Qadira sits at a small desk in the corner of the room. She stares at her phone’s screen with a vacant expression. It automatically turns off. Surrounded by silence, she looks over to her friends who’re chatting on the other side of the large two bed hotel room. Her honey blonde eyebrows draw inward on her cool, dark-beige, oblong face.

“Ugh! We are all the same.” 

Tessa, a solid female with a cool, light caramel skin tone, starts to smile. She stands up from her bed and clears her throat. Uma turns to her while lotioning her plump, dark terra-cotta body while sitting on one of the beds. Giselle, a dainty lady with a burnt sienna skin color, looks away from her phone as she lies in her bed.

“Like, I have an important announcement. Milly is about to go live for her special event at ‘The Conference Centre’! She also hinted that she will have a little contest. Ahh! We gotta be there like, yesterday. This is Milly! OMG Milly! If we get there early, like maybe we can meet her.”. Uma jumps onto her feet with a wide smile.

“Def, I agree! I’m one hundred percent a Millyist, of course I want to see her. Who wouldn’t want to meet a literal saint. She always helps the poor, and is super nice. We need more people like her in this world. It could be a much better place.”

“I know right. I l-love Milly too. I’m coming. That’s why we came to this island right.”, Giselle said with a half-smile. Tessa turns to her.

“Right! When I saw that weird post, like, I knew she might be coming to this island. I knew we had to come here for our girl’s trip. She is a goddess. Like this is probably the closest we’ll ever get to meet her in person.”

“I really like how she is … so positive and … just full of good vibes. Such an inspiration. I didn’t come all this way to not go with you gals, and meet her.”, Giselle voiced. 

“I knew y’all would be just as excited.”. Tessa gets up and packs her backpack. “We have to leave. Like, right now. Like this second. OMG! Let’s see Milly!”, she shouted with a wide smile and hands in the air.

“Hey, uhm, maybe on our way there, we can check out this hiking trail nearby. You know, just to look at. And see if they still do guides and stuff, so we could just vibe together there one day. I want to see if it’s really there.” Everyone freezes, looking at Qadira. Tessa’s face twists.

“What! Like, why on this illuminated earth would we want to go there?”

“I just want to check it out. I think it’s interesting and maybe we can—”

“Hold that thought. Milly is live now! OMG!”, Uma dashes to Tessa’s phone screen. Giselle slowly follows.

“Hold on, let me see if I can pull it up on my phone quickly.”  Uma snatches her phone out of her own pocket. 

“I’ll do the same.”. Giselle walks to her phone that’s on the bed opposite the room near the windows

“Hey my lovely Millyist! I’m back with a knack to get people’s back.”, said the voice from their phones.

“I love it when she says that in like, all her videos.”, Tessa said with a toothy smile. 

“I’m basically walking to the Conference Centre center. This is the most prestigious building that is basically, a bunch of conference rooms for events and stuff. I can’t believe they wasted a chance to give this gorgeous place a name better than the Conference Center. Look my lovelies. Dang! Look at how beautiful the outside is.”.

“Wow! Look at that place. Everything is so immaculate and sublime.”

“What, what did you say Gis?”, Tessa asked, barely taking her eyes off her phone. 

“Oh. I was just saying how clean the place looks. It’s pretty.”, she responded with a half-smile.

“Like, right! Everything looks so fancy.”

“We def need to go there before it gets super crowded. We’re only two blocks away, we can run there.”, Uma stated as she made her way to her backpack.

“OMG, like that’s a good idea. Everyone, get ready now.”, Tessa said with exaggerated hand movements.

“The trail is on the way there. Uhm, we can take a quick peek while we’re in the area.”, Qadira said. Tessa scrunches her face and rolls her eyes.

“Why do you want to do weird stuff like, all the time? Just be normal and come see Milly with us.”

“Uhm, I want to see Milly too. I respect her and whatever, but we always follow her, and trends. It’s giving a bunch of followers with no value. I’m just saying we could do something different for a change.” Qadira adjusts her honey blonde, mid length hair, with deep curls.

“Like what, what would you possibly want to do?”, Tessa said with exaggerated head movement.

“Uhm, many things.”

“Like what?”, Tessa said while jerking her shoulders up and down.

“Uhm, hiking.” Qadira said, with her head launched forward. “We can go hiking and experience nature and stuff.” Qadira shrugs.

“Like no. No, we are not doing that. Milly doesn’t go outside, especially if it's sunny out. When it’s sunny out, there are more UV rays and they can lead to damaged, dry skin which then leads to wrinkles. Like, do you want to get wrinkles before you're thirty? No right.”

“No.”

“Then no, we will not go hiking. Milly is here and she is hosting a secret event. Like that’s more important than getting wrinkles. Not to mention skin cancer.” While swiveling her head side to side, Qadira responds.

“Uh, we can always put on sunscreen—”

“OMG! Why do you have to make everything so difficult? You know you’re not like the only one in this world, right?  Stop being so selfish and wasting time being weird. Like, we came here to see Milly, so we are going to see Milly! Let’s just go, or we are leaving you.”

“I’m not being selfish! And stop calling me weird.” Qadira cuts her eyes away from Tessa. Giselle starts to bite her nails. Uma scratches her straight, mid length, light brown weave.

“Hey gals, we def didn’t come here to fight”, Uma said as she walked between Tessa and Qadira. “Today is supposed to be super special, so let's just come together and work things out.”

“She is the one that started it with her selfishness.”, Tessa said with exaggerated head movement. Qadira’s chin instantly pulls in as her nose begins to flare. “Like, look how she wants to inconvenience us when we are about to go to an event that everyone wants to go to. She just wants us to drop everything and do whatever she wants, while Milly is literally down the road. And now she is wasting our time, so we’ll never meet Milly.”

“Uhm, that’s not what I’m doing. I just want to see the hiking trail on the way there”. Tessa turns her head away from her with pursed lips. “I’m coming too.”, Qadira said while holding her shoulders up and her palms facing forward. Tessa pats her black cornrows and gathers her backpack.

“Forget it, you’re not coming with us this time. Like, you always do this and it’s annoying. You’re not going to embarrass me in front of Milly. Let’s go gals … except Qadira.” Qadira’s face begins to turn red. As soon as she opens her mouth Tessa walks out the door. Uma walks to Qadira with eyes locked on her phone. 

“Tessa just needs to blow some steam. Def when you get back from your hiking, you can hang out with us and Milly.”

“I just want to look at it.”, Qadira said with widened eyes. Uma then looks at her. 

“What— oh, bye.” She hastily leaves the room. Giselle looks at the door and Qadira several times while fiddling with the ends of her long, dark-red box-braids. Qadira looks at her.

“Um. I hope you’ll come. S-see you later Qadira.”. Giselle quickens to the door with her things and slams it shut.

“I was coming.”, Qadira said, as she stood by herself.

Tessa, Uma, and Giselle run out of the hotel lobby as a staff member shouts at them.

