persona || paige bueckers

Chapter 4

"No, no, you don't get it. She's following me. On twitter. My fanpage twitter."

Lili's tired voice floated from the speaker of Kazzi's phone, "Yes, I know."

"She's following me."

"So you've said."

"Can you sound at least a little surprised?" Annoyance seeping into Kazzi's voice. Lili was the only person that Kazzi confided in regarding this situation – accidentally. Kazzi had broken down one night after drinking and spilled everything to Lili with a copious amount of snot and tears. She never regretted it though, as the other held Kazzi in her arms through the entire ordeal, not once judging her. Kazzi should've spoken to her about it sooner (while sober). Lili had been with her since middle school, she should've known their friendship was stronger than Kazzi's abnormally poor life choices.

"I don't know what you want me to say. She probably finds you funny."

"Li! She never follows fanpages!" Kazzi then gasped dramatically, almost choking on her inhale, "What if she knows it's me? And she's fucking with me?"

"I doubt it, Kaz. Your user is literally anonymous."

"You never know," Kazzi remarked. A beat of silence passed. "Maybe she did get hacked."

Lili sighed, obviously done with this conversation, "And why would her hacker like thirst tweets about Paige and follow a fanpage account?"

"To ruin her reputation."

"And is her reputation ruined?"

Kazzi blinked, pondering. She hesitantly answered, "No...?"

"Exactly. Now stop being an idiot and overthinking."

Kazzi pouted, even though Lili wouldn't be able to see it over the phone. A quick glance at the clock told her that she needs to start getting ready for Julie's party soon, lest she be late.

"Li, I'll talk to you later. Gotta get ready for Julie's party."

"Alright, have fun."

"You seriously don't want to come?"

"Nah," Lili replied, before hanging up. Kazzi huffed, flopping backwards onto the couch. A minute passed before she brought her phone up to her face, clicking into the Twitter app. She refreshed her following, eyes glued to Paige's account that was still following her. What a nightmare.

mrs.bueckers @ktalks.azz

the moment im left alone w my thoughts i js remember that paige follows me and then i feel like throwing up my insides

Barely thirty seconds later, Kazzi's phone buzzed.

Paige Bueckers liked your tweet!

Did she have notifications on for Kazzi's tweets? The idea made Kazzi's stomach turn.

Lili Valdez @lucky_lili12

@ktalks.azz omfg go get ready idiot

Kazzi snorted, finally hopping off the couch and wandering into her room.

She desperately needed to get wasted.

Julie's parties never disappoint. Kazzi bopped her head to the beat, pouring herself another cup of the random fruit punch placed in the kitchen. She had no idea what was in it, but it was definitely alcoholic. The taste burned her throat as her eyes roamed the mass of bodies dancing in the living room, and if her eyes lingered longer on any blonde girl she saw, that was for herself to know.

"You're really knocking it back, Kaz."

Kazzi hummed, head already feeling like cotton despite only being at the party for a mere thirty minutes. "I'm getting wasted today," punctuating her statement by downing the rest of her cup, she added, "Nothing's stopping me."

Conner chuckled, reaching over to try the mysterious fruit punch. Kazzi's eyes slid over to him, eyeing the way he grimaced when the drink hit his tongue.

"Nasty, right?"

"I could black out after two cups of this."

Kazzi laughed, throwing her head back, "Lightweight."

"Shut up. You would think a fruit punch would taste fruity. It tastes like Satan's diarrhea."

Kazzi blinked at the surprisingly accurate description, head swimming from the large amount of cheap alcohol consumed within an unsafely short time.

"Hand me a cup of water, I don't wanna pass out yet."

Conner snorted, obliging with her request. As the other busied himself, Kazzi let her eyes linger on the moving bodies, eyes not quite focusing, zoning in and out. It was quick, too quick to properly register, barely catching a glimpse of the silhouette Kazzi yearned to see under the dim lights. Her eyes widened, body straightening as she frantically searched the crowd for the tall blonde, not quite believing her eyes. If she was more sober, she would realize that it was not that strange to see Paige at a party, but currently, it felt like her world was caving in at the mere presence of the basketball player being in the same vicinity as her.

"Here. Your water."

Kazzi blindly reached out to her left, eyes still latched onto the dancing crowd, and almost knocking the cup out of Conner's hand in the process.

"Woah, watch it."

Kazzi ignored him, reluctantly tearing her eyes away and gazing down at the water in her hands. She brought the cup to her lips, tipping her head back and chugging the water like her life depended on it.

"Damn, I hope that isn't alcohol."

Bea's voice penetrated her thoughts, and Kazzi lowered her head to shake the empty cup, "Just water."

Bea hummed, sliding into the empty spot next to Kazzi. Conner chuckled, "Kazzi was downing alcohol like there's no tomorrow just a couple minutes ago."

Bea shook her head, jostling Kazzi's side good naturedly, "Careful with it, Julie dumps everything into the punch."

"Tastes like it."

Bea laughed, turning her head to the crowd, before narrowing her eyes. "Holy shit, is that Paige?"

"Where?" Conner squinted.

That was Kazzi's last straw, needing to crawl out of her skin immediately. She compromised, placing her cup down on the counter.

"I'm gonna go dance."

Bea eyed her swaying figure with concern, reaching out, "Kaz–"

"Shh, I'm dancing."