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I picked up the phone. I don’t know why. Twenty years of being a big brother, I suppose. When Gemma texts at eleven at night, you answer.
“What about Tess?” I typed.
The reply came instantly. “She’s been weird all week and she’s not answering my texts. I think she’s seeing someone. Have you heard anything??”
Tess, still in my lap, read it over my shoulder and made a strangled noise.
“No idea,” I typed. “Why would I know?”
“Because you’re being weird too.”
Then, before I could stop her, Gemma video-called.
I panicked. I hit the wrong button. I answered.
Gemma’s face filled the screen, in her pyjamas, with a face mask on. Then her eyes went very, very wide. Because in the corner of the frame, with her dress half off and her hair all over the place, was her best friend.
“TESS?”
“Hi, Gem,” Tess said weakly.
There was a long silence. Then Gemma screamed. Not angrily. Delightedly.
“I KNEW IT. I KNEW you fancied him. I’ve known since the swingball. Oh my God, I’m telling Mum.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Too late, I’m adding her to the group chat.”
She hung up. Tess and I stared at each other.
My phone buzzed. Mum: “About time. Bring her for Sunday lunch. xx”
Ending 2 of 16: The Group Chat. Go back and try a different choice for the full happy ending.