The cafeteria buzzed with noise—metallic clinks, laughter, the occasional shriek from the table of freshman girls discovering who liked who this week. Nova Lane sat at her usual spot by the window with her three friends: Kiara, Jade, and Tessa.
Her tray sat untouched. A slice of pizza slowly went cold as Nova stabbed at it with her plastic fork like it had personally offended her.
"This is ridiculous," she muttered.
Jade looked up from her physics notes, stylish glasses perched perfectly on her nose. "What is?"
Nova gestured vaguely to the air. "All of it. Life. Algorithms. TikTok. My whole non-existent social career."
Kiara raised a brow, flipping her braids behind her shoulder. "You're still stuck on that?"
"I've been stuck for years," Nova groaned. "Do you know how many hours I've spent editing videos? How many trends I've jumped on? I did that sparkle-eyes transition three times before my nose stopped glitching. And what do I get? Eleven likes. One of them from my aunt."
"Nova—" Tessa started gently, her voice already cautious.
"No," Nova said, sitting up straighter, fired up. "It's not fair. These people blow up for doing absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, I'm out here bleeding creativity, and nobody notices."
Kiara smirked, sipping her juice. "Speaking of people blowing up… did you hear?"
Nova narrowed her eyes. "Hear what?"
Kiara leaned forward, like she was about to drop a state secret. "Jam Kitty is transferring to Eastbrooke next month."
Nova blinked. "What?"
"Dead serious," Kiara said. "I overheard the vice principal talking to the front office lady. Kalaya Summers. That's her real name, by the way."
Nova's heart did this weird twist. "You're joking."
"Nope," Kiara replied, popping her gum. "She's coming here."
Nova's jaw clenched. "Life is actually broken."
"Why?" Jade asked, already knowing the answer but letting Nova speak it out anyway.
"Because she got over three million followers in what — a week? I've been grinding since middle school and I haven't even cracked one thousand. TikTok is rigged. The world is rigged. This whole school is rigged."
Kiara snorted. "Calm down, chaos queen. She's not new-new. She's been famous for years."
"Years?" Nova frowned.
Jade finally chimed in, pushing her glasses up. "You know that song 'Love Me Never'? The one that was all over TikTok last year? That was hers. She went viral with that, then built her YouTube, merch line, the works. She only joined TikTok recently, and boom — instant fame again."
Nova scoffed. "Of course she has a cousin who's a music producer or something."
Tessa shrugged. "I think she's self-made."
Nova's eyes narrowed.
Self-made?
That was a lie. Nobody makes it alone.
But maybe…
Maybe nobody has to.
As her friends moved on to talking about classes and concerts, Nova leaned back in her seat, a slow grin forming.
Jam Kitty—Kalaya Summers—wasn't just an idol anymore.
She was a target.
And if Nova played her cards right, she could ride that fame straight to the top.
---
The next day, Nova skipped lunch. Her head was still spinning from the Jam Kitty news, and she didn't want to hear another word about it from Kiara.
Instead, she wandered out to the bleachers overlooking the empty football field. The sun was sharp, but the breeze was nice. Nova opened her notebook and started scribbling new content ideas, plans for how to introduce herself to Kalaya without looking desperate.
"Didn't peg you for the solitary type."
She looked up to see a boy with messy dark hair and headphones around his neck—Caleb Mendez. She vaguely recognized him from algebra, maybe one of the quiet ones who always turned in assignments early.
Nova didn't reply.
He flopped down beside her without asking. "Mind if I sit?"
She shrugged.
A few moments passed in silence before she heard a faint beat leaking from his headphones.
It was familiar.
She tilted her head. "Is that… Jam Kitty?"
Caleb grinned. "Yeah. I'm a fan. Or I was. Not as obsessed these days."
"Why not?"
He hesitated. "She's changed. Her newer stuff feels… polished. Marketed. I miss the raw vibe from her early YouTube days."
Nova leaned in a little. "You've been following her that long?"
"Since she was just some kid with a guitar and a dream. You could tell she was gonna be huge."
That made Nova sit straighter.
Caleb scrolled his phone. "She's got a pop-up concert this Saturday. Private event. Her label's doing it low-key. I won two tickets in a livestream giveaway."
Nova's heart jumped. "Seriously?"
He nodded. "Wanna come?"
"Yes." She answered too quickly, then tried to play it cool. "I mean, yeah. Sure. Why not?"
---
That evening, Kiara texted their group chat about a K-pop night concert they'd all been planning to go to.
Nova typed quickly:
hey guys, not feeling well. gonna skip tonight. sorry <3
Then she silenced her phone and threw on her best outfit — the one she'd imagined wearing if she ever met someone important.
Because she wasn't going to the Jam Kitty concert as a fan.
She didn't go to the concert to get noticed by Jam Kitty.
She went with a purpose.
Not as a fan.
Not even as a curious observer.
She was going as a future best friend doing a little research on friendship.
The kind of friendship that just might change her life.
---