Aimee:Right now Devin is winning your breakup. If you start winning, you’ll get the respect. And I know how to turn the tables and make you the winner.
Win the breakup? And what did that have to do with LostAxis? Not understanding why, I added the photo to our group chat. In a few minutes, Aimee posted it back on our chat, except instead of standing alone, he was standing next to me. The pole he’d been holding was gone, and my head was tilted toward him.
Only that couldn’t have really been me ... because I’d never met LostAxis in person.
Aimee:Did you know photography camp included photo manipulation classes?
Cass:Holy shit Aim...
Me:... I have no words.
I zoomed in on the shot even closer. It wasn’t the best photo manipulation—I looked like I’d been cut and pasted onto the picture with kindergarten scissors, and his arms were kind of awkward since the pole had been erased.
Aimee:Give me more time and I can do this seamlessly. No one will know it’s fake. Post this on your Instagram, and everyone will think you moved on. You’re not sitting at home crying over Devin. You’re spending your time with this hottie you’ve been gaming with for weeks.
Me:But I’ve never met LostAxis. We’re online friends only.
Aimee:No one has to know that part. I can even DM this photo to the Earl’s Whispers account, claiming I took it over the summer. I’ll tell them you were crying at lunch today because of allergies, and you can’t possibly still be hung up on Devin, because you’re with this guy now. This will work.
Me:I don’t know.
Aimee:It’s not even lying because you ARE actually talking to him. What do you think, Cass?
Cass didn’t answer for a while. I could picture their dark eyebrows furrowed as they considered it.
Cass: Idon’t like lying but this is barely lying. You don’t have to say you’re dating the guy—just that he’s someone you’ve been gaming with, which is true.
I chewed on my lip, thinking. Should I ask LostAxis before using him like this? Probably. He was my friend.
But I didn’t like the idea of explaining to him why I was doing this. And he didn’t like things getting personal between us.
Me:Okay. Let’s give it a try. Added bonus is that it will piss off Devin. But don’t say that we’re like...dating or anything. Just talking and playing games together.
Aimee: Consider it done. I’ll send you and Earl’s Whispers the pic when I’m done. Stay tuned.
I zoomed in on the pic again. LostAxis and I did actually look good together. Better than me and Devin? I didn’t know. Or care, honestly.
But I certainly looked better in this picture than the Samaya in the Earl’s Whispers post—shocked, crying, and alone.
This was a definite improvement.
5
The Plan Works Spectacularly
Image: Smiling teenage boy with light brown skin and dimples, with his arm around a shorter teenage girl with chin-length, wavy hair. They are outdoors with trees behind them, and she is looking up at the boy.
Caption: Well, well. This is unexpected. A mysterious bird has informed us that we were wrong about Samaya Janmohammad’s heartbroken mental state over her ex Devin Kapadia’s shiny new relationship status. Seems Ms.Janmohammad only had some pollen in her eye, and was not distraught over learning that Hana Dawar had taken her throne as half of the school’s “it couple.” In fact, word on the street is that Samaya moved on with a gaming friend long before Devin even left his family’s homeland. And judging by this anonymous pic, Samaya has not only moved on ... she’s moved up. Devin may have had a serious glow-up in India, but this mystery gamer friend of Samaya’s might even be an upgrade, in the looks department, at least. Nice.
I smiled. For the very first time, seeing my name on a Whispers post didn’t make my chest tighten. “They took the bait,” I said to Cass and Aimee. Today we’d all managed to get seats near the front of the bus instead of where we usually sat at the back.
“It’s excellent,” Aimee said. “I couldn’t have written a better caption myself.”
I read through the post again. “It’s good. It’s very good. Only thing better would be if it mentioned that LostAxis is a math whiz, too.”
If I was going to use LostAxis as proof that I could move on from Devin, why not use him to prove I had movedupfrom him, too? I didn’t want people to think I was only with LostAxis for his looks. Even if he looked like ... that.
Cass raised a brow. “I know you only associate with geniuses, but honestly not everyone cares.”
