Internet famous, p.1
Internet Famous, page 1
Table of Contents
Synopsis
Praise for the works of M.B. Guel
Other Bella Books by M.B. Guel
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Bella Books
Synopsis
Billie Alvarez is your average punk rock loving high school senior who just wants to hang out with her best friend, Rex, and get her ex-girlfriend back. In a half-baked attempt to impress her by auditioning for the lead part in the school musical, Billie gets turned down because she’s a girl trying out for a traditionally male part. When her online rant about the school being homophobic goes viral, she must navigate her newfound fame along with the typical drama that comes with getting through high school.
Between rehearsals, trying to get her band back together and an endless onslaught of online admirers, Billie must decide what’s important to her. Is it the fleeting happiness of getting attention online? Figuring out what she wants to do after high school? Or getting her ex back?
Then there’s her co-star in the school play, who’s getting much more interesting now that they’re spending more time rehearsing together.
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Praise for the works of M.B. Guel
Queerleaders
As Mack interacts with a variety of people, the reader does as well, and Queerleaders challenges us to rethink our own assumptions about cheerleaders and queer people and parents and football players, and to pay attention to their feelings and admit that everybody’s feelings are complex and important. The writing is also very clever and I found myself highlighting passages as often as I was smiling or laughing. I can’t think of a book I’ve had more fun reading in a while…
-Smart Bitches Trashy Books
This is a fun, easy, and entirely charming read. Guel manages to create a story that is captivating, relatable, and reminiscent of the movies in which the underdog wins. I cannot believe that this is a debut novel, it’s just so good. I cannot recommend this one enough.
-The Lesbian Review
This story dealt with a variety of topics. It was about having that fearful conversation with parents about being gay...not knowing if they will face acceptance or rejection. But it also was about strong supportive friendships and experiencing that first special kiss and first girlfriend. The author actually took the reader through a gamut of emotions from start to finish. There were some laugh out loud scenes as well as heartwarming ones. It was an extremely well written, engaging, and entertaining read.
-R. Swier, NetGalley
This is absolutely, one-hundred percent the queer teen book I wish I had when I was a teen. Mack and Lila are so fun and hilarious and you can feel how great their friendship is from the first page. When Mack attempts to woo all the girls on the cheerleading team, the book breaks into hilarious teen antics and I loved every second of it. I highly recommend this sweet, funny book.
-Kate C., NetGalley
Other Bella Books by M.B. Guel
Queerleaders
About the Author
M.B. lives in Los Angeles with their partner, producing movie trailers in the day and writing queer fiction at night. Their debut novel, Queerleaders (Goldie 2021 Winner; ALA Rainbow List), came out in 2020. Ninety-nine percent of readers agreed it wasn’t the worst thing to happen in 2020.
Copyright © 2021 by M.B. Guel
Bella Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 10543
Tallahassee, FL 32302
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
First Edition - 2021
Editor: Ann Roberts
Cover Designer: Ally Baldwin
ISBN: 978-1-64247-246-2
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized print or electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my partner, Ally, who hasn’t killed me in lockdown. Thank you for always understanding when I must go into my writing hole and don’t emerge for hours. This year has been a lot for everyone and we are not immune, I couldn’t have made it through it without you and our brood of fur gremlins. I am hashtag blessed to have you in my life, and not just because you listen to my half-baked ideas about cover art and then make me something amazing. Beef Baby 5eva.
Also thank you to everyone I shoved this manuscript at asking if they could read it. Ya’ll kept me from burning this book so no one would ever have to witness it. Special thank you to Lucky who betas through my raw words and helps make them presentable.
Finally, thank you Ann Roberts and Jessica Hill at Bella Books for all your hard work and help on this book. You have both made this intimidating process much easier. I appreciate you both.
Dedication
For Dolly Parton. I just think she’s neat.
Chapter One
“Billie Alvarez, you are a new level of cocky to come in here and think you’re going to just join the AV Club,” June said as she crossed her arms. Billie couldn’t help but admire the way her dark hair matched her thick eyeliner. The fluorescent lights cast a harsh shadow over her usually soft and pixie-like features. With her long limbs, she could be mistaken for being tall when she was sitting, but she was almost half-a-foot shorter than Billie. Billie always loved how June dressed—tight black leggings ending in beat-up combat boots and a stylishly ripped T-shirt that showed off her black cami underneath. Her pale skin almost matched the bright white of the shirt.