“Gals, Milly is still live. She is talking about the event.”, Uma shared with eyes locked on her phone.

“Okay, okay, okay. Like, tell us what Milly is saying while we run, because we can’t miss this opportunity to be there early.”

“Okay, Tess. She’s saying that … there will be a meet and greet—” the three gals face lights up. “Th-Then … there is, an auction? There’s an auction! The auction is going to raise money so she can donate it to people who can’t live a healthy life like us. Aww. She’s def a saint.”

“Right. Like, I can’t wait to meet her.”

“It’s sounds like we’re going to have some fun, e-even without—”

“Sorry, Gis, but Milly just said something. There is going to be a contest, and … then afterwards we all get to eat with her at a nearby restaurant!”. Uma and Tessa start to squeal. Giselle smiles, then takes a peek back at the hotel in the far distance. Her smile slowly deteriorates.

Back at their hotel room, Qadira punches her pillow. She plants her face in it and screams.

“I so hate Tessa! She always does this. She always makes us do whatever Milly does. I’m not weird, I’m just not giving NPC vibes like her. I’m built different. Uhm, I’m not going to show up this time.”. Qadira changes into her active-wear. “Uh. I only need my phone, right? I don’t need Tessa. I am my own person. I can do whatever I want. I don’t need her permission. She’s not my mom. Pssh!”. Qadira leaves the hotel room.

Breathless, Tessa, Uma, and Giselle arrived at an enormous, eight-story, stone building with a green marble wall and pillars with gold accents on its entrance. The building is surrounded by a few square miles of land. Enclosing the property is an eight feet tall, stone wall. Gathering just beyond the gold entry gate is over a hundred people. 

“Hey, what are you guys doing here?”, Uma asked after catching her breath.

“Oh, hey. We all are waiting for Milly to call us in. We haven’t seen her for several minutes. Whatever she is planning, it’s big. You know Milly, she loves us and will give us the best experience. She probably planned this for months.”, one of the people said. Tessa interjects herself into the conversation.

“OMG, like we’re Millyist too. We literally ran here from our hotel.”

“Now I love Milly, but I’m not a Millyist. You guys are dedicated.” Giselle taps Tessa’s shoulder. Tessa turns to her.

“Hey what’s up?”

“I’m heading to the bathroom.”

“What! Like, I’m too tired to even think about that. Okay, Gis.”. Tessa waves her off.

Coming out of the restroom from inside The Conference Centre, Giselle walks past a partly closed office door. She hears a familiar voice coming from the other side. 

“This is a prestigious place ma’am. You are supposed to make a reservation, it does not work like that.”, the hotel staff said. 

“That doesn’t matter, I’m a celebrity. A social media influencer. You should make something work for me.”. Giselle walks back to the door, while surveying her surroundings.

“I’m telling you ma’am, we don’t do that here.” Giselle gasps.

“That’s Milly!”, she whispered.

“Can you just cancel a less important event? I can choose which event is important or not, for you.”

“But ma’am—”

“If you don’t do it, I’ll make this place look bad on my platform and make sure no one ever comes here again.”. Staff manager smirks, then lets out a single chuckle.

“I’ll see what I can do for you. How is your budget looking?” Milly shrugs her nose as her eyebrows draw inwards. The hotel staff looks up from his computer that’s on a large, pine-wood desk at the far end of the red room with modern, dark-wood chairs with light gray cushions, lined and pushed to the side, except one that’s harboring Milly.

“Sorry, I’m just asking because some rooms are more expensive than the others. Then I have to add in the cost of decoration and how long you’re going to stay.”

“I don’t want to pay, I’m a celebrity. Besides, I got someone to decorate for me. I basically don’t need y’all stuff.”, Milly said with her nose held high.

“That’s fine but you still need to pay for the room.”

“No. I’ll just offer free advertisement.”

“No thank you, we have enough ads.”, the staff stated. Milly, a tall, lean woman with pale, sandy-brown complexion, and mid length, straight, blonde hair, narrows her blue eyes. 

“Are you sure there is no one else I can talk to?”. The hotel staff sucks the air through his closed teeth.

“Sorry no, everyone is busy right now.”

“Ugh. Then give me the cheapest room.”

“That will be two-hundred per hour for three-hundred-twenty-three square feet.” Milly gasps. “Then you will have to pay extra for the last-minute booking fee, and seating with tables. But you said you have all of that, right?”, he said, barely looking up from his computer. Milly scowls at him.

“Don’t patronize me! I need a room to fit basically one-thousand people.

“You are lucky, only one big enough for that is available and for around four-thousand dollars … if everyone is just standing.” Milly’s jaw drops.

“Dang!”

“I could give you more options that are more in your budget. What is your budget?”. With the corners of her lips drooping, Milly looks at the ceiling.

“I was going to pay like a hundred because I was supposed to get a free room.”. She puts her index finger on her lip, then looks at the staff. “I can make my followers pay to get in.”

“It’s a pay up front thing.”. Milly sighs. Both the staff and Milly start to leave. Giselle rushes back to Tessa and Uma. 

“Where have you been, Gis?”, Uma asked.

“You wouldn’t believe what I just witnessed. I saw Milly—” Uma gasps with a wide smile. “She was talking to a staff member, trying to get a free room. It seemed like she didn’t make any reservations. And she wants us to pay to get it.” 

“Hey, like what’s going on here gals”, Tessa joined. Uma turns to her with her jaw hanging down, and answers.

“Giselle said Milly planned this super last minute. And we might have to pay to get in.”

“What! Like, that does not sound like Milly. Milly is a saint, and she loves us. Like, she would never do that.”, Tessa said with her eyebrows drawn inward. Giselle rubs her hands over each other as her head lowers. 

“W-well that’s what I saw.”, she responded quietly. Tessa walks closer to her.

“Like maybe you didn’t hear her right. Milly! Would never! Do that!”, she said with flared nostrils. 

“Yeah, that def doesn’t sound like Milly.”, Uma said with narrowed side eyes and her head slightly turned away. Giselle looks at them in silence, then responds.

“Y-yeah. I know.”

“Then like, why would you say that? Is this some type of joke?”, Tessa said with exaggerated head movements. 

“N-no—” 

“Like, it’s whatever. When Milly comes out, she’ll explain everything.”. Tessa steps back and relaxes her face a bit. “Yeah, let’s wait for Milly.”, Tessa reassured herself. She then eyes Giselle, then turns away.

After an hour, a staff member walks into the fore court with a megaphone.

“Good evening everyone. Those who are here for Milly’s … extravaganza, you have to leave the property. Other people who are coming in for an ongoing event cannot enter.” Immediately, the crowd of Millyist to chatters voluminously. Eventually, security starts to flood in and removes them with minor force. 

Back at the hotel’s lobby area, Qadira continues to watch short hiking videos on her phone. 

“Hiking seems easy. Uhm, all I’m doing is walking in a park. This will be easy.”. Qadira finally makes her way out of the hotel building. “This will be great.”. She takes in a deep breath of fresh air with a wide smile. Immediately she starts a coughing fit. She walks onward.

