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I turn back to see the phone pointed at me again.
“If you could only be one candy, which would it be?”
“Mints.”
They squeal and turn the phone back to them. “Oh my glory. Did not see that coming!” Sage cries.
“Me neither!” Coriander agrees.
“You heard it here first on… Cagelicious,” they say in unison.
I do my best to ignore them as I continue my journey back to Larinda.
I’ve barely finished knocking when a hand grabs my arm and yanks me into the room. Larinda closes the door and leans against it with a deep breath.
“Careful. Sage and Coriander are streaming,” she whispers. “Don’t say anything about the condoms.”
Um. About that…
“We should be safe. They’re on my floor now,” I say.
“Oh no. Did they track you down too?”
“I think so?”
She looks irritated as she stomps toward the couch and throws herself down. “I get that they want to be vloggers, or sell light fixtures or whatever, but they can’t use my life and my career for content! I can’t believe they just showed up at my room expecting me to be on their show! And now they’re going after you too?”
That was a “show”?
“I totally agree with you. This whole thing is a huge invasion and violation.”
“I know! I thought they were my friends, but I feel so used right now.”
“Probably because they are using you.”
“Gah! I want them to stop. My life is my life, not theirs. I’m so tired of them following me around and acting so entitled.”
“So tell them to stop.”
She furrows her brow and stares at me. I squint back.
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“I mean, tell them this isn’t working for you anymore and they need to move on.”
Her eyes widen. She opens her mouth to speak. Then closes it again.
Has it really never occurred to her to set boundaries?
“You know all of this is in your control, right?”
Her anxious gaze flickers toward the foyer as if her contingent could show up at any second. And they could. That’s the problem.
“They might hate me,” she says quietly.
“They might.”
I lower myself beside her and pull her against me.
