‘There’s more. He sent them to Gabe’s friends, too, and … some more, but we don’t need to get into it.’
‘No, wait, some more how? Is he okay?’ The fury in my chest only grew. Yes, I had been pissed at Gabe, but that had gone away over the last few months. I’d never really gotten over my anger with Vic, and why should I?
‘Physically he’s fine. Vic’s warfare is all psychological.’
After she let me digest this for a bit, I said, ‘Okay, so tonight is what? You all just hanging out with Gabe and trying to cheer him up?’ I could understand why it might not be the best idea for me to be there for that. I probably also wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut about what an asshole Vic was.
‘Sorta. But also, Morgan and I were talking.’
‘And?’
Ava grinned. ‘We’re gonna fuck his shit up.’
I laughed. Ava had told me they were still being nice to Gabe at work. I had never felt any jealousy because she had always been completely honest with me when she was going to hang out with Kevin and knew Gabe might be there. She’d ask if I wanted to come, but I always passed. Instead, Morgan and I hung out, or I stayed in. But I was glad they hadn’t totally iced Gabe out, because now they could do this.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘What’s the plan for this revenge mission?’
She frowned. ‘I should probably check with Gabe to make sure it’s okay that you come. Also, I haven’t really told him yet.’
‘Ican talk to Gabe. We have some stuff to deal with anyway.’
‘Still hosting?’
Gabe looked up from the formal dining room host stand, startled. When he saw it was me, he seemed to readjust his posture, then straightened the necktie and purple dress shirt he wore.
‘I am.’ He was still defensive. Probably worried I was here to yell or cut off my other fingers in front of him.
‘First male host in Sunset Estates history. Wow. Must be because you had a great trainer. No wonder your aunt wrote a letter of recommendation for that feat.’ I was hoping the joke would put him more at ease. Kind of me waving a white flag.
His brief smile – no dimples – seemed to prove it did. ‘You picking up Ava?’
I nodded. ‘She actually came out and told me what happened. With Vic.’
Gabe’s shoulders slumped. He didn’t seem angry that Ava had told me, but rather more embarrassed than anything. ‘Does it feel good to be right about him?’
‘No, Gabe. I came to check on you, not to gloat. Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ But I could tell that was a lie.
‘You don’t have to be fine. It’s the same shit that happened to you last year, so you’re allowed to be completely not-fine.’
His eyes were glassy, and he let out a sigh. ‘I know. But it’s actually worse than last year.’
‘Because it was your family he sent the texts to.’
‘And a video.’
‘What!’
Gabe quickly corrected himself. ‘It wasn’t a real video. It was some video he found that happened to be a random Latino dude and a white guy doing it. There’s even some fan site watermark in the corner he didn’t bother removing, but you can’t see their faces, and apparently my family didn’t feel like looking that closely at it. Not that I can blame them.’
I felt a tiny bit of relief. At least that meant Vic didn’thavea video of the two of them that he’d use to ruin Gabe’s life.
‘But it was just another thing for my parents to scold me over. I think I had finally gotten through to them how important it was for me to go to film school. We had a showcase at Murphy – did Ava tell you?’
I shook my head.
‘It was a screening for our final film projects. It was … kind of the last straw for Vic and me that day. My family showed up, but he didn’t. Said he had something with school, but it was a Saturday afternoon. Afterward my dad said he was proud of the film. And my mom even cried. For a few days after the showcase, everything seemed so good. My dad actually asked me questions about USC’s film program. But Vic ruined it by sending out those screencaps. I think they’re just embarrassed, but they haven’t said more than three words to me in days. Which I guess is better than just yelling at me.’
