“We should have a day out!” Julia exclaimed, bumping shoulders with Nichelle. “Famous girl with famous girl. One on one.”
Nichelle rolled her eyes. Her lunch table usually consisted of her fans. Her classmates often asked her for an autograph, or sat at the table silently watching Nichelle. There were only two students who sat at her table consecutively without being awkward or quiet. Axel, who had no judgment in general, and barely even acknowledged that she was an actress, and all she did was crack a few jokes or threaten to pummel someone to the ground. The other was Julia, who wouldn’t give up on trying to convince Nichelle to hang out with her. Nichelle knew that it was because it would be good for Julia’s image on social media.
Julia was… interesting, to say the least. The first day Nichelle showed up in Julia’s history class, Julia had to tell her she was famous herself. If she really was famous, Nichelle would think she wouldn’t need to announce it. It wasn’t long before MK filled her in- Julia wasn’t famous, she just had a few hundred thousand followers on Instagram or something from posting clout-chasing mindfulness videos. She acted nice to figures of authority, her followers, and Nichelle. However, Nichelle knew for a fact that Julia was very much an asshole. She spent most of her time at school making fun of people for having under 1000 followers, bad style, and overall not caring about what others thought. Even if she thought Nichelle didn’t notice, she did. She was brutal, and Nichelle kind of respected it.
“What about Saturday?” Julia continued, ignoring Nichelle’s silence. “We could go to that new boba place. Then go on a nature walk. Post some pics. What do you say?”
“I have auditions Saturday,” Nichelle made an excuse.
“Sunday?”
“I have a photoshoot.”
Neither of those statements were true. She had been taking a short break from acting to focus on her junior year of high school. She just really couldn’t outright reject Julia’s offers. Maybe one time she would have to accept, just to make fun of her or something.
Okay, so maybe she wouldn’t do that. It was bad for her image. And making Julia look like a fool wasn’t her top priority.
“You’re always so busy,” Julia complained. “It isn’t good for your mental health. You should take a break day. And get boba with me.”
“Take a hint, Julia,” Axel butted into the conversation. “She doesn’t want to hang out with you. She thinks you’re a bitch- sucking up won’t fool her. She talks shit about you just like the rest of us.”
Wow. Thanks Axel.
She wasn’t wrong- Nichelle poked as much fun at Julia as the next kid. What could she say? Julia was very easy to make fun of, being a bitch and calling others wannabes when she was the real wannabe.
Julia looked very offended. “Well, Axel, I’ll have you know that your hair smells worse than the expired tomato surprise they’re serving today. And if you have a nose, you know how bad that is.”
Axel sniffed her hair and shrugged.
“And Nichelle, if you have something to say, say it to my fucking face.”
“I could say the same to you,” Nichelle responded. She wasn’t dumb. If Julia had something to say about everyone else in the school, she sure as hell had something to say to her.
“I’ll have you know that I’m… mostly honest with you.”
“Uh huh. So you really want to hang out with me, not just boost your followers.”
“Well obviously I want to hang out with you!” Julia threw her hands up in the air. “You’re like… the coolest girl in this school besides me.”
Nichelle didn’t reply.
“Well. Fuck you both then.” Julia stood up and walked away from Nichelle’s table.
Axel rolled her eyes. “Asshole.”
You’re like… the coolest girl in this school besides me.
Nichelle replayed that phrase in her mind. She was in her bedroom doing history homework. But she was just a tad distracted.
You’re like… the coolest girl in this school besides me.
Julia didn’t compliment people like that. She complimented her teachers and acted like she cared about their home lives with ‘Aw, your baby is so cute’s and her followers with ‘You guys are the sweetest, my favorite people ever’s but never had Nichelle ever heard her compliment someone like that. When she was being her real self.
It was a genuine compliment.
Nichelle wasn’t used to that kind of compliment, never mind from Julia. She got ‘your work is so amazing, you’re truly so talented’s and ‘your hair is so pretty, what type of special stylists do famous actors get’s but never never had Nichelle ever gotten complimented like that. Not from people who didn’t compliment people, not from people who actually liked Nichelle for her flaws and all.
It was so unnatural. But it felt so natural.
Somehow, that is also how Nichelle would describe Julia.
She pretended to be friendly and perfect, but she was fake and a scammer and god fucking awful. But when she was herself, she was so bitchy and blatant and honest. Something about it was so… intriguing? Interesting? No, those weren’t the right words.
Attractive?
Fuck.
She dropped her pen that she had been chewing on and groaned.
Nichelle couldn’t believe it. She had a crush on the biggest wannabe famous girl ever. She fell for arms around the shoulders and “it would be so cool to have a collab with the coolest girl ever!” and every fake word that came out of her mouth. And every real one too.
If Axel found out, she would kill Nichelle. If Jerry found out, he would act all dad-like and try to find a better crush for her.
And if Julia found out? Nichelle figured that would be when all hell broke loose.
One of three things would happen. One is that Julia would post all over social media about how a famous girl has a crush on her. Two is that Julia would start avoiding her like the plague. Three is that Julia would use it up for even more clout than one.
But if Nichelle kept this to herself, everything would be fine.
