The Takedown(42)

“But it could get reposted the next day, and I already know that the user information doesn’t lead anywhere,” I finished for him.

Rick tapped a finger against his lips. “I can bring this to the feds at the courthouse in Brooklyn. They might take it on, and they have the resources to slow this down while tracking down the video’s creator. Their offices are probably closed for the next few days, but I’ll still reach out to them if that’s how you want to proceed, though I wouldn’t expect to hear back until after the New Year.”

“But by then all the admissions deadlines will have passed,” Mom said.

I bit my tongue. It was already too late for that.

“Might as well,” my dad sighed.

“And the source material didn’t get you anywhere?”

“How do you mean?” I asked.

“Your hater took the footage of you from somewhere—Woofer, most likely. Finding out who posted the original clip might give you a lead on who the forger was.”

And now you’ll have to excuse me, because right at that moment, my brain went into all-caps mode.

OMG. I’M AN IDIOT.

WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS?

SO BASIC = TOTALLY OVERLOOKED.

I KNEW IT WAS A WOOFER VIDEO THEY USED AS THE SOURCE MATERIAL! WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF SEARCHING FOR IT?

A lead. I had a lead. I jumped out of my chair, stuck out my hand. When Rick reached for it, I pulled him into a hug instead.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Brenner. That was the most enlightening lecture ever.”

Rick laughed, uncomfortably. My mom shook her head. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Rick had just told me I might figure this out by doing all the things I did best. I needed to do research. I needed to build an argument. Plus, I had something to work with that I hadn’t had in the last three days:

Hope.





I txted AnyLies.

moi Ever tried to watch 1,298 videos of yourself? I don’t recommend it.

Sounds like something you’d be good at.

moi I think you have the wrong impression of me. I’m not conceited.

…

moi I’m not that conceited.

…

moi Well, it’s not my fault. I mean, have you seen me recently?

UGH. I thought you were trying to convince me not to hate you.

Smiling, then realizing it was weird that I was smiling, I set my Doc aside and got back to work. After a quick train ride to Brooklyn, with my parents only too happy to be out of my company and back at work, I sequestered myself at a secluded table in a coffee shop at the top of Prospect Park, as was my way when I dove into work mode. I was getting close and I felt something like confident. I was going to logical think the SHT out of this.

I could do this all day, which was lucky, considering I might have to. I’d swiped sixty-four videos in before I even found a video that was non–Mr. E.–related.

It was footage that Audra had taken of me and the girls in the Rockaways, prancing around in our bikinis. The sight of so much skin and boobs and, in Fawn’s case, butt crack was horrifying. When Fawn had first posted the video, I’d thought it was adorable. Now, looking at my beautiful friends, I felt ashamed. Like we should have known better, but about what? Enjoying ourselves? Swimming? Having bodies? Kyle was in plenty of similar videos, naked except for his board shorts. But that would never be used against him. It wasn’t fair.

I untagged myself from the video, then multitasked and txted Sharma to see if she’d do a little digging on Jessie Rosenthal. Like, for instance, did her Brooklyn Public Library account also have borrowing privileges for the New York Public Library?

sharm Good thinking. Never cracked the library before, will try. Gonna be off Doc for next 30.

Sharma? Off Doc? Bizarre.

moi Mkays. Thanks, pookie.

Me using my hater’s slang? Bizarre times thirty. I took out a Sani-Wipe and swabbed my Doc clean as if that could erase my txt slipup. I needed to relax. My stomach was the size of a pixel. But the more videos I watched of myself, the worse I felt. Did we need to record and keep everything? I txted Audra:

moi Freaking out about amount of info that’s online about me re vids.

audy Think you’ve txted the wrong friend. You know my thoughts. Can never be too much info online. All this exposure is good for you.

Did Audra not remember all those tear-soaked Boobgate-related sleepovers sophomore year? Talk about too much info.

At the time, Audra was dating Cobi Watkins. He was quiet, a little preppy for Audra’s usual tastes, and a first-year prelaw student at Columbia. When she told us Cobi had asked her to send him naked pics of herself, my stomach did a serpentine twist with unease. I began to wonder aloud if that was the smartest decision, which, might I note, was also what I wondered aloud when Audra said she was dating a college guy to begin with. I mean, he could ask for nude pics all day as far as I was concerned; that didn’t mean she needed to send them, especially not after only a few weeks of dating.

But Audra did her head toggle and this pitying puckered-lip pout, and it was clear they’d already landed on his Doc. Fawn cheered and said, “Welcome to the club,” and they both generally acted like it was no big deal to send your boyfriend nudies. Until, not even a day later, Cobi forwarded the pics to all his friends. He didn’t do it to be vindictive. It wasn’t like he and Audra had argued or broken up. Titillating and bragging to his friends about his hot girl just rated higher than respecting her.