( touch of saccharine on her lips )

Nova’s morning already felt like shit, she was tired and all her clothes were still packed away in her suitcases so she settled with a large hoodie. Pulling the hood over her head to hide her tired face from any paparazzi lurking around the hotel, but she managed to sneak by unseen. Nova headed straight for the coffee shop on the corner, needing the caffeine to calm her down and wake her up. After standing in line for much longer then she wanted to she finally got her coffee, but as soon as she turned from the counter to leave the cup spilled all over her and whoever she ran directly into. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Nova said to herself in frustration as the coffee started dripping off her sweater. 

Writing music for a new album was easier said than done, June thought, sitting at her favorite table in the city’s largest coffee shop. Their service was shit, but at least they made up for it with the best coffee Baltimore had to offer. She was tapping the top of her pen rhythmically on the table top, unconsciously drumming along to an invisible melody. Truthfully, there wasn't much more on the blank piece of paper in front of her than when she first sat down, and she had abandoned the hope of writing anything substantial long ago. As she was doodling on the paper, she could see someone entering the coffee shop out of the corner of her eye, head buried deep within their hoodie. June rolled her eyes a little at the behavior that screamed ‘celebrity’. What people didn’t realize, she thought, was the inescapable fact that the more you tried to hide, the more you stood out from the crowd. Smirking mischievously, she went after the person in the hoodie, not sure of what she planned on doing, but figuring anything was better than sitting here for another hour pretending to get writing done. Besides, another cup of coffee wouldn’t hurt. As she was standing in line, wondering what had made her follow the person in front of her in the first place, she heard the person speak up, and she smiled in surprise at the familiar voice. Nova Berk. Should’ve known Nova would be the worst ‘celebrity’ to have graced this fine earth. June made a mental note to tease her about that later, before she pulled a funny face, intended to scare Nova when she turned around. The moment she tried to tap her on the back, however, Nova turned around to leave, colliding quite violently with June and more importantly, spilling the coffee she was holding all over the both of them. June stumbled backward as the liquid spilled over her shirt and immediately started seeping through it, uncomfortably hot on her skin. For a split second her eyebrows shot up in pure horror, before she got over her initial shock and a soft giggle escaped her lips. It wasn't long before she was laughing loudly, clinging onto the other girl's shoulder to keep her balance. “Jesus fuck, Nova, way to greet an old friend. Is this like, your modernized version of pouring hot oil over attackers? You could've just told me my presence isn't appreciated, y'know?” As she looked Nova up and down, her face relaxed into a softer smile, the sharp edges she reserved for snarky comebacks disappearing. "I missed you, supernova."

“Sure, that’s why kids film themselves eating cinnamon and throwing up, because it tastes so good. I think you need to reevaluate your life choices, if we’re being honest here.” she replied, a crooked smile playing on her lips. Starting arguments over ridiculous topics had always been her forte. “You say that as if sucking off strangers is a bad thing. Might I remind you you were the lucky stranger being sucked off?”

“Fine, cats are fuckin’ magical aliens,” he snorted, holding his hands up innocently after she punched his arm. “Lyrics? I thought that was just selfies. But if they put ‘em on nudes…” he looked at her and quietly smiled, shaking his head. “Gotta write a song that would be appropriate, like: ‘I know you like it big, so come and get it’ or whatever. Not even subtle about the fact its a dick song.”

“See, this is why we make a great team. You understand that you can have a different opinion than me, but you also understand that opinion will always be wrong,” she grinned, throwing her hair back over her shoulder exaggeratedly to demonstrate her superiority. “Don't even joke about that shit, because that sounds a lot like our newest hit song. West Side Down: here for all your dick pic captioning needs.” She fell silent for a moment, lost in her own thoughts as she watched her band mate. She debated whether what she was about to say was going to sound extremely mushy, before deciding life was too short to not voice your thoughts. “Don't tell anyone I've told you this because I will literally murder you in your sleep, but I like it when you smile. You should do it more often.”