An hour passes by under the beaming sun rays. At the Conference Centre, a staff member walks to the entrance gate and unlocks it. 

“They’re opening the gate!”, Uma said, smiling. 

“Like, I knew they would. There are other events inside, they couldn’t keep that gate closed for long.”, said Tessa. 

“I know right.”, Giselle said with a flat smile. All of their phones start to buzz and beep and jingle. Uma gasps as the other Millyist talk among themselves.

“It’s Milly!” 

“I know, I got it too.” 

“She’s ready for us.” 

“We’re going to see Milly!” 

“It’s in H-44, let’s go!”. Giselle and the large group of Millyist rush to the event room. 

“Huh?” 

“What the hell!”. Giselle looks around at the people ahead who are wearing grimaces on their faces. 

“Forty bucks! Hell no.”

“Forty dollars? I thought this was free!” 

“I don’t have that.”. Uma turns to her friends and finally speaks to them.

“I wonder what’s going on”, she said.

“Like, I want to know too. I really want to see Milly.”, Tessa said with her eyebrows raised. Suddenly, a barrage of notifications blows up their phones. 

“What! Forty dollars! We have to pay to get in?”, Uma said with widened eyes and mouth.

“I told you.”, Giselle mumbled, looking at her phone with a bland expression. 

“Yeah, I know. I see it. Like, there has to be a reason for this. Milly wouldn’t just spring this onto her fans.”, Tessa said as she desperately scrolled through her phone.

“Look, look! She just sent a reply.”, Uma shouted. After a moment of reading, Tessa rolls her eyes.

“I get it now. OMG, how typical. Like these people are unfair.”, she said.

“Def.”, Uma replied.

“They just suddenly jacked up their price because she’s famous.”, Tessa said. Giselle looks at them with an arched eyebrow and nostril. Uma slightly turns her phone to them.

“Listen to this.”. Uma reads the post aloud. “The staff here also think I’m rich, but they don’t know that I donate most of my money to help people. I’m just as broke as everyone.” Uma turns to them. “Aww. Milly is def a saint”.

“I know! Like, it’s unfair they’re treating someone this badly, when all they’re trying to do is help the world.”, Tessa said. Uma points to her phone.

“There’s more. She said that this event is putting her in debt, but she is still going to do it because this event is to help the poor.”. Giselle twists her face, looking at Uma’s phone. 

“Augh, like Milly, is too sweet and positive. Nothing will get her down. I love her so much! I can’t wait to meet her.”, Tessa said. Giselle looks at her, then at her purse. She looks back at Tessa.

“We’re still going?”, she whispered. Tessa snaps her head around. 

“What!”

“I-I said … I didn’t know we were going to spend money here.”

“Me neither, but this is Milly we’re talking about. Like, she’s worth it.”. Giselle looks at her purse.

“Yeah”. She then looks around at the other Millyist, who are mumbling amongst themselves. 

“I can’t afford this.”

“I like her, but not that much.”

“I should have just enough to go in.”

“Nope, I have bills to pay.”

“I can pay to get in now and get that thing next time I get paid.”

“I could use this money to buy a whole meal at that French restaurant.” 

“This is probably the only chance I’ll get to meet her.”

“I came to meet her, not to spend all this money.”

“I would literally empty my whole bank account for her.”

“I only came to look around. This is too pricey.”

“Did you hear them? They’re so fake.”

“Some of these people are here to mooch off of her. As soon as they have to pay, they leave.” 

“I hate people who switch sides so quickly for a few bucks.”

“They’re here to gain likes. They don’t like Milly.”

“I’m going to post about these fake people.”

“Did you see that post? That’s so embarrassing.”

“I don’t care what y’all gotta say about me!”

“Shut up and get out of here faker!”

“This is ridiculous!” 

“Hey, there are better things to do with forty bucks.”

“You’re just here to get views.”

“Yeah, you’re taking advantage of Milly.”

“Me?”

“Hold on. Settle down. There’s no need to fight.”

“Why you’re standing up for these fakes?”

“Damn! This is going on my story.”

“Get that camera away from me!”. Giselle inches closer to Uma while playing with her hair. The mumbling Millyist slowly turns into a heated, passive aggressive war. Suddenly, one of the wooden double doors swings open. The area slowly becomes quiet. A large security with a handheld POS terminal appears. 

“Please make a single file line and ready your payment.”

After a long while, just over five hundred people find their way into the Milly event, after meeting her for less than a second. Everyone in the massive sized, chilled, white room eventually calms down. Milly walks up a makeshift stage that’s in the middle of the room with a microphone. 

“Hello my Millyist. How y’all doing!”. The crowd cheers from their plastic, black foldable chairs. “I basically heard we had a little drama happen on the other side of the door. What was that about? That’s not what we stand for. We’re basically about helping people, not fighting them. It’s okay that they left. They probably have their reasons. Since you all had to pay to get in, you don’t have to pay extra to be a part of all the activities we’ll have. And since those people are gone, basically there will be more prizes for you all. Maybe some of these prizes are worth way more than fifty bucks. Think of it as an investment. Besides, this event is to help raise money and awareness to help people in need. Maybe those who left were basically underprivileged themself. And we shouldn’t judge poor people. It’s not their fault that they can’t afford anything.”

“She’s a saint. Def a pacemaker.”, Uma said, clasping her hands on her cheeks.

“I thought we paid forty?”, Giselle said. Tessa and Uma continue to talk to each other. “I have a feeling that those people just dodged a bullet.”, she whispered to herself.

“I know. Like I literally love her right now.”, Tessa said, clenching her shaky hands, barely containing her excitement.

“So that’s what we’re doing today. So, to recap, in a bit we will mingle, and do a little ice breaker so I can get to know you all better. Next, we will have the auction to raise money. Remember, the money is to help people live a better and healthier life like us. After that, the contest. Make sure you have your group together. Basically, the more people in your group, the better your chances”. Tessa rolls her eyes.

“OMG! Of all the times she wants to be weird, she chooses this day.”. Uma looks at her.

“Super inconvenient.”, she said with a wobbly head. 

“Maybe she’ll stop by later. We should tell her about the forty bucks—” 

“Don’t text that faker, Gis. Like, she made her choice. She doesn’t want to be with us. She would rather frolic in the park and get skin disease, than see Milly, the most important person in the world.”, Tessa explained with a twisted face. Giselle looks at the ground.

“Hmm. She would’ve been here by now. She never takes this long to join us. She’ll be fine.”, Uma said with her hand barely opened and partly outstretched to Giselle.

“Then we will eat at a nearby restaurant together for lunch. This will be the most memorable day of your life!”, Milly said with a toothy smile. The crowd energetically cheers. 

Just as Milly starts to turn around, her face lights up. She looks at her loyal followers with the same smile. 

“I just had a great idea. Let’s all go outside and do an aesthetic entrance for social media. Of course, you guys and gals basically have the opportunity to be in my video.”. The crowd wildly cheers. “First, let’s mark your hands, so we know who actually paid.”. Milly passes out markers. A random person from the herd asks a question.

