“Chloe.”

Annie stands in front of me, her eyes wide and uncertain. She glances down at Nick’s hand holding mine, then looks away, like she wants to ask but is going to restrain herself.

“Hi,” I say, then add, “Congratulations. This is amazing.”

She gives me a tentative smile, and then I lean forward and wrap up her tiny body in a hug. Sure, I’m mad, or upset, or disappointed, or whatever (I do not have time to examine my feelings right now), but she’s my best friend, now and forever. That’s not going to change because of a fight.

Over her shoulder, I see Uncle Don and Tyler, plus all their D&D friends. Gary is here, although I’m pretty sure he primarily watches Wheel of Fortune, not rom-coms. Even Tobin is here, which means his roommate Marcus is filling in (Marcus takes over only in the case of emergencies, but Nick trusts him because he’s less accident prone than Tobin, although that really isn’t saying much). This room is packed full of people who know and love Annie, and, by extension, people who know and love me. And now those people are going to watch a fictionalized version of my life play out onscreen.

“Thank you for coming,” Annie says, smiling at me. “I was afraid . . .”

I shake my head. “I would never miss this.”

Drew appears behind Annie, looking less like a hulking action movie star and more like a rom-com lead in his suit. He puts his hand on her back. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think they’re ready for you to introduce the movie. Oh, hey, Chloe.”

I wave, and Nick lets go of my hand for a moment to give one of those brisk dude handshakes. But then his hand finds mine again, and it’s a relief to have him to hold on to.

Annie nods, biting her lip. “Okay, well, I guess I’m gonna head in. Oh, be sure to grab some popcorn. It’s free!”

I place my free hand over my heart. “Free popcorn? Why, you’ve pulled out all the stops.”

Annie leans over to give Nick a hug, too, which is a funny sight since she’s so small and he’s so tall. “Thank you for bringing her.”

“Yeah. Well.” Nick stiffens, uncomfortable with physical contact (although, as I remind myself, he seems plenty comfortable with physical contact from me).

Everyone files into the theater, and even though Nick starts to walk toward the front, where Annie and Drew are headed, I pull him toward the back. I’m pretty sure the last time I sat in the back of a movie theater, it was for clandestine make-out purposes, but right now I don’t think I can handle being up near the front. And also I want to be able to make an easy exit if necessary.

People keep filing in; so many people. People I don’t know, people that must’ve just wanted to see this movie. My heart starts to beat faster to the rhythm of oh no oh no oh no. I knew there were people in the world who cared about this movie and wanted to see it; why would my picture be in blog posts if they didn’t? But actually seeing them here, sitting in the plush red theater seats, makes it all so real.