Normal Gossip - Who's Next in the Rolodex? with Zakiya Gibbons

Episode Date: August 19, 2026

We brought Zakiya Gibbons back for a summer of smooching and subterfuge with a lesbian group chat. We are now on YouTube. Be sure to follow us on there at @DefectorMedia where you can watch today’s episode.Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com.You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/Episode transcript here.Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [e-mail] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Our audio engineer is Samantha Gattsek. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby. Theme music composed by Hrishikesh Hirway.Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Hey there, it's Rachel Hampton from Normal Gossip. Do you have a persistent family mystery? Are you desperate to find the author of your favorite book from childhood? Do you want to know what happened to the ducks that used to call home the pond in your local park? If stories like that are your jam, you have to listen to Hyperfixed, our fellow Radiotopia show from Alex Goldman. On Hyperfixed, you, the listener, write in with your problems, and Alex not only solves them, He exposes the hidden systems that causes those problems in the first place. Also, Hyperfix is currently gearing up for its first live show in September in Brooklyn. You can get tickets at Tickets.com.

Check out Hyperfix, a show that will bring a little order to the chaos of our world each week at hyperfixpod.com. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. What? Oh, my God. Oh, wow. Oh, my God. Hello and welcome back to season 10 of normal gossip.

I'm your host, Rachel Hamden. And in each episode of this podcast, we are going to bring you an anonymous morsel of gossip from the real world. Today, I would love to welcome Zakiya Givens back to the show. Zakiya is a host, story editor, podcast producer, writer, and voice actor. You may remember her from our Weedsgiving episode all the way back in season five or from her commentary on Netflix's reality check inside America's next top model. Zika, thank you so much for joining me. Oh my God, thanks for having me.

I'm so happy to be here. I'm so happy that you're here. But before we get into today's gossip, I did want to tell our audience about a little bit of gossip that we share. Oh, my God. Which is that we live fairly close to each other. I'm not going to say where because we're not doxing ourselves. Exactly.

So we were getting coffee at some point. And I was seeing this reality television star in my coffee shop on a consistent basis. And I kept trying to tell my friends about this, but no one had watched the reality TV show because it was so small. Yeah. Which, it was a good show. It wasn't bad at all. Exactly. And so I remember we got coffee and we were sitting outside.

And I was just like, Zakiya, I'm going to tell you something. And like, it's probably not important, but like we're here. I want to tell you. And I'm like, have you ever seen this show? 20 something's Austin. And of course, as someone who's seen literally any and all, like, reality shows ever made, I was like, yes. I watched it in a day.

So this was a show on Netflix, and it followed six-ish, yeah. 20-somethings in Austin. Yeah, very to the point, very clear, great logline, yeah. Yeah, and it had the classic setup of just putting six people in a house together and being like, let's see what happens. It's very real-world vibes. Yes.

But Netflix-ified. And there was this one really hot guy on the show. Not be moaning in the mic. Yes, he was really hot. His name was Kamari. And he was regularly at my coffee shop two summers ago in a way where I would walk in and be like, that can't be him. And then I'd pull out my phone and Google Kamari, 20 something's Austin. And I'm like, that is him.

And he was there when we were there. And I was like, Zakiya, now that I know you've seen this show, can you walk in and tell me if I'm crazy? And I was like abs of fucking lootly. I remember I did this whole stupid thing. It was like a small coffee shop. So it was like very obvious that I was going in there to scope him out. So I was just like waltz in.

I'm like pretending like I'm looking at the menu even though I already ordered. And I grab a sack of napkins because why not? And I'm like, huh. And then I look at him. And not only is it him. I can't remember the book he was reading, but I was like, Oh, it was like some kind of like fucking quantum physics. Like da-da-da-da.

One, two, it was like some metaphysical blah, blah, blah, philosophy. It was giving like, it was giving like, wow, oh, he's beautiful and smart. And I almost collapsed. And I remember I came back to you shaking like, it's him. And he's smart and tall and powerful. And he was so chill. I mean, I didn't talk to him. But like his vibe was so chill.

Like he was really, like, it didn't, it wasn't giving performative male reading in a coffee shop. He was just like in the corner, head down, like, really just like doing his thing while I was just trying to like peer over his shoulder. I think maybe he was just in the area for the summer because I have not seen him since then. He does not frequent that coffee shop anymore. And I know because I've become even more of a regular at that coffee shop since then. Are you full of regret for not shooting your shot? Honestly, no. Because he's on reality TV.

