I unlocked the door to Logan's house, but before I could step through the doorway, Logan was there to throw his arms around me.
"Whoa, did someone die?" I asked as I pried him off.
"Nope. Just missed you," he said, grabbing my sleeve and dragging me inside.
"We were on the phone yesterday," I pointed out to him as we headed towards the game room.
"Well, you've been really busy spending time with your boyfriend, so I haven't seen your ugly face for almost two weeks. Speaking of ugly faces, I can't believe you replaced me with an ogre."
I was starting to regret agreeing to hang out with him. "The references stop here."
"You don't understand, Cameron," Logan said. "Referencing is an art form. They have to be complex to the point where it's almost annoying. They need to have... layers."
I rolled my eyes. "Get out."
"This is my house."
"As your best friend of almost our whole lives, this is basically my house too," I argued.
"You just like rubbing it in my face that you're Mom's favorite child even though I'm her actual child," Logan accused me.
"Maybe."
In the game room, I settled into my favorite beanbag chair.
"Movie or video game?" Logan asked.
I shrugged. "Either. Surprise me."
Logan put a movie on the TV, grabbed his own beanbag, and dropped down next to me.
He turned the volume down low before saying, "So you have a boyfriend now."
It felt like the start of the "if he ever hurts you" talk. I turned my head to look at him so that I could pretend to take him seriously.
I was surprised to see so many different emotions in Logan's eyes. He was proud because I did it without him, happy because I was happy, sad because I would start growing closer to another person, and jealous because I wouldn't have as much time to spend with him.
"You can stop reading me," Logan said. "I need to tell you something."
"Yeah? What's that?"
"Just... be careful."
I nodded. "Okay."
Logan nodded back. "Good."
"That was a surprisingly short lecture," I commented.
"Yeah, well, you're an adult now. You can handle yourself."
"I agree with one of those statements," I informed him.
Logan grinned. "Honestly, me too. Hey, did you see the new TD magazine?"
TD, Teenager Dreamager, released a celebrity gossip magazine weekly, conducted celebrity interviews sporadically, and sent their reporters after me regularly. The magazine loved featuring me because my face made their audience want to buy their issues. Or so I was told. Logan was the only one of us who kept up with that kind of stuff. I still held a grudge against TD from when they first released a news article about Tiff and I "dating". They were just doing their job, but ever since then, I had appeared on almost every single one of their magazine covers.
I sighed. "Which awful picture of me did they make a story out of this time?"
"I don't think that awful pictures of you exist. You're too freaking photogenic," Logan told me. "But, well... it's not you this time."
"So who got the cover story this week?" I asked. "Did a chick dump her boyfriend after cheating on him and getting pregnant? Did two singer friends get into a fight and start releasing passive-aggressive diss tracks disguised as songs? Did Tiff drop another trash single?"
"No, Cam, those were last week's headlines. This one is none of the above. Here, I'll show you. Phone?"
I grabbed his phone, unlocked it, and tossed it into his lap.
"Okay, does the name 'James Eichorst' ring a bell?" Logan asked me.
I started mentally going through the thousands of names that I had stored in my mind. "Jamie? Fashion designer?"
Logan nodded. "That's him. His interview made TD's cover, and you weren't even mentioned in the magazine this week."
I was surprised, but not at all disappointed. "That's great! Jamie's really talented, and he's been in the industry for years. It's about time he got some recognition. Why're you looking at me like I'm stupid? You're not giving me much information here."
Logan handed me his phone with the electronic version of this week's magazine pulled up. "This is Anna Lee Slater."
The person on the cover was definitely not Jamie Eichorst, or anyone that I recognized. Instead, it was a pretty girl, wearing clothes that were designed by Jamie.
"From what I found, she's a brand-new model," Logan continued. "No other pictures of her exist except on her personal social media."
I gave him a quizzical look. "Does this have anything to do with me?"
"Dude, she stole your cover story spot. Of course the Camerfans are gonna notice. Check your phone."
I opened my feed on a random social media account, and I was greeted with a flood of posts and messages. Logan watched over my shoulder as I started skimming through them.
@therealcameronm wasn't on the cover of TD this week??? What kind of world do we live in??? #thatprettygirlonTD
the sky is falling, the world is ending, and @therealcameronm got replaced with #thatprettygirlonTD. jk only one of those is happening rn.
@therealcameronm notice #thatprettygirlonTD
"I think there's a new trending hashtag," I commented.
Logan rolled his eyes. "No shit. Are you gonna acknowledge it?"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course I am."
I scrolled around until I found the girl's profile. She had no bio, a nice profile picture, and her posts were mostly photos of her with other girls, who I assumed were her friends. Her follower count sat at around 7000, but when I refreshed the page, a bigger number appeared.
I ended up publicly sending two messages- one to Jamie, and one to Anna Lee, the model girl.
@therealcameronm:
Congrats @jamieeee for taking my place as cover story on TD this week!
@therealcameronm:
Also congrats to @annaleeslater for her debut in modeling!!! #thatprettygirlonTD
Logan and I watched as the number of replies climbed, and we pointed out the funniest typos. It was entertaining for awhile, but then, the shipping started.
omg cameron and anna lee should totally date
ikr theyd look so cute together
I SHIP IT SO HARD
"And that's enough internet for today," I announced, putting my phone off to the side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the screen light up with a text from my manager.