TweetyGram

24 - #RetroMonday

"So, have you caught the Wolf?"

Ever since I'd told Nat that the Malibu Wolf had contacted me three days ago, she kept texting me the same thing every half hour or so. When I ignored her thousandth message, she decided to call me.

"No, I haven't." I wedged the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I poured myself a cup of coffee. "I'll tell you when I do, okay?"

"Oh. Okay." Her voice was soft, but there was no mistaking the disappointment in it. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just . . . keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"Got it."

I was about to hang up the phone when I remembered something important. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Is it true you were going to quit Malibu back in season four?"

"Yeah. It was a crazy year. The paparazzi were relentless, and in case you don't know—and I'm pretty sure you don't considering you seem to have been living under a rock these past few years—there were several . . . unflattering photos of me circulating the web." She let out a tiny sad laugh. "You won't believe how mean people can be online."

A wave of sympathy and guilt swept over me. "I'm so sorry, Nat. I wish I were there for you."

"It's okay." She injected a dose of cheerfulness into her voice when she continued, "Anyway, I was under too much pressure, so for a moment there, I thought of quitting the showbiz altogether. Why'd you ask?"

"I asked the Wolf about it a few days ago to see how much they know about you, but they gave me a vague answer."

"Oh." Her voice came out softer, and there was a touch of anxiety in it.

"Don't worry," I reassured her. "I'll find out who's behind this."

"Thanks, Linds."

We said goodbye to each other and hung up. I was about to shove my phone back into my pocket when it buzzed. There was a new notification from TweetyGram.

@goodgalriri and 20 others recently shared new photos

As an effort to combat my TweetyGram fever, I'd been staying away from my personal TweetyGram account over the past two days, choosing to use my free time to binge-watch the first two seasons of Malibu, 90265 for research instead. It worked. Medusa Lindsey hadn't come out of her cave ever since, and I hadn't felt this relaxed in weeks.

Nevertheless, the notifications TweetyGram had been sending me every few hours piqued my curiosity, especially when I saw Harriet's username. I couldn't shake the thought that Harriet and Charity were planning something wicked. Why else would they like my posts?

Hmm. Just a quick peek won't hurt, right?

I clicked the notification and checked out Harriet's newest post. A sigh of relief escaped me when I saw it was just a photo of her posing in a palm tree-lined street.

Look what I found in my mom's closet! My mom and I are the exact same size, so these fit me perfectly!

#RetroMonday #OOTD

Harriet was dressed in a floral, tie-front crop top, faded daisy dukes, and suede ankle boots. A pair of tinted aviator sunglasses completed the look. The retro outfit remained fashionable, but I doubted her claim that she'd gotten the clothes from her mom's closet, considering her mom—who was one of my mom's classmates—had always been an overweight woman five times Harriet's size.