Previously on Secret Life of the Influencers..

Charlie slapped her hand, "Don't touch it! Your hands are dirty, it'll get infected!"

Sensing Claire's confusion, Charlie spoke, "Bopdaily's posts are a hit or miss.. sometimes they uplift us, sometimes they bash us. You never know." Charlie shrugged her shoulders.

"What does this mean?" Dylan asked. While Alicia could read Massie's mind, Dylan was ten steps behind.

"Not sure if you remember me from OCD but I just wanted to let you know you toe-dally have my vote for freshman class president!"

Just then Alicia's phone buzzed. She gestured for Josh to head downstairs, informing him that she would catch up in a few moments. He kissed her forehead before exiting the squeaky clean bedroom.

"Have you seen this?" Aubrey Stone asked over the sound of loud music.

"This just in," Aubrey read aloud, "one of our newest additions to the soccer team, Cameron Fisher, is getting off the bench! The bench of love, that is. Turns out, he broke things off with Claire over the summer and agreed to keep the ruse up so Claire could save face.. until she got jealous of a brooding romance between Cam and Dylan and outed them, telling everyone he cheated on her when the truth is.. he scored, and she lost..."

Nolen scratched the corner of his right eye, "He said he had to pick something up before the cookout." He shrugged and looked around the room before meeting Nathan's eyes.

She rolled her shoulders back and straightened her posture. "Let's go."

BOP High School

Parking Lot

Sunday September 12th

2:44 PM

Talia Tatum huffed and shut the door of her mother's Bentley Bentayga. She had driven herself, Nolen, and Aubrey to BOP, while Charlie and Nathan drove seperately. The twenty-seven minute ride was silent apart from Aubrey's occasional 'Did you hear about..?' or 'I heard..'

Once they left Charlie's house, and as time passed, Talia continued to replay the moment before they left when Nolen rubbed his eye, and she thought back to the first time she'd caught him in a lie.

It was their one year anniversary. Nolen had told her a week in advance that they would be going on a romantic getaway and to be packed the morning before, as his driver was going to be picking her up.

When the day finally came, Nolen's driver never arrived. She waited patiently for an hour before finally calling him. The first two calls went unanswered, and when he finally picked up her third call, he had just woken up. Talia got angry, to which Nolen profusely apologised and told her that everything else would go as planned.

Talia relaxed, and was excited when he finally drove into her driveway. But they didn't go to an airport; the next stop was Nolen's house.

When Talia asked why they were there, Nolen responded saying he had forgotten to grab his suitcase. He had given her a kiss on the nose and promised to be back inside the car within four minutes. Four minutes turned in forty-five minutes.

Finally out of patience, Talia entered the house and made her way to his room, where she found him rummaging through his closet with his suitcase, which only had three articles of clothing (one being a pair of socks), lying open on the foot of his bed.

Nolen had the intentions of planning a romantic getaway for them, Nathan had given him the idea, but he never followed through with it after telling Talia the plan. There was no flight, or hotel. He was going to buy tickets at the airport (after he brainstormed where they would be going on the way there) and pay for the hotel room once they arrived (once he figured out where they were going).

Talia's issue wasn't the fact that he forgot-he was human. Humans make mistakes, and humans forget things. Her issue was him not being upfront or honest, and leading her to believe that a trip had been planned when, in reality, there was no trip. The truth mattered to her more than anything. Her father was a pathological liar, and the last thing she wanted for herself was to be in a relationship with someone who reminded her of him.

Needless to say, Talia took her anger out on his Xbox and Nolen promised never to lie again.

Yet here they are.

"Are you going to talk to me now?" Nolen asked as Talia walked swiftly to Charlie's car, who was parked about six cars away from her. He couldn't help but sniff the air a few extra times.. Talia was wearing his favorite perfume of hers.

Peering over her shoulder with squinted eyes, Talia curled her lip at Nolen and kept walking.

"Talia-"

"Taliaaaaaaa!" Charlie exclaimed once her friend came into her vision. She had feigned excitement in order to provoke a conversation between the two of them, sensing from Talia's facial expression alone that Nolen was aggravating her.

Talia grinned from ear to ear and engulfed her friend in a hug, "Charlieee!" She responded.

"Is everything set up?" Aubrey asked, trailing behind Nolen as she struggled to fasten the zipper on her purse.

Charlie and Nathan nodded. The two of them, with the help of the football team, were responsible for setting up the cookout. Making sure the DJ's table was set up, that there was ample food and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties), a photo station for Pierre to take pictures for yearbook, and water guns. Lots and lots of water guns.

"Yup." Nathan nodded, adjusting the collar of his pastel yellow Givenchy button up that Charlie had gifted him for Valentine's day.

As they made their way to the parking lot, where students began to gather and loud music played, Aubrey asked about Emilio's whereabout again. The two of them fought and argued like cats and dogs, but they thought of each other as brother and sister. If one wasn't around, the other one was asking where they were.

Her question, which was about to go unanswered, was answered as Emilio was seen holding a girl's hand, walking towards the group of students in the parking lot. Behind him were two more girls, Josh, Nick's younger brother and the boy DJ invited to the lunch table with them, and Cameron Fisher.

