Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 57139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
–Steve
Ishut the door on my parents—slammed it, actually—and leaned against it like that would somehow keep the humiliation from following me inside. It didn’t. It still came like the security blanket I didn’t need or want, bearing heavily across my shoulders.
My mom had revived just enough to mumble something about “losing her eyesight” before Dad steered her out into the bathroom, and Ezra… Ezra had the audacity to still be standing there with his jeans half-zipped and a smirk on his face like the whole thing was an amusing anecdote he’d be telling for years. I can’t even remember what we told them, did it matter? I glared at Ezra.
“Don’t,” I snapped, pointing at him. “Not a word, not now. This is somehow still your fault.”
His smirk twitched. “I wasn’t—”
“Don’t.” I repeated again this time in more of a low timbre.
I stormed into the kitchen like a mad woman on a mission, grabbed my laptop, and opened the date footage.
I had all of it, the martini spill, the nipple betrayal, his “you look beautiful” in that low, ruin-your-life voice and stupid Lila freaking Yale. I had him leaning in like he knew what he was doing to me. I mean, he’d been a famous YouTuber, one I’d religiously followed until he disappeared. Rumor had it that he went to college and got tired of all the attention. I’d been bummed, how had I not recognized him all this time? To be fair he never lied, he’d acted in his videos and he said Vex was an actor I just didn’t know he was actor Ezra or that Ezra had an entirely different life he’d never filled me in on. Did he just assume I knew?
I cringed thinking about the end of the night—me tight-smiling through fan club questions while he looked at me like he was memorizing my face.
Every frame was like pouring gasoline, and every look he gave me was striking a match. It was only a matter of time before it all went boom.
“Harper,” Ezra said leaning against doorway, a note of warning in his voice. “You really don’t have to—”
“Upload it?” I clicked export like it was the laptop’s fault. “Oh, I think I do.”
“Be rational.”
Not. The thing. To say. I spun in my chair. “I just got walked in on by my parents while I was literally on my knees with your—” I waved vaguely toward his crotch “—situation making an unscheduled appearance, Ezra. Rational left the building ten minutes ago.” Rational wasn’t a word I was familiar with at this point. How did this all go south so fast?
His jaw worked. “You’re mad about Lila, then?”
I barked a laugh. “I’m mad about a lot of things. Lila is just the bow on top of the gift basket of my rage of your many lies, Ezra Wyatt Park.” The hell! I was best friends with a former YouTube prodigy! Shouldn’t he have led with that instead of a goofy missed high five in our English Lit class followed by talking about his spreadsheet like it was his girlfriend over ice cream?
He stepped closer, dropping his voice. He reached out, then jerked his hand back like he was afraid to touch my computer. “If you post that, you can’t take it back.”
I met his eyes, felt the heat of them, and hated that part of me still wanted to kiss him. Best friend. He was my best friend, not this part he was playing, and clearly there was still a shit ton I didn’t know about him. “Good.”
And then I hit post. Was it mildly aggressive? Yes. Did I potentially bruise my finger form it and become the first person in history to do so with a laptop? Possibly. But it was posted. Done. Our date—my date with the perfect man who actually does exist but got away, Vex, my actual not ex, but best friend and semi famous content creator. What. Could. Go. Wrong.
Ha, ha, ha. And God laughs…
The little progress bar slid across the screen and then the wheel of death took possibly one second before boom, finishing, done.
Within five minutes, my notifications exploded. Hearts. Comments. Shares. It was quite possibly my first out of body experience.
And then—
Omg is that EZRA WYATT??
No way, that’s Vex! Did she know? Is Vex his nickname?
NO. WAY. He changed his name so she’d see the real him first! Why didn’t they work out? She’s dumb.
Throwback to when he played Jace in Midnight Ashes—I still cry over that finale, I mean for a YouTube short it was hella good, I thought he was signed on for like two more movies?
Wait—wasn’t he in rehab?
I would sell a vital organ to see him as a vampire in any movie.
The comments multiplied. Old clips of him surfaced—movies, interviews, red carpet photos from YouTube awards. His Wikipedia page screenshot. Paparazzi shots with women I’d never seen before all smiling and high fiving him sans glasses, sans everything, back when he really was a star back before he even knew who I was, back before the neon glasses and laptop love affairs.