Love and Fame Games (Book 1)

20

"What does it all mean?" Seth asked, in a high-pitched, mock-astonished sounding voice. He moved closer to where I was seated, peered over my shoulder from behind my chair. "Please enlighten me."

"I-" My mind drew a blank. What even were these messages? When did I send them, and for what purpose did I do so? "Ugh."

Horrible side effects, my dad had said. Maybe this was what he meant.

Was I losing my mind? Hadn't that ship sailed years ago? But what other explanation was there?

Who in their right mind sent message after message consisting of nothing but emojis?

The one-sided convo that started at 4:12 a.m. went as such:

< Sad face. >

< Mad face. >

< Mad face. Skull. Poop. >

< Poop. Poop. Poop. >

< Heart >

< Christmas tree. Rainbow. Soccer ball. Fried egg. >

What. The. Hell.

"It's like poetry, in emoji form!" Seth leaned closer, whispering, still in that voice. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"These are so random! I must have butt-texted you in my sleep or something." I said, hoping I sounded certain of it. For all I knew, that could've been what happened, but the second to the last message, that solitary and oh-so conspicuous heart, made me doubtful.

Seth snorted. "Thanks for that image."

"Shut up," I said, through clenched teeth. "God, if I was being such a nuisance, why didn't you just call and tell me to knock it off or something?"

"I don't usually bother with 4 a.m. texts." There was a pause, and then, laughter. "Unless, y'know, it's the 'meet me in the hot tub' variety."

"Who's sending you those messages?" I asked, frowning. I'll cut out her heart!

He shrugged, still grinning. It was possibly the most infuriating answer he could have given. It led to so many other questions.

"Who are you?" I asked, shouting, and thrusted his phone back at him. Good thing he was so close, or I'd have thrown it. Aimed right for his head. "One minute you're in our kitchen, inhaling our food like you always do and the next you're charming the pants off my parents with that sleazy ladykiller act. It's like I don't know you anymore!"

Until that moment, I didn't know it was bothering me so much. but yeah, something had felt off about him since that first day of school and my rant pretty much nailed it. There was this
disconnect between the boy who left for New York last summer and the star on the rise who returned that was unsettling.

How could a few weeks in another city change a person so much?

Okay, maybe it was unfair to blame everything on New York. All this weirdness really started when he kissed me. Before all that.

Seth straightened up, looking nervous. "Keep your voice down, Adrian. Your parents are right on the other side of that door."

"You waltz in here, my own house, then tell me how loud I can or can't talk?" I asked, whisper-yelling anyway. It took real effort to keep my voice under control, and I walked down the steps, away from the house as a precaution. "Why are you even here?