I'm a little bit like, you have. so many beautiful women in your DMs and I you could be another one I RL you're right you're right I'm a little I'm not great at shooting my shot in person it's one of the things I'm working on more and the reason why I ask if you're full of regret because I'm projecting because a few weeks ago I you know summer New York I'm out dancing all the time and I'm at the knockdown center in Queens dancing outside and I'm saying all these details in case he is listening. And I was watching him all day.

It was a day party. And my friends were so nice. I was being so annoying. And I was like, please wing a woman in me. I ended up like kind of dancing near him. And I swear I'm not a picque me. This usually is not my behavior,

especially with men. But he just had such a good vibe. And he was like around all his like, you know, queer-coded friends. He probably was queer. Everyone there was queer. And at one point, his friends had left. And he was just vibing on his own in the corner,

which I like, you know, dancing on my own. own vibes, but not crying in the club vibes, you know, like Robin, but you know, it's like fun dancing on my own. And so I'm like dancing in front of him and I concocta plan. I'm like, I'm going to act like I can't find my lighter. So my friend hands me and Jay and I'm like patting my pockets like, and I turn around. I'm like, do you have a lighter? And he said, oh, I saw you looking for one. I was like, oh, you sense the desperation and panic. And then he hands in his light. And he's like laughing. I think I flustered him a little bit. He hands me his lighter,

you know, our fingers grays. I look him in the eyes. You know, I light the Jay. and then I offer him a hit. And he's like, no. And I was like, come on. And he takes a hit and we're dancing. But I'm so overwhelmed that I like literally had to step away so I didn't have a panic attack. Anyways, he ended up leaving. But my friend said that he saw him lingering behind me.

And I don't know. I didn't shoot my shot to the point where I went home and I even posted a misconnection. I've never done that before. But I was so distraught. So anyways, that's why I was like, are you full of regret as well? Because I am. Um, if you were at the knockdown center a couple of weeks ago. And you were wearing a blue hat and I think a blue shirt and you were talking to me.

I was wearing all white. And we're standing in the corner near the stairs. If that was you, please slide in my DMs. Wow. Um, normal gossip, misconnections. This is exactly what I want this show to be used for. So please, I'm crossing my finger so hard that someone who's listening to the show knows this person.

Oh my God. Please and thank you. We haven't heard of any couples happening because of this show so far, but I would love nothing more as a Pisces. Oh my God. Okay. Well, yeah, like I said, as a cancer and Venus in cancer, maybe it'll happen. Wow. Yeah.

I have a lot going on. I do have a lot going on. I do. Yeah, I'm very unwell all the time. But I shouldn't stop you from signing my DM. Well, you know, speaking of being unwell at any given moment, I've got some gossip for you. Oh, my God. That you're never going to forget.

Oh my god, I'm like sweating. I'm excited. Keep that energy. Ooh. Well, before we get into this story, I have a little present for you. This is a normal gossip first. What? Today's gossip is so chaotic that we think you're gonna need a whiteboard.

Oh my God. We have for you three different whiteboards. Okay. Just in case we have a marker and we also have an eraser. Okay. I'm excited. Do I take one of them now? Yes, feel free to hold it. Hold it in your hands now.

Okay. For those of y'all who are listening and not watching first, thank you. I love you. What you just missed is me handing Zakiya a whiteboard and a dry erase marker because understanding today's gossip is going to require taking some notes. Oh my God. I also love that your audio first. You're describing it to the listeners, only people listening. I appreciate that. I want to make sure that they are also having a good time. Yes. Okay.

And if you are also listening or if you're also watching, if you want to follow along and take your own notes and diagrams, please feel free and send them to us. We might do a little Instagram carousel. So get some pen and paper, babes. Oh my God, we're taking notes. Okay. Now, I'm excited. Are you scared? I'm a little nervous. I'm like, is this pop quiz? Is this a safe space? Like, always a safe space. Okay. Okay. But that is a spirit. Don't worry. Just like let the mess wash over you. You're not getting tested on this, though Zakiya might. Wait, so I'm taking notes as you're telling the story, like, things I think I should remember. Yeah, I would say mostly pay attention to the names and the connections between people.

