Two Arts

Chapter 44

A.N. Here we go, don't forget to vote.

I wasn't sure what I expected to see when Sadie said that my name was starting to be associated with hers, but I found out that day that the internet was a wild place I hadn't engaged enough with growing up to fully understand what was going on.

James had sent Sadie a series of short videos where—usually—young women made up entire presentations to explain to their followers who I was and how suspicious it was for me to be seen in the same place as Sadie.

They had my full name, they'd explain whose child I was and blast photos of my moms and siblings. They made–undeniably funny—jokes about me being the queer heiress of some made-up LGBTQIA+ throne.

They didn't seem to have caught onto the fact that Sadie and I had already dated in high school yet, but I couldn't trick myself into not thinking that it was just a matter of time.

"Ember Wilde and Avery Quinn were spotted late last night leaving a downtown L.A. club, Sadie really doesn't seem to be able to make them stick," The teenage-looking girl was shouting at the camera.

That was something she had gotten accused of a lot when we were younger.

"Aah to be a fly on the wall and hear what they were talking about, so do we think it's over between Sadie and Ember?" Another young girl asked her as if they had their own talk show.

"If my girlfriend went out on a date with my ex I can tell you, it'd be over!" Girl 1 said animatedly.

"Geez, I'll avoid Jessica at all costs," Girl 2 joked, making it clear that they were a couple.

"But there's that new woman," A picture of me—taken as I was walking behind James in L.A.— appeared behind their floating heads on screen before they went on a quick rant about my family and me, "Allegedly, Angelica has been spotted close to Sadie here and there in the entire past week. A source near them tells us she's James Jackson's friend—"

Not that close then.

James Jackson, JJ on Sadie's contact list.

"Do we know what team she plays for?" Girl 2 asked.

"Have you seen the photos?" Girl 1 waggled her eyebrows, "We're not ones to make assumptions," She raised both hands, "But come on!" She slammed her hands on the table in front of her.

"Yeah, yeah, she's definitely an incredible ally," Girl 2 jumped in, "But, we couldn't find anything relevant on the woman, she's not online."

Sadie scoffed and shook her head, "They don't know where to look," She bumped into me with her shoulder as we both sat on the bed with her phone in my hands, "Not that you post anything, it's all Keynes and random New York corners once every blue moon."

"How do you even know?" I shook my head.

Because of how little use of social media I made and the fact that Sadie's official accounts only followed a handful of people, we never went through whether it was smart for her to follow me—and my settings didn't allow people to see my content otherwise—it was clearly a bad idea for her to do so.

"Oh my God Angie, have you ever heard of burner accounts?" The woman rolled her eyes and switched apps to show me shamelessly the fake account with which she in fact had access to my profile.

I raised both eyebrows and tried to decide if I should've guessed or if it was a tad too much even for her.

"Well then how long have you been keeping tabs on me?" I asked lightheartedly.

Sadie seemed to think about it for a moment. I later realized she was thinking about whether or not to answer altogether.

I was glad she chose to answer.