someone makes you uncomfortable—leave,” I tell them. “You do not have to give them a flyer or any of your time. Trust your gut and go.”
We offer a few more tips. Some people have questions. About footwear and knocking versus ringing doorbells. I’m stunned to realize we can comfortably answer all of them.
When we’re finished, everyone claps.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Jamie says, once Hannah takes the stand to explain how to work the app. “Once you went after donuts, I realized I had to start talking.”
“And did you see them clapping for us? I don’t think anyone’s ever clapped after Gabe spoke.”
“Rolling their eyes, definitely, but not clapping. Never.”
“I’m still going to strangle Gabe, though,” I say.
“Oh, totally.” He nods.
My phone buzzes. Glancing down, I blink. I have over one hundred notifications. Ever since our video about fixing the Fifi stickers got posted, I’ve been inundated with follow requests from people I don’t even know.
“Terrific talk.” A man approaches us. “You laid it out all so easily. And great to see you both in person. Fifi gets flipped!” He pumps his fists.
“Fifi gets flipped.” We smile. It was one thing to say it in a room with just us and Jamie’s grandma, but people listened. They cared. They showed up.
“I didn’t know until your video that anyone was canvassing for this election,” he continues. “Not a single person has come by my neighborhood.”
“Where do you live?” Jamie asks.
“Hampton Hall. We’ve got hundreds of homes. Most of us are Democrats, but this election is more about letting people know it’s happening in the first place.”
“Let’s see if it’s on the canvassing list.” I turn to Jamie. “If it isn’t, we could just pop over. I mean, every vote counts.”
“Hey, y’all!” Hannah interrupts us. “Can I speak with you both for a second?”
We excuse ourselves and turn to Hannah.
“The water bottles!” Jamie exclaims. “They’re in the trunk. I totally forgot.”
“No, it’s not that.” Hannah shakes her head. “Well, first thing, you guys were amazing up there. Old pros!”
“Thanks.” Jamie is blushing again. But in the best possible way.
“And as old pros”—Hannah crosses her arms—“you know you have to stick to the canvassing road map, right? You can’t go rogue like I just heard you both talking about.”
“Rogue? It’s knocking on doors,” I reply. “His neighborhood has hundreds of homes, and they haven’t been canvassed.”
“I’m sure they’re on our list.”
“Can we check really quick?” I ask. “If they’re not on there, we can just swing by.”
“If the homes are not in the packets, we don’t canvass them,” says Hannah. “We have a system in place for a reason.”
“If we just do a few neighborhoods on our own time, what’s the harm?” Jamie asks.
“No,” Hannah says firmly. “I’m sorry, but if you’re going to be Rossum volunteers, you have to play by the Rossum rules.”
The enthusiasm from moments earlier vanishes.
“I’m sorry,” she says gently. “You both really are rockstars—but we don’t want to risk affecting anything negatively by accident.”
I watch Hannah walk over to another canvasser.
“That makes no sense,” murmurs Jamie. “What’s the harm in knocking on a few extra doors?”
“Apparently it’s against the rules to let Democrats know an election’s coming up.”
I grab our packet and walk out the side door. Kevin. Now Hannah. They’re on our side—supposedly—but they have a funny way of showing it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jamie
I can’t stop reading the comments.
I know I’m breaking the cardinal rule of the internet. But it’s been three days since the Fifi Gets Flipped video, and the replies haven’t stopped coming. And there’s a whole new crop of them on the Carmen’s Cupcakes picture, plus a new one Gabe posted on Grandma’s account from our Canvassing 101 talk. It’s kind of wild to see Rossum posts getting this much engagement. They used to get only a few hundred likes each, and even that was only when Grandma cross-posted them to InstaGramm. But the Nicholas Wilson video made everything explode.
Of course, it’s not just the number of comments that’s new. It’s the fact that they’re about Maya and me.
I ship these two so hard!!!!
Rossum should officiate their wedding lol
Aww I love this!!!! Definitely voting for Rossum, and thanks for the tips!
wow they want to kissssssssss
JAMIE, THE WASHI TAPE I stan only Maya
more maya and jamie content please!!!
I guess they’re not that bad. Definitely a little creepy. But at least they haven’t mentioned the way I looked at Maya at the end of that video. At least these new ones imply some kind of reciprocal interest, which is