“Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me?” Huda shouted. “Did something happen on your trip that you forgot to share with us?”
“What the bitch are you guys doing with Cash Carter?” Davi demanded.
“Oh boy.” Topher sighed. “I’m assuming you saw the video?”
“Seventy-four times!” Huda said. “Now spill!”
“Long story short, the night before we left I wrote Cash a letter and asked him to join us. The next morning he actually showed up.”
“Hold on! You’re saying Cash Carter joined your road trip yesterday and we had to find out about it from Kylie Trig?” Huda asked.
Topher shrugged guiltily. “Um… yeah,” he confessed.
Their international friends screamed so loud Huda woke up everyone in her house and Davi scared everyone at the cybercafe.
“And you repay him by trying to kill him at a concert?” Davi asked.
“He’s not dead, he just had low blood sugar,” Sam said. “Kylie Trig was just being dramatic. He’s only been with us for a day!”
“Is he with you right now?” Davi asked.
“He’s back at the hotel,” Mo said. “We’ve been hiking in the forest all day. That’s why we haven’t gotten your calls until now.”
“What’s he like?” Huda asked dreamily. “Is he just as amazing as Dr. Bumfuzzle?”
Topher, Joey, Sam, and Mo went quiet—afraid to answer.
“We’ll have him call you and you can see for yourself,” Joey said.
The images of Huda and Davi on their phones suddenly froze. It wasn’t from bad service—the idea of communicating with the actor was so shocking they both went still as a rock.
“Huda? Davi?” Joey asked but didn’t get a response. “Must be a bad connection—oh well.”
They ended the call and paced around the streamside in silence. They scrolled through the comments section on every Wiz Kids blog and website, reading thousands of witty, rude, and nasty remarks that total strangers made about them.
“I can’t believe we’re Internet famous,” Mo said. “Would it be unethical to use this to get people to read my fanfiction?”
“Yes,” the others answered at once.
“Poor Cash,” Joey said. “How does he live with this every day? I feel like I’m being pecked alive by a million invisible birds.”
“And they don’t even know our real names!” Sam added. “Most of them are calling us Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Kung Fu Panda.”
“Wait—which one am I?” Mo asked.
“I hope this story doesn’t upset Cash,” Topher said. “He’s the one it’s going to impact the most. Everyone will forget about us by tomorrow. Maybe we should get back on the road and head to Oklahoma City so we can comfort him when he gets there. He might need a friend after this.”
They all agreed, but just as they turned to leave, Mo’s phone chimed with a new Google Alert.
“Whoa,” she said. “It’s not a good day for the Wiz Kids fandom. A naked photo of Amy Evans just leaked.”
“Did she get hacked?” Joey asked.
“I don’t think so—looks like it came from her Twitter account,” Mo said. “She was probably just jealous Cash was getting so much attention. But in good news, all the Wizzers are talking about that now! You were right, Topher—we’re already in the clear!”
The gang had never been so grateful to be part of a generation with such a short attention span. They followed the trail back to the station wagon, hopeful the afternoon would be their first and only involvement with breaking news.
Mo seemed a little disappointed their moment in the spotlight had finished so quickly. She replayed the video from the warehouse over and over again, giggling as she watched herself dance like a maniac. Sam peeked over Mo’s shoulder but cringed at the sight of himself.
“Are you okay, Sam?” Topher asked.
“I’m fine—I just really hate seeing myself on camera,” Sam said.
“You shouldn’t be. You looked really pretty last night.”
Topher smiled at Sam, and he could tell there was more than just the compliment behind his eyes.
“Oh—thanks, Topher,” he said.
Sam always resented being called pretty, but that’s not what bothered him. What weighed on his heart the most was seeing the heart on Topher’s sleeve become more and more visible each day. The longer it went on, the guiltier Sam felt—like he was leading a horse with a false carrot. Before their trip was over, he had to tell Topher the truth, no matter how painful it’d be to say or to hear.
But how much truth did Sam want to give Topher? Was he even ready to tell a friend he was trans? Would it be easier to just tell Topher he wasn’t interested in being more than friends, to stop his crush from growing? But then again, was that the truth?