Back to the apartment.To hide.
Well, it had been a nice couple of hours of pretending he was in a normal relationship.
* * *
By that evening, the Scott Hunter fan accounts were full of cell phone photos—most of them taken without permission—of Scott and Kip at the museum. There were even a couple of celebrity gossip sites that were posting them. Kip only knew about thembecause, at just after eight o’clock that night, he received a text from Shawn.
Shawn: Kip! WTF is this you???!!!!!!!!
It was a picture of Scott gazing (a little too lovingly) at Kip as Kip stared up at a statue of Perseus. The scene definitely looked romantic, and the statue’s marble penis hovering between their faces didn’t help tone things down.
Most people wouldn’t notice any of that, right?
Kip: Yes.
Shawn: You want to tell me why you’re on a date with Scott Hunter?
Kip: It wasn’t a date!
A total lie.
Shawn: Explain yourself.
Kip: We met at work. We’re friends. It’s nothing.
Shawn sent back a gif of aRuPaul’s Drag Racecontestant making a “bitch, please” face.
Kip: It’s nothing! I’m serious! As if Scott Hunter would want to date me. Come on!
Shawn: Hmmm…
Kip: Does he seem gay to you? Even a little?
He hated every word he was typing. He didn’t want to lie to his friends.
Shawn: Hmmm…
Kip: It’s nothing.
Shawn: Well, next time you and your straight friend Scott are doing “nothing,” you should invite me. And maybe go to the beach or something. Or a pool. Or a bathhouse.
Kip rolled his eyes, and then sent the eye-roll emoji.
Shawn: He looks like he wants to eat you. That’s all I’m saying.
Kip: He does not.
(Even though he completely did.)
He decided not to tell Scott about the photos being online. Scott didn’t even have any official social media accounts. There was a good chance he would never find out about these.
Overall, they weren’t a big deal. All of the focus was on Scott Hunter being spotted in the wild. No one even mentioned Kip except to label him an “unknown friend.”
No reason to tell Scott. It would only stress him out.
At nine-thirty that night, Scott said, “Are there pictures of us online? From the museum?”
“Um… I don’t know,” Kip lied. “Why?”