11:42am
Autumn Williams
HALLE
11:51am
Autumn and Molly must be dying.
Then, I see:
Nash Kim
Hey
12:17pm
Such a dork.
Then again, I am alone in my room and blushing so hard from a text that just says “Hey.”
So who’s the dork, really?
I tap out of my texts and into my OTP email, which I’ve been trying to be a lot better about since almost missing the BookCon email. If I answer their texts right now I’ll go straight down a squee rabbit hole.
I browse through until I see one subject line that reads:unique cupcake inquiry!
It’s from Ariel Goldberg’s publicist.
I read the email and the speed of my heart triples and oh my God,what even? It was one thing to host a cover reveal for her. Now Ariel Goldberg wants One True Pastry cupcakes,mycupcakes, at her book launch?Andit’s in Boston.
I screenshot the email to send to Nash and Amy, Elle, and Samira.
Then I don’t send it. No one wants to geek out with Kels right now. Nash and Kels aren’t speaking. Amy, Elle, and Samira called me outliterallylast week for ghosting Nash. I can’t tell Molly or Autumn because they don’t know I’m Kels either. I can’t even runinto Ollie’s room and scream with him. Everything isoff, everything is tense—and for the first time, my phone is in my hand, and Halle’s not alone.
Kelsis.
I reread the email instead. Can I do this? It wouldn’t be me in a front of a crowd, but it puts my work out there. I read the date again, hardly believing my luck. The offer, the date, the timeline—the stars have aligned and I, Kels, have an early opportunity to test the waters and make a splash in the real world before my BookCon debut.
My followers are going tolovethis. This is my chance to take OTP’s brand to the next level. OTP fans eating OTP cupcakes. How cool is that? It’s not for three whole months, plenty of time to daydream up which flavors to make, what the perfect cake/frosting combos would be for Ariel Goldberg’s launch party.
My phone buzzes—it’s Nash, again. For Halle.
How have I not answered his texts yet?
Nash Kim
Wake upppp
1:45 PM
I’m awake!
1:48 PM
Hi
1:48 PM