Page 96 of Fate Fiction

I dropped my phone onto the couch and slid away from it like the thing was made of hazardous waste. I nervously glanced over at Caroline, she was focused on some influencer’s obscene designer bag haul, her dark brows furrowing at it. My heart rate skyrocketed, and I got up and locked myself in the bathroom. I perched on my toilet seat, unable to close my eyes because my brain kept conjuring up images of Evan’s face, of his body, of that fucking message.

It wasn’t Evan. Of course it wasn’t actually Evan. Maybe it was another Evan I had met at some point and not the Evan McLeod I’d spent a week with and then spent better part of the last two and a half months getting over.

I flushed the toilet and turned on the faucet to pretend to wash my hands so Andrea and Caroline wouldn’t question anything. I didn’t know what possessed me to make me sneak around about this. It all still felt surreal. Evan was an anecdote, not a real person that could reach out.

If it was Evan at all.

And if it was Evan, how on earth did he find me? I’d unfollowed him, every Thorndown official account, every costar, every meme and fan account. There had to be thousands of Dani Grants in the world, did he follow and DM every single one?

I picked the phone up and sent a reply with shaky hands.

@dani_kg

…McLeod?

@eomc195

Yes, lol.

Secret account.

…how many Evans do you know?

He saw the message immediately. Like he was waiting for it. Whatever joke this person was playing on me was especially cruel.

@eomc195

View photo

I opened the photo to see Evan softly smiling with his mouth closed, giving a thumbs up. It was a jumpscare of the worst degree. My heart fluttered a bit, betraying my sound mind. This was a new glimpse of him, reserved only for me. I had to smack some sense into myself. I studied the photo. He looked like he was sitting on a couch in his apartment. It was amusing how he sent proof of life without me even asking. He looked tired, and weirdly…sad?

Of course it could still be fake. That was still the most likely of options. I took a screenshot and ran it through reverse image search. No results found. I examined it for all the markers of AI and came up empty. He had the correct number of fingers and I could clearly read the label on the box of crackers in the background. If it was a fake account it was certainly a good one. When I swiped back to Instagram there was another message.

@eomc195

You told me to reach out if I needed a tour guide in Boston.

@dani_kg

that was before you found out I was fucked up.

Seen 5:20 p.m.

The text bubbles popped up and disappeared a few times. I added an “lol” to soften my knee jerk message.

@eomc195

You’re not fucked up.

@dani_kg

It’s okay if I am.

Seen 5:22 p.m.

“Where should we get dinner from?”

I dropped my phone from the shock, it landed beside me on the chair with a thunk.