YOUTUBE'S SENSATIONS

Apart from the celebrities we all know, have we ever thought about those sensations we seem to always see on the Internet? No matter where we are, they just pop up. For my first post, I'll be going into the details of two YouTube channels that are blowing our minds.

1. Fashionella: 1M subscribers and over a million combined followers (gained in 2 years).

2. PietraTOfficial: 700K subscribers and almost a million combined followers (gained in 2 weeks).

As far as the relationship talk went, Beau and Bella had never had one. But due to recent... incidents, it was clear they had something.

This was one of the reasons Bella was frozen to the spot when she saw Beau standing behind her and Travon, close enough to have heard him innocently flirt with her if he had arrived earlier than she wanted to believe.

"Beau," she finally breathed.

Thankfully, he looked normal, and she had to internally scold herself for feeling the bad kind of nervous. This was the first time she was seeing him after their little moment in his car the previous day, and, under normal circumstances, she should've been red in the cheeks, threatening to blow up as she recalled every detail.

"Hey," Beau said. "Cody was looking for you, and I thought I'd look, too."

"Oh, right. I was supposed to meet him minutes ago." She stood, then looked at Travon. "I have to go, Trav. Thanks for trusting me enough to share it. And I hope I was of little help."

Travon grinned, then stood, too. "You call that help little? C'mon, that's, like, the advice of the decade."

"Oh, don't flatter me. Even I know it wasn't that great."

"But it's helpful. Seriously." He stepped closer to her, catching her off guard, then lowered his voice so she alone would hear his next sentence. "And I haven't smiled in days, so bonus points to you, Quincy."

Bella was sure Beau was still behind them, but Travon's confidence made her consider looking over her shoulder. However, she stopped herself from doing so, focusing on Travon Justice's playful smirk, instead. "Oh... um, that's great." She nodded, wrestling a smile.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"See you around."

"Yeah." She lifted her right thumb in a thumbs up.

He gave a lopsided grin, then patted the side of her face, before walking past her.

Okay, what was that?

She turned in the direction he left, and, sure enough, Beau was standing there, watching her. "Let's go." It came out as a question, and she nodded in response.

They made their way to the parking lot, and Bella tried not to think about Travon's behavior. He was being so forward and flirty, it was bound to give her whiplash; it was almost unreal. But who was she kidding? Travon was there, body and soul.

"I didn't see you at all today," Beau finally said, breaking into her thoughts.

"I don't think that's strange."

He gave the faintest of smiles, but didn't say anything. Even she realized that wasn't how she would've replied him when she wasn't half-thinking, and she wanted to say something—to correct her little tongue slip—but that was when Cody came into view.

"Found her!" Beau announced, and Bella noticed someone else standing by Cody's car.

Was that... Ashton Milworth? Oh, happy day—sarcasm intended.

She frowned when they looked over and she saw a smile naturally go onto Ashton's face.

"Hmm. I'm jealous," Cody said, his eyes fixed on Beau. "You know her hiding spot." Then he looked at his sister. "And I thought you were supposed to be out ten minutes ago."

Ashton playfully smacked his chest with the back of his hand, an almost idiotic grin on his face. "Did you forget? She was talking to Justice, I told you."

Cody lifted his eyebrows as if asking, What the heck, dude? and Bella shook her head.

"You didn't tell me Ashton was uncool enough to beg you for a ride today. Isn't he supposed to not, like, be here right now?" she said, folding her arms, and Ashton playfully rolled his eyes.

"I had basketball practice after school, and, for your information, Cody begged me to ride with you guys. The dude can't stand the thought of not seeing me after July."

Such a talkative! "Whatever."

"Anyway, thanks, man," Cody said to Beau.

"No problem. I should get going. Bella?"

Bella looked at him, and he lifted his hand in a wave. She did the same and he took it as his cue to leave.

Ashton's eyes followed him for a few seconds, then he started humming the tune of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" from The Lion King.

Bella slapped the back of his head as they got in the car, thankful she got the backseat.

"Hey, you take things too personal. I was just humming—it's a nice song," he said.

"Shut up."

Cody pulled out of the school's parking lot, driving quietly for a while. Ashton continued his humming—this time, humming a song she wasn't sure existed—and it was clear he was goading her. Annoying her defined his existence.

Finally Cody said, "You know, that guy does drugs, and I don't want you hanging out with him."

"Beau?" she asked a little too quickly, her heart doing a bad somersault.

"I'm cool with Beau. I meant Travon."

She suddenly felt a surge of anger at her brother's accusation. "You don't know half the stuff he's going through, so stop judging."

"I'm not judging him. I know the guy has his issues, but that doesn't change the fact that he's bad company."

Bella made a pfft sound and looked out the window.

"Defending him," Ashton said, glancing back at her. "That's serious."

"No one asked for your useless contribution, Ashton, so keep your opinion to yourself. Jeez!" She unzipped her backpack to search for her phone. A little Instagram would drown that talkative out.

"PMS much?"

She gasped, her eyes widening at him. "I will so strangle you, Ashton!"

She made to lunge at him and do as she said she would, her phone momentarily forgotten, but Cody's laugh stopped her.

"Honestly I'm trying to imagine locking you two in a room for five minutes. You always find something to fight about," he said.

"Don't even try it. I'll impale him," Bella warned.

He laughed even more, then said, "I'm serious, though. Travon's okay, but he has a lot to clean up."

