face- it was an older guy. It wasn’t him.”
“Well he sure isn’t Dollar. Why would anyone do that? Make out they’re a Natural if they aren’t?”
“Joke?”
“Oh, you mean it was one of those Naturals, the really gross ones that everybody sends around?”
“It wasn’t a funny picture. It was just a Natural, in 2D, staring straight at the camera in a kind of a bad mood.”
“It’s aggressive?! This is scary True...”
“I know it isn’t him.”
“Did he say what he wants?”
“He might tell me in a minute- he’s waiting outside.”
“You’ve got a stalker!”
“I met him in the Library yesterday, he asked for help downloading an assignment but he wouldn’t turn his webcam on.”
“I’m going to message him right now, tell him to leave you alone.”
“No don’t!”
“Fine. Go outside and look at him. Get a photo, send it straight to me. Then run.”
“Oh right, just shove my phone in his face and run off screaming? Subtle.”
“And following someone is subtle?”
“I think he just recognised me on the High Street.”
“You look a mess by the way.”
“I hardly slept! I can’t breathe properly, I only just did the throat spray. I’m not up to confronting anyone.”
“Sneak outside and get a photo.”
“I can’t, it’s massive double doors isn’t it? When I get near them they’ll fly open and it will be just me and him face to face.”
“Locking gazes. How sweet. I’m coming down there- I want to get a look at him.”
“Don’t be stupid, he won’t wait that long.”
“Bet he will if he’s a Natural.”
“What if he’s...actually as gorgeous as Dollar?”
Seven’s face opens like she’s laughing at the whole universe.
“It’s your Maverick Update.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“It makes him think he’s in with a chance.”
My phone makes a satisfying snap as I close it. Nobody ever followed her up the street because she looks like all the other not-quite-Merlots.
Besides, I was always going to go outside and meet him.
Chapter Seven
It’s easy to leave the toilets, less easy to turn out into reception in full view of the double doors. I hang back, loitering. Elvis bounces spritely from the white corridor, and is promptly delivered onto the pavement. The doors part around him, far too many faces are hurrying past but nobody is standing still, not directly out front, the doors are shut again. Surely he wouldn’t be standing right there, would he, like my date?
So I make a decision. I march at those ridiculously sized totally transparent doors and they shoot open and present me to the world as I fake-stroll out into the fresh air, take a deep breath, and a fraction more air moves in through my nose. Nobody approaches me. I’ve adopted a casual pose in the centre of the pavement and faces flow past, vivid statement eyes on disinterested shoppers. So I’ve got to do the looking, too. A visual sweep in both directions does not raise any immediate suspects. A wide group of teenagers cross the road towards me, but on brief inspection, they are all girls. Over the road, somebody is concealed within the doorway of a shop front like a proper stalker. I glimpse an elbow. I edge along to line myself up, and it’s only a man pausing to
“Well he sure isn’t Dollar. Why would anyone do that? Make out they’re a Natural if they aren’t?”
“Joke?”
“Oh, you mean it was one of those Naturals, the really gross ones that everybody sends around?”
“It wasn’t a funny picture. It was just a Natural, in 2D, staring straight at the camera in a kind of a bad mood.”
“It’s aggressive?! This is scary True...”
“I know it isn’t him.”
“Did he say what he wants?”
“He might tell me in a minute- he’s waiting outside.”
“You’ve got a stalker!”
“I met him in the Library yesterday, he asked for help downloading an assignment but he wouldn’t turn his webcam on.”
“I’m going to message him right now, tell him to leave you alone.”
“No don’t!”
“Fine. Go outside and look at him. Get a photo, send it straight to me. Then run.”
“Oh right, just shove my phone in his face and run off screaming? Subtle.”
“And following someone is subtle?”
“I think he just recognised me on the High Street.”
“You look a mess by the way.”
“I hardly slept! I can’t breathe properly, I only just did the throat spray. I’m not up to confronting anyone.”
“Sneak outside and get a photo.”
“I can’t, it’s massive double doors isn’t it? When I get near them they’ll fly open and it will be just me and him face to face.”
“Locking gazes. How sweet. I’m coming down there- I want to get a look at him.”
“Don’t be stupid, he won’t wait that long.”
“Bet he will if he’s a Natural.”
“What if he’s...actually as gorgeous as Dollar?”
Seven’s face opens like she’s laughing at the whole universe.
“It’s your Maverick Update.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“It makes him think he’s in with a chance.”
My phone makes a satisfying snap as I close it. Nobody ever followed her up the street because she looks like all the other not-quite-Merlots.
Besides, I was always going to go outside and meet him.
Chapter Seven
It’s easy to leave the toilets, less easy to turn out into reception in full view of the double doors. I hang back, loitering. Elvis bounces spritely from the white corridor, and is promptly delivered onto the pavement. The doors part around him, far too many faces are hurrying past but nobody is standing still, not directly out front, the doors are shut again. Surely he wouldn’t be standing right there, would he, like my date?
So I make a decision. I march at those ridiculously sized totally transparent doors and they shoot open and present me to the world as I fake-stroll out into the fresh air, take a deep breath, and a fraction more air moves in through my nose. Nobody approaches me. I’ve adopted a casual pose in the centre of the pavement and faces flow past, vivid statement eyes on disinterested shoppers. So I’ve got to do the looking, too. A visual sweep in both directions does not raise any immediate suspects. A wide group of teenagers cross the road towards me, but on brief inspection, they are all girls. Over the road, somebody is concealed within the doorway of a shop front like a proper stalker. I glimpse an elbow. I edge along to line myself up, and it’s only a man pausing to
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