The line formed, and the first few people approached Goldie. She smiled and signed posters, books, dolls, and whatever they presented to her from her movies.
But then, the crowd here increased in size but decreased in age. Libby noticed a preponderance of Victor Superhero Universe t-shirts and merch, as they called it.
Libby watched as a worried Tally leaned over Goldie.
“Uh, you're blowing up on Twitter,” Tally said and handed her phone to Goldie.
Goldie read the tweets aloud.
“Goldie Hayes dropped. Studio set to sue. Next, VSU movie delayed thanks to Goldie Haye’s antics.”
“This is gonna be a thing, I think,” Tally said. There was a grimace on the assistant’s face as she looked out toward the crowd amassing to approach Goldie.
“Yeah, and the rabid fanboys are jumping all over me on here. They want their next installment, and they want it now.”
Goldie handed the phone back to Tally.
Libby watched as a man, who looked to be in his twenties, with a Cromagnet Forever t-shirt on, walked up to Goldie.
“You WITCH!!! YOU RUINED THE FRANCHISE, AND WE’RE NOT GETTING OUR SPARKLE MOVIE PREVIEW!”
He threw his water bottle at Goldie and water sprayed Goldie and Tally.
Libby leaped forward.
“Hey, you little jerk. Backoff!”
The swarm of people pressing forward didn’t look enraptured to meet a celebrity. They looked angry.
“Team TREVOR!”
“What? Team Trevor?” Goldie asked Tally.
“Justice for Trevor!” This was another shout from the crowd.
“Hashtag, yeah, worldwide trend, along with?—”
“What?”
“GetGoldieGone.”
“Oh, boy,” Libby said.
As soon as Tally was done uttering the words, the same phrase rose above the general din of voices in the convention hall.
“Get Goldie Gone, Get Goldie Gone.”
The crush of fans knocked over the rope maze designed to control the crowd.
Something else flew through the air. This time, it was some sort of blonde doll. Had it hit someone, it would have hurt. It bounced off the plexiglass.
“Let’s go,” Libby said. She put her hand out to Goldie, and Goldie took it. But she looked unsure.
“I contracted to do this. I can’t leave.”
“That group wants to tear you apart,” Libby said.
Goldie stood up. A loud round of boos filled the space.
