Sometimes pictures do lie. Things aren’t what they seem with these two. Soon enough, everyone will see who Sam really is.
20
Cass’s Secret
Thanks to my best friend calling me needy, and the ominous message from GamesLost, I was almost shaking on my walk home alone from the library. What exactly did GamesLost mean bySoon enough, everyone will see who Sam really is? Whoever they were, it was clear they were trying to hurt me. Expose me. It was one thing when GamesLost was commenting on my own Instagram ... but now they were posting on Earl’s Whispers, too. Of course, they knew I wasn’t actually dating Daniel—and that we were lying about how we met. Were they planning to tell Whisper’s the lengths I’d gone to—actually asking someone to pretend to date me, just to win the breakup with Devin?
Or maybe it was just an empty threat—and their goal was to turn me into a complete basket case. If that was their point, they were succeeding.
When I got home, I told Mom I had a headache and went straight to my room. I needed to figure out who GamesLost was. But before that, I needed to process everything Cass had said.
I knew I had been wrapped up in my own crap since my breakup with Devin. I mean, I had a lot of crap to be wrapped up in. But wasI reallyneedy? Too needy? I could feel my chest tighten. I hated that I had been a bad friend. I closed my eyes, massaging my forehead. I wanted to practice pi. Or maybe dig up some advanced trigonometry functions—I wanted to use numbers to escape this horrible feeling of hurting my friend.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t sweep this under the rug and hope it would go away. And I couldn’t deflect the blame on anyone else. I had been wrapped up in myself for the last few weeks. Focusing too much on unimportant things—like what Daniel would wear to Hana’s party, or who was behind Earl’s Whispers. When was the last time I’d asked Cass about how things were going with their family? Or had lunch with them, just the two of us? Now that I thought about it, Cass had been busier than normal lately—going out on weekends and doing something after school. Cass was a private person—but I hadn’t once asked them what they’d been up to.
I loved Cass. I’d always supported them when they needed me. We’d been through so much together. I was there for them when they came out as nonbinary. I was there when they dealt with shit from their extended family. Cass was the calmest, steadiest person I knew. They were my rock, and I thought I was theirs.
But had I been taking more than I gave lately? That was not the person I wanted to be. I texted them.
Me:I’ve been a lot lately. I’m sorry.
I didn’t expect Cass to write back, but they did. Immediately.
Cass:You have. And I should have told you off for it a long time ago.
Me:I wish you had.
Cass:I tried. A few times. I wanted to say
They didn’t finish their sentence, I stared at my phone as the three dots appeared, then disappeared a few times. Finally, a text came through.
Cass:Can we talk about this tomorrow?
I really hoped that the talk wasn’t going to be a friend breakup. I didn’t know how I’d deal with that. But I had no choice but to agree. I knew Cass—they’d want to think through all their thoughts alone before bringing them to me. That was how they’d always been.
Me:Okay. Tomorrow.
Cass:And about Daniel—He’s a good guy. If he’s into you, which I think is, he doesn’t deserve to be strung along. You need to figure out your shit.
I snorted. That was the Cass I loved. Telling me exactly what I needed to hear.
Me:I’m not stringing him along.
Cass:Make that clear to him.
Me:Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Sorry again. I mean it.
Cass didn’t respond. I wanted to say more—apologize again, ask them about their weekend, and hopefully get back to where we should be—but I didn’t. I needed to give Cass space. As they had said, I needed to figure out my shit instead of burdening my friends with it.
I grabbed a notebook and a pencil and sat on my bed. I needed to figure out this LostAxis situation.
GamesLost had commented on three pictures: two on my own Instagram, and one on Earl’s Whispers. All evidence pointed to GamesLost being LostAxis. The names were similar. And also, their reference to a hat trick. Their comment on my own account told me that LostAxis knew who I was IRL. Now, because they were commenting on a Whispers post, it was likely that GamesLost a.k.a. LostAxis was an Earl’s student. They knew who I was, they knew my relationship with Daniel was fake, and they knew Earl’s Whispers had been targeting me. Hell, assuming they read all the old posts on Whispers, they knew that I’d broken down into sobs begging Devin not to break up with me back in June.
A heaviness grew in my stomach.
Who could it be, though? I started listing the people in ourDragon Arenaguild in my notebook. I’d already eliminated Jayden and Omar. But the guild was big—at its height last year, there’d been about twenty people in it. Maybe it was Arthur—a kid in grade eleven who’d been suddenly very friendly with me last year. Actually, he’d asked me last winter to do a duo quest with him, and I’d said no, because it was a quest I’d been wanting to do with Devin.
Then again, it was possible whoever it was wasn’t in the guild. Hell, they might not even be an Earl’s student.
