Chapter 6
Basorexia: the overwhelming desire to kiss.
—Text from Hollis to Quincy
HOLLIS
Iwoke up with my face smashed against the pillow, and dried spit on my lips, fusing them together.
Atfirst, I had to laugh, because Keda would’ve died if she saw how hard I slept—NyQuil was a miracle worker for people who needed to go to sleep despite their minds not wanting them to.
Butthen the grin slid off my face, because I wouldn’t be telling Keda anything anymore.
Rollingover in bed, I reached for my phone attached to the glittery pink cable that Keda had gotten me for my birthday last year and pulled it free of the charger.
Openingit up, the first thing I saw was Keda’s and my smiling faces as we celebrated our college graduation.
That’show I’d met Keda.
Wemet during the rad tech program at UT—University of Texas.
Fromthere, we’d been inseparable. Me finding a person who was like a sister and also giving her a friend she trusted more than life itself.
We’dgraduated college and had started working together at DallasMemorial almost at the same time.
Whenher accident happened, I’d been so sad.
Becausework just wasn’t the same without her. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much without her around to keep me entertained.
Eyesalready burning at the thought of Keda never being there again, I opened up my social media app and started searching.
Thefirst name that popped up was KayleeAdems, a friend who was a bit of a computer guru.
Anidea popped into my head, and I sent out a quick text message, asking her if she could get me the home address of TaiteDeRosa.
Sheanswered back within seconds with the address, causing me to grin.
Shewas so awesome, and she hadn’t even asked any questions.
Idefinitely owed her an explanation… after.
Gettingonto the website I’d saved, thinking maybe I should send it to my own sister because she was an ass, I typed in DeRosa’s address, then clicked ‘pay.’
Thenext thing I did was give KayleeAdems an explanation, explaining why I’d wanted the information.
She’dresponded back with “here’s his number, his other address, and his parents’ address.”
God, she was awesome.
I’dmet Kaylee in high school, and she’d been a really good acquaintance.
Itwasn’t that she wasn’t a friend, it was just that Kaylee didn’t have friends. She didn’t want them.
Butafter this, maybe she would be mine.
Iseemed to need one, because it was my new mission in life to make Taite’s life suck.
* * *
1 month later
Printingoff the ‘help wanted’ ad with Taite’s number on it, I started walking through a busy Dallas park, stapling them to any tree post that would hold it.
Onand on I went, until every last page was stapled up.
ThenI watched, and waited, and enjoyed.
Becausealmost every last tag was taken within the hour, and there was no doubt in my mind that Taite was already getting calls.
Thevideos started showing up an hour after that.
Onthe paper, it had a number and then ‘best Chewbacca impersonation wins.’ So the videos started rolling in of all these kids, young and old, calling in to Taite’s phone. They’d do their best Chewbacca impersonation, and then they’d post it on TikTok.
Someof the impersonations got hundreds of thousands of views. And then there were the people who would call just because they’d seen the videos.
Itwas glorious, and according to Kaylee, he had to change his phone number thirteen times that week, since I so helpfully kept handing out the new one.
* * *
Three weeks later
Grinningsavagely at the live feed that TaiteDeRosa was hosting, I waited for him to say something I could use.
Thenit happened.
“Hey, did y’all see the new film yet with the girl who is running for her life from a crazy stalker? I can’t wait to see it. A buddy, Tim, is starring in it,” Taite said. “I heard it had a great twist at the end. Don’t tell, me, though!”
Grinning, because I knew I was about to piss him off, I started typing.
Iwasn’t left in suspense long.
Hewas reading the comments aloud, smiling and replying to almost every single one.
Thenhe got to mine.
Itstarted out with ‘hey, I’m your biggest fan!’ then ended with ‘the girl finds out that she’s delusional, and the stalker she thought she had was actually a figment of her imagination. Spoiler!’
Hegot to the ‘figment of her imagination’ part then cursed. “Fuckin’ A, you bitch! I told you not to spoil it!”
Igrinned, then started typing.
“Well, I guess that’s the least that you can deal with since you played a role in my best friend’s suicide,” I replied angrily, reading the words aloud as I typed them.
Thatwas the first day that I was blocked by TaiteDeRosa.
Butit wouldn’t be the last.
* * *
8 weeks later
Iwatched on Taite’s live stream as he shared his fan mail.
“I know this has become kind of a new thing with us,” Taite was saying. “ButI just had to share how excited it makes me to read fan mail from people.”
Taitestarted opening up his fan mail.
Hehad a stack of probably fifty envelopes.
Hewas about ten deep when I saw my envelope start to slowly rise to the top.
Theglitter bomb had been a huge hit.
Butthis one…
Thecard was opened, and the moment that it was, the card started to sing.
Andsing.
Andsing.
Andsing.
Iread on the box that the card would sing for a solid seventy-two hours.
Justwhen you thought it stopped, it would start up again.
He’dprobably throw it away within the hour.
Butfor now, I got a kick out of how many times he tried to break it, rip it apart, and stomp on it to get it to stop.
Allthe while he was cursing my name, because you know damn well I signed it.
Love, Hollis. Your most hated fan.