Got you. So it's like words and I can draw diagrams. Exactly. So our friend of our friend today is named Rose. And the most important thing to know about Rose, for today's story at least, is that Rose is a lesbian in her early 20s. Love it. Rose equals lesbian. Rose is also a bit of a bookworm. She loves classic literature and living, vicariously through her favorite characters. Like, most of Rose's social life so far has consisted of her forcing herself to do it for the plot.

Ooh. Rose resonates with me. I like that. But in Rose's case, the stuff she does for the plot is, like, shop at a slightly fancier grocery store or get brunch on her birthday instead of just going to Barnes & Noble. Oh, my God. Oh, Rose. I'll show you a good time, Rose.

Not in that way, but, like, if you want some chaos in your life, come to Brooklyn. Rose wants to make a change. Yes. Okay. Which is how she finds herself moving to Richmond, Virginia, with her best friend, Charlie. Charlie is also a lesbian of the non-binary variety, to be specific. Rose and Charlie met in college. And they had actually met on Tinder.

They'd matched, but they quickly figured out that they had like zero sexual chemistry. Yes, this is so real. We've all been there. We try to date and we're like, we're like, we're put it off his friends. Like, I feel like a quarter of my friend group is that. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah.

But they also figured out they made great roommates. Oh, wow. Okay. Roommates. Charlie is a super chill stoner with an incredible smile. Like, Charlie's got the kind of smile where people just tell them things. They love to arm wrestle girls at bars. Okay.

Charlie's one of those. I know this type. I know this type. When Rose floated moving to Richmond to Charlie, they were just like, sure. Why not? Okay. Okay. Can you give me a rundown on?

our characters so far. Oh my god, the pop quiz section. Okay, Rose, lesbian, early 20s. Very sweet, bookworm, a little nerdy, but like wanting to have a spicier life. So it was like, hey, bestie Charlie, also, you know, non-binary lesbian. What if we moved to Richmond, Virginia? Charlie's like, hell yeah, let's go. Perfect. A plus so far. So Rose and Charlie had actually spent a week in Richmond the summer before they moved down, which is when they met Marissa. That's right. A new bombshell has entered the villa. Hey, Marissa. And Marissa is a bombshell.

Like when Rose and Charlie met Marissa, Marissa was hosting trivia night at a bar in a rainbow bell bottom suit. Wow. Okay. Okay. Rainbow Marissa. Okay. And she immediately asked Rose and Charlie if they were gay.

When they confirmed that they were indeed gay, Marissa got them free drinks for the night. Marissa is a little older than our girl. She is 30 and she's a party promoter. Okay. you got to be where party promoters. Like, they are never, like, they are always duplicitous. I'm sorry to the party promoters out there. It's always some shenanigans.

It's always like, where the fuck am I? Like, where did I end up? This is not what I signed up for. It's always mess. Always. Right. It does not take long for Rose and Charlie to figure out that everyone loves Marissa, but also it seems like everyone's a little scared of Marissa.

Marissa has been inviting Rose and Charlie to parties in Richmond since their vacation last summer, even though they could never go. But now that they moved, they can go. So a few weeks after Rose and Charlie make their move to Richmond, Marissa invites them to a Jennifer's Body watch party. Oh, my God! Obviously, of course. Yes, we love that movie.

Rose and Charlie throw on some vintage 2009 clothing, and it is painful for me to say that. I was just hurting my feelings. Not vintage 2009 clothing. Unfortunately, 2009 clothing qualifies as vintage now. Oh, my God. I'm trying to stop my spiral. I literally started to dissociate.

I literally was, I'm like, okay. Well, Rose and Charlie get dressed in their 2009 finest, some wet seals, some wedges. Okay, yes, wet seal and wedges. And Rose was honestly a little bit worried that Marissa maybe wouldn't remember them. Like, yeah, Marissa's been inviting them to parties, but that's kind of her whole job. Right. And it's been over eight months since Marissa had last seen them. But not only does Marissa immediately recognize.

Rose and Charlie. She makes room for them at her table, introduces them to Paige. Paige is one of those girls who grew up crushing on the pink Power Ranger. Okay. Okay. And that is her whole aesthetic. She's got long, glossy hair that she always wears in a high ponytail with a pink scrunchy. And she can hip thrust 185 pounds. I like Paige. I like this. Well, Paige welcomes Rose and Charlie to the tables if they're already best friends. And by the end of the night, Rose and Charlie feel like maybe they are all best friends. Like, Marissa and Paige invite Rose and Charlie to go dancing at a second location. And before they split up to go to their different cars, Marissa's like, let's share our locations

just in case we get separated. I don't know. For me, I only share locations with like my inner circle. So I understand like a temporary like, share till the end of the day. We can do that. Yes. But if you're already like sharing indefinitely and we just met. Yeah.

