Page 116 of The Fake Out

Anonymous squirmed in his seat, the rat. “I don’t want to say too much except that I don’t think there’ll be a wedding.”

“And why is that?” the interviewer asked.

“I have a feeling they’ll be breaking up very soon.”

The interviewer gasped. “Does this have to do with the woman in the video?”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s something else entirely.” Anonymous faced the camera and even though it was impossible to tell because of all the security measures, it seemed like he was talking directly to me. “I’m saying Chris Sterns is not the guy the world thinks he is.”

I tossed the phone on the table with a thunk, anger churning in my stomach. “What a bunch of crap. None of that is true. None of it.”

Except it was true.

Ali took another bite of her croissant. “So, everything’s okay with you two?”

“Yes. W-we’re in love and we’re getting married.”

“Excellent. Because I have a plan.”

I groaned.

“No, this is a good one. I might be able to figure out who this anonymous source is. If we find out his name, isn’t there legal action that can be taken?”

I had no idea, but finding out who it was would go a long way to making this all stop for Chris.

“I could help,” said a voice behind us.

I jumped and put a hand on my chest. “Aidan, I need to put a bell on you.”

Ali stood. “What do you mean, you could help?”

Aidan didn’t quite meet anyone’s eyes. “I’m pretty good at that kind of stuff.”

“How good?” Ali stuffed the rest of her croissant in her mouth and waited.

“Good enough to know how to find him without anyone knowing what I’m doing.”

“Wait. Is this illegal?”

Aidan winced. “Only if you get caught.”

“Did you get caught?”

He nodded, clearly annoyed. “They only caught me the last time because I got careless. Even though I kept reporting how the basketball team was cheating on all their tests. Over and over, and no one did anything. So, I maybe found a way into the school server and changed their grades.”

Ali nodded, looking proud. “So, you used your powers for good?”

“Yeah, that defense didn’t work on the judge either.”

“Was it worth it?” I asked.

Aidan tugged at his shirt collar. “I don’t know. I like it better here in Two Harts, and I met you and”—he blushed—“Iris.”

My heart squeezed and I had the brief but strong desire to hug him. But I thought that might embarrass him more than he already was.

“This is awesome,” Ali crowed. Leave it to her to break up a touching moment.

“No!” I glared at my best friend. “I can’t let him do this. He could get in big trouble. And this time he might get more than community service hours.”