“Are these markers toxic free?”. Milly continues to pass out the markers in silence. Moments later, she speaks, displaying the back of her hand. “Draw a diamond on your hand just like this, so the security knows that you paid.” More and more people begin to ask the question. 

“Are these markers toxic free?”

“These markers skin safe?”. Milly stands straight, rolling her eyes with pursed lips. She smiles for a quick second. 

“Of course. Why would I give y’all toxic markers?”, she said with exaggerated head movement. “Now, let’s go outside to the gate entrance!” The crowd cries in agreement. As the Millyist filters through the double doors, Giselle inspects the marker. She turns to Tessa.

“The marker doesn’t say if it’s toxic free or not.”. Tessa rolls her eyes. 

“Like, it’s Milly. She wouldn’t lie to us. Besides, what could go wrong with a little ink on your hand. Hurry up and draw your diamond so we can be in the front and be inside Milly’s post.”, Tessa replied with a sneer.

The Millyist march outside. The staff look at the crowd with confusion and begin to talk on their walkie-talkies. Minutes later, the floor manager makes his way to the foyer. 

“These people for the Milly event?”, he asked. One of the staff responds. 

“Yes—” 

“So, I assume that the event was cancelled?”, the floor manager said with a smile.

“No sir. They are doing an aesthetic entrance for their video.” The manager’s eyes nearly pop out of their socket. Immediately, he scowls with balled up fists. 

“She cannot do that. That’s against the policy.” 

“We told her that, but she said it will only take a minute.” 

“Do I need to remind you that the policy is there for safety reasons.”. The staff swallows their words. “The foyer needs to be clear of unnecessary traffic, so it can be easier for other visitors to navigate, and so security won’t be overwhelmed.” 

“I know sir. Milly said it will only be five minutes.”, the staff replied with a shaken voice. The manager glares at Milly through the glass double doors. He peeks at his watch. 

“Shi—, the tech job fair should be wrapping up in B-5. I’ll check with them.”. The manager points at Milly. “She better be done before I come back.”

After thirty minutes, the manager comes back with an army of future tech employees. A few of them gasp at the sight of Milly with an army of her own, guarding the exits for pictures and videos. The future tech employees worm their way through Milly’s followers. Some sneaking a picture and video. Milly sneers at them. The floor manager’s nose begins to flare. He rushes to one of the receptionists behind the marbled, emerald counter. 

“Why are they still here!”. The male receptionist replies. 

“It’s because someone kept messing up their photoshoot.” 

“What!”. The manager marches to Milly through the loud chatter of her followers. With a strain smile, he talks to her. “Good evening Ms. Asuvidha. Are you aware that you are blocking the entrances? You need to move your event back to your room that you paid for.”. Milly rolls her eyes and sighs.

“I know, I know. I just need this video to be perfect. I would’ve been finished sooner if you didn’t have your staff interrupting me. Not only that, but there were basically other people who were in my way. It would be great if you stop people who aren’t a part of my event from interrupting me.” The Millyist behind her shouts in agreement. Trying to hold up his straining smile, the floor manager eyes them all.

“We can’t have a large group of people running up and down.” 

“They aren’t, we are just taking a picture.”, Milly responded, glaring at him. The manager points at her with narrow eyes and a twisted mouth. He puts his hand down then instantly points back at her. With a flick of his head and a deeper voice he speaks.

“You better be gone in five minutes, or else I’m going to cancel your room.” 

“What! You can’t do that. I basically paid for it.”

“I have the ability to shut down an event with no refund if it’s interfering with other events and the staff’s ability to work.” The floor manager walks away before she can say anything. Milly sighs with a wobbling head, and eyes looking up. She turns around. 

“Okay my Millyist, this will basically be the last shot. The manager is being a … bit antsy. We need this shot to be perfect.”

At the nearby park, Qadira plops down onto a bench near the entrance. Moistened with sweat, she exhales. 

“Ugh! Just to get here was a pain. I’m exhausted.”. She looks down at her phone. “This park doesn’t even have a hiking trail, just a jogging one. Oh well. It should be easier. Uhm, I’m only going to walk it.”. She wipes the sweat off her brows. “Maybe I should buy some water first.”. She looks up at the sky, shielding the sun with her hand. “And some sunscreen. I wonder what the others are doing now.”. She sits in silence for a moment. “Pfft! I bet it’s something stupid.”. She looks off to the side. She peeks at her reflection on the screen. Qadira squeezes her eyes shut, then looks up. She then takes a deep breath. “I don’t need them to have fun. I’m my own person. I’m going to have fun because I’m different.”. She smiles for a short moment. 

Back at the Conference Centre, Milly and her followers slowly walk down the hall to her room as she records it on her phone with a selfie stick. People from other events voice their thoughts, criticizing her with a sneer or a glare. Behind her and her army, the floor manager and several security officers herd them to Milly’s room. One by one, Milly’s fans enter the room after showing the guards the drawn diamond on the back of their hands. For several minutes she takes pictures with each group, then eventually makes her way to the stage. Millyist continues to flood into the room and head to the stage. 

“Hey my Millyist! I’m sorry about the staff’s behavior. They’re basically jealous because they’re not as famous as me, and their boss lost out on free advertisement by me.”, Milly said pointing to herself. “No matter. We’re here to have fun and raise money to help the poor. This place is basically the worst for doing a fundraiser. Maybe we should do a prank on them.”. The crowd screams in agreement with fists in the air. “Anyway, that’s not what we came here for. We’re basically behind because of the staff. So, I have decided that we can go straight into the auction. And maybe I can mingle with y’all some more during the other activities that aren’t on this premises.”.

Many minutes into the auction, Milly brings out a big jar of supplements. 

“Okay my Millyist, this one is a bit pricey. But it will be worth it. These things will basically make life better. I mean look at me. Look how much better my life is. Your life can too. You don’t want to be a loser with no friends.”. Tessa bites her lip, twiddling her fingers. She looks at Milly. Her eyebrows draw inward and raise, as she begins to smile. 

“I’ll pay ninety dollars for that.”, she shouted at the top of her lungs. Giselle looks at her with an ajar mouth.

“Dang! We’re starting off strong with this one.”, Milly said, grinning.

“That’s not worth ninety bucks. Not even close.”, Giselle voiced. From the corner of her eyes, Tessa glares at her. Uma faces Giselle.

“It’s super worth it. Milly said it is a professional grade product.”

“She’s not an expert, Uma. She seems to not know what it does. I know. My uncle who’s a nutritionist specifically told me that those pills aren’t that beneficial. And Milly’s starting price of everything is too high. That other exercise thing that she just sold to that man for one hundred and twenty dollars cost fifteen bucks. I know that because my cousin had it. It doesn’t even do what Milly just said it would do. I even have a picture of it. It’s actually a funny story.”. Giselle scrolls through her phone with a smile. “Here it is—” 

“Giselle, like, shut up.”, Tessa said. Giselle’s smile drops. “You are wrong! If Milly said it does that, it does that.”