I don't know. I don't like that. Yeah. That's just me though. I only let maybe five people see my location. My mom doesn't even have my location. My older brother does so someone in my family knows if I get taken, but my mom doesn't have my location. Yes.

Yeah. So they share the locations indefinitely on Find My Friends Together. A couple days after this, Marissa, the party promoter, makes a post on her close friend's story. And Rose, our friend or friend, is like, oh my God, close friends already. Yeah. We just met for real. Yeah. On her story, Marissa says she wants to start a lesbian group chat to share upcoming

queer events in Richmond. Oh, this is about to get really messy. Marissa's like, DM me if you want to be added. And Rose, who wants to do it for the plot, very much wants in. Bless her heart. You know, she's just trying to be yes and. She's trying to be open, meet the moment. Exactly.

I love that for her. Exactly. But I'm also nervous for her. Well, Rose tells Charlie to join too. So both Rose and Charlie are added to a chat. The Marissa has named Party for You, parentheses, lesbians. Now I'm just singing the Charlie X, CX song. Party for you.

I'll do this party for you, for you. I'm so sorry to everyone listening to that. I feel like Charlie was in the room just now. Oh, my God. And I can see this for Rose. Like, she just went to this new city and she's making all these trends. Like, I bet this was so, like, intoxicating for her. Like, oh, my God, this was so easy.

Exactly. This is so fun. I'm with the cool kids, like, going to parties. I'm not at Barnes & Noble. Like, I could see her being like, yes, I made the right choice. Yeah. And this group chat quickly becomes enormous. Within 36 hours, there are more than 60 people in there.

Like 60 as in 60. Oh, my God. Initially, party for you, parentheses, lesbians, was literally just that. It was a place for Marissa to promote parties, but the group quickly takes on a life of its own. As group chats do. The conversation moves so fast that like if you want to get a joke in, you have to speed type or else the subject will have already changed, which leads to a lot of typos, which leads to inside jokes forming almost immediately. Well, every day there are memes, stickers, updates on how everyone is doing, and every day there is seemingly a new name for the chat. Now I'm getting exhausted.

I've heard through his cute and in a literally 10 seconds later, I'm like, wait, y'all are doing too much. Well, to give you a sense of the vibe, here are the group chats names over the course of just a few weeks. You don't need to write these down. So first, it's party for you, parentheses, lesbians. Then it's Brat Summer. Then it's Brats. Then it's Brats. Then it's Charlize Angels. Then it's Angels in America.

A theater girl that was responsible for that. It was July 4th. Which then changes to fuck America, which then changes to Charlie's Angels again. Which then changes to Lucy Lou's Saffic paintings, which then changes to losers, spelled L-I-U-Z-E-R-S. Oh, okay. That's a good hive my name, kind of. Kind of, okay, I like that. Okay.

Followed by Island of Lesbos. Wow. Oh, okay. Okay. Wow. Wow. I feel like changing a group chat name is, depends on the intention. A lot of times it's like fun, he he, ha, ha.

But when it keeps changing, it's power grabs. It's trying to assert dominance. Yeah. Lines in the sand, taking the rains. You know what I mean? Yeah. Well, every time our friend of a friend, Rose has to step away from her phone for a few hours to like work or sleep.

Yeah. Be a person. She'd come back to 200 plus messages and two. missed FaceTime calls and... FaceTime. Good luck getting anyone to explain what happened on the call if you missed them. No, at that point, I am exiting the chat. At that point, I am exiting the chat.

That summer, the group goes out twice every weekend. What? How? They're 20. They're 21. You know what? That part. Yeah.

Yeah. And like, obviously not all 60 of them show up every night, but it is not uncommon for Rose to pull up with 10 other lesbians to a drag show or something. And this group quickly develops a culture. of smooching for fun. Oh, of course. That been happening, I'm sure. Yes.

Like, it becomes so normal that making out is not considered a sign that you're romantically interested in someone. Things do, however, start to get messy when people in the chat start ranking the best kissers. Messy, messy, messy. Also, stressful as hell. We're not going to get into the details of the rankings today because we have a lot to get into.

