Part 6 (2/2)

I squint and look closer.

I click on the profile.

The user pic is Adam.

He's following me on Twitter.

I feel more exposed than I did when my video went viral.

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chapter four.

3. Rocking out to ”s.e.xy and I Know It” in my underwear is a totally good idea. #thingsIthoughtweretrue J osh drives Jake and me to the hospital the next day, but Mom is cranky and insists we leave. She says she's tired and wants to sleep. The nurses a.s.sure us she's fine, and frankly we're afraid to disobey her, so we leave.

Josh and Jake both work in construction, at a development not far from Tinkerpark, so Josh drops me off at work. I end up walk- ing through the entrance gate half an hour before my s.h.i.+ft starts.

I force myself to smile at a couple of girls setting up their entrance kiosk. One rolls her eyes at me but the other says hi. I have to pa.s.s the office on the way to the gift shop and pick up my pace.

”Morgan!” a voice calls out as I'm speed- walking to get past.

I sigh and slow my steps. Pretending none of the hospital stuff happened and ignoring Adam as usual is perfectly fine with me.

I'm happy to go back to the boss/employee relations.h.i.+p. Honestly, I'm embarra.s.sed, but he rushes out of the office and d.a.m.n if my heart doesn't beat a little harder. I grab my phone like it's a security blanket and arrange my face into a suitable imitation of a smile sixteenthings.indd 43 9/9/13 2:21 PM.

J a n e t G u r t l e r as he jogs toward me. ”Is your mom okay?” He sounds genuinely concerned. It cracks off a layer of my wariness.

”She's tired. Her surgery is in a couple of days. So. Yeah. Nervous, I think.” I lift my hand to block the bright morning sun from my eyes.

”Understandable. Don't worry though. She'll be fine.” He smiles.

”Hi, Adam!” a female calls. A couple of girls are walking toward us, and he waves without even glancing over, but I see them- two girls each with a perky ponytail, dressed in red Tinkerpark T- s.h.i.+rts.

They're whispering to each other as they pa.s.s to go to the gaming area; they giggle and one of them wiggles her hips in an exaggerated dance motion. I glance back at Adam, but he's watching me and misses it.

”So,” he says. ”She told you about your dad?”

I blink, but my mind is on the girls.

”Your post. On Twitter last night.” He gestures to my phone.

”Oh,” I say, as if I haven't been tortured by the fact that he's following me on Twitter. ”That's right. You're @therealMcSteamy.”

He blushes, but he's the one who picked that name, so I smile.

Suddenly I'm feeling slightly less vulnerable.

”You post on Twitter a lot,” Adam says.

The sun disappears behind a bank of dark clouds that seem to be moving toward us. If it rains a lot, they'll shut down the park. I wouldn't mind a day off.

”If it weren't for Twitter, most of my best thoughts would be forced to stay in my head,” I say.

”No Facebook though?” he asks.

”Not anymore.”After the video blew up, I deleted my account.

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1 6 t h i n g s i t h o u g h t w e r e t r u e ”Are you stalking me?” I joke. Without thinking, I punch him on the arm as if he's one of my brothers.

”Ow.” He rubs his arm, but I hardly put anything in it. And I'm a wimp. So I roll my eyes.

”Please,” I say. ”That didn't hurt.” A day ago, I wouldn't have thought that I could tease him or have a real conversation with him. The sun emerges from behind a cloud and lights his face.

”You calling me a wimp?” he asks, smiling.

”You said it, not me.” I glance down at my phone- another three followers. I smile.

”Can you go more than ten seconds without checking your phone?” he asks.

”I'm pretty sure I can go at least twelve.” I tuck the phone back in my pocket and wait while he opens the gift shop door. He holds it while I walk inside. I remove a cloth cover off a row of breakable toys on a gift stand and head behind the counter to tuck it away.

The checklist for opening the store hangs on a clipboard by the cash register. Each task has to be completed with times noted.

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