not a massive hashtag, but it’s popular. We could totally make a profile for him, we could make him the most popular ugly dog on the internet, it’s actually . . . Jesus, it’s genius if you think about it. Everyone likes an underdog and this,” he indicated Harun, “this is an underdog if I ever saw one. Imagine the memes we could start. They would go viral.” I looked over at my sister again and started shaking my head at her in utter disbelief. Had Kyle always been like this? She looked about as confused as I felt right now.
Kyle took a step closer to Harun and this time, Harun’s growl became a bark. Kyle stepped back and clicked his fingers at someone, a girl wearing a strange pink plastic dress. “Take some pics of him. Get him an IG account. Let’s get the ball rolling.”
I looked at the woman he was talking to. Young, pretty, lilac hair, contoured face, matt lips.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“This is Andy, she’s our new social media manager.”
“Heeeeyyyy.” Andy dragged the word out as if she had no energy to use her voice and lips and actually make words with them.
I turned back to Kyle and looked at him in disbelief. “We have a—”
“Social media manager,” he blurted, not hiding his excitement. “We’ve made it, Frankie. We’ve made it. And now there is only one thing left to do . . .” He turned again and looked into the camera. “All you guys, my amazing fans, took a poll and 95 percent of you agreed that I should do this, and so, I am . . .” He turned back to me and then started dropping to his knee.
“Wait . . . What are you . . .?” I looked around, shocked. The entire town was here and they were all looking at me. And Mark was looking at me too. He looked pale and strange and I didn’t know what to do. I felt backed into a corner with Kyle down on one knee and phones in my face.
I turned back to Kyle. “Don’t . . .” I shook my head. “Don’t.”
“Frankie . . .” He looked up at me and smiled. This big, put-on smile. I looked around again, everyone was still watching. Everyone. Mark and Zack and Samirah and Faizel and my sister and Logan, and, and . . . I was completely overwhelmed. I wanted to turn and run, but couldn’t.
Mark and I made eye contact and he shook his head, and then hung it.
“Ma—” I made a move for him, but Kyle grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him.
“In front of you and all our fans who are watching this . . .” Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. He held it in the air and then turned to face the camera again.
“And of course, I would like to thank Shimany Jewelers for this amazing three carat sapphire ring, you can find a link to their website below this video, use the promo code #Frankieisfound to get a 10 percent discount off your purchase.”
“Wait! Wait!” I waved my hands in front of me. “Time out. Time out!” I made a big “T” in the air.
“Finally,” I heard Samirah say. “You let that go on long enough.”
“Hear, hear,” Faizel said. And then, a general “hear, hear” bubbled up from the people around me. My people.
The people who I’d gotten to know and care about over these last few weeks. Who had all welcomed me in—well, not necessarily at first, but now dressed in these silly clothes, surrounded by them all, I kind of felt a part of a community. IRL!
A living, breathing community that didn’t meet online and slide into your DMs and WhatsApp group. And with them all standing behind me and my sister now looking down at Kyle in utter disgust, I felt strong enough to do what I was about to do. What I needed to do. And should have done two years ago.
CHAPTER 71
“Kyle!” I exclaimed loudly, as he gripped my hand tightly in his and looked up at me from that ridiculous bent knee.
“Frankie,” he said in a sickly sweet voice that made me feel a little nauseous.
“Get up off the floor.” I tugged at his arm and tried to pull him up, but he didn’t budge.
He gritted his teeth and spoke like a ventriloquist in a hissed voice. “What are you doing?”
“I’m asking you to get up