Okay. But I do want to ask. how do you think ranking the best kissers would change the dynamic of this group? So I studied anthropology. Ooh! And gender and sexuality. And psychology. An expert.

So, and also I'm a messy queer myself. I feel it's going to create, which I'm sure they're already, schisms, hierarchies, no matter how, like, relationship anarchist, non-hierarchal, you know, these queer people, like, especially in like, like, especially in, like, like, in this kind of scene and just how these people are moving, I'm sure there's an in-group and out-group and subgroups. I am sure that it created like a sect of cool girls, whoever is like the hottest, best kisser,

and whoever's like not a great kisser, you know, it might be more on the outskirts, and then they feel like they might have more to prove, or there's resentments. And, you know, all of like these things, like, broiling under the surface. And then I'm sure, like, people are catching feelings, and then there's jealousies. They made out with me last week and now you're making it over there.

I'm sure there's like one head lesbian that's like the hottest best kisser that has a little harem. You know what I mean? And then now and then polycules are forming. Like I'm sure all of this is happening. You could write a dissertation. Oh, yes. In this essay, I will.

Well, as time passes, Rose starts to notice that Marissa, the party promoter and Paige, our pink power ranger, are getting together. little more often the rest of the group. They're seeing the shared locations. They're seeing the two dots always together. Like they'll show up in each other's stories every day for weeks at a time. I'm writing this down. But then, suddenly, in the middle of the summer, Paige and Marissa stopped posting with each other. Uh-oh. There's going to be some kind of fucking breakup post or like sub-tweets, like, passive

aggressive. Oh, my God. Okay. Like, even in group situations, they'll be on like, opposite sides of the photo. Our girl, Rose, does not figure out the story behind this until someone we will be calling pages, pottery, situation ship, or PPS for short. Oh, my God. Becomes the main character for a minute. Have you written that down? Yeah, P.P.

Pages, Pottery situation ship. Now I see why you gave me three whiteboards. Okay. That whole lot took up like a quarter of this. PPS is another lesbian in the group chat. She is, as you may have guessed, into pottery. Yes. Okay.

Page and PPS makeout at a party. Okay. As one does. Of course. But this makeout turns out to some increasingly heavily flirting. Like, they rank each other as the best kissers in the chat. And they send the messages literally in the same minute. And they're doing that whole like jinks you owe me a soda thing in front of everybody in the chat.

Okay. Yeah, I would have been exigant. I would have been like, y'all are annoying as hell. I'm, oh my God. Well, everyone's teasing them. it's all like cute and in good fun until two other girls from the chat take it upon themselves

to take PPS aside and tell her that crushing on page is actually like a really bad idea because the one person who brought them all together Marissa, our 30 year old party promoter, apparently has feelings for Paige. It's just like a mean girl's when they took Katie's side

and they're like, hey, you shouldn't be flirting with Aaron Samuels. That's Regina's guy. Have you ever given or received this kind advice. No. I don't know. I believe in autonomy. Like, I believe people should do whatever the fuck they want to do and everyone's an adult and can make their own choices. And so I try to not waste my, especially unsolicited advice on other people, especially what is something as personal as one's love life? I'm like, I trust you to know what's best for you. That's how I am usually. But also, I don't like to be involved in mess like directly. I like indirect mess. So I would be like,

you know what you do you? And I'm going to watch from the sidelines. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I don't think I would have done that, but I appreciate their intentions. Same, I think. Well, Paige's Pottery Situationhip, aka PPS, immediately confronts Marissa. And Marissa explains that it's true. She and Paige did spend a lot of time together at the beginning of the summer, but nothing really came out of it. They actually decided they were better as friends.

And actually, Marissa has totally moved on. Okay. Marissa informs PPS that she's actually recently started hooking up again with her ex. Okay. That happens all the time. Yep. Who will henceforth be referred to as Marissa's Poetry X? Oh, God, not a poet.

I'm so sorry to the poets out there. I love poetry. But dating a poet is a lot. Marissa's like, it's all good in the hood PPS. You've got absolutely nothing to worry about. I have zero feelings for Paige. There will be no drama from my side. Oh, cut to drama, but okay.