“No it doesn’t.”, Giselle whispered.

“Then you’re probably confused. You’re probably talking about something else.”

“It looks exactly like the one my cousin has, and it’s the same brand.”. Tessa raised her voice with downward facing eyebrows.

“I said no! Milly said this, and that’s that. Like, Milly won’t lie to us. You’re being unsupportive.”. Tessa lowers her voice. “If you think Milly is wrong, go up there and tell her.”, Tessa said with exaggerated head movement. “Just so you know, people are going to hate and abandon you—” Giselle eyebrows raise and pull together— “because you’re going against Milly. Like, all Milly is doing is helping the needy. What do you have against her?”. Giselle looks down. 

“Okay, never mind.”, she whispered. Tessa swings back around. Giselle does research on her phone. Moments later, she whispers to herself. “I was right, Milly is wrong. She didn’t even explain how exactly this money will help the poor.”. Giselle looks at Tessa and Uma who are locked in on Milly’s presentation. She puts her phone away, and fiddles with her hair.

A distance away from the Conference Centre, Qadira passes a small family Asian restaurant. She looks at the time on her phone. “I might as well eat lunch. Uhm, I can’t walk on an empty stomach.”. She walks back and goes into the restaurant.

Over an hour passes by, Milly and her followers make their way out of the Conference Centre premises. The manager rushes out of the front glass door with a handful of wet balls of tissue. He growls, grinding his teeth. His assistant walks to him. 

“What happened sir?” 

“What happened!”, he faces her. “That woman had her followers ruin all thirty goddamn bathrooms with toilet paper. None of the bathrooms have any tissue. They are all on the frigging ceiling.”. He looks at the cleared-out gate. “Send Milly Asuvidha an email stating that she is banned from ever hosting an event here. I’m not putting up with that woman’s foolishness again.”.

In the crowd led by Milly down a sidewalk, Tessa, Uma, and Giselle examine the things they bought. With a half smile Giselle looks away from her bag of products.

“These things were expensive”, she said. “We probably spent over one hundred dollars each.”. Uma bites her lip, looking down at the stuff she bought. “I hope these things actually work.”, Giselle said with a weak chuckle. Tessa glares at her.

“Like, of course it will work, that’s why Milly endorsed them.” Uma looks at her then at Giselle.

“Yeah. Why would Milly give us trashy stuff?”, Uma said softly with a weak smile. Tessa stands in front of Giselle.

“OMG, all day you have been talking bad about Milly. Like, if you don’t like her, you can leave the group like Qadira. But only after the contest.”. Milly who’s nearby looks at Tessa from the corner of her eyes.

“No, no I’m one hundred percent a Millyist. I was just a bit concerned—”, Tessa cuts off Giselle.

“Why do you need to be concerned? It’s Milly, gosh. Like, we’re trying to have fun, but you’re ruining it.”. Giselle looks at her as the corners of her mouth sink. She stutters.

“Sorry.”. 

Milly successfully led her followers to the park. She stands on one of the park’s wooden picnic tables. 

“Settle down my Millyist.”. Her herd, one by one turns to her in silence with a smile on their faces. “I bet you’re wondering what this surprise is, and why are we outside. Well, today we’re basically going to do a scavenger hunt. You will look for eggs in this park.”. Uma looks around.

“Do you think this is the park Qadira went to? She def should be around.”, she said with a smile. Giselle smiles back.

“Yeah!”, Giselle responded. Tessa rolls her eyes with a sneer. 

“There are basically about two hundred eggs. And only some of them will have a small foam M in them.”, Milly announced. “Depending on how much y’all find, y’all will receive nice gifts. There will be a golden M in one of the eggs. Uno eggo. Whoever finds it can basically spend the rest of the day with me, and even sit next to me at the restaurant.”. Tessa and Uma instantly turn to each other, squealing. “Everyone has thirty minutes to prepare. Oh! And keep this a secret. If you tell outsiders who didn’t pay to get in, they will basically take all of your prizes, and you will win nothing. Okay, meet you back here my Millyist.”.

Just under a mile away, Qadira walks out of the restaurant, tapping her belly with a wide smile. As she walks to the park, she spots her friends. She runs to them.

“Hey, what are you gals doing out here?”. They all turn to her. Uma and Giselle look at her with a toothy grin. Tessa looks away. 

“We’re doing a Milly egg hunt.”, Uma said with a giggle, lightly stomping. Giselle smiles drop.

“You weren’t supposed to tell any outsiders. We paid to get exclusive events.”. Tessa wraps her arm around Giselle.

“Like right. What the hell Uma?”, Tessa said, frowning. Giselle looks at Tessa with a smile. Uma turns to them.

“This is Qadira, we can super trust her.”

“Uhm, it’s fine I don’t want to take part anyway, especially now that it’s a paid event. How much money y’all spent?”. Their eyes avoid Qadira’s. “Anyways, it’s weird that Milly is doing an outside event. She usually vibes indoors.”.

“The event was to bring awareness to being healthier and get fresh air.”, Giselle explained. Qadira’s head suddenly retracts, and her face becomes twisted.

“But you guys didn’t want to go outside. Y’all said it’s bad for your skin. Uhm, and what’s going to happen if y’all don’t find all the eggs? Wouldn’t that be like littering or whatever?”, Qadira said.

Tessa scrunches her face. 

“Like, we wouldn’t have a problem with that if you joined us. But like no, you decided to do weird stuff without us.”

“Uhm, first of all, all I wanted to do is look if the place was actually there, then we could go to the Milly thing. You just blow things up—”

“Like, you’re just mad because we are out here having fun and you’re alone doing weird stuff. That’s why no one likes you. You’re weird.”, Tessa said with excessive head movements. Qadira’s face slowly turns red. 

“I’m weird? I’m not alone. Uh, you’re literally in the same place as me. You were against going outside in the sun, but now you’re doing it. If anything, you’re the weird one—” Tessa sneers with clenched jaws. “You’re always copying Milly, doing everything she does. Uh, look at where you are. You’re giving a sheep, following Milly around. I made up my own mind to come here. You’re the most pathetic brainwashed person ever!”. Tessa gasps. 

Both Qadira and Tessa argue louder by the second. Tessa then shouts.

“Like, Milly is perfect. You’d rather be miserable and pathetic, or follow Milly.”. Tessa turns to Giselle and Uma. “You want to follow Milly right.”. With soft voices and lowered heads, they look at her and agree. Tessa turns back to Qadira’s red face. “Look at Milly. Look at her perfect life. Like, why wouldn’t you follow her.”. Qadira takes a deep breath. Her face lightens in color and her hands are clench. 

“Uh, Milly is living like Milly. I’m not Milly. I am Qadira. Whatever Milly does, is for her. Not me. I’m going to live for myself. I’m different. That’s why I’m more important than you will ever be.” Qadira suddenly changes her tone. “You are just a follower living in Milly’s superficial shadow.”, Qadira said slowly and calmly. Tessa smirks.

