Naughty Neighbor - Lauren Runow Page 0,30
picks her daughter up off the floor. “I guess I should have known that would be the deal.”
“It’s the least we can do since we set my best friend up with a douche in a suit.” Charisse gives me a sorrowful expression as she takes a sip.
“Tommy is a nice guy,” Melody explains for the thousandth time. “How he behaves in the office and on a date are two very different things. I’m sorry he hit on someone else.”
Waving my arm in the air to push away the negative energy of the conversation and work it into the past. “Okay, what’s on the agenda tonight?”
“Drunk social-media planning!” Charisse laughs as I slide in next to her at the kitchen table. She opens her tote, which is hanging from her chair, and removes her cell phone.
Charisse is my unofficial social-media guru. She keeps me up-to-date on new trends and tells me easy things I can do throughout the week to stay relevant. Between Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, I easily run out of reasons to stay in front of people. Posting about books can only take me so far. And since I don’t have kids or exciting hobbies to post about, I need all the recommendations I can get.
“I have an idea,” she says, holding her cell phone to her chest.
“And I told her it was a bad one and she should stay out of it,” Melody interjects as she sits on the other side of the table with Aubrey in her arms.
Charisse sits up taller. “It’s a great idea. And until you become the queen of attracting social-media followers, you have no say in my brilliance!”
“I’m insta-putty in your hands. Teach me, oh wise one.” I laugh as I mock bow at her greatness.
She holds up the phone and shows me TikTok, a platform I’m still trying to figure out how to make work for my career. The hard part is, it’s all videos, so I can’t just go in and post a photo in two seconds and move on. I have to plan and record things. It’s both fun and exhausting. Yet that’s the life of an author.
“Is this like the dance you made me do last week?” I ask, looking at the screen.
“It’s better. It’s called the Kissing Best Friend Challenge!” She is giddy with drunk excitement.
It sounds harmless enough, so I give it a watch. The first video is a girl walking up to a guy on the beach. His back is to her, and the caption reads, So, I wanted to try the Kissing Best Friend Challenge.
I look up at Charisse, wildly confused. “This is a make-out thing?”
“Just keep watching. Watch, like, ten,” she demands.
I look down at the screen just in time to see the girl tap the guy on the back. When he turns toward her, she stands on her toes and kisses him. She quickly backs away, laughing, but he’s not. He grabs her hand and pulls her back into a heated embrace. It’s so sweet.
I watch another. This one doesn’t go as well. The caption starts with the girl telling us that the guy next to her has been her best friend since she was nine. She leans over and kisses him, and then he palms her in the face, pushing her away with a laugh.
I scroll through more than ten, as these videos of friends crossing the line can be super addictive. Some of them totally get into it when the guy obviously feels the same way, yet a few of them aren’t into it. One says their friendship was ruined over it. That breaks my heart.
I’m a mix of emotions when the most recent video ends. The couple just laughs when it’s over, and then they go in for a hug. I like this one the best.
“I’m digging it, but how can I participate? I don’t have a best friend I’ve pined over for years.” I hand Charisse her phone back.
“No, you don’t, but …” Her lips grow into a shit-eating grin.
I turn to Melody, and she holds up a finger as she bounces Aubrey on her knee. “I told her it was a really bad idea.”
“How bad?”
Charisse bites her lower lip. “I was thinking you could film your version of the challenge with your naughty neighbor.”
A sharp laugh escapes my mouth. “Jake? Seriously?”
“See, I told you!” Melody yells out, and Aubrey hushes her mom. Melody kisses the little girl’s head.
“Oh, come on. It’s brilliant,” Charisse defends her suggestion. “Your