Of Paper Girls And Puppeteers (Book 3)

Moving Forward

•Beckett•

"I hear things got a lil heated earlier while you were filming," I tease, watching gleefully as C and Miles' faces begin turning a dark shade of red.
"Mmhmm. And if I recall correctly, wasn't it just this morning you two were complaining about me and Beckett's PDA?" V asks with a laugh.
"Yeah, come on guys, you probably traumatized poor George. We are not that kind of art school!" I add, pretending to be scandalized. V laughs and Miles is about to shoot back a retort when Bianca comes barreling over to us.
"Miles! Miles, Miles, Miles, Miles!" She yells as she approaches.
"Who died this time B?" Miles asks, looking concerned.
"George and I just finished editing your video. You're welcome by the way. It is not easy working with that little dude! He needs to chill out like, a lot. It cannot possibly be healthy for his little body to be that uptight all the time-" "Um okay, thank you. But why is that such a big deal? No offense," Miles adds after Bianca sends him one of her infamous death glares.
"Well, like I said, we finished all the editing so we posted it like ten minutes ago. But look!" She says, shoving her phone in front of us.
"50, No, 51,000 views! This is insane. This is bigger then Kiss Kiss! She exclaims. Miles is too shocked to reply so C grabs the phone from Bianca's hands. " And it gets even better. Clive Riche wants you to sign!" She continues.
"No way," Miles says, taking the phone.
"Miles, this is huge!" C says, wrapping her arms around him. He pulls her into a hug.
"This is so sick. I mean, I knew C's vids were good, but this is insane," V says, pulling the video up on her phone.
"C have you even read these comments?" She asks. I lean over her shoulder as she scrolls through the comments.

@hannah_stein: omg is that the girl from Hawks music videos??? @selena.gomez 's backup dancer??? Jealous😍😍😍

@danceismylyfe: who's choreo oml??😍 I love thisssss💗💗

@missylancer: are the boys single lol🤪 this vid is the cutest

@cutielove: @shawn.mendes is that you??😂😂

"The views are racking in by the second," I add, pointing at the quickly growing number on the screen as it surpasses 60,000 views. Suddenly V's phone buzzes along with Bianca's.
"A new TMK post? Who's been running the account?" V murmurs. My brow furrows. She's right. Someone is obviously on the account posting on Keaton's Kutest Kouples and now this new article. Sasha deleted the account so it couldn't be him, and Jenna logged off at the beginning of last year.
"What's it say?" C asks looking just as confused as she and Miles lean over to investigate. V clicks the notification.
"Run 2 You: On Blast
All the tea behind Miles Lennox's new music video" V reads. Beneath the title is a split screenshot of Miles' new video. One half features V and I staring intensely into each other's eyes as I lift her into the air, the other half captures C and Miles locking lips.
"Oof. Saucy," Bianca comments, joining the ever growing crowd around V's phone.
"Miles Lennox's (Junior) new music video Run 2 You features Carly Cato (Junior), Vanessa Morita (Junior), and Beckett Bradstreet (Junior). Mindy Dobson (Sophomore), Sasha Roy (Senior), and Jenna Cristinziano (Junior) are also seen in the video which was videographed and directed by George Gladwell (Sophomore) and produced by Bianca Blackwell (Junior). While there is no doubt that Miles' new video is the same pop, on-brand music we would expect to hear from Miles, it was a surprise to see the amount of PDA displayed throughout the new video given this specific group's history," V reads, frowning.
"Wait. What is that supposed to mean?" C asks. I take the phone from V's hand.
"In the past 2 and a half years, drama has followed these video stars like the plague and they seem to make their rounds with everyone within their group of friends, leading us to wonder what the real meaning is behind this video," I read.
"I still don't get it," C says. I scroll down the article a little more and almost drop the phone. Below the text is a compilation of various photos of our group including pictures of V kissing Sasha, V with Miles, and V kissing me. The photos are then followed by pictures of C with Austin, Sasha, Me, and kissing Miles. These pictures are followed by more pictures Miles kissing Julie, Alya, and Bianca, and a picture of Bianca kissing Jax. Still scrolling there's a picture of Jenna with both Jax and Sasha.
"Oh. My. Dance Gods. Where did they even get these pictures?" V asks in horror.
"How did they get that picture of me and Miles? It happened last year! And it was only because I was trying to prove a point to Jax!" Bianca exclaims.
"This is defamation! It makes it seem like we're just dating around our friend group when 90% of this content isn't even real!" V accuses. I stare at the article.
"The following observations from over the years make us question the motives behind Miles' video and make us wonder if instead of Running 2 You, if we should Run Away from this toxic friend group of supposedly elite students," I read aloud. If I continue to scroll the article goes on to mention V and I traveling with the Elites, C's tour with Selena and Hawks, Miles' Berklee scholarship, and Bianca's success as an actress while simultaneously discrediting any of our successes. The good mood from the success of Miles' video is drained in a matter of seconds as we're all encased in a deafening silence.
"Guys. Whoever the new TMK is must really, hate us." V says.

Word Count: 977

AN:
HI GUYSSSSSSSSS
so idk if I'm back permanently or not, Wattpad has been deleted from my phone for the longest time now but I still get emailed updates of comments asking me to update so I thought I'd drop a chapter and see where it takes me:)