“Well, this follower is having a better life than you. You said you’re important but no one else wants you around. You’re a low value weirdo.”. Qadira rushes to Tessa’s face. Uma steps in between. 

The three draw attention from the other Millyist with their loud arguing. Milly eventually comes over.

“What’s wrong?”. They all look around. Immediately, Uma and Tessa squeal. 

“Milly!”, they shouted in unison. Milly smirks.

“I’m your biggest fan. We came a long way to see you.”, Tessa said, stepping closer to her. Tessa points at Gisella and Uma with a wide smile. “These are my friends.”. Giselle smiles at Tessa then at Milly. Uma aggressively waves at Milly, trying to contain her blaring screams in her throat. Tessa then looks at Qadira and frowns. “But not her”, she said, pointing at Qadira. Qadira sneers and rolls her eyes. Milly faces her. 

“Did you pay to be a part of this event?”, Milly asked.

“No.”, Qadira replied with a jerked head.

“You have to leave the park.”, Milly demanded, lightly bobbing her head.

“What!” Qadira’s eyes widened. “The park is a public place, and I came here before everyone else.”.

“Why, to steal the prize away from the people who paid to be here?” 

“No.”

“Why are you here?”

“Uhm, to do the walking trail.”

“So why are you here in this part of the park? You need to leave now.”. Qadira glances at Tessa who’s grinning. Tessa then looks at Milly like a toddler staring at their favorite parent. Milly shouts. “Leave before I post about you, and it won’t be pretty.”.

“Hfft.” Qadira rolls her eyes, then walks away. Qadira shouts to her old friends.

“I hope you can find a way back home without me.”. Tessa replies.

“Like, I hope you can find a new hotel room. Your stuff better be gone when we get back or else I’m throwing them out the window.”.

“That’s right girl!”, Milly cheered, slithering with her hand in the air.

Tessa turns from Milly, giggling into her hands. Milly faces the other Millyist.

“The event will happen shortly. I’m going to do some finishing touches.”. She leaves the area. 

Uma holds Tessa’s hands with a huge smile.

“I can’t believe Milly just defended you. You’re pretty much her bestie.”. Both giggles, jumping. Giselle looks at Qadira as she walks toward the trail. Qadira suddenly changes her direction. Tessa stops jumping.

“Omg we look so childish right now.”. Uma stops. 

“Def.”. Tessa looks at Giselle.

“Don’t worry about Qadira. She’s a loser. She’ll never get anywhere in life. Let’s go where everyone is.”, Tessa said.

They joined the rest of the Millyist. Few of them surround Tessa.

“Are you okay?”, one of the Millyist asked.

“I’m fine, it was a little argument. She was an insecure nobody.”, Tessa responded.

“Who was she?”, another asked.

“She was a close friend. But then she like, just started to hate Milly for no reason all of a sudden.”, Tessa replied.

“I think she’s jealous.”, another person joined.

“Yeah. She’s a random person that wanted to mess up the event for everyone.”, another random Millyist said. 

Uma cuts in and taps Tessa’s shoulders.

“It’s hot. We should get some water.” 

“Like, good idea! Tell Giselle to go get it while we wait here so we don’t miss anything.”. Uma disappears behind the crowd for a moment. She then emerges.

“Gis said she doesn’t want to go by herself.” 

“Like, what’s she good for? Let’s just hurry up and get what we need before Milly starts.”, Tessa said. She then groans, looking up to the sky.

The three made their way into a nearby semi-large convenience store that’s a part of a row of shops connected to the sidewalk. As they pick their sunscreen, Giselle speaks. 

“You know, Qadira wasn’t all that bad.”. Tessa turns to her with a sneer.

“Not you too. Like, you and some of those other Millyist need to check y’all eyes. She was going to ruin the event.”

“Really? I don’t think so. She was just there. She did say she was going to the park to hike earlier today.”, Giselle said as she picked up the sunscreen of her choice. Tessa jaws clenches. “Don’t think Milly has the authority to kick her out.”. Tessa snaps around.

“Like, you know what. You always have something negative to say about Milly. What is your problem?”. Giselle body tenses with a lowered head. “Tell me Giselle, what’s your problem? Like there’s always something with you.  Are you trying to be an issue?”.

“Never mind.”, Giselle said with a soft voice. Tessa cuts her eyes.

“That’s what I thought. Like, we came here to meet Milly and have fun. I don’t want to deal with fake friends who are trying to mess up everything for me. You know what, like, why don’t you make yourself useful and do all them stuff Qadira usually does. Book us a boat back home and check us out at the hotel, and whatever else she does.”

“I don’t know how to do those things.”.

“Well figure it out.”

“But, but what if I mess—”

“Like OMG, you’re such a little, dumb, lazy sofa girl!” Uma gasps as she approaches them. Giselle covers her ajar mouth. Uma faces Tessa as she wraps her arm around Giselle.

“Hey, what did Gis do to you?”. Tessa rolls her eyes.

“Sorry”. She sighs. “Like, I’m just stressed out and need help.”. Tessa pats her hair, not looking at them as she continues talking. “Giselle has to help since Qadira isn’t here. She let us down. Like, Qadira abandoned us.”. She faces Giselle and walks closer. “We must stick together. An-and get our stuff sorted out. I mean you wouldn’t abandon us too, right? I know I wouldn’t.”. Tessa holds Giselle’s hand with a smile. Giselle looks at their hands.

“Yeah.”, she said smiling and looking at their hands. 

“Then do it.”. Giselle looks at her.

“I don’t know if I can do it.”. Tessa immediately throws Giselle’s hands.

“Arggh!”. Tessa clenches her fists. “Like it’s so simple. You can’t do one simple thing. How stupid can you be! You’re so useless! Why are you even here!”. Giselle’s eyes become watery. She speaks with a broken voice.

“I need a bathroom.”. She immediately leaves. Tessa sucks her teeth.

“Like, I’m going to get a drink.”. She goes to the liquor line.

Moments later, Giselle pops out of the tiny bathroom. She frantically looks around with her puffy, reddish eyes. Uma walks to her. She peers into Giselle’s watery eyes and her red tinted nose. 

“What’s wrong?”, Uma asked. 

“I-it’s nothing. I’m fine. Are you leaving now?”, Giselle responded with a quavering voice and a sniffle. Uma replies.

“Yeah. You look like you need some—”

“I’m coming too.”

“Are-are, you sure?”.

“Yeah, I just need to freshen up a bit.”, Giselle said with a sniff. 

“Okay, I-I’ll wait by the checkout.

“I won’t take long.”.

Moments later, at the entrance, Tessa stands by the door, tapping her foot with a twisted face. Giselle walks out of the bathroom. Tessa immediately leaves the building. Uma follows. Giselle runs after them. 

At the park, they find all the other Millyist dispersed and examining their surroundings. 

