Earl’s Whispers Instagram Photo:
Image: Back view of a couple watching a movie. The guy has his arm around the waist of the girl. He has straight short black hair. The girl is small, with wavy black hair falling to just above her shoulders. She is resting her head on the boy’s chest.
Caption: Naysayers can weep their conspiracy theories to the stars, because Samaya Janmohammad’s mysterious new flame had his coming-out party last night ... and what a coming-out it was! Reports from the party ranged from “oooh, yum” to “he seems full of himself.” Word is that he is neither an international pop star nor an NHL forward, but did possess some serious athletic abilities. He and Samaya dominated in a nail-biting game of croquet, where he wowed everyone with his obscure hockey trivia. Consensus is that these two are smitten, even if a little oddly matched. Will Samaya be bringing her Dark Mage boyfriend to the fall formal?Another question on everyone’s lips is: How is Devin Kapadia feeling about his former girlfriend moving on so quickly ... and moving on so well?
I zoomed in on the picture.
“This is ... actually not bad. Who took this?” I said.
It was Sunday afternoon, two days after the party, and Cass, Aimee, and I were at the public library getting some work done on the game-dev project. This was the first I’d been able to work on it all weekend, since I’d gone with Daniel, Andre, and Muniba to the market again on Saturday. The game-dev meeting was Monday, and even though I’d reluctantly agreed to go to Jayden’sDragon Arenaparty in a few weeks so he’d let me be team captain, I still wanted to have the proposal done. I’d mostly agreed to go to Jayden’s party because it seemed important to Aimee for some reason. I had no doubt her new boyfriend was bugging her to make sure I was there—or rather my Light Mage was there—and at the end of the day, Aimee was still my friend.
Aimee had done some character sketches of the fairies for the game digitally, and we’d spent the last few hours crowded around Cass’s laptop at the back of the library trying to figure out how to animate them. It was tedious, frustrating work, so we’d taken a break to check what was happening on Instagram. Apparently, what was happening was more talk about me.
“Anyone could have taken this picture,” Aimee said, frowning at the picture of Daniel and me on her phone.
Cass looked closer at it on their own phone. “I always thought Hana was behind Whispers, but this ... this doesn’t seem like something she’d write. Could have been one of her friends, though.”
“I don’t think it’s Hana, either.” I scrolled back to the Whispers post before this one, which declared Hana’s supposed HD outdoor projector was really standard definition. Hana wouldn’t have gossiped aboutherself. “Honestly, I have trouble believing the person behind Whispers is anyone from our crowd.”
Cass shrugged. “Geeks can be gossips, too.”
“Maybe,” I said. “It doesn’t matter, though. This post, finally, doesn’t seem out to get me.”
Aimee tapped her phone. “Oh, another picture was just posted.”
Cringing, I opened the newest post. It was another picture from Hana’s party, this one of Hana and Devin on one of those benches near the firepit. They were physically next to each other, but they looked totally distant emotionally, like one was in Vancouver and the other was in Prince Edward Island. Devin was gazing out into the distance, and Hana was scowling. I read the caption.
Is there conflict brewing between Earl’s hottest new it couple? Unconfirmed reports are that Devin Kapadia and Hana Dawar had a big fight after Hana’s party. Maybe this unexpected trouble in paradise has something to do with Devin clearly not enjoying his ex Samaya flaunting her new upgrade among his friends. And Hana? Her wandering eyes were seen locked on to the rear-end region of Samaya’s new man. The physics club president should be careful—Hana’s type seems to be Samaya Janmohammad’s castoffs.
Yuck. “Was Hana checking out Daniel’s butt?”
Cass shrugged. “Not that I noticed. Daniel has a nice butt, though.”
I glared at Cass. I mean, I’d noticed his nice rear end, too, but I hadn’t realized everyone else was checking it out. “Yeah, but boys shouldn’t be objectified for their body any more than girls should be. Patriarchy hurts males as much as females.”
Aimee looked at Cass, and some unsaid communication passed between them. Finally, Cass spoke. “Um, Samaya, did you even read this?”
“Yeah. That’s why I asked you if Hana was checking out Daniel’s butt.” This was the most conversation I’d ever had about any boyfriend’s, or in this case,fakeboyfriend’s, butt. What had happened to my life?
Cass gave me a sideways look. “It says Devin and Hana werefighting. And yet the only thing you seem to be concerned about is Daniel’s butt.”
I frowned. Holding the phone closer, I read the caption again. Itdidsay they argued after the party. “So what? I mean, no one actually thinks they’ll last, do they? Devin was the president of the astronomy club last year, and Hana believes that if the school has an astronomy club, it should have an astrology club, too. For ...equalityreasons.” I put air quotes around the wordequality, mimicking Hana’s high-pitched voice.
“Okay, yes, they’re doomed to fail,” Aimee said, “but, Samaya, maybe this means he wants to get back together with you?”
“Ew. I hope not.” I made a sour face. “Besides. I have a boyfriend.”
“A fake one,” Aimee said under her breath.
I glared at them again. The library was pretty busy, and even though I didn’t see anyone from Earl’s, that didn’t mean they weren’t there to hear us. “But either way, I am not interested in getting back with Devin. Seriously.”
Another look passed between Aimee and Cass. Clearly they’d had a conversation without me. “Cass and I were wondering ...,” Aimee said. “Is there more between you and your fake boy?”
“More what?”
“More than ... you know,” Aimee said.
“More than lemon squares,” Cass clarified. I was glad I’d told them our code name.
