Misery Loves Company

Track 15: The Date Saga (Part I)

Misery Loves Company

By: theinkslingerr

Track 15: The Date Saga (Part I)

"Won...?" The word tasted like ash on my tongue.

"Yeah. You're going on a date with Dom tomorrow," Enid said tersely.

I started to panic. "What about Jae? I mean, he did-"

"Better?" she finished. "Yeah. But he didn't...campaign."

"What?"

Enid shoved her iPhone in my hand. It was already opened to someone's Instagram page. Dom's Instagram page, to be exact. My eyes widened in abject horror as I clicked the most recent picture. It was posted last night and featured a shirtless Dom winking and flexing his taut muscles. His blond hair was wild and scruff decorated his chiseled jaw. The caption underneath read: Vote for me? Link in bio. I had a sickening feeling that link lead to EverythingEnid.com.

"What is this?" My voice sounded shrill to my own ears. "Why'd he do this?!" The picture had 500,000+ likes!

"You tell me," Enid said, eyes narrowed. She was still looking around the living room. "Why didn't you want me over this weekend?"

"Because-" I paused. The strange look on her face was starting to make sense and I didn't like it one bit. "What are you getting at?"

"Did you have someone over? Someone you didn't want me to see?"

"Do you think I didn't want you to come over because Dom was here?" I shot back, incredulous. "That I had him holed-up in here all weekend having wild, chandelier-swinging sex?"

She was quiet.

"Oh my God, Enid! I don't even have the guy's number!"

"It wouldn't be hard for you to get..."

"How many times do I have to say I don't like him?!" I was getting sick of constantly having to defend myself over something I didn't even feel!

Enid ran a hand through her hair, averting her gaze. After the briefest look of vulnerability, her tone hardened again. "Why'd he try so hard to win then?"

"How the heck would I know?!"

"He's the only one that's been posting pics urging the fans to vote for him!"

I easily found the other boys' Instagram accounts through Dom's page. Rocco's was pretty sparse, just videos of him playing guitar covers and old album art. There was nothing about Misery Loves Company at all. Eli's page was colorful and warm, frequently showcasing family and friends while Jae's was clearly run by a record label lackey. I spotted one promo pic for the web show, but nothing else.

Enid was right.

A big part of why Dom had come out victorious was because he'd asked his followers to vote while the other boys went on about their lives. In the age of social media and clickbait, that difference meant everything. I navigated back to his page and realized that he'd been "campaigning" since Friday night. There was another picture of him in bed, this time with a cute dog. The caption read: Otis sees romance in my future. Do you? Vote. My grip tightened around Enid's phone. Anyone who used cute dogs for their evil plans was a monster.

I gave Enid back her phone, genuinely confused. Why did Dom want to spend a whole afternoon with me? Dragging a hand over my face, I mumbled. "I have no idea what game he's playing, and I don't know what to say to get you to believe me."