Queens of Geek

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: CHARLIE

When I walk into the room, Alex is by the window, talking quietly on her phone.

Jase is on the couch, scrolling on his phone.

"You're trending," he says, looking up at me. "Number one worldwide."

I sigh and fall into a chair across from him.

"Awesome," I say, my voice thick with sarcasm.

I look over at Alex when she ends the call. "I'm guessing that was the studio?"

She nods and tightens her loose bun. "They wanted to know why they weren't informed of this before."

I cross my arms. "There isn't any 'before'. This is new. And it's also none of their business." I lean my head on the back of the chair. "Why am I even here? I haven't done anything wrong."

Jase scoffs. "Do you have any idea how this makes me look to the fans?"

I glare at him. "How the hell does this affect you in any way whatsoever?"

"The fans, Charlie." He says it with such condescension that I want to punch him in the jaw. "They love Chase."

"Well I don't."

He leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. "You can't just dump this bomb on them. They're heartbroken."

I sit up straight. "First of all, I didn't dump anything on them. Those photos were probably taken by some TMZ wannabe. If it were up to me, this would stay private for as long as possible. Certainly longer than a day. Secondly, the Chase ship hit the proverbial iceberg over six months ago. This isn't a surprise."

Alex nods. "You're right, Charlie. You are. But with all the press you two have been doing together here, I think some wires got crossed. The fandom went nuts with speculation that you were back together."

I groan. "I don't know how. I must have said we're not together a thousand times by now."

Jase gives me a smug look. "It's the photos. We've been seen together, that's enough to get the Chase ship sailing again. The poor kids got their hopes up. And you've just crushed 'em."

I clench my jaw and stare at him. "None of this would have happened if you had just stayed away like you were supposed to."

He rolls his eyes. "Right, I'm the bad guy here."

"Well, you're not the good guy," I say. "That's for sure."

"Guys," Alex says, sitting on a chair next to me. "There's no need to argue. This isn't a big deal." She turns to me. "We just weren't prepared for it, that's all."

I shrug. "I wasn't exactly prepared for it, either. What's the general vibe of the fandom right now?"

"It's a little divided," Alex nods. "Most people are excited. They're shipping you and Alyssa already. Others are ..."

"Shattered," Jase interrupts. "Pissed. Betrayed."

I roll my eyes at him.

I know my fans.

Ninety-nine percent of them are wonderful, amazing people.

But that one percent can say some mean things.

I worry about the tweets that must be filling Alyssa's reply feed right now.

Alex purses her lips and puts a hand on my shoulder. "They'll get over it. And like I said, most people are excited. I've seen the social media posts to prove it. They're happy for you, and they love Alyssa to bits."