TweetyGram

3 - #BFF

I waited until Jake left before I strode to the living room and grabbed the TV remote. It was bad enough that he stole my precious food. I couldn't risk him staying in my apartment to watch TV for free, too.

Flopping onto the sofa, I was about to turn on the TV when my phone dinged.

There was a new notification from TweetyGram.

@PrincessTortieCafferty has requested to follow you

I smiled when I saw the cat's profile picture, a cute photo of her wearing a lovely tiara with pink gems. A quick visit to her profile page confirmed my earlier guess: with a well-deserved 1.1 million followers, Princess Tortie was indeed TweetyFamous.

All the photos on her page were the very definition of cuteness overload, from her innocent expression to her various costumes—all of which she seemed to enjoy wearing.

As I scrolled through her posts, another notification arrived.

@CrazyCatDaddy has requested to follow you

My body shook with laughter when I saw Jake's profile picture: a selfie of him photobombed by his furbaby.

I accepted Princess Tortie and his crazy cat daddy's follow request and followed them back.

As I visited Jake's profile page, Bree took a seat next to me. "Found anything interesting to write about already?"

"Nah. It's just Goldilocks and his cat." I hit the back button, returning to my notification page. The smile on my face faltered when I saw the unanswered follow request.

@NatalieWinters has requested to follow you

A part of me wanted to know how my former best friend was doing and maybe reconnect with her. Yet something stopped me from accepting the request.

"Nat sent me a follow request," I said. "I haven't accepted it, though."

Bree's eyebrow tipped up. "Why not? She's your friend."

"More like was. I haven't talked to her in years, and I . . ."

My eyes shifted between Nat's profile picture and my profile picture on the far right of the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. With her long tresses styled in Classic Hollywood waves and her natural beauty enhanced with soft-glam makeup, Nat was red-carpet ready in the glamorous portrait.

Meanwhile, I was an ordinary girl next door.

Something stirred within me at the comparison, and a foreign creature emerged from the darkest part of my mind. The creature bore an uncanny resemblance to me, except for her bright bottle-green eyes. As her blood-red lips stretched into an eerie grin, she reminded me of a life I could've lived.

How I could've been a beloved TV star like Nat.

How I could've had 12.5 million followers on TweetyGram like Nat.

How I could've lived a whole different life if only that May accident had never happened.

No, no, no. There's no use dwelling on what could've been, Lindsey. Focus on the present. Focus on the present.

I closed my eyes, drew in a deep breath, and released it in a sigh. "I don't want her to see how terrible my life is when her life is so TweetyGrammable."

Bree chuckled. "Our lives aren't so bad."

"I know, and I'm grateful for what we have. It's just that she's Natalie Winters, star of Malibu, 90265. I don't belong in her world anymore. She's a superstar, and I'm just an ordinary person."