is the kind of guy Jake wants to be friends with—if this is what he bonds with people over, the sort of thing he loves…it just drives home the genius of my plan: get into the fandom to spend time with him.
I’m not about to let Max steal my friend. I’m not going to beusurpedby some guy who wears arm guards and a blond wig out in public. Especially not one who has the audacity to somehow still be smirking at me. Is he trying to go for the world record, or am Ithatmuch of a joke to him?
I must be staring (glaring) at him too much, because he adds, “So Jake was telling me you’re pretty new to the fandom?”
If that’s his attempt at an olive branch, it’s a fail. He only succeeds in sounding snarky.
I need to get ahold of myself. I can’t stoop to this guy’s level and be as judgmental as him. I need to prove myself to Jake, not risk this distance between us widening more than it already has. I pasteon a smile, shrug my shoulders back, and shift my weight to one hip in a more visibly relaxed posture—pointedly mirroring Jake’s body language.
“Yes. Yeah! Well, sort of. I’ve heard plenty aboutOWARfrom this guy here.” I giggle, giving Jake a playful shove.See, look at me, using the lingo, calling it “OWAR”!Jake laughs, too, and winks at me. My stomach flutters with butterflies.
“I’ve been trying to get Cer into it for ages, man—and she finally caved! Couldn’t resist the ol’ Jake Wandsworth charm, huh?”
“Oh, don’t you know it.” I give him another little push, right on the bicep. Between that and the eye contact, it’s a total Moment. Then, to really drive home my commitment to this thing (and to Jake), I tell Max, “I don’t know why I put it off so long, it looks so interesting. I bought all the books last week. Jake thinks I should start with the show, then read the books, but it’s always better the other way around, right?”
“Hmm, it depends. The books are pretty dense, especially the first one. Things don’t really get going until book three. I think theshow’s probably more accessible if you’re not huge on fantasy…Kind of like withGame of Thrones,you know?”
“Oh, for sure.” I nod, despite the grand sum of my knowledge being that some guy called Ned Stark dies in, like, the first episode, and people really love Pedro Pascal’s character.
I may be way in over my head here.
“Cerys is more of a romance gal. You know,She’s the Man, To All the Boys…I gotta say, she talked me into watching that one, but that series wasso good.But yeah, you’re not usually that into fantasy stuff, are you?” Jake adds, turning to me.
O ye of little faith.
“That changes today!”
Max is giving me another very mean, very unimpressed look, but manages to say, “Well,OWAR’s got something for everybody. You’ll be a Silversmith shipper before you know it.”
My smile freezes. “Um, right. Sure.”
Shipper?What, like, rooting for a fictional couple? It’s not a romance show, is it? Jake would’ve told me if it was.
Jake, though, is laughing, turned away from me once more. “As if. I keep telling you, man, those two are not endgame. Everybody’s wasting their time with them. Cerys will agree, I bet, just you wait and see. Now come on, I amnotmissing this panel.”
