And I was alone. Sipping on a novelty milkshake that was almost as tall as my upper body. Which suddenly felt a whole lot less fun.

But as Nick dashed out, someone I recognized walked in. Dove. Wow. She was even more perfect in real life. She stared at Nick as he raced off—if anything, she looked shocked a guy hadn’t stopped for her. I felt normally most things would—guys, traffic, birds, gravity.

But she was on the phone, and it sounded heated. Wow—I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of her. She was waving her arm around, she was so mad. Or was she stressed? She shouted something about that too. I think it was Morgan on the other end, and she was yelling at her for something not being more. More what I had no idea, but I definitely heard the word payback. I tried to watch without her noticing me but sucked on my straw so hard, it made a gurgle.

Great.

Dove glared at me, and I don’t know why, but I waved. She ended the call and walked over.

“Sorry, do I know you?” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. How did it bounce when it landed?

“Erm, no.” I smiled. “I’m Elle’s friend.” Nothing. “You know, @OneElleOfATime?”

I was expecting a smile, something about my accent at least, but all I got was a “right.”

Weird. Elle had been telling me how friendly she was in real life. “Did you just hear that?” She nodded to where she’d been on a call.

I shook my head. “Nope…”

“Good.” She did a smile that lasted 0.000001 seconds. “Top secret challenge planning with Morgan.”

“Well, your secret’s safe with me.” I wish I’d heard more now, maybe I could have tipped Elle off. “I’m actually the one who swapped with Elle.”

Dove looked at me and the pile of knitted accessories next to me. “Makes sense.”

Did it? The way she was looking at me made me feel uncomfortable—like when you’re swimming in the sea but the water goes all cold and you can’t feel the bottom and you wish you’d never left the beach.

“Elle’s doing so well, isn’t she?” Nothing. “She’s got some amazing stuff lined up!”

Dove’s mouth quavered. Ever so slightly, but I saw it. “Like a…‘pantomime’?” Too late, she laughed. “Yeah…sounds rocking.”

Wow—she was…mean.

And confusing. She’d been throwing all the love hearts on Elle’s grid. Maybe she just didn’t get it. I tried to explain, how funny it was, how great Ruby was in it, and how it would be like nothing they had over here, but when I got to the end, all she said was, “Watch those followers flood in, right?”

Well, this was not what I thought she’d be like. “Did you see her announcement about #OneElleOfAChristmasDayInLondon?”