Yes. Well, do you believe Marissa, who I must remind you is a 30-year-old party promoter? I do not believe Marissa. Who is a 30-year-old party promoter who's choosing to spend time with these chaotic 20-somethings? Well, our friend of my friend Rose finds all of this out from none other than Paige herself, she of the pottery situation ship. Paige is venting to Rose at a party. She's like, it is so irritating that everyone in the group chat is acting like Marissa has some claim on me.

Paige is like, it's just because everyone is scared of her. But actually, Paige says, I got the ick from Marissa a long time ago. I'm so over her. Ooh, the ick. Oh my god, why? And the thing is, it does seem like Paige is entirely over Marissa. She and her Potter situation ship date for three whole weeks. They recreate that scene from Ghost for an IG reel.

Oh, my God. Y'all are annoying. I'm sorry, y'all are annoying. That's a lot, but okay. Everything's going great until one night at a party when Paige is making out with one of the girls from the group chat in a club bathroom. and PPS starts banging on the door, telling them to get out. Ooh, Pee, I'm right, it bangs on door. And this is not how things are done in the group chat.

Kissing is famously entirely platonic. Yeah. And Paige cannot date someone who doesn't understand the rules. Yeah, no. So she dumps PPS, who is not thrilled about any part of the situation. So PPS has that little AOL chat sound and leaves the group chat. Wow, okay. Well, in the aftermath,

mouth of all this, Paige starts texting our girl Rose a whole bunch to like vent and process. Okay. But then Paige's text start getting more playful. And then they get explicitly... I'm grabbing another paddle. Undeniably flirty.

Okay. So you're Rose. What do you do? I'm taking the beat. I'm flirting back. Ooh. Yeah. That's what I'm doing. Well, Rose runs down the hallway to bang on her roommate Charlie's door. And Sweet Stoner Charlie is like, I don't know, dude. Seems like you should give it

shot. Yeah. Charlie's like, you wouldn't do it for the plot, right? Exactly. And Charlie's like, it seems like y'all have developed a great bond. And then they're like, just, you know, be careful because Paige might be homie hopping. Oh, she loving the crew. She loving the crew.

Okay. But also, isn't everyone homey hopping? Like, that's just like kind of the loki, the premise of this group chat. So I'm not judging Paige for that because everyone is doing that. How can you not homie hop? Especially in a small town. Like, rich one is like kind of loki hop. small.

Yeah. Especially a queer scene in a smaller town. Like, it's inevitable. So our girl Rose text page back. Okay. She's like, I would love to explore this. Oh, that's such a cute. I would love to explore this.

Oh, she's so cute. I love that. But Rose is also like, since everyone freaked out when you started dating PPS, let's just keep us dating secret for a little while and see how it goes. Okay. Paige is like, you know what? I think that's a great idea. Again, I'm thinking of Kenzie on Love Island.

And once she was making out with Corby, she's like, let's not tell anybody. Let's keep it a secret. We don't need anyone in our business. Secrets in a space where everyone has their shared location, everyone's in a group chat. That is not going to be a secret for long. And then people are going to take it personally. And then it's going to become public fodder. Yeah.

But she's in her already 20. She doesn't know this. But also, this is summertime. So like immediately after this conversation, like literally the next day, Paige has to go on vacation with her family. They're going camping for a week. So Rosenpage don't even get a chance to smooge before Paige is whisked away. Oh, my God. But that's okay because it's summertime.

So that weekend, everyone in the chat decides to have a river day. There's like 30 to 40 lesbians just hanging out in the St. James River. Okay, I would love to go there. That sounds fun. There are shots. Yeah. People are skinny dipping. Hell yeah.

Other people are doing body shots of tequila. Ooh. Every other song on the playlist is Kesha. Of course. Yes. This party is definitely the high point of the summer. so far until our girl Rose notices that Marissa, who is normally like smack dab in the center of attention.

Yeah. It's just standing way out in the water by herself, a white claw in hand, and tears running down her cheek. Like she keeps wiping her cheeks under her sunglasses. Oh my God. The drama. I kind of live for her. I love it.

Well, yeah, you're cancer. Yes. I love it. I don't like those kind of vibes in my immediate role. I'm like, okay, this is too much for me. but I love it, like as the love of reality TV. I love a dramatic person. So you're Rose.

What do you do? You know what? Okay, if I were me, I'd be like, damn, hope she's okay. And I wouldn't, if it was one of my best friends or good friends, I would go and check on her. But Marissa, I'm like, I feel like I would turn into one of those things where I was like, hey, girl, are you okay?

