Page 83 of Cosplay & Consequences

She pulled her hand back, swiped, and then held the phone to my face again.

I took the phone and saw the picture of me and Jess, dressed as Tyrst’an and Fiona. She was in my arms as I carried her to the elevator last week. But it wasn’t just a picture. It was a tabloid website. The headline read:

FROM PAGES TO PASSION: TYRANT LEAD ACTOR ROMANCES JKC RICHARDS’ HEIR!

Below the headline had the words that no one likes to read in this business: “Studio insiders claim…”

Anxiety and fear slammed into me, and there was a sharp pinch in my chest. “Fuck me.”

“Did you know about this?” Paige asked.

“No!” I said, scrolling through the article.

Paige glared at me. “Really?”

Then it hit me. “Shit. It’s Britta.”

“What were you two arguing about the night of the trailer shoot?” Paige asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

“She wanted to do some publicity about me and Jess. I told her no,” I groaned. “Reuben brought it up again after the trailer was released. I told him no then, too. I can’t believe they went and did it anyway.”

Paige thought about it for a second and nodded. She let out a huff and shook her head. “Well… it gets worse.”

She took her phone back, scrolling through the social media pages.

“These are the Tyrant hashtags. Fans are calling bullshit on you and Jess. They’re saying it was coercion from the start. That you and her cooked up a fake argument online. That you were both manipulating fans to get support for you. Most of the people ranting are Brandon fans, and they already hated Jess.”

“What?!”

Before Paige could respond, we were interrupted by hammering on the door. “And I’m betting Jess just learned this,” Paige muttered and let her in.

Jess stood there in the doorway, listless. Her outfit was a disaster, like she had grabbed whatever clothes were within reach before leaving the room. She wasn’t even wearing shoes. “We are so screwed!”

“We know,” Paige said quickly and pulled her in.

“You know?” Jess asked in disbelief. “How would you even know?”

“It’s all over the internet.” Paige held up her phone, showing the headline and the picture of her and I in costume.

Jess’s mouth dropped open in horror “What the actual fuck?!”

Paige and I shared a confused glance. “You didn’t know this?” Paige asked.

Jess’ hands went up to her head as she paced around the room. “Are you kidding me? No! What the hell is going on?!”

I froze in place. My mind was in panic mode, unsure what to do.

“So, this isn’t about the fans calling you and Danny out?” Paige asked.

Jess turned, focusing on me. “They’re calling us out?”

I nodded. I reached out to her, and she pulled away.

“What’s going on, Jess?” I asked, quietly.

She held up her phone, tears starting to stream down her face. “I just talked to my parents. They got a letter from lawyers representing MaxFlick. They know about the book I gave Faye. According to the contract my grandmother signed with the publisher, she forfeited all media rights to the books. MaxFlick owns all those rights, including those stories. We have to give them up or they’ll sue us.”

“That specific book? That Faye has?” Paige clarified, her tone getting suspicious.