Billie smiled smugly, wide enough that she knew her dimples were popping. June adjusted her septum piercing, a telltale sign that she was irritated. Probably wouldn’t be the best time for Billie to tell her she had some purple lipstick on her teeth.
“But…that’s why you love me, right?” she asked with a bright smile.
June blinked at her. “You can be such an arrogant prick, you know that?”
“That’s what all the girls say,” Billie bragged, leaning back and slinging her arm over the empty chair next to her. She ran her hand through her short, choppy locks, thick, dark hair falling over her eyes for a moment before she flicked it away. She had dyed the ends a bright aqua in preparation for getting June back, and she was pretty stoked with it. Straining her eyes upward to try and get a glimpse of her own hair, Billie caught June’s eye roll and cleared her throat, sobering a little. “I mean uh…not all the girls because…I don’t care what all the girls say. Just you.”
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and tapping her heavy boots on the dirty linoleum of the school’s AV room. June’s intense gaze was becoming too much, and Billie chose to look at the wall of outdated electronics instead. There were old televisions, VHS players, and even large tape recorders all along the shelves—the typical accoutrements of the average audio-visual club, if it was for high school in the eighties. Would it kill them to get a VR headset in here or something? Anything to bring the club to the current decade. Or maybe a good spring cleaning to get rid of the heavy smell of burning plastic in the air.
Not that any of that mattered to Billie. She wasn’t interested in producing the school’s lame-ass Homeroom Show or lighting the stage for the school functions. All she wanted was June back, and so far that didn’t seem to be something that was going to happen. Billie was, frankly, confused. She really thought that whole “forcing June to spend time with her” approach was the way to go.
She smiled so wide at June it made her cheeks hurt. “So whaddya say? Let me take you to Sonics?”
“No,” June said simply, lips curled in a tight smile. “The closest Sonic is an hour away.”
Billie groaned, letting her head hang between her shoulder blades in defeat before looking back at her ex-girlfriend. “Come on, Junebug, the drive is what makes it romantic.”
“No,” June said firmly. “Don’t call me that anymore. You lost that privilege when you flirted with some girl on TikTok. Plus, since when is sitting in traffic on the 5 romantic?”
“It didn’t mean anything!” Billie repeated for what felt like the thousandth time.
June stood so forcefully that the legs of her chair scraped behind her, threatening to tip over. “Out. Please. As the president of the AV Club, I have the authority in this room. And I’m telling you to get out.”
Billie sighed dramatically as she stood and dragged herself out of the dimly lit room. The door practically slammed behind her as she stepped into the hall. Rex sat outside with their knees bent to their chest, waiting for Billie and looking down at their phone. They pushed their thick glasses up the bridge of their nose, unfolding a long, lithe body like a scarecrow as they stood. Their bright pink hair shaved close to the head clashed with their neon outfit but somehow managed to complement their darker complexion. Rex’s style could only be described as messily specific; there was an effortless sort of queerness that radiated off them that Billie envied and admired, but they were both weird enough for each other.
“Did it go as well as I thought it would?” Rex asked with a grin.
She threw them a look and adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. “I’m just saying…if June would talk to me—”
“She doesn’t have to talk to you, bro. You deserve everything she’s throwing at you right now. I love you, but you flirted with another girl.”
“On the Internet!” Billie headed toward the cafeteria. She swore she could find her way there with her eyes closed, just by following the scent of pizza crust. “Nothing you do on the Internet counts as anything!”
She used social media as much as the average teenager. She had a bit of a following in the young and queer community, which was admittedly a little addicting. So yes, she was guilty of posting the occasional thirst trap where she kinda looked at the camera and played with her face. She didn’t quite get it, but she saw other lesbians doing it on TikTok and figured it was the thing to do.
Rex frowned and tapped their chin. “You know, that’s not exactly true. You can still get arrested for the things you do on the Internet.”
“Well, this is different. It was stupid, empty flirting. I flirt with everyone, you know that.”
“Again, not exactly true.” Rex shook their head. “But I’m loving your determination here. Truly inspiring.”
“Three years. We were together for three years.” She dramatically kicked open the cafeteria door in her frustration.
