Miss Little Cruel Girl

Chapter 3 - LockerTalk Goes Live (Sort Of)

The air in the computer lab buzzed with a nervous energy, a stark contrast to the usual atmosphere of stale coffee and forgotten dreams that permeated the room. Balloons, inexplicably shaped like oversized emojis, drooped sadly from the ceiling. A bowl of lukewarm pizza, ordered with a side of desperation from the local pizza joint that specialized in "questionable cheese" sat untouched on a table littered with crumpled napkins and empty soda cans.

Welcome to the official launch party of LockerTalk, the social media app designed to revolutionize the Northwood High social scene. Or at least, that was the plan.

Right now, the only thing being revolutionized was my stomach, and not in a good way.

"You know," Alex said, his voice muffled by a mouthful of pepperoni pizza, "we probably should have put more effort into the marketing campaign."

He gestured around the room, which, to be fair, did resemble a ghost town more than a launch party. Apart from Alex and me, the only other attendees were two members of the chess club, who looked like they'd rather be home calculating their next move against a particularly cunning opponent, and Ms. Chen, the computer science teacher, who was currently engrossed in a heated game of Candy Crush on her phone.

"I told you we should have gone with the whole 'free pizza and energy drinks' angle," Alex continued, his voice muffled by another bite of pizza. "Teenagers can't resist free food. It's a scientific fact."

"A big celebration needs at least one pizza with pineapples on it," I chimed in, picking at a stray pepperoni. "That's how you draw a crowd."

Alex shot me a look. "We're trying to launch an app, Lena, not wage war on good taste."

I sighed. Choosing a name for the app had been challenging enough, let alone planning a launch party on a shoestring budget. We'd spent hours brainstorming names, most of which had been vetoed for being either too generic, too creepy, or just plain weird.

"Remember 'Whispers in the Quad'?" Alex said, his voice laced with amusement. "That one had potential. We could've handed out trench coats and fedoras at the door."

"And then we'd be accused of promoting a cult," I countered, rolling my eyes. "Or worse, encouraging bad fashion choices."

"Okay, okay, point taken," Alex said, grinning. "But you have to admit, 'The Digital Minas Tirith' had a certain ring to it."

"It also sounded like a place where bad fanfiction goes to die," I said, shuddering at the memory. "We were lucky we didn't get sued by Tolkien's estate."

The door to the computer lab creaked open, interrupting our trip down memory lane. I looked up, my heart skipping a beat.

It was Jason Reed.

He stood in the doorway for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the sparsely populated room, a tinge of amusement crossing his face. He was still wearing his Northwood basketball jersey, his dark hair damp with sweat, as if he'd come straight from practice.

What was he doing here?

"Hey," he said, his voice echoing slightly in the near-empty room. "Is this the after-party?"

I stared at him for a moment, my mind struggling to process this unexpected appearance. Jason Reed, star athlete and resident heartthrob, at my app launch party?

"It's not exactly a..." I gestured vaguely at the sparsely populated room, my voice trailing off as I searched for the right words. "Party."

"More like a pre-party?" Alex offered, ever the optimist. He grinned at Jason, his mouth still half-full of pizza. "We're just waiting for the crowd to show up. You know how it is, gotta build anticipation."

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, I get it. Big events take time." His eyes met mine, a hint of amusement dancing in their depths. "So, the app. It's live?"

"As live as it's going to get," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "We just finished uploading the final version a few minutes ago."

I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with Jason Reed. Just the two of us, or at least, as "just the two of us" as it could be with Alex hovering nearby, his mouth full of pizza and a look of intense curiosity on his face.

"And?" Jason asked, leaning against a nearby computer desk, his posture relaxed, yet radiating an intensity that made my heart beat a little faster. "What's the verdict? Is LockerTalk going to be the next big thing?"

"Well," I said, trying to ignore the way my voice seemed to shrink under his gaze, "it's hard to say. Right now, it's kind of like... a blank canvas. It's up to the students of Northwood to decide what it becomes."

I gestured towards the laptop on the desk beside me, where the LockerTalk homepage glowed invitingly. "We built in a bunch of cool features. Forums, polls, event calendars, even a section where people can share their favorite study playlists. And because it's open source, anyone can contribute by building new functionalities on top of it. We wanted it to be a place where people could connect, share ideas, and, you know, just be themselves."

I paused, realizing how cheesy that sounded. But to my surprise, Jason didn't laugh. He was still looking at me, his expression thoughtful.

"I like it," he said finally, a slow smile spreading across his face. "It's a good idea."

My heart did a little flip. Jason Reed, the guy who could have any girl in school hanging on his every word, just complimented my app.

Maybe this launch party wasn't such a disaster after all.

"So," Jason continued, his gaze still fixed on mine, "what happens now? How do we get people to actually use this thing?"

"That," Alex said, his voice heavy with a tone of doom and gloom, "is the million-dollar question. Or, you know, the ten-dollar question, considering our budget."

He gestured towards the bowl of rapidly congealing pizza. "We've got enough questionable cheese here to feed a small army, but so far, no takers."

Jason chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Don't worry, I'm sure word will spread. People love a good secret. Especially in high school."

He turned towards me, his expression turning serious. "You did a good job, Lena. This app... it has potential."

And just like that, the awkwardness of the near-empty room, the drooping balloons, and the lukewarm pizza faded away. All that mattered was the look in Jason's eyes, a look that seemed to see right through my insecurities, a look that made me believe, for a fleeting moment, that I could actually pull this off.

"Thanks, Jason," I said, my voice barely a whisper. But inside, my heart was doing a victory dance.

The door to the computer lab creaked open again, interrupting the moment. This time, it wasn't a basketball star or a clueless teacher.

It was Sarah Miller, resident gossip queen and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. And she was grinning like she'd just won the lottery.

"Hey, guys," she said, her eyes darting around the room with curiosity and excitement. "I heard a rumor about a certain app launching tonight..."

She pulled out her phone—the latest iPhone, naturally; Sarah was nothing if not up-to-date—her perfectly manicured thumb hovering over the screen. "So, tell me everything."

I exchanged a nervous glance with Alex. The look on his face mirrored my own: a combination of apprehension and exhilaration.

This could be it. The moment LockerTalk went viral.

Or, you know, at least reached a double-digit user count.