Chapter 2: Trending Trouble

Early the next morning, my agent woke me up before I’d even opened my eyes, dragging me off to film another reality show.

The sun hadn’t even made it over the rooftops when my phone started buzzing. My agent—Maya, who never slept past five—was at my door with an energy drink and a look that said I was already late.

Not long after Tessa hung up last night, she shamelessly called again.

Her reason? Little Monster missed his dad.

She left a voicemail, voice syrupy sweet: “Alex, Little Monster keeps sniffing around for you. Maybe you should apologize to him for leaving him here.”

Slumped tiredly in my chair, I checked the trending hashtags out of habit.

It was still dark out, the city just a ghost in the window. I scrolled Instagram, still half-dreaming.

Didn’t expect the top three trending topics were all about Tessa.

#LittlePrincess Alex Brooks Late Night Soft Launch#

#ChicagoDogHeist #BrooksAndPrincess

#Alex Brooks Responds and Admits Relationship#

#LittlePrincess Alex Brooks Good News Coming Soon#

#Alex Regrets Bullying the Royal Son-in-Law#

My agent, already halfway through her latte, muttered something about how social media ran on caffeine and chaos.

When I saw the last topic, I burst out laughing.

I nearly spit out my orange juice. I mean, come on.

Who came up with that title? Isn’t it awkward?

Royal son-in-law? Then what am I, the retired king?

I snorted. Maybe next they’d say I abdicated for love.

Ever since Alex Brooks debuted, every time he trends, I get dragged in for comparison, as if I’m always snatching his gigs and getting a bad rap.

Doesn’t matter what I do—Alex breathes and somehow I’m the villain. The social media rumor mill never sleeps in this city.

I followed the comments and opened Alex Brooks’s Instagram.

His latest post was a selfie from last night, abs on full display.

That guy knew his angles—mirror shot, sweatpants, caption practically begging for attention.

[Ugh, my dog’s gone, send help.]

Posted half an hour after Tessa’s post.

He even tagged her.

She’d liked the photo before I even saw it—classic.

That night, trending hashtags exploded, with tons of big accounts reposting.

My feed was flooded with memes, fan-edited videos, TikToks, and endless reposts. Chicago was eating this drama up.

Some fans even edited together clips of the two that had nothing to do with each other.

[OMG, my two faves are really together!]

[Three months ago, some paparazzi said they went skiing in Colorado. Little Princess denied going with Alex, but now—slap in the face, haha.]

[Brooks, are you going public because there’s good news coming?]

[Little Princess is so humble in front of Brooks, reduced to midnight dog heists, haha.]

[Little Princess spoils Brooks so much, I’m jealous.]

Me: “……”

I just scrolled, numb. So now my ex and my dog were trending. Welcome to the twenty-first century.

Last night, Tessa even stole Alex Brooks’s dog?

But didn’t he say in an interview that he’s scared of dogs and would never own one?

I remembered his big public meltdown on Ellen—he swore off pets after being bitten as a kid. So either he’s lying, or the world’s gone off the rails.