Girl Online Read Free Page B

cardboard discarded on the floor from where I put together my final photography portfolio.
    The only place that’s clear in my entire room is the window seat, where I’ve tacked up a cutting from a celeb magazine with a picture of Noah and me, his arm wrapped round my shoulders. The caption reads: Noah Flynn and his girlfriend . It’s the first time I’ve been in a magazine and, even though my hair looks like a mess, I kept it as a memento. There’s also a calendar that’s nearly completely covered in gold stars, and today’s date is circled in red.
    Elliot tiptoes through the rubble. “Holy wow. Ocean Strong does not know how to pack.”
    â€œOcean Strong” was the name Elliot and I had come up with for my alter ego, the one I channelled whenever I was feeling anxious, like how Beyoncé used to use “Sasha Fierce” as a protective presence onstage. Beyoncé doesn’t need Sasha anymore, and one day I hope not to need Ocean Strong. But, for now, I cling to the name like a life jacket that will keep me afloat on the stormy seas of my anxiety.
    I gesture to my bed. “Um, take a seat, I guess.” I perch on top of a pile of jumpers on my dressing-table chair.
    â€œI’m kind of worried that you’re hiding Megan’s dead body under here somewhere,” says Elliot, wrinkling his nose.
    I stick my tongue out at him. “As if.”
    Megan was my best friend when I first started school—but she changed, morphing into this high-maintenance, boy-crazy, selfie-obsessed girl that I no longer recognized. Last year she became jealous about my so-called relationship with Ollie—a guy I had a huge crush on before I met Noah. Nothing had happened between us, but even the hint of it seemed to be enough to drive Megan wild with jealousy. It was Ollie who found out about my then-anonymous blog and recognized Noah Flynn, and he told Megan. In turn, Megan put two and two together and told the media, exposing me to the press and the public.
    Still, I got my own back when Elliot and I confronted Megan and Ollie in a café, ending up with our milkshakes being dumped over their heads. I haven’t had much to do with Megan since Milkshakegate. News of the incident—stillmy single greatest moment of stand-up-for-myself bravery—spread around our school like wildfire.
    But girls like Megan never stay uncool for long. It’s as though her inner confidence always shines through and bad or embarrassing stuff slides off her like water off a duck’s back. She even makes jokes about how ice cream is the key to her milky complexion. And now she’s got an acceptance letter from the top drama school in London. She’s back to being untouchable and on top of the world.
    Even Ollie is leaving our school. His whole family decided to relocate to help his brother take his tennis to the next level. I feel bad for him. Even after what he did to me I don’t believe he’s a bad guy. And now he’s trapped in his brother’s shadow. My two “nemeses” gone like that. The only challenge I have left to overcome is myself.
    Elliot claps his hands together. He’s in full-blown Monica-from- Friends organizer mode now. “OK, where’s your suitcase?”
    â€œUh, I think Alex is sitting on it.”
    Alex jumps up and shifts a pile of clothes from underneath him. The sides of my bright pink suitcase finally become visible underneath the wreckage of my belongings.
    â€œHow long are you going away, again?” Alex says, appraising the bulging nature of my suitcase.
    â€œShe’s gone for fourteen days, three hours, and twenty-one minutes,” says Elliot. “I’m going to count every second!”
    â€œI think my parents are too,” I say with a sheepish grin.
    â€œDid it take them a lot of time to come around to the idea?” asks Alex.
    â€œOh, only the two months since Noah suggested it at Easter! To