Memes and Threats

The following chapter is written in 3rd person POV, following Cassie, Tanya, Viv, and Maddy.

“Is that weed!?”

Viv reacts upon seeing the three girls sharing a joint in Tanya’s living room. Tanya offers the joint to Viv who immediately takes it and takes a puff before giving it back to Tanya.

“I’m guessing ‘new girl’ is the Maddy you mentioned over the phone?” Viv asks Cassie and Tanya, pointing to Maddy.

“Viv, this is Maddy. She’s Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien’s granddaughter. Maddy, this is our neighbor Viv.” Tanya introduces them.

“Hi Ms. Viv! It’s nice to meet you.” Maddy stands up, offering a handshake to Viv. Viv raises an eyebrow and looks at Cassie and Tanya. The two respond to Viv’s curious look by putting on serious looks on their faces and then shaking each other’s hands. Viv just shrugs and shakes Maddy’s hand.

“You can just call me Viv, or V if you prefer. Although I get to call you M if that’s the case.” Viv introduces herself.

“And you can call these two Cheech and Chong!” Maddy jokes excitedly, but Viv is more confused than amused, and Cassie and Tanya are surprised at Maddy’s referential joke. “Did I not use it right?” Maddy asks, feeling awkward that no one laughed at her joke.

It takes a moment, but Cassie starts a slow clap that Tanya supports, before the two of them start laughing in earnest. Viv smirks, not really sure what’s so funny, but it seems to get a genuine excited smile out of Maddy.

“Great joke, Maddy! A perfect five out of seven!” Cassie shouts in encouragement while giggling.

“Wait, how is it perfect, if it’s a five out of seven? Maddy asks in confusion.

“Ask Brendan.” Cassie replies.

“Who’s Brendan?” Maddy asks, looking at Tanya and Viv who are just as equally confused as her.

“Oh, there’s so many old memes I need to share with you.” Cassie tells her.

Cassie explains the meme to Tanya, Maddy, and Viv who listen to her try her best to explain what the 5/7 rating scale was about. Since Cassie was high, she didn’t really do a good job of telling her story; going off into tangents that weren’t important. Since Tanya was high, she thought the story was still fascinating and hilarious; tangents and all. Since Maddy was only slightly high since she didn’t smoke as much as the other two, she listened intently and tried to figure out what Cassie was trying to say. Since Viv didn’t really care, she instead focused on smoking what was left of the joint.

“I don’t get it.” Maddy reacts, after Cassie finishes her telling of the meme’s history.

“Exactly!” Cassie reacts, as if she made her point perfectly.

“Anyway~, did Jay mention when he’ll be back?” Viv cuts off their discussion.

“I dunno. He didn’t mention what he’ll do on their date. I was actually wondering if they went to your place, and that’s why you want to **** him.” Tanya answers.

“Why do you want to **** Mr. Craig? Is that another joke? If so, it’s not funny.” Maddy reacts.

“Oh, I’m dead serious. I could strangle him.” Viv answers Maddy.

“What happened? So they did have a date at your restaurant? I wonder why they’re not back yet if that’s the case.” Cassie asks.

“Oh no~, they didn’t have their date at my place. He did, however, send the biggest fucking headache I’ve ever had to deal with in all my years in the restaurant industry.” Viv says agitated. The girls don’t talk, waiting for Viv to explain what she meant instead. Also, they were now preoccupied with munching on the potato chips that they prepared earlier.

“You guys know a meathead named Chad?” Viv asks them. Cassie and Tanya just nod as they both stuff their mouths with potato chips, while Maddy shakes her head to say no. “Well, Chad kept trying to order French shit at my Vietnamese restaurant, and wouldn’t listen to our wait staff that explained to him that we don’t have a fucking cheese omelette in our menu!” Viv rants.

“I had to leave the kitchen to address his order since my wait staff didn’t know how to handle him anymore. I tried to explain to him that we don’t serve that at my restaurant, and he said his good ‘bro’ Jay with the many girlfriends suggested my restaurant because it was a good place to ‘discuss his French’ with his date. Like… WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?” Viv continues.

