The next day at school, Lauren isn’t around. Maybe she’s ill. It must be why she hasn’t replied to my messages.
I’m on my own, so I try to do a Bradley and hug the walls. And I don’t go anywhere near chips. I opt for a nice vegetarian wrap, as, even if you do drop it, the cheese, peppers, and avocado are all contained. There won’t be a food bomb. I’m just about to bite into it when someone sits beside me.
I assume it’s lovely Gracie, so I say, “Wanna bite?”
A very Canadian voice answers, “Er … no, thank you—but thanks for asking.”
I nearly choke. Danny Trudeau is sitting next to me.
“Ah, gone for the safe option today. The sturdy wrap. If it falls, it falls as ONE.”
My mouth and brain sort of refuse to work together. I just stare.
Danny carries on. “I was thinking about what you said last night. I like Hashtag Help, and I don’t want you to stop vlogging. It’s … interesting. It’s something new, and it’s different. I get kinda bored with all the makeup stuff or the wacky prankster vloggers. I think it’s great that you’re so real.”
(This is just what Bradley said—he was RIGHT!)
“It’s sweet to want to help people out. It’s a hard world. It’s nice to watch something that makes you laugh—especially after moving here and not knowing anyone. You know, I think the dinosaurs died out because they had no Internet or TV and died of boredom.”
“Really?” This is the only word I manage to say. I must look really confused.
“Yeah.” Danny smiles. “Just think, at the end of a hard day chasing stuff, you just want to get back to your cave and watch something.”
At first, I don’t laugh, because I don’t really get it. Then I remember—that vlog where I said that dinosaurs died out because they didn’t embrace feminism.
“Oh. Yeah.” I’m in a panic. “They needed a show featuring a really glamorous family of brontosauruses. They could call it Keeping Up with the Jurassics or something.”
This isn’t meant to be a brilliantly hilarious joke, but Danny tilts his head back and howls like a maniac. He laughs so loud that basically everyone who wasn’t looking before is now looking.
Including Erin. She’s staring at us HARD.
Oh, please don’t talk to me when she’s watching.
“Anyway.” Danny interrupts my head panic. “I just wanted to tell you that. It’s neat. You’re neat. And I like what you said about falling over not being the end of the world. It’s not. It’s just falling over. Life is falling over, you know, and getting back up again.”
So he’s not just good-looking; he’s sensible, too. And a philosopher. I want to snog him immediately. Like now. But instead, I say, “Thanks, Danny. That’s … good.”
I can’t really concentrate because now BRADLEY is walking up to my table, looking very grumpy.
Danny quickly leaves, and Bradley sits down. “Are you two going out?”
“No!” I sort of half yell and half whisper. “He just wanted to tell me I was … neat.”
“Good!” Bradley snaps. I stare at him.
Bradley notices. “Well, I don’t think you’d enjoy going out with a Canadian. He’ll probably fly back there soon, and I know from my lift contacts that Canadians are very … different. They probably hide behind all those maple leaves and do their dating in forests.”
I think this is Bradley trying to be funny. It’s not really.
“Bradley, he was only being nice. He’s interested in the vlog. Right, I’ve just got to go and ask Gracie where she gets her mascara from. It wouldn’t run in a monsoon. It’s EPIC!”
I know any makeup talk will send Bradley away kindly. And it does.
I leave the cafeteria. As I turn the corner to the main block of the school, my path is blocked. What blocks me is solid, tall, and very scary. Glossy lips shine like very dangerous Olympic ski slopes, and teeth as white as gourmet ice cream frozen with liquid nitrogen gleam at me.
It’s Erin.
“Millie Porter,” she says. “It’s time you and I had a … talk.”