The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde

Author:Jen Wilde
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Alfie and I lay back on the couch, staring up at the stars. The echoes of our friends’ laughter float up to meet us, making me smile.

“I’m so tempted to film them skinny-dipping,” I say, giggling.

“Ha! Imagine the headlines,” Alfie says. He raises his hand to the sky and writes a fake headline. “Brightsiders Caught Having an Orgy in the Ocean.”

“Ew,” I say, then join in the fun. “Ryan Cho Bares Butt, Causes International Incident.”

He laughs, slapping a hand over his eyes. “Ugh, do you ever think that our lives are just one out-of-control headline after another?”

I sit up and point to myself. “Um, have you met me? My entire life is used as clickbait.”

“You get it so much worse than me and Ryan do,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Ryan parties all the time, but he never gets torn to shreds for it. And I’ve been around, but no one calls me a skank or even comments on it. Probably because all people see when they look at me is That Genderqueer Kid.”

“That’s not true,” I say. “And if it makes you feel better, I can call you a skank.”

He laughs, shaking his head. “How can you just take that shit? You don’t sleep around. You’ve had, like, two relationships since I’ve known you. And the media would only ever call Jessie your ‘bestie.’ So how did they get this impression that you’re easy?”

I shrug, but it feels good to know I’m not the only one who’s confused by it. “But even if I did hook up with a lot of people, so what? That’s my business. To be honest, the only real reason I haven’t hooked up a lot is because I’ve never really had the opportunity to do it.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Bullshit.”

“I’m serious,” I say. “It’s like people are afraid of me. Maybe it’s the whole fame thing, it freaks people out. I know Jessie had a hard time with it at first. But then she became obsessed with it.” I don’t want to think about her, so I make a joke. “Or maybe it’s because I’ve got these big guns.” I flex my arms, showing off the muscles I’ve built up from years of smashing the drums. “I’ve heard queer girls like me find the whole toned-arm thing hot as hell, but guys don’t seem as into it. But fuck them douchebags, right?”

“Preach, girl,” Alfie says. He holds a hand up, and I slap it with my own. “I definitely find it hot, by the way.”

He closes his eyes, his chest rising and falling slowly. All I want to do is kiss him again. Just once more. Maybe it’s the stars above us or the glow of the fire, or maybe it’s the way Alfie opened up to me, but I find myself regretting the quick decision to stop making out.

His shirt is still unbuttoned at the top. I can see the tattoo of a stag—which he is convinced is his Patronus, despite what Pottermore tells him—on his chest.

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