Pop 10
Petals sat on her bed, one leg up, phone propped between two snack pillows.
Her fingers were slicked in Cheetos dust, which she smeared across her cheek mid-rant like war paint.
She was live-streaming, eyes squinting at her loyal two-person
audience: curiouskathy23 and mountainman78.
“So as I was saying,” Petals said, chomping loudly, “the girl from the dining hall got
sacked on the spot. Like—bam, gone. Apparently, she was stuffing her pockets with
cooked shrimps and that’s for real.”
curiouskathy23 commented:
"Ew, that’s gross and weird. Why would anyone stuff shrimps in their pockets?
It’s messy and they’ll spoil! Plus what about allergies, what about if she’s
allergic to sea foods and stuffs, I heard somewhere a mere skin contact
can cause major Emergency room trips, there’s a reason why zip locks bags
are invented you know so you don’t just just pocket stash anything.”
Petals nodded solemnly, licking orange powder from her thumb.
“Exactly! I thought about that too, what about airborne pandemic diseases cause
by just mere exposure to shrimps. Her shrimp pocket could be the next pandemic ground zero.”
curiouskathy23:
"Totally girl, switching gears, now spill about the hot new gardener!"
Petals leaned closer to the screen, her face now dangerously cheesy.
“Okay. So I don’t know his name yet, but he’s blonde, like super cute kinda blonde, he has this
perfect model frame and cute package, he’s like someone you wanna introduce to your
mom, but here’s the major drama: he’s totally into me.
Every time I stroll by the Nursing Home garden—okay, fast-walk—I’m trying to lose
weight so I can fit in the bus and join the zoo field trip or somethin’ because I totally wanna see a giraffe
in real time, I swear girl, he always lifts his shirt to wipe sweat right when I pass.
Like hello six-packs alert. Or he tugs at his waistband like he’s tellin’ me somethin’, I don’t know
maybe, check out what’s under my pants or something. He’s flirting.”
curiouskathy23:
"OMG that’s so cute. He’s def into you."
Then mountainman78 chug one beer can and finally spoke:
"Why don’t you just flash your big boobies already?
It’s getting late and this chat’s damn boring."
Petals’ jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”
curiouskathy23 was furious:
"Ugh! Ban that creep! Petals, ban him now."
Petals panicked, thumb hovering. “Wait no—I only have two viewers! I need him!”
mountainman78:
"I’m a patient guy. But no flash, I’m outta here."
curiouskathy23:
"Girl, don’t let desperation be your brand. Ban that troll!"
Petals groaned, stuffing another Cheetos into her mouth.
“Ok guys for the major issue, Let’s talk about Olive.”
curiouskathy23:
"Ooh juicy. You said last week she transformed into a twenty-something?
How’s that possible, is she some kinda witch or somethin’?"
Petals perked up. “YES! So. We all know she’s got this gorgeous boyfriend—what’s his name again?”
curiouskathy23:
"Tristan. You said his name was Tristan. You even gave me the link to
his social, so I added him as friend, he accepted, got access to his
profile and OMG one word: HOT"
Petals snapped her fingers. “That’s it. Tristan. Like, model-level cute.
And I'm sorry, but their age gap is like... from here to the North Pole and back.
Something ain’t adding up. I mean, what’s the deal, Olive is not even pretty.”
curiouskathy23:
"Maybe it’s true love? So romantic. You should snap a kissy selfie of them.
I can post them on my social, and let’s see what my followers think, I’m
sure they’re gonna love them, most are suckers when it comes to love"
Petals shook her head, crunching louder.
“No! What I’m saying—maybe she’s not old.
Maybe she’s young, and she’s pretending to be old.
Like she’s wearing a mask or something. A prosthetic wrinkle vibe.”
mountainman78 chimed in again:
"That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard. Now show us the boobies."
Petals rolled her eyes. “I need proof. I should pinch her face.
If I don’t feel bone, I’m calling it. She’s a fake. Pretending to be one of us to…
I dunno, get free apple sauce, feel old because that giver her the high?”
A voice whispered right behind her ear.
“And why, exactly, would I pretend?”
Petals froze mid-munch.
She slowly turned her head.
There stood Olive. In full senior glam.
Hair set, arms crossed, eyes glinting with murder.
mountainman78 lost it:
"Whoa. Is that Olive? Damn. She’s hot. Ask her to flash me!"
Petals dropped her phone and screamed. “Gotta go, livestream OVER!”
mountainman78 remarked
“Marry me Olive. I’m yours.”
curiouskathy23 waved bye to Petals and turned her attention to mountainman78,
“Ok mountainman78 I wanna focus on you now.”
mountainman78 raised his eyebrow
“And may I ask why?”
curiouskathy23 sighed
“Here’s the thing, you’re so obsessed with flashing and stuff,
did something happened in your past which triggered this
obsession? I wanna get to the bottom of that.”
mountainman78 gave curiouskathy23 a wicked grin
“Two words: Fuck off.”
