“Yes. I got it,” I said before she could say his name for a third time. I didn’t want to think of my ex. I’d done a pretty good job of just that for the last several weeks. I didn’t want to think about his smile or the way he rambled when he was nervous and sang off key when he wanted to make me laugh. The way he’d dumped me out of the blue for a really stupid reason.

“If Robert is following him, maybe he knows something.” She waved her hand at my paper. “Did he comment on any of his posts?”

“No,” I said curtly.

“You have to talk to him.”

“What? No!” To be fair, Amelia wasn’t a bad friend for suggesting I talk to the guy who had ripped out my heart. I just hadn’t been completely honest with her about how “mutual” the breakup was. In reality, there was nothing mutual about it. Robert had broken up with me because he said I was too intense, too single-minded. So I took swimming seriously. It was my ticket to a good college. I had to.

“Come on. He’ll tell you. Just ask.”

I did not want to talk to Robert. I was over him . . . mostly. Talking to him would lead to a major relapse. I was sure of it. But maybe she was right. Maybe he really would know who this guy was. Why else would he follow a fake account? It didn’t seem like him at all. So he obviously had some sort of vested interest in what was happening. At the very least, he’d probably been to a few of the other disturbances caused by the guy. Maybe he’d seen something.

My eyes drifted to the wall above Amelia’s bed, where a painting of a distorted fish hung. I had always liked the painting: it reminded me of how it felt sometimes being under the water—a separate body experience. Amelia said her brother’s girlfriend, Abby, had painted it. Her brother was a few years older than her. Sometimes when I saw them together I tried to picture if my brother and I would’ve had a similar relationship—both loving and annoying at the same time. The way my parents described him, it seemed like we would’ve been close.

A knock sounded on the door, then Cooper poked his head in. “Amelia, Mom wants to know if you want lunch.” Cooper’s eyes lit up when he saw me. “Oh, hey, Hadley. I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yes, hi.” I blushed a little. Cooper was cute, and for some reason, I felt like the fact that I had just been thinking about him was written all over my face.

“Tell Mom we’ll be there in a minute,” Amelia said.

“Will do.” He shut the door.