“Milly started!”, Uma shouted. Tessa scolds Giselle. Giselle looks away.

“Sorry.”, Giselle murmured. Tessa speaks with exaggerated head movements.

“You can go look for the eggs over there.”. Tessa calmly turns to Uma. “You can look over there. I’ll look around over there. We’ll meet up when Milly calls us, or whatever.”. Giselle raises her finger, opening her mouth. The two run away. She closes her mouth, lowering her hand. Giselle runs after them.

“I can’t look for them by myself over there.”. She whispers to herself, “I thought we were a team.”. Giselle fiddles with her hair, barely walking to her section of the park. Tessa looks back. She shouted to her.

“Hurry up Giselle! Why are you walking so slow?”. Giselle looks back at Tessa as she blends into the background. Giselle spots Uma. She walks to her. 

After an hour and a half, Milly calls everyone back, and starts to tally the eggs from each group. Tessa finds Giselle and Uma together. She frowns.

“Why y’all together— never mind.”. She starts to smile. “Did y’all find the eggs?”. Uma replies.

“We found twenty-five.”. Tessa twists her face as her head pulls into her neck. Uma adds on. “I found like twenty. Gis found five.”. Tessa clenches her hands.

“It’s like you’re not even trying. Like, you’re literally ruining my life! You’re the worst friend ever. I got like thirty eggs, and I found the golden one.”. Tessa shows them the eggs in her new, medium sized, cloth tote bag from the auction, then continues on. “All you brought was five eggs. Like, are you kidding me? You are so stupid and useless! I swear I don’t know why you’re here. You’re ruining this for me!”. Giselle’s eyes slowly become teary.

“I’m trying.”, she said with a cracked voice.

“Stop your crying. You’re making us look bad in front of Milly! Give Uma your eggs and go over there so you don’t get in my way.”

“But I want to be with y’all.”

“If you embarrass me in front of Milly, I swear I’ll never forgive you, and you can forget about calling us your friends. Giselle walks away from them and eventually from the crowd of peering eyes with her head lowered. Tears stream down her cheek as she begins to sniffle. 

She wipes her face. Alone she turns around and watches Tessa and Uma going to Milly. They all cheered. The corner of her mouth drops even lower, and the air around her thickens. She lets out a small whimper. She turns away from them. In the far distance she spots Qadira. She looks back at Tessa and Uma, then back at Qadira. Giselle wipes her tears. She holds her head up to the sky with deep breaths, reabsorbing the rest of the tears back into her eyes. She exhales, and jogs to Qadira.

Qadira sits on a bench under a few shady trees in front of a well-sized pond. She pokes the ground with a long stick with an empty expression. 

“Hey.”, Giselle greeted. Qadira jumps back into reality and spins around. 

“Oh hey.” 

“Do you mind if I join you?”

“No. Of course not”, Qadira said with a smile. “Why are you here?” Giselle looks at the ground. “Are the other two Millyist coming?”, Qadira asked.

“No. I was kind of kicked out of the group.”, she said with a broken voice. Qadira’s jaw drops a little.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course. I’m fine.”, Giselle answered. She bites her quivering lips. “I don’t want to talk about it.”. After brief seconds of silence, Giselle starts up the conversation again. “Why are you here alone? I thought you were hiking or something.”

“Uhm, I misread the post. This park has a jogging path that you can hike if you want. I started to do it after a while, then … I don’t know. I-it’s hard. I don’t want to talk about it.” Many quiet moments pass by. “Hey, uhm, I went to this cool restaurant for lunch. I took some pics. It’s super small and cute.”, she pulls out her phone. “It’s called Mimi’s Měishí. It’s a family run restaurant. They are so nice. The place is clean and beautifully decorated with family memories on the walls. They make you feel like you’re a part of their family. Not to mention the food was delicious.”. Giselle smiles and inches closer to Qadira’s phone.

Over an hour passes by. At a nearby small authentic Chinese restaurant, Milly and her herd wrap up their grazing. Tessa and Uma take pictures with each other and occasionally with Milly who’s sitting at the same table. An old Asian woman in an apron gives her a check. Milly chokes on her nearly empty drink.

“Thirty-thousand dollars! Why are you giving me this?” 

“It your bill.” 

“No. I’m Milly. An influencer with five-hundred-thousand K followers. I don’t pay.”

“Yes, you pay. You eat food. You and your fends eat food. You and fends pay bill. Wan separate bill? Separate bill, yes?” 

“No, I eat free. I’ll give you publicity by posting about this place. I’ll endorse you. It’s like an advertisement in exchange for the food.”. The old woman scrunches her wrinkled face.

“Ad-tisement? No, no, no. No ads. You pay bill for the ingree-dients and effort. You pay in money, no ads.”. Milly jumps onto her feet.

“This is not fair.”. The old woman walks closer to her.

“You no pay, I call police, and you ban. You and all fends ban here for good.” Milly grimace. 

“If you do that, I’ll tell my followers to bomb your restaurant with bad reviews.”

“I don’t care-ah. You not special, you pay like everyone else.”. The Millyist gasp. The old woman looks around the silenced room. Milly throws her cup on the floor. The old woman gasps, holding her face. She goes to the mess and attempts to clean it. Suddenly, the rest of the Millyist join and throw their dishes on the floor. The old woman quickly shuffles out of the dining area. Milly laughs.

“This place is a mess!”. She takes a picture of the broken dishes and the food splatter. She posts it. She turns to her followers. “Hey my Millyist. Mimi’s Měishí restaurant is ungrateful and greedy. I offer them free exposure, but all they want is money. They don’t care about feeding the world. Restaurants like this are why there are starving people. They only care about the money. Let’s bomb the place with bad reviews and trash it. Then post photos and videos about how trashy this place is. Tessa shouts in agreement. The other rest follows, except Uma. Uma slumps in her chair.

Milly and her followers begin to destroy the claustrophobic restaurant. They throw things into the fishtank, flip tables, throw chairs around and even break the pictures on the walls. Other employees try to stop them, making no impact. Tessa throws a plate on the wall with a smile. She faces Uma.

“Hey, like, why aren’t you breaking anything?”

“I def don’t get why we’re doing this.”, Uma said. Tessa rolls her eyes.

“We are teaching this business a lesson for oppressing young famous people from being free, and allowing people to starve. Like, this is Milly we’re fighting for. We were literally eating with her. We made it into her inner circle. Like, I want you, my only true friend, to be here with me. You are my true friend, right? You do like Milly, right?”. Uma looks off to the side, playing with her fingers. “OMG Uma! Like come push someone at least. Tessa pulls Uma from her chair. “Push the grandma. Come on. Milly might be watching.”. Tessa shoves her in front of the old woman. Uma bites her lips, then pushes the old waiter from before with all her strength. The old woman falls with a thump and slides to the other table. The old waiter’s face turns red and twisted as she groans loudly, holding her lower back. Uma gasps, clutching her face. Her eyes fill with tears.

