How Could This Be Real?

61. You'll Hurt Her!

I walked over to the gurls' table during lunch the next day and they all turned to stare at me. I'd thought long and hard about what I was going to say to them and I think I finally came up with a compromise that could work. "Do you mind if I sit here?" I asked, gesturing to an empty chair. "There's something I want to talk to you all about."

They all exchanged surprised looks and seemingly as one, they burst into agreements and vigorous nodding, some standing to pull out a chair for me and help me sit down. I heard things like, "Of course you can sit with us!" and, "Do you even have to ask?" and in a whisper, "OMG, she's right next to me! I think I'm going to faint!" That last one made me chuckle.

I settled in and leaned my crutches against the armrest before turning to look at all of them. A hush fell over the group and I put on a friendly smile. I was trying to show them that I was just like anyone else, but I think it just made them more nervous.

"So," I began, "I've seen that you went ahead with your fanclub idea." A few of them nodded and I could tell they were trying to figure out if I was happy or upset about it. "The site looks really cool, almost professional grade." That earned a grin from Kat and I gave her an acknowledging nod. "I like the idea, but I do have a few requests. First, I'm not very happy that you did this without my permission." Their faces fell into guilty expressions and I quickly continued, "I know you were just trying to do good, and all-in-all I think you accomplished that, but in the future please ask me first."

They nodded solemnly, "We're sorry, we totally weren't thinking."

I waved it off and moved on, "Secondly, everything about Elsie is fine, but there are some personal facts that I would like you to take off. I know fans like to know things and I may talk about the real me someday, but there are bad people out there. If one of them saw all of this personal information, they could try to blackmail me or even find out where I live and come after me."

Their leader's jaw dropped and she blushed fiercely, "Oh my god, you're so right. I'm so sorry, how did that not occur to me? We'll take it down right when we get home."

I held up a hand and her mouth instantly snapped shut. "I don't think you have to remove everything, just anything that could be used with bad intentions."

One of the younger members looked at me uneasily, "Are you sure? We can delete that whole page if you want. I can't imagine how I would feel if there was stuff about me on the internet."

I chuckled, "I'm sure, most things can stay. I mean, I'm putting myself out there everyday with my videos after all. What's the harm in a little more?"

"If you're sure," she mumbled to her lap.

"Is there anything else?" someone new asked.

I thought for a moment and smirked, "I was reading through the chat room and saw that one guy was complaining."

Julia (I knew her from the musical) furrowed her eyebrows, "Why?"

"Because the site is called, 'Elsie's Gurls'. He said it's not fair to the guys who want to join too."

A few of them scrunched their noses, "But, they're boys. We don't want them ruining the site, you know what they're like."

"Not all guys are the same, a lot of them are actually good people. Girls can be a hassle too, as I'm sure you all very well know."

"I guess," they muttered.

"I think if you change the name and add a moderator block feature, everyone will be happy."

Kat nodded slowly, the gears turning in her head. "Yeah, I can do that easy enough. Julia will have to modify the banner for the name though."

She groaned and a few of them laughed at her good-heartedly.