"Well... that was interesting," Alex mutters into the phone again. We've picked our Skype call back up after that disaster.

"Interesting is a nice word," Glory mutters. "I would use something like... disturbing."

"How did he even get our Skype handles?" Alex asks.

Glory speaks up. "Handles? What the—"

Alex sighs. "A handle is just another name for username," she mutters.

"That still doesn't explain how Lee got ours," I point out.

Alex nods. "Yes, that part is a mystery."

There's silence on Glory's usually loud and rambunctious end, until finally there's a very guilty-sounding whisper.

"That might have been me," she told us softly.

Alex and I gasp at the same time. "WHAT! Why  would you do that? We freaked out! And so did you!"

"Well, I didn't give them to Lee, I gave them to Tyler. How was I supposed to know that he was going to give them to Lee?" she hisses.

"Why did you give them to Tyler?" I ask.

"Yeah?" adds Alex. "Are you fraternizing with him? You know he has a girlfriend."

Glory makes an exasperated noice in her throat. "I am not fraternizing with Tyler. Have you met him? He's a complete and total piece of shhhhheetrock," she finishes awkwardly. "Troy's always telling me about the stupid things he does."

"Oooh, are you fraternizing with Troooy?" Alex pesters. "You can't have both of them. Which one do you want?"

"I don't want either of them," Glory snaps. "I think they're both nut jobs. And what does this conversation have to do with anything?"

"Ooooh, Glory has a cruuuuuush," Alex drawls.

"No, Glory doesn't," Glory retorts. "And if Alex doesn't shut up soon, Glory is going to stab the shhhnot out of her."

"Shhhnot?" Alex asks.

"Snot. I am going to stab the snot out of you."

"How do you stab the snot out of someone?"

"GUYS!" I shout. "This stupid argument isn't accomplishing anything! Seriously! Glory, why don't we finish your research before we die of old age?"

"Alex isn't going to die of old age. She's going to be stabbed to death," Glory informs us.

"Enough," I shout. "Guys, why do you have to argue with each other so much?"

Apparently, neither one could answer that question, because we sat in silence for a while until Glory spoke again.

"So, this Louis Nicolas Vacuum dude—"

"Vaquelin," Alex immediately corrects her. "He's the guy who discovered chromium. Glory, were you paying attention to anything?"

"Sorry, what?"

Now I'm concerned. "Glory, we know you're usually a little bit zoned-out, but this is even more zoned-out then usual."

"Yeah," Alex adds. "Giving out out usernames, to Tyler Singleton, of all people..."

"WELL HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT TYLER WAS GOING TO GIVE THEM TO LEE?"

At this rate, I'll be deaf by tomorrow.

"You need to chill, Glory," I soothe. "I know that there's a lot of stress because of the project and the party, but seriously."

I can hear her breathing deeply. "I'm sorry, Rose. It's just... I'm sorry."

"Anyways," Alex says swiftly. "I guess we're about done with the research now. And I probably have to go and eat dinner."

"Yeah," Glory continues. "I have to go and eat."

"What do you even eat?" Alex asks interestedly. "You look like a twig."

"Thanks," Glory growls. "I have to go."

"But you never answered my—"

•••

glorytsunami has left the call
alex_lansky has left the call
rose555 has left the call

snickersbar is calling

•••

"What does he want now?" I ask myself aloud, to no one in particular. "Didn't Alex block him?"

"No one can block me. I'm unblockable."

I gasp and drop my phone onto the bed again. Coming from my phone is the unmistakable
voice of Lee Cancer.

"Lee, what—"

I'm waiting for backup, and then I realize that Alex and Glory already left the call. It's just me.

Me and Lee.

"I know you're surprised. That's me... full of surprises."

I roll my eyes. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" he asks sarcastically. "Obviously I'm Skyping you."

I roll my eyes again. "I'm still so mad at Glory. I don't know why she would give out our Skype names."

Lee sighs. "I do."

I can imagine his cocky smirk. "You do?" I ask. Why would Glory tell him?

But my thoughts soon come to an end. "No," he answers breezily. "I don't really know. Troy probably does, with the amount those two chatter."

It's my turn to sigh. "Well, that's a disappointment."

"What can I say? I live to disappoint."

Why am I still talking to this absolutely infuriating person? Why was I talking to this absolutely infuriating person in the first place?

"You make me so mad," I growl. "You really need to leave."

"Not so fast, Razzledazzle."

I stop, my mouth halfway open. "What did you just call me?"

"Razzledazzle. That's your new nickname."

"Why Razzledazzle? What does that even mean?"

"It's jazzy. And it starts with 'R' just like your name does."

"Ugh," I grunt. "That's a terrible nickname."

There's no response. I wait about thirty seconds to see if he's just gone quiet, but then I realize that he's Lee Cancer: he can't be quiet for that long.

He's hung up on me.

"One of these days I'm going to kill him," I mutter, placing my phone carefully on my bedside table. "He drives me crazy."

Razzledazzle? What kind of nickname is that?

•••

[sorry for not updating yesterday! I'll try to update twice today to make up for it!]