“I’m super sorry!”. Uma reaches for her hand. The old woman cowers away from Uma. Uma’s hand trembles. She shakes her head. “I def can’t do this.”, Uma said with a broken voice.

“We’re doing what’s right. Like, this is what Milly wanted. This is what she stands for.”, Tessa preached.

“This is not right.”. Tessa pushes Uma onto the floor next to the old woman. 

“OMG, you’re just like everyone else, all you care about is getting in my way. Only if y’all understand how important this is to me. Like a true friend would. Like, if I can get close to Milly, my life will be perfect. People can be proud of me. Why y’all keep getting in my way!”. Tessa raises her foot over them. They shield their faces. Tessa exhales with a puff. She suddenly walks away with a grimace. Uma gets up with watery eyes. She helps the old lady up and guides her outside. Tessa watches them. Tessa screams, throwing a chair as hard as she can, breaking it. Milly looks at her with a toothy grin and eyebrows drawn inwards, while recording Tessa on her phone.

“Dang girl!”, Milly shouted.

Uma wanders around alone. She finds herself at the park. “Oh, I wonder where Giselle went?”. After several minutes, Uma finds them laughing by the pond. Uma looks down, rubbing her hand up and down her arm. She eventually makes her way to them. “Can I join?”. They turn to her. 

“Yeah.”, they harmonized. 

“What happened this time? Did Tessa go crazy for Milly again?”, Qadira asked with a smirk. Uma smiles for a quick second.

“Yeah”. Uma’s lips begin to quiver and her eyes swell. 

“What happened to you?”, Qadira asked. Uma starts to cry.

“Tessa made me push down an old woman for Milly. You should’ve seen how she cowered in fear. I was always the nice one. Now I’m a def wicked witch. That old woman is going to tell her friends how evil I am. Not to mention, someone could’ve recorded it. Now people don’t want anything to do with me. I’m def going to be an outcast like a criminal.”. Giselle and Qadira hug her. 

“Maybe it’s not that bad.”, Qadira said.

“Yes it is!”.

“Maybe no one recorded it. Everyone who’s there is obsessed with Milly. Everyone was probably doing what Milly said, or was recording Milly. You could always stop by the old woman to apologize and help her if she needs any help.”, Giselle suggested.

“Makes sense. I guess I can do that.”, Uma said as she wiped her face, sniffling. 

“Uhm, l-let’s talk about something else.”, Qadira said.

“Yeah.”, Giselle agreed. 

“We were just talking about Tessa’s obsession with Milly. Now she lost all her friends for a stranger on social media who probably doesn’t even like her. Tessa wanted to be exactly like Milly. Pfft! Uhm, that’s stupid. Everyone has their own thing, and goals. She’s just giving stupid sheep vibes.”, Qadira said, smirking.

“Yeah.”, Giselle said with a grin. “She would probably jump off a cliff if Milly told her to.”

“I actually believe she would.”, Qadira said. Uma giggles, wiping her face.

“Def.”.

“Uhm, I mean, who wants to live like that? I-I still haven’t figured out what I want to do, but at least I’m trying to try new things in my spare time. What about you Uma?”, Qadira asked. Uma’s eyes widen. She looks away for a moment.

“I’ll just do whatever you gals want to do.”, she whispered.

“No, it has to be something you like. Your talent. Uhm, what’s your talent?”, Qadira asked with a smile. Uma clenches her fist.

“I said, I’ll do whatever y’all do. What is the problem?”, she grumbled.

“Well, everyone has something special that they want to do. Uhm, even if it’s just a hobby.” 

“No, I don’t. I just do whatever … makes everyone happy.”. After a long moment of silence, Giselle speaks.

“That’s fine. You have time to figure it out. You know I always like architectural drawing, building models. I didn’t realize I liked it until about a year ago. I wasn’t one of those people who were like, ‘I always liked doing this thing as a kid’. You just need to get out there and explore yourself. Like Qadira over here.”, Giselle said pointing at Qadira, giggling. Uma starts to smile.

Qadira brags about her interests. 

“I also have done, uhm, rock climbing, hiking and Pilates, and maybe snorkeling.”. Uma looks at her with wide eyes.

“How did you find the time to do all that stuff?”, she asked. Qadira’s lips fold into her mouth. She looks away for a quick second. She finally answers.

“I was planning to do them. Haven’t done it yet, but I will one day. It’s just hard to start.

“Why do you want to do all those things?”, Giselle asked.

“Maybe it’s because I’m built different.”, Qadira answered with a smile.

“Why would you want to be someone different? You’re def just alienating yourself.”, Uma commented.

“Uhm, not really. If you’re different enough, people will see you as important and will actually be around you more.”

“Why do you want people to be around you more?”, Uma asked. Giselle instantly turns to them, away from the birds. Qadira shrugged her shoulders. Giselle cuts in.

“Is it because you don’t want to be alone? So, you force yourself to be interesting so the only people who hang out with you don’t abandon you because you don’t know if anyone new will care about you?”, Giselle suggested. Both Qadira and Uma look at her with wide eyes in silence for a moment.

“Maybe.”, Qadira said, shrugging her shoulders. Suddenly, their phone blows up with notifications. They all look at their phones, and gasp as they jump off the bench looking at each other. They leave immediately.

About an hour later, Giselle, Uma, and Qadira sit at an outdoor dining area of a restaurant, under an umbrella. Tessa nearly walks past them. She freezes, then jogs to them.

“Good thing we managed to separate ourselves from her. They would’ve banned us too.”, Qadira said to Giselle and Uma. 

“Who knew that the restaurant owner was friends with our hotel owner.”. Uma said. Tessa cuts in. 

“Hey gals!”, Tessa said with a strained smile. They look at her, then cram their heads into the menu. “I know, I know. I acted like a fool. Like, I need some help. Milly recorded me doing some stuff and she totally framed me for the whole thing. Like, she even laughed at me. I thought she liked me, but I guess I was wrong. Like, Milly messed up my reputation and teased me.”. Tessa covers her face and cries. Uma looks at her with a soften look. Giselle lays her menu down looking at Uma. She then faces Tessa. 

“We know, we saw the videos. What you did was unforgiving and … just terrible. And all that for Milly. Who’s by the way a total stranger.”, Giselle voiced. “You push us away for someone you don’t know personally. All you do is watch her videos which are staged, or only show selective glimpses of her life, but not the whole nine yards. She’s just a stranger with many followers. That’s it.”.

“Why would you do that?”, Uma asked.

“It’s because that’s what Milly wanted.”, Tessa said

“Why are you so obsessed with Milly?”, Qadira asked. 

“Have you seen Milly’s life? Everyone loves her. If I were to live like that, maybe people would love me too. Be proud of me. I would be happy. But I made things worse. I’m a disappointment. Now I’m banned from the hotel and restaurant because I was blamed for the Milly chaos and drama.”. After several moments of silence, Tessa breaks it. “Sorry.”. They turn away from her with a frown. “I think I care too much about how others see me.”. They all look off to the side, confronting their own thoughts.