Page 19 of Didn't See That Coming

It’s been an ongoing joke between Sharlot and Cassie that my online bestie is some old creeper pretending to be a teenage boy. I guess, on the bright side, I’m about to prove them wrong.

“Actually, he’s a bona fide teen boy.”

Cassie’s eyes widen. “Ooh! You finally have a photo of him? Yasss! Oh my god, is he hot?”

“No!”

“Oh.” Her shoulders slump. “Yeah, I should’ve known that a gamer guy wouldn’t be hot. No offense to you. Gamer girls are, like, scalding hot. But the guys, eh.”

I have to laugh at that, because it’s kind of painfully true. “I don’t know what he looks like.”

“Then how do you know he’s not a fifty-year-old man?”

“Because—” I take a deep breath. Here it comes, the unlikeliest news of the year. “He’s in Year Eleven, like us. And…he’s a student at Xingfa.”

Cassie’s jaw thumps to the floor. “Whoa, wait—”

News out, I lean back, spent. Even saying it out loud feels ridiculous, like, seriously, what are the chances?

Cassie’s mouth closes a little, then opens again, then closes. Then opens. “But—” she sputters.

“Yeah, exactly.” I’m glad I’m not the only one freaked out by this.

“Shit,” she whispers, then out of nowhere, she giggles. The giggle turns into a laugh, and before long, it morphs into a full-body cackle. And I can’t help but join in, because really, what else is there to do aside from laugh-cry? “Are you freaking serious?”

I nod, and the two of us devolve into yet more bone-shaking laughter.

“Oh my god. Oh my god!” she shriek-laughs. “Wait, but—oh my god. Who is he?”

“I don’t know!” I moan. “He could be anyone. Xingfa is a huge school! There are, like, three hundred students per year group.”

Cassie dissolves into laughter again. “What are you going to do? He thinks you’re a guy!”

“I know that. I don’t need you to remind me of that. Every single time I talk to him, I’m reminded of the fact that my online best friend thinks I’m a dude.”

Cassie’s laugh softens into a sad smile. “Aww. Your online bestie! That’s so cute. It’s so, like, circa 2000. Like that ancient Meg Ryan movie that our moms are always watching.”

“Okay, it’s kind of different fromYou’ve Got Mail.”

“Really, in what way?” Cassie cocks her head to one side.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Well, first of all, Sourdawg and I actually do something together? We don’t just sit around emailing each other.”

“Oh, right.” Cassie smacks her forehead dramatically. “Sorry, how could I forget, you guys play that shooter game together. Yeah, total couple goals.”

I glare at her. “Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is, what am I going to do? We’re in the same school! In the same year group!” I repeat, just in case the direness of the situation hasn’t sunk in.

Cassie nods. “Okay. Well, anyway. Here’s what you do. Youready?”

I lean forward, ready to absorb whatever suggestion she comes up with.

Cassie takes a deep breath. “Nothing.”

I blink. “Nothing?”

“Nothing. He doesn’t know who you are. Does he know you go to Xingfa?”

It takes me a minute to consider this. “I don’t think I mentioned it by name, no.I just told him that it’s one of the biggest Chinese schools in Indonesia. He might’ve figured it out—”

---