Page 21 of Styx & Stones

“Dude! Shut up. She might say something about me.”

Joe rolls his eyes. “She’s not gonna talk about you. Chicks like that don’t know we exist.”

“Maybe not you, but she knows I exist.” I focus on the screen. We were friends now, right? I mean, she did hang out at my house after our lunch date, and we didn’t fight or kill one another ... so there’s that.

He shakes his head. “You’re delusional. How long have you gone to school with this girl?”

“Since junior high.”

“And has she ever spoken to you?”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah—”

Joe narrows his. “Other than in your dreams?”

“Fuck you, dude. We hung out just the other day. I took her to lunch and then we came here.”

“Really?” He rests his head on his palm and tilts his head to the side, a mocking smile on his face. “This I would love to hear. Is she fucked in the head?”

“Kinda, yeah. She’s got a brain tumor.”

“Oh, shit. Dude, I didn’t mean—”

“Yeah, you did. But you’re an asshole so we’ll make an exception. You can’t help that your mom dropped you on your head as a baby.”

“She really has cancer?” He screws up his nose. “I mean, she’s smokin’.”

“So what? Pretty people can’t get cancer? Then what the hell am I, dumbass?”

“Oh, yeah. For sure you’d be considered pretty in some ... circles, but even you must know this girl is way, WAY out of your league.”

“Whatever.” And just to prove him wrong, I DM her.

@zedatwoodsbellybuttonlint: Hey. Sorry you’re going through it right now. That sucks about the migraines.

@alaskasaerosoladdiction: Thanks.

I angle the phone toward him so he can see. Joe screws up his face. “Pfft. That proves nothing. She probably talks to all of her followers.”

I type again.

@zedatwoodsbellybuttonlint: You know, I’m always here if you want to talk.

@alaskasaerosoladdiction: Do you mean that?

@zedatwoodsbellybuttonlint: Of course.

@alaskasaerosoladdiction: Then what’s your number?

“Dude, no fucking way.” Joe crows like the maniac he is.

“I told you,” I say, and then remember that I haven’t exactly been honest with Alaska. All this time I’ve known who she is, but she doesn’t know it’s me she’s been talking to. Icy dread eats away at my gut.Fuck. What if she thinks I’ve been catfishing her? What if she shows up on my doorstep with Nev and a camera crew, and I become just like all those other assholes who’ve pretended to be someone they’re not on the internet?

“Don’t leave her hanging, man.” Joe smacks the back of my head. “Give her your number.”

“Ow!” I rub the tender spot. It was a pussy slap, but fucking chemo makes everything hurt ten times more than it normally would. “I can’t.”

“What? Why?”

---