The Chosen One Read Online Free Page A

sticks to one narrative, are you? Ains, you know better than most that media hacks will write anything and everything to keep their name in the who’s who. Besides, scandals are short-lived for most involved.”
    “Not for Grandmother. She never forgets.” I set the phone, screen side down, on the tabletop. Out of sight but not out of mind.
    “True.”
    “What else has she said about my sex life?”
    Fee crossed her arms. “I wasn’t aware you had one.”
    I glared as she mimed fanning flames.
    “So sensitive!” Fee said. “She also claims you’re a repressed lesbian.”
    “I am not!”
    “Lesbian or repressed?” Fiona cackled.
    “I’m out and proud! Marched in the parade last year.” I thumped the table. When I was fifteen, I’d come out to my mother and grandmother. The news was treated like every other milestone in the family. A conference of the Carmichael brain trust was called to determine whether I should stay in the closet or announce it to all the world. Grandmother’s minions polled millennials to determine my lesbian fate: be out and proud or keep it under wraps. Turned out, people my age didn’t care about sexuality, so we decided to embrace it from the outset, otherwise I would risk being viewed as a flip-flopper‌—‌deadly for politicians, just ask failed presidential wannabe Mitt Romney.
    “Prove it! Kiss a girl. One measly kiss. Come on, baby, step your way out of the sexually repressed darkness and into the mind-blowing light that only happens via fornication.” Fee nearly glowed.
    “Via fornication.” I had to chuckle. She was so passionate about it that I feared I’d blab about the stirrings Gray Eyes caused. “I… oh, I don’t know what to say.”
    “Not all experiences will end up like‌—‌”
    I cleared my throat. “Let’s not talk about her. She’s dead to me.”
    “Not true. Cassidy is alive and well on Susie’s Tattler . I love that Susie has die-hard goons dedicated to her cause. Look out Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch.” Fiona’s smile dared me to take the bait.
    In my junior year, I had momentarily let my guard down and attempted to date a lesbian named Cassidy, who also happened to be on Susie Q’s payroll. I was still reeling from the fallout. The humiliation solidified one thing: my desire to become president. It seemed a more obtainable goal than finding someone I could trust completely. The Cassidy Incident made it even more obvious that we Carmichaels had a target on our backs in today’s media environment.
    “Wait.” I remembered the weird quote, pulled it out of my bag, and flattened the crumpled flyer. “Read this.”
    Fee scanned it, scrunching her face. “Where’d you get this?”
    “Some lunatic handed it to me on my way here.”
    “The crazies keep on getting crazier. Such a random quote to hand out.” She set the crinkled paper on the table.
    I tapped it with my forefinger. “Here’s the thing. I didn’t see her with a stack of papers. She only handed this to me.”
    Fee scratched the tip of her nose. “Susie accused you of cheating today?”
    “Yeah, but how does that relate to this?” I wasn’t liking where this was heading.
    “How does she think you cheated?” Fee sipped her drink.
    “Knowing the questions to a pop quiz ahead of time.”
    “It kinda fits. You navigated your way to an A.” Fiona’s squished face implied it was a stretch at best.
    “I didn’t cheat!” I slapped the tabletop.
    “Doesn’t matter. That’s how it’s been framed. Maybe Susie, if she was even involved, is trying to freak you out more than normal. Did you recognize the person?” She narrowed her eyes.
    “No. She looked like a drugged-out homeless person.” I shrugged.
    “Cambridge isn’t short on those types. But why?”
    “Why what?”
    Fee straightened in her chair. “Bottlenose has always been after you, but what’s triggering the full court press? Paying someone to give you a random quote, which is ambiguous at best,