Stranger Than Fanfiction(7)
“My next question is also for Cash,” Jennifer said. “Over the last few weeks, I’ve gotten hundreds of tweets from people saying they’ve seen you stumbling out of bars or dancing erratically in clubs. Has the stress of Hollywood caught up to you? Is it true you’re hanging up your role-model cape in exchange for a pair of bad-boy boots?”
The entire convention went dead silent. Apparently you could take the girl out of Gotcha, but you couldn’t take the Gotcha out of the girl. To Cash’s horror, Damien spoke on his behalf before he had a chance to respond.
“People forget Cash is just a normal twenty-two-year-old when he’s off set,” he said. “As long as things don’t get out of hand, he has every right to have a little fun while he’s still young.”
Cash snapped his head toward Damien so hard it was a miracle his neck didn’t break. He had never heard something so kind and backstabbing uttered in the same breath before. Cash was tempted to splash Damien with water just to see if he would melt.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Cash said. “Work hard, play hard—that’s my motto.”
“The next question will be from Terrence Wallem,” the announcer said, trying to change the subject.
“Really? Oh, all right…,” Terrence said, and quickly thought of another question. “How many more seasons will Wiz Kids be on the air?”
The entire theater sat on the edge of their seats. If it were up to them, the show would never end. For most of the audience, the show had been on for the majority of their lives—for some, the show was their lives. They couldn’t imagine a world without it. Losing it would be like losing a family member, maybe even worse.
“We’ll be on the air as long as you keep watching,” Tobey said, and made a fist in the air.
“We’re as dedicated to the Wizzers as they are to us,” Amy said, and tossed her hair.
For a split second, Cash considered telling the audience what he had almost shared in the greenroom. Finding out he wouldn’t be returning for Wiz Kid’s tenth season would have crushed the fans, but letting the whole world know before confirming it with his bosses would have been sweet, sweet vindication. But as Cash looked around the room at all the eager faces staring up at him, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Yeah… ditto,” he said, and looked down at his hands.
His answer was followed by a deafening roar of appreciation, but Cash was so far into his own head, he didn’t hear it.
In all honesty, Cash’s relationship with the fans of Wiz Kids meant more to him than anything else in the world. Getting to do what he loved and causing so much joy in return was the greatest thing that would ever happen to him. It made all the bullshit and challenges that came with fame worth every minute. Periodic cynicism was only a tool he used to shield the weight of meaning so much to so many people.
Disappointing the Wizzers was Cash’s greatest fear and he knew his leaving Wiz Kids would devastate them. Watching all the happiness he had inspired over the years fade and turn into heartbreak and anger would devastate him in return. Sadly, it was inevitable.
However, leaving the show wasn’t what concerned him the most. The reason he was quitting was far more disappointing than the exit itself. Even though he had very little control over the matter, once the story got out it would spread like wildfire and his life would change forever. The inconveniences he dealt with today for being famous were nothing compared to the hurricane that waited.
Cash Carter had a deep secret he was keeping from the world, and unfortunately for him, it was only a matter of time before the truth came out.
Chapter Two
A SUMMER TO REMEMBER
The excitement of WizCon stretched far beyond the crowded halls of the Santa Clara Convention Center. In all corners of the world, fans meticulously scanned the Internet for any glimpse of the panels, exhibits, and homemade costumes inside the convention. The Wizzers’ collective efforts put the investigative teams of the FBI and CIA to shame.
In Downers Grove, an Illinois suburb twenty miles outside Chicago, recent high school graduate Topher Collins was glued to his laptop as if it were dialysis. He scavenged through the depths of social media and ogled complete strangers’ candid photos like a cyberstalker. He kept browsers open to every nerdy blog covering the convention and refreshed the pages every twenty seconds for the latest and greatest. His in-box chimed continuously, like a toddler playing with a reception bell, as Google Alerts pointed him in more directions for another WizCon fix.
Topher was very tall and hunched over his desk like an adult at a kid’s table. He could have easily been a basketball player if it wasn’t for his absolute lack of athletic ability (newborn giraffes were more coordinated than he was). Instead, Topher had been gifted with a brilliant mind and proudly displayed his valedictorian medal over the corner of the most prized possession in his bedroom: a framed season-six poster of Wiz Kids—signed by the cast.
He refreshed a blog called The Nerd Herder and was mesmerized by a new photo from the convention. A voluptuous blond woman was dressed as the Nordic Alien Queen from season five; she had hand-glued individual sequins on her skin to create the character’s infamously tight jumpsuit. She left very little to the imagination and Topher’s hormones were drawn to her like a paper clip to a magnet. His face was so close to his laptop he could see the pixels of his screen.