"Is that-?

"I got it." Charlie snapped, cutting off Aubrey's statement.

BOP High School

Parking Lot

Sunday September 12th

2:46 PM

Massie Block shrieked as Emilio threw a rock into the puddle that blocked them from making it to the sidewalk. "You're crazy if you think I'm walking in that-" she pointed a freshly manicured finger at her feet, "these are brand new." Massie looked down for a second to examine her outfit, lavender Tom Ford stilettos that accentuated her royal purple Versace polyester trousers and a white skin-tight blouse that boasted her A cups. She looked Ah-mazing. Perfect 10.

She glanced behind her to appreciate the outfits of her best friends. Dylan wore brown leggings with black Jimmy Choo platforms and a black blazer, while Alicia sported a lime green cami paired with a cropped white jacket, baby blue 7's and white Tory Burch sandals.

Emilio shrugged and sauntered towards her quickly as Cam, Dylan, Alicia, and Josh finally caught up to them. "Up you go," he announced, crouching down and scooping Massie's legs with one arm on the small of her back. He lifted her in the air and cradled her against his chest with both arms as they both laughed loudly. Massie, who sensed eyes on her, laughed loudly, softly kicking her feet in the air and clutching onto him for dear life as he made a giant leap over the puddle. Alicia, Dylan, Cam, and Josh walked around the puddle like any normal person would.

When they finally made it to the concrete of the parking lot, Emilio set her down and bowed.

"My prince," Massie mocked, rolling her eyes but giggling. Emilio was just like the boys she crushed on in middle school-he was playful and full of energy, but held a great conversation, the one thing that made him different.

When he picked Massie up from her house, they talking about any and everything. They talked about school, sports (Massie tried her hardest to follow along), fashion (Emilio tried his hardest to follow along), and more. Massie liked Emilio, but she had to be mindful. Although boys didn't feed into girl drama, if she could force Cam to be Dylan's date to the cookout, Charlie could've done the same to him. Massie was hoping that he hadn't, though, and that Emilio asked her to be his plus one because he was genuinely interested.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Emilio holding his arm out to her. Massie blushed, rolled her shoulders back, and fluffed her hair three times before interlocking her arm with his. They then walked, power walked, to the group of students in the parking lot. She felt powerful, a freshman walking in with a hawt junior was bound to get her seen. The more publicity the better, after all she was now competing with Claire for class president.

Massie wondered for a second why Claire decided for freshman class president. By the time SGA stopped accepting nominees, they had still been friends. When exactly did Claire decide she wanted to run? She shook the thoughts from her head and looked straight. None of that mattered. Regardless, if she wanted a fight she was going to get one.

"Okay, now what?" Dylan asked when they arrived.

The parking lot wasn't full yet, but it was still packed. To the left, where the entrance ramp for the parking lot was, there was the DJ booth. Moving towards the right there were tables with plates, cups, and silverware. The pans made of foil and pots that held food were lined up on two tables, right next to the eight grills that were places in somewhat of a circle. There was another table with juice, water, tea, and a large Gatorade cooler that hid the liquor from the chaperoning faculty. Closer to campus was a movie projector with dozens of beanbags scattered around for people to watch movies. Pulp Fiction was the current movie choice. There was a photo station as well, where Massie could see Claire and Pierre flipping through pictures on his camera, deep in conversation.

"Want a drink?" Emilio asked, his fingers grazing Massie's arm softly.

Massie pressed her lips together and nodded, not necessarily wanting to drink but not wanting to stand out. If she was going to be top alpha, she needed to be able to do everything better than everyone. Dress, walk, drink.. everything.

Once Emilio was out of earshot she turned and faced her friends and their respective dates. Cam and Dylan were standing a foot away from each other, while Alicia and Josh on the other hand were practically wearing the same shirt.

Massie snapped her finger, "You two," she pointed at Dylan and Cam, "need to look like you want to be next to each other. Right now you look like Cam killed your dog."

"I don't have a do-"

"I don't care!" Massie snapped in a whisper, her blood rising. Dylan's mistake started this whole thing. Massie wasn't one to back down from a fight no matter what, but there would be no fight if Dylan had kept her damn legs closed. "You two are doing this to save face for a mistake you made. I don't care if you don't want to be around each other, at one point you did. So pretend it's the Fourth of July if you need to!" Massie fixated her gaze on Cam who, if she was honest, was angry at. Massie and Claire were best friends, and Cam hurt her. If they were still friends now they'd be coming up with a plan to socially exile and embarrass him for what he did. "And you might want to get more into character. No girl at BOP is going to want to touch you with a ten-foot pole if they think you're a cheater-and if you can't fall in line then I'll make sure that turns into no girl in the New York State. You can either follow along, or you can get to know your right hand a little better because that's the only soft touch you'll be getting from anyone for the next four years."

Alicia and Josh stood with wide eyes and gaping mouths, while Dylan and Cam both glared at the ground with tight mouths and balled up fists.

"Mass.." Alicia spoke. She understood what was at stake, but that was harsh. Even for Massie. But before Alicia could speak her peace, Emilio had returned.

