Page 233 of You've Got Hate Mail
Not people mocking us.
Not my brother-in-law profiting off of my video.
But real friends and family.
I think when I flashed the world, I did what I needed to do.
I needed to break myself to find myself.
And I’m so grateful that I got to find myself here.
43
HOW TO SLAY YOUR DRAGON
Heath
The call happenstwo days later.
Mabel, in her wisdom, sent Cricket’s brother-in-law the world’s most terrible draft contract, and he demanded they have another call as soon as he read it.
She played him like a fiddle.
And now I’m in the corner of the office that Ginny usually uses, watching as Cricket hits the button to request entrance into the video call with Romeo.
My eye twitches. Every muscle in my body tenses, and my hand curls into a fist.
Cricket’s cool as ice.
She looks—she looks like she used to look in her lifestyle pieces.
Calm and put together and willing to roll with whatever happens.
Professional.
Fake.
The Cricket I know—that Cricket doesn’t need to be put together.
She does roll with anything that happens, but she doesn’t do it while posing for cameras.
While presenting a show for the world.
The Cricket I know—she lets herself be real. Unfiltered. And more unafraid by the day.
I see that in her now too.
It’s in the twitch of her lips as Romeo’s face flickers onto the screen.
He’s looking down at something, shifting in his chair, and he starts talking before even looking at her. “Philippa, this contract isn’t going to work. I have something you want. Now you need to meet my terms, or we’re?—”
“So it really is you,” Cricket says calmly. “Does Aurora know?”
He shrieks.
Screams, really.
From the other corner of the room, Mabel smirks at me.
