“Aww, thanks, Jacq with a q.” Maya smiles.
“And someone named Granibella and a bunch of numbers says: Rossum is awesome and so are Maya and Jamie! And she put the hashtag! FifiGetsFlipped.” I keep scrolling. “Okay, and Nancy Shapiro says . . . ohhhh. Wow.”
Maya leans in. “What?”
“She says: So proud of my grandson Jordan Isaac Rossum, vote for Rossum!!! Love, Grandma.”
“That’s his grandma?” Maya presses her heart. “That is so insanely cute.”
“What can I say? Jewish grandmas are the best.” I scroll further. “Okay, here’s a good one: lmao Jamie’s side-eye is a MOOD.”
“No kidding.”
“And let’s see. A bunch of people say they’re voting for Rossum. And then someone named Anna with, like, fifty n’s says: LOL Jamie’s face when Maya mentioned cats.”
Maya laughs. “Told you! That face was my favorite part of the whole video.” She leans back, gazing contentedly at the chair’s domed wicker roof. “Oh my God—did you see all the cat versus dog merch at Fawkes and Horntail? They had bag clips, they had socks . . .”
I nod distractedly, my eyes drifting back down to the comments section.
“Jamie, the washi tape” LOLOL
Find someone who looks at you the way Jamie looks at Maya at the 00:56 mark
My cheeks flood with heat. You know what would be awesome right now? A trapdoor. To another dimension. Wow, Jamie. Good thing you’re so subtle about liking Maya. It’s not like total strangers can read it all over your face.
And the comment itself. No joke: if Maya read that, I’d die. I might actually die.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maya
Jamie was wrong. Helping Grandma out with photo shoots isn’t annoying. It’s the absolute best.
We finished up a quick session with her and Boomer at a newly renovated park, and now we’re working our way through all the shops in Town Brookhaven to drop off our H.B. 28 flyers. People light up when they see her. Everyone she asks gives us an enthusiastic yes.
Carmen’s Cupcakes is no exception.
“Hello, dear, my name is Ruth Mill—” Grandma begins when she approaches the woman behind the register.
“I know who you are!” The woman hurries over to us. “You’re InstaGramm!”
She’s staring at Jamie’s grandmother like Meryl Streep herself swept in. Then she glances over at me and Jamie. Her eyes widen.
“Is that Jamie and Maya?”
I glance at Jamie. He looks as surprised as I do.
“I saw your video,” she says. “The one about fixing the Fifi bumper stickers? I haven’t gotten trolled, thank God, but I sent it to two of my friends who were hit. They loved you guys so much. Fifi gets flipped!” She pumps her fists.
“Fifi gets flipped,” I manage to say. “I’m glad it was helpful.”
It’s really weird to be recognized. Is this what it’s like for Jamie’s grandma on a daily basis? Just like all the other shop owners, Carmen doesn’t blink before agreeing to let us put out our flyers. She even promises to stick one on the front door, so everyone can see it when they come in.
“I was going to reach out to you,” Carmen tells Jamie’s grandma. “Scavino’s resistance efforts really inspired me. I’m planning to hand out free coffee to anyone who comes in on election day with an ‘I voted’ sticker.”
“That’s wonderful!” Grandma exclaims. “Would you mind if I shared that information with my little online community? They’d be really appreciative.”
Judging by Carmen’s response, you’d think Grandma invited her to party on the moon. Carmen is a definite yes to the shout-out.
Grandma quickly switches into work mode. After taking approximately thirty minutes to decide which cupcake will complement the color scheme of the shop (strawberry cream), she’s scoping out the store to find the perfect spot to set up the shot.
Okay, so maybe Jamie’s right. She can be a bit extra.
I glance at the clock. We promised Hannah we’d come a little early for the canvassing session to drop off water bottles. I hope we won’t be late.
“Maya dear, would you be interested in posing with me for this photo?” Jamie’s grandmother asks. “I was thinking you could be on one side with a cupcake, and Jamie can be on my other side with a coffee cup.”
“I’d love to!” I say.
Jamie and I stand on either side of Grandma.
“Cheese!” Carmen shouts out, and takes several photos.
Jamie’s phone starts ringing mid-shoot. As soon as we’re done, he pulls it out.
“Mom,” he groans. “Be right back.”
“By the way,” I tell Grandma as she walks over to the table and picks up her purse, “thank you so much for following me. I nearly passed out when I saw the request on Instagram. I was going through a rough time, and it made me feel so much better.”
“Hmm?” Grandma glances up at this and studies me for a second. She smiles. “You’re an absolute sweetheart—you know that, right? And you’ve been so good to my Jamie. For Jamie. He’s always been an easygoing kid, but he can really fall inside his head sometimes. Ever since you have been spending all this time together, he’s just—”
“I’m back!” Jamie hurries over to us. “What’d I miss?”
“Your grandmother was just telling me how awesome I am, and how lucky you are that I’m your friend.”
“That’s right.” Grandma laughs and pinches Jamie’s cheek. He’s crimson. It’s so fun to make Jamie blush. It’s almost a full-time hobby at this point.
“Almost a million and a half views on the Nicholas Wilson Fifi video,” I tell them. We’re in the car and on our way to the campaign headquarters.
“There were just over a million last night,” Grandma says. “It’s really catching on.”
“Thanks to yours truly!” Jamie says.
“I’m glad it’s started a conversation about trolling, but I’m not condoning this.” Grandma shoots him a look. “You shouldn’t use my account or post things without first informing me.”
“But he did deserve it,” I add from the backseat.
“Well, yes, that he did.” Jamie’s grandma smiles.
My phone blinks. A text from Shelby.
Just saw the video with you! You’re so amazing!
I feel a jolt of surprise—even though I shouldn’t. The video’s up now, so of course people from school might have seen it.
Maya: Thanks so much!
Shelby: A few of us are going to the mall on Thursday. Let me know if you want to come too. It’s been forever!
Maya: Oh, yeah. I’ll check and get back to you!
She sends me kiss emojis, and I send her smiling ones back, and then I click over and scroll to our video. It has nowhere near a million hits, but seventy-five thousand views aren’t bad. About five thousand percent more engagement than anything I’ve ever posted.
I click the hashtag, #FifiGetsFlipped.
“You won’t believe this!” I exclaim. “Someone’s made a CafePress shop with the Fifi hashtag! They have T-shirts, and mugs, and they even designed a sticker with Fifi wearing a rainbow hat and holding up a Rossum sign! All proceeds support the campaign.”