He handed a red solo cup to Massie and smiled cheekily, wrapping a muscular arm around her shoulders and gesturing towards the movie projector, "Down for a movie?" Emilio asked, sipping out of his own cup, looking at Massie through the length of his dark eyelashes.

BOP High School

Parking Lot

Sunday September 12th

3:29 PM

"So that's where Emilio was? You lied to me!"

"I didn't lie to you I lied to them! He asked me to!"

"Thanks," Nathan mocked, earning a slap on the back of his neck by Aubrey. Charlie laughed as his skin turned bright red on his neck.

The five of them sat on the soft bean bags sprawled amongst them. Aubrey had a girl with her, Victoria, her fling for the day (or the hour, depending on how she feels after another drink), and sitting in front of them were Charlie and Nathan. Aubrey noticed a girl close by giggling with her friend, snapping a photo of Nolen and Talia arguing. They weren't loud, but if you were close enough you could hear. The picture would more than likely make it to Bopdaily's instagram page by the end of the movie.

Once her fling got up to get them another round of drinks, Claire and Pierre had arrived. Pierre was taking photos, and decided to take a break to spend some time enjoying the cookout rather than photographing the entire time. He took great pictures, so it made sense that everyone wanted him to take pictures of them. Claire had her camera in hand.

"Claire!" Charlie jumped up from her beanbag and hugged Claire. She noticed the camera and gasped, "Are you finally going to stop neglecting your subscribers?"

Claire blushed as Pierre left momentarily to find them a pair of beanbags to use and nodded with excitement. "Yup! I've been vlogging all day."

Claire hadn't uploaded a new video to her YouTube channel since she was in Florida. Her return to Westchester made her creative juices dry up. She had tried to vlog a back to school shopping video, but there were just too many rude comments from Massie in the footage, by the time she edited it all out the video was merely three minutes long. But she recently had new inspiration. Her break up with Cam made her focus all of her attention to herself again, so back to YouTube she went. Her subscribers missed her! It was time to stop hiding from them. Eventually she would record a video explaining her disappearance from them, but that was a video for another day.

Aubrey sat up from her position in the bean bag, dodging a hush puppy that Talia had chucked at Nolen, who ducked at the last minute. "What kind of videos do you make?" She questioned.

Claire thanked Pierre and grinned when he returned with the beanbags, taking a seat in the comfortable chair before answering. "Uh.. I don't have a set genre of videos that I make honestly.. sometimes I do a 'day in my life' or a vlog, or I'll answer questions, things like that." She shrugged.

Aubrey asked Claire to pull up her channel, Classic Claire, and was amazed at what she saw. Great thumbnails, precise editing, and overall enjoyable videos. Aubrey's mother was a PR rep for multiple celebrities, from Paris Hilton to Adriana Lima. She could tell, with the right team, Claire could really make a name for herself with YouTube.

"Damn girl," Charlie spoke, looking over Claire's shoulder and at her phone, "1.7 million followers?"

"You must make a lot of money from YouTube." Nathan added, only chiming in because he heard Charlie's voice.

Claire blushed and exited the YouTube app.

To be honest, she did. She promoted products through advertising on her channel and in her videos, not to mention the monetization of each video, she made money for every view. Although she never accepted any brand deals that required her to wear clothes for advertising, Claire still made a pretty decent coin from YouTube, and it was all hers. But truth be told, Claire was scared to touch that money. She'd used it to pay for her new phone, some clothes for school, and a few taxi rides, but she never really used it. She was used to not having money, so she didn't really know what to do with it. But she wasn't going to tell them that.

Nathan began asking Claire financial questions. He wanted to be an accountant, so he was great with money management. He offered her tips, how to invest, how much to spend and save, and how to buttress a steady income.

After a few minutes Talia and Nolen finally rejoined them. Talia grabbed her beanbag and moved it next to Aubrey's, away from Nolen.

As Talia muttered insults under her breath, Aubrey and Charlie began talking about their arrival to the cookout.

"Knowing Emilio, he's got a condom in his pocket," Aubrey stated a few minutes into the conversation. Emilio De la Vega was a player. He claimed to love Chantelle, and somehow convinced her to be in one of those 'when we're together we're together, when we're not we're not' kinds of relationship. And since Chantelle was in D.C. at the moment, he was a single man on a mission, "but knowing Massie, she's got a trick up her sleeve."

Charlie pulled her hair up into a pretty messy bun and leaned back into her beanbag, "Tricks are for kids.."

"Guns are for men." Aubrey finished, howling with laughter.

Aubrey and Charlie's friendship was somewhat weird. Neither of them hung out with the other one on one. If they were together, at least one other person was there. They didn't have the chance to get to know each other well during freshman and sophomore year as there was too much blood shed for either of them to be worried about new friends. But Emilio and Aubrey were close friends, as was Emilio and Charlie, so they inevitably came together.. but their friendship has always been missing that spark.

Charlie wished she could talk about her plan, but with Claire there she couldn't. And she almost never gave Aubrey too much information, her right hand was Chantelle and her left hand was Talia.

Speaking of the devil, Emilio was approaching them, with Massie right next to him.