"And you say you're not judging," she mumbled, gaining what was supposed to be an eye roll from her brother. "Worst eye roll of the century."

Cody stuck his tongue out at her, embarrassed at his little deficiency.

Bella smiled, despite herself, then finally found her phone, pausing when she put it on. She stared into it, not believing her eyes. The text was from an unknown number, but she knew who it was from—not quite strangely.

Hey. I didn't want to say this when we had company, so I thought I'd text you instead. I've not felt this good in a while and as a thank you gift, why don't I take you out for ice cream this weekend? Heard you like vanilla.

Spongecake!

Not only did Travon Justice magically have her number, but he wanted to take her out for ice cream—like a date.

Bella smiled, cautious of the boys in front of her; stealing her phone was something they would definitely do if they suspected something was up. But she still had to wonder: how did Travon exactly hear about her favorite ice cream flavor?

* * *

A dog-eared copy of Burn for Burn covered half of Viola's face as she sat, slouched, in the sofa.

Life had been so boring lately. After school, everything got so lame. At least one section of her life was beginning to look up.

She took the novel off her face, then looked towards the kitchen. Her mom had been in there for about an hour. Even though she didn't want to know what she was doing—already guessing she wouldn't like it—she was still worried.

Her mom had improved; she ordered pizza the previous night, like she used to every Monday night, and now cooked less horrible food. She owed her for the progress, she knew, but the thought of going to check on her was repelling at the moment.

"Mom," she called instead, but no answer came. "Mom, are you okay in there?" she tried again, getting the same result.

Viola sighed heavily, then put her overread book aside as she stood. Her steps were slow and a thousand different scenarios played in her head on her way to the kitchen. Her mom could've passed out, or could've finally made it to her appointment with a coma, or even possibly—

Morbid, she told herself and blamed it on Halloween's closeness.

When she walked into the kitchen, she saw her mom in one of the chairs, her head placed on the kitchen table. She looked around—no bottles. Her mom was just sleeping.

She watched the slow rise and fall of her body for a while, then gave a small smile. Her mom was really trying her best, and it hurt to see her so weak all the time.

The doorbell ringing caused her to look away, and she immediately wondered if it was Jake. At the thought of him, heat crept up her toes, all the way to her cheeks, and she almost tripped on her own feet even though no one was watching her.

She awkwardly cleared her throat, embarrassed for some reason, then reached for the doorknob. When she pulled the door open, a wave of disappointment hit her, but, at the same time, she felt relieved.

A rectangular box sat in front of the door with a note taped to the top.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion before she looked around to see if she would see anyone, then picked the box up and shut the door.

She took some magazines off the coffee table, keeping them beside her on the sofa, then placed the box on it. Who was it from?

She gently peeled the note off the box, then read:

This is actually a 'thank you for being my friend' present. I know it's hard finding a true friend online in this generation, but, luckily, you're here. My family doesn't celebrate Halloween, but happy almost Halloween!

Love, Marigold.

A smile went up her face, and her eyes lit up. This was just perfect. She had never received a package before, and it excited her when she thought about what could be inside. The box wasn't too big, or heavy, and Viola loved small gifts.

She had to restrain herself from ripping the package apart like a crazed animal.

The box was sealed with duct tape, and she had to work through that before getting access to what was inside. There was a smaller box inside, this one white, and she took it out, noticing the fancy purple lettering on the lid.

Eva's.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed silently, her hand instinctively going to her chest, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh, or cry. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed again.

Eva's was her favorite growing fashion line. It wasn't as popular as brands like Chanel, having it's roots right there in Los Angeles, but it was like the best to her. The designer started just like her—penciling designs in sketchbooks.

She had been wanting to own something designed by Eva for so long, but her mom wasn't into purchasing designer products, so she kept the wish to herself.

Viola took the lid off and saw baby pink fabric underneath a beautiful red cowboy hat. She placed the hat beside her on the sofa, on the magazines, then took out the pink fabric.

It wasn't just pink fabric, however—it was a sleeveless blouse that completely said 'cowgirl'—and she wanted to cry this time. The designs on it were almost as delicate-looking as she was, and she couldn't hold it in anymore.

Viola took her phone, then texted Marigold after unlocking it, not able to contain her appreciation.

Oh my God! she texted. I can't believe my eyes. I mean EVA'S! Thank you so much for this! I honestly don't know what to say. What do I do for you? Tell me and I'll try my best. Thanks SO much! I love you for this!

She put her phone aside and admired the shirt again. It was gorgeous.

Her text alert went off within a minute, and she read the reply from Marigold.

You're welcome! And... actually you can do something for me

She grinned ear to ear as she typed back her reply.

Yeah? What is it?

Be my twin. At the festival, I mean. I'll get the same thing as you!

Viola froze, a weird sensation hitting her chest. That was what her and Bella were supposed to be the previous year—cowgirl twins—but someone's personal opinion got in the way, and she had to settle for an emergency swan costume that was both poorly made and super cheap—the bad, terrible kind of cheap that made it obvious it wasn't that great.

She could finally have a Halloween twin, and the offer was so tempting. She was about texting Marigold her agreement when something occurred to her: she had never told her where she lived, so how did she know?

Curious, she texted, Wait. This just occurred to me. How do you know where I live? I never told you, did I?

The reply came almost immediately.

Of course you didn't. But I'm not someone who's far away, Viola :)