“Can you blame me? It’s been working out pretty well. To make a mistake, she’d have to had actually raised me. The person you’re looking for here is my grandma. It’s a bit rude attacking helpless old folks isn’t it? Damn. My face and my dick in one picture, that’d be something Michelangelo could only hope to sculpt. I just might start charging for dick pic advice. Once you start getting sent high quality pics, you’ll know I’m in business.” 

“If she’s the reason you turned out like trash, she’s fair game. I don’t discriminate based on age. I will say I’m surprised you know who Michelangelo is. I didn’t expect your knowledge to extend much further than your dick. Tell me, what seperates a good dick pic from a mediocre one? Is it the filter used?” 

“Like, dude, I just wanna chill in my pajamas and watch some shitty horror films, and although your unwarranted dick pic is equally as horrifying, I’m not exactly in the mood to have to boost up your ego by dignifying it with a reply. What monkey emoji was it, though? This is important, you know. The monkey emoji helps to define the dick.”

 “You're not boosting my ego, you’re answering a perfectly valid question! Although my ego has been feeling a little low lately, so if you wanna tell me how the way my eyes light up is the reason all the planets stay in their orbit—... I mean, I won't stop you. Now's your chance. Really, go for it. Besides, you gave me full rights to talk about random guys’ dicks or anything I want by letting me provide food, even though it was your turn. My menstrual cycle is up next, suck it. I think it was the one covering his eyes, by the way. Do you speak fluent emoji? I feel like you could psychoanalyze a person just by looking at their recently used emojis.”

“We laugh and fuck and play and write and plot and say goodbye and never worry.“

“It’s my parent’s house, but we could probably break in. Some of them are really friendly, they’re just lonely so they can come off as a little strange sometimes. One of them is often slightly less friendly but he’s never been violent or aggressive so I don’t see it as something to worry about, as it hasn’t shown the signs of being anything other than a simple spirit. We could certainly try contacting a few of them one day if you’re interested. We could even try doing it here one night, I bet that’d be pretty spooky.”

“I was... joking. For the most part. You’ve really talked to them? Damn, that’s kind of hardcore. I wonder what ghosts listen to in their spare time, when they’re not off haunting people. On a different note, can I sing the Ghostbusters theme while we contact them, or would that be considered disrespectful?” 

“Yes, actually. Carrying them on tour was a bit smelly so I’ve brought them all back home to properly dispose of them. Where do you keep yours? Maybe we could trade.”

“Oh no, I’m a full body kind of gal. I stuff 'em and keep them in my attic. I could give you tips, if you want.”

“Wait, so it wasn’t even for you? What a dick, how do you accidentally send the wrong person a dick pick? If I were you I would’ve sent him back like, a disappointed emoji. Let him know his junk isn’t all that. Who even sends emojis with dick pics too? This guys sounds like a loser.”

“Well, I mean, I assumed it was a wrong number, but maybe he just really digs our music and shows his appreciation through pictures of his genitals, who knows? He’s still better than that one guy in high school that tried to get me to date him by asking my mom if I wanted to go out with him— instead of asking me. I’d take a dick pic with an emoji over that guy any day.”

“Was it the see no evil monkey? Oh my god.”

“Is that the one covering his eyes? I don’t generally make a point of learning them by name, I just call them whatever they look like. Although I do name some of them after friends. When I name an emoji after you, Delilah, that’s when you know it’s real.”

“That’s almost as bad as those stupid cat emojis,” he nodded, giving a small snort as he looked over at his bandmate, probably one of the few people he didn’t mind trying at least a little to hold a decent conversation with. “What do you caption nudes?” he asked, “everything seems to awkward, but no caption is arrogant.”

“Hey, don’t hate on the cat emojis,” she teased, playfully punching the boy’s arm. “Cats are majestic creatures made of stardust and light and they’re worthy of our respect, and I won’t have you bashing them or their emojis.” She pondered over the dilemma he had presented her with, frowning like she was trying to solve a difficult math problem. “Don’t people caption them with lyrics, or is that just for selfies? I’m waiting for the day someone captions their dick pic with our lyrics. That’s when you know you’ve made it.”