“Since he mentioned ‘Jay with the many girlfriends’, that narrowed down the list of people I had to **** for making me have to handle that meathead.” Viv finished her thought, before going in for the chips and munching angrily. Cassie and Tanya didn’t seem to understand what Viv’s irritation was about, and Maddy didn’t want to cut off Viv’s rant so she stayed quiet.

“Here’s the plot twist, the girl he was dating knew Jay too.” Viv added, getting Cassie and Tanya’s full attention now.

“Oh! Was she a fan of his writing too?” Maddy asks, unable to hide her excitement at finding another fan.

“No. He knew of him by his reputation… Well, not his writing reputation. Apparently, this meathead’s date has been hearing of a certain Jay that has three girlfriends going to her roommates’ gym too. Guess who the date’s roommate is.” Viv tells them.

“Cheech!”, “Chong!”, “Hunter S. Thompson!” Cassie and Tanya alternatingly shout out obviously wrong guesses to Viv as jokes, before laughing in amusement.

“Jesus Christ, you guys are baked.” Viv observes. “And you still make more sense than Chad.” Viv adds.

“Who was the roommate?” Maddy asks, the only one who seems to be interested in Viv’s rant.

“Oh, a friend of ours, Brooke. Apparently, she’s been talking about Jay to her roommate, who was Meathead's date. Have they introduced you to Brooke yet?” Viv asks her.

“No, not yet. Although they do want to introduce me to her on Wednesday when they go to the gym.” Maddy tells her.

“Oh, I workout after work. Maybe you guys could drop by at night instead? So we can all workout together.” Tanya suggests.

“I think Brooke mentioned that earlier too. We’d love to workout with you!” Cassie says excitedly.

“Guess I’ll have to take Brooke on that offer to train me to get a better ass.” Viv mentions. “By the way, they mentioned you’re the O’Briens’ granddaughter? How long are you visiting?” Viv asks Maddy.

“Oh, I’m staying for the entire summer before going to college. I’m actually going to the same college Cassie and Stella are going to. I’ll just be a freshman this coming semester though.” Maddy tells Viv.

“Oh~ Nice. Another hot girl for Jay to start dating.” Viv teasingly comments.

“What?” Maddy asks, blushing from Viv’s comment.

“Oh ho~, I struck a nerve there, didn’t I? Someone has a crush on your boyfriend, girls!” Viv continues to tease Maddy. Tanya notices how uncomfortable Maddy looks with Viv’s teasing, making it even more obvious that she does have a crush on their boyfriend.

“You’re not one to talk, V. You were speechless this morning when he called you his future girlfriend.” Tanya teases.

“Is that right!?” Cassie piles on the teasing. “I missed that part. I was only able to see how excited she was to finally go on a date with our boyfriend, and how she wanted to impress all of us over dinner.” Cassie adds, making her and Tanya laugh at Viv who was blushing again.

“You like Mr. Craig too, Ms. Viv?” Maddy asks shyly.

“Hey, I said Viv or V was fine, remember?” Viv reminds her with a reassuring smile, but also not answering her question.

“Answer her question Viv. Do you like our boyfriend? Do you want to be his girlfriend too? Would you like to make ‘smoochy-smoochy’ in the bedroom with him?” Tanya teases Viv further.

“Oh, shut up!” Viv reacts in embarrassment, but with an amused smile on her face. “Yeah, I do like Jay, and yes I want to make ‘smoochy-smoochy’ with him in the bedroom! Happy?” Viv finally gives an honest answer to their question.

“Oh, Mr. Craig is still adding girlfriends?” Maddy asks, unable to hide her excitement at the possibility in her curiosity.

“Yeah. So if you like him, don’t be shy. Don’t hide it either. Be honest with your emotions with the people you like. Take it from me. I would know.” Viv tells Maddy, clicking her tongue at the end for emphasis. Maddy doesn’t react initially, but has a determined look on her face, before nodding at Viv. Viv just smirks, knowing that Maddy listened to her advice.

~ DING DONG ~

“Oh, I guess that’s Grandpa Rick. I guess they want me back earlier.” Maddy says upon hearing the doorbell. She gets up and walks towards the door. Since Cassie and Tanya are lethargic and don’t want to move from the couch, Viv’s the one who walks Maddy to the door; just in case they’re saying their goodbyes.

Maddy opens the door and sees that it’s not her grandpa at all.

“You! I could fucking kill you!”