She was so caught up in her moaning that she almost missed how all students seated at the tables closest to the doors jumped when she kicked open the door. She and Rex took their usual seats in the back corner. A few of the other students looked at them with the briefest flash of fear in their eyes, but most ignored them. They both had been graced with the reputation of being “tough,” probably because of Billie’s clear infatuation with the color black, heavy boots, and piercings. It wasn’t anything extreme, just a few more than normal cartilage piercings, a nose piercing, and a fake lip piercing. But she would never tell anyone the lip ring was fake because then she’d have to explain that she was too scared to pierce her lip.
“I think it’s time for you to move on, Billie,” Rex said, as they pulled a crumpled paper sack from their messenger bag.
“Didn’t you hear me talk about how we were together for three years?” she asked, pulling out her own lunch. She unwrapped the foil to see the leftover tacos her abuela had made the night before. Three years of her life with June. Three. Practically a millennium for high schoolers, but for lesbians, it might as well have been a week.
“Lucky,” Rex sighed, gazing longingly at her lunch. “I’ll trade you my chips for a taco.” She passed them one of the tacos. “And because you were together for three years doesn’t mean it was supposed to last. Time to get over her.”
“I can’t just get over June,” Billie said through a mouthful of taco. “You don’t just get over someone after that long.”
Rex shrugged. “My parents got over each other pretty quickly after the divorce. And they were together for twenty years.”
“Okay but that’s different. Divorce is a special case.”
“You know, almost fifty percent of marriages end in divorce.”
The voice came out of nowhere, and Billie actually jumped. Lois was standing next to their lunch table. A shorter girl with long, dark brown hair that reached the middle of her back, contrasting with her light-freckled skin, she was dressed in a simple skirt with a billowy blouse tucked into it that accentuated her thick curves. Billie couldn’t help but look. Lois had dark eyes and always seemed to have a thousand questions. She always looked like she was about to go to court or a job interview. And apparently, she was also very good at sneaking around unnoticed.
“Where the hell did you come from?” Billie asked.
Lois blinked, a light tint on her full cheeks. “Well, technically, I was born in Milwaukee but that’s not what you meant. I’m walking around giving out fliers for auditions for the school musical.”
She thrust one at Billie who let it flutter in front of her. The paper was highlighter yellow with nineties clipart of old convertibles, a boy and a girl in fifties clothes sharing a milkshake, and at least three-too-many musical notes. She frowned and looked back up at Lois. “Open auditions? Since when? I thought all you drama nerds had enough members to cast the entire show yourselves.”
Lois huffed and held her stack of fliers close to her chest. “Well, about ninety percent of the club decided they weren’t going to do the musical this year. They said Grease was too controversial.”
“Grease?” Rex asked.
“Yes. They said that with the current state of our country, they couldn’t support a musical that supported the idea that a woman should change herself for a man,” she said stiffly. “Completely forgetting that it is an American staple of musical theater.”
“I guess I see their point,” Billie mused, mostly to get a reaction out of Lois.
She was delighted to see more red creep up her neck. They didn’t have many interactions, but Lois was in some of her advanced classes, so they ended up chatting once in a while. She didn’t have a problem with Lois, but she knew the rest of the kids tended to get annoyed with her. It was too easy. Lois was always thrusting her hand up in the air during class to the point that even the teachers looked exasperated when they got to the latter months of the school year. Lois was very smart. And she didn’t let anyone forget it.
“If Mr. Sanders let me adjust the play the way I wanted to…Well, anyway, it’ll be me performing all of the parts if we can’t find people to fill the other roles,” she sighed, then perked up. “Though I can’t pretend I haven’t been training for this my whole life. Grease was the first musical I memorized all the parts to.”
Billie finally read the flier, immediately finding the small text at the bottom that stated: Must be prepared for long nights of rehearsals. Dress, lighting, collaborating with the AV Club, etc.
A bad idea lit in her mind. “You do rehearsals with the AV Club?”
Lois nodded. “I’m sorry to hear about you and June by the way,” she said softly. “I know you two have been together a long time—”
“We’re not broken up.”
Rex snorted. “They’re totally broken up.”
“We’re not,” Billie said and then added, “Not…for long anyway. I’ll be at your tryouts.”
Lois smiled a little shyly, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “Really? You’ll be at the auditions?”
“Yeah,” Billie said, smiling cockily. Just the simple smile from a girl and she didn’t even care that Lois corrected her about something so weird. She leaned forward on her elbows toward Lois. “What’s your favorite song?”
“That’s a loaded question,” she said, a faraway look in her eyes. “But if I absolutely had to pick… ‘Still Hurting’ from The Last Five Years.”
