Page 47 of The Fangirl Project
“Er, not long. How about you?”
“Since always. I think I found the first book in the library when I was about ten, and I never looked back.”
“Ten?”I echo, jaw dropping, and I blurt, “I can’t even make it through more than a few pages of the book now; I can’t imagine reading them as a ten-year-old.”
She shrugs, looking embarrassed, though I didn’t mean it badly at all.
“So are you into all the other stuff, too?” I ask. I wonder if I’ve exchanged messages with her in the Discord without even realizing it, or if she was wandering around Comic Con or the Worlds Beyond convention last month and we missed each other.
Anissa cocks her head, frowning at me. “Other stuff? What, like…Game of ThronesandLord of the Rings,you mean?”
“No, like the fandom stuff. Like Comic Con. You know,OWARcosplays and fanfiction and Discords and that kind of thing.”
“I…” Her frown deepens, and she searches my face, almost like she’s looking for the lie in my words, some kind of trick. “I’ve read a couple of fanfictions, but…”
I have the sudden urge to ask if she’s a Silversmith shipper, too, what she thinks about the theory that Devon will die protecting Lady diSilver, to say how excited I am for Lady diSilver and Roach to cross paths (which I’m sure they inevitably will in later episodes) because I’ve become convinced they’ll end up having a really strong platonic bond, like siblings.
The thoughts pour in so thick and fast I can’t pick which one to ask first, and they’re followed swiftly by the realization that Icareabout her answers. About this fandom.
And not even for Jake’s sake, but…justbecause.
I end up swallowing all my questions, and Anissa is still staring at me funny. She looks almost distrustful, as if whatever tentative bridge we just formed is going to shatter if she tries to step across it.
People are starting to stream into the classroom now, and I’m going to be late for my next class. Iamlate, probably. Anissa will be too, because she stayed to help me.
“We should get going,” I say.
She nods, and I wait for her to grab her own things, though we leave in silence. I can’t quite pinpoint what I said that shifted the conversation for the worse, and understand much less why it bothers me so much.
Do I even want to be friends with Anissa? The quiet loner girl I was so keen to avoid, worried I’d be tarnished by association? Orcursed,like Evie suggested she was capable of?
At the end of the corridor, we part ways, and I mutter a goodbye. Anissa hums, not quite saying anything, and we move in opposite directions to our next classes, other stragglers cluttering up the hallways.
I only get a few steps before I spin on my heel and run after her.
“Wait! Anissa!”
I catch up to her and she looks at me with that frown still in place.
“There’s a Discord—a chat room forum thing—for some localOWARfans; they’re all really nice. There’s, like, channels within it for discussing theories or sharing links to fanart, and they organize meetups sometimes, although I haven’t gone to any of those. Mostly they just talk about the show. The books, whatever. I could send you a link, if…if you wanted?”
The crease in her forehead and the pinch between her eyebrows eases away, and she blinks at me, owlish, before nodding.
“Cool, okay. Yeah. I’ll, um…” I don’t know why I’m so flustered. It’s just—it’s weird, sharing the fandom with someone in real life, someone who’s not Jake. It’s also weird to think that a long-established fan like Anissa, who’s been into the books for six or seven years, isn’t already invested in every facet of this bonkers little community. “I’ll send you the link.”
“That’d be really nice. I never get to chat aboutOf Wrath and Runewith anybody.”
“Well, now you can.”
She smiles, showing that gap in her teeth again, and there’s something almost Jake-like in her grin that makes me smile back.
OWAR Discord #324
#general
@mythicwitch
Happy Friday, folks! How’re your weekends looking? I just wanted to welcome@ladyanissadishipperto the group, she’s a longtime reader but new to the Discord
