CHAPTER 21

MARKED FOR DEATH BY THE LOVEFIGHTERS

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CLAUDIA

Even though the major issue in our apartment for pretty much the whole 24 hours after we got home from BlurtUp was the attack on Reese, I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I’d accidentally hit Marcel Mourlot in the eye with an extremely pointy thumb drive.

I was VERY worried he might be badly hurt. And I was equally worried I might have committed a crime, and the cops were going to put out a warrant for my arrest.

So the first thing I did when the Reese-related insanity settled down was to go online and check Marcel’s Blurt page.

Fortunately, he’d already Blurted that he was fine. Or at least not permanently injured.

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This was a huge relief. But it was also confusing. For one thing, I had no idea what “Lovefighters” were.

PARVATI

OMG, Claude—how could you follow Marcel on Blurt and not know what Lovefighters are?! They’re his superfans! They call themselves Lovefighters because Marcel says love is the most important thing in the world. And if you want it, you have to fight for it.

Or something like that.

CLAUDIA

So Lovefighters are like the Marcel Mourlot version of Bewbees?

PARVATI

Eeew! What’s a Bewbee? That sounds totally gross.

CLAUDIA

Never mind.

When I first saw Marcel’s Blurt, I thought I was in the clear. Because not only was he only a little bit hurt, but it seemed like he wasn’t going to press charges.

But then I started reading the comment section. And that’s when I realized the Lovefighters were out for blood.

Specifically, MY blood.

BLURT COMMENT SECTION

CLAUDIA

When I saw this, I practically had a heart attack. Seeing as how EVERY SINGLE PERSON at BlurtUp was holding a camera phone and pointing it at the stage when I threw the thumb drive, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before somebody posted a pic that totally busted me.

I spent all of Sunday refreshing the comment section every two minutes and watching the Lovefighters get closer and closer to revealing my true identity.

BLURT COMMENT SECTION

CLAUDIA

I was so scared about the Lovefighters coming after me that when Carmen messaged me on Sunday afternoon, I’d almost forgotten about my bet with Athena.

CARMEN AND CLAUDIA (ClickChat Direct Messenger)