And it would turn into like a four hour long saga. And I'm like, damn, I'm trying to get back to the body shots. I'm trying to get back in the water. I'm not trying to get back to Kesha. You know what I mean? So I wouldn't, but if I'm Rose, Rose seems like a sweetie. Rose seems very like community.

Marissa brought me in. Let me go check on her. I feel like Rosa go check on her. And you're right. Yeah. Rose does go out to check on her. Marissa has her own little like waterproof speaker out there with her and she's playing Dydo's white flag on repeat. Oh my God.

I know what kind of lesbian she is. Rose is like, hey buddy. You okay? Aw. And Marissa is quiet for a long time. And then she says, Paige told me you two are secretly dating. Apparently, Marissa was hanging out with Charlie a few days ago when Paige called. Charlie put Paige on speakerphone, but they did not tell Paige that Marissa was in the room.

This is, again, straight up mean girls. So Paige is entirely unaware that Marissa is in the room when she confesses to Charlie that she has feelings for both Rose and Marissa. Oh my God. Why was Charlie being so messy? I thought Charlie was a children. donor. That's like, hey, let's all get along. Let's just bye. Do to do. Charlie, why? Well, Paige then starts going through the pros and cons of each option right there on the phone. Like, Paige is like, Rose is more responsible. She has a job. She's on Lexa Pro. I feel like she's the safe option, you know? But then Paige is like, I just feel like I knew Marissa in another life. Wow. Okay. We have an insane connection.

Oh, God. But she's 30, and she has a DUI. And she's living in her parents' basement. Damn, and Marissa's hearing all of this. Just, co-ch-choo, boom, boom, boom. Body shot. Body shot. Oh.

And she can't be like, bitch. Stop talking shit about it because she's like, oh, damn. She doesn't know what I'm here. So she's just like, but then she's also probably going to be like, okay, well, she likes me. But also, this is how she feels about me. Fuck. Oh, my God. messy.

Now, there are a lot of things Rose does not like about this. The first is that Paige swore up and down, that she did not have feelings for Marissa. Which lies, Liza Minnelli, lies we knew. The second is that Paige had agreed not to tell anyone that they were dating. Right. I forgot about that part. Yeah. So Rose is like, how much can I actually trust Paige?

Right. And then there's the Charlie of it all. Yeah. Charlie! Charlie! Come on. Rose's own roommate. Yeah, no, that's wild.

How could they not have told Rose about this conversation? Is that why Charlie was like, you know what, go for it, Rose, wink, wink. Because if that's like my homie, that's my best friend, I'm telling my best friend everything. Even if someone says me, like, swears me to secrecy, if that's to do with my best friend, I'm going to tell my best friend. But Rose has to put a pen in all of that because Marissa is still crying right in front of her. So, you're Rose. You just learned a lot of information that you cannot process right now.

Yeah. You also probably maybe have been drinking for a few hours by now. Right. And in the sun. And oh my God, yeah. Okay. So what do you do? I'd be so overwhelmed that I would regress into a fawn mode.

Yeah. And I'd be like, no, that's a lot. Like I would try to like remain calm, deescalate, validate her feelings, name my own feelings. Like, yeah, no, that's a lot. But I wouldn't make it about me because I feel like that'd be like salt in the wound for Marissa. And Marissa is very fragile and seems volatile.

And so I would just be thinking about like my immediate like, emotional safety. So it's like, uh-huh, uh-huh, smile and nod. Say what, you know, Marissa wants to hear. And then slowly back away. Yeah. The Homer gift disappeared. Yeah.

That would be me. And then later I'd pull Charlie up and be like, what the fuck was that? And why didn't you tell me all of this just happened? You put me in like the line of fire and I didn't even know it. You're supposed to be my homie. Yeah. You and Rose are in similar places. Rose is like, wow, that's intense.

Yeah. crazy. And Marissa, like, nods and, like, wipes her tears again. Oh, my God. Before she's like, I'm not mad, though. Even though I've literally only gotten one DUI, and it was when I was your age. It's whatever. Oh, my God.

And then Marissa says, I'm actually just glad Paige has moved on because I just started dating someone and it's going really well. Sure, Jan. Sure. Yeah. And then Marissa tells Rose all about the new bombshell. in her life, who we are going to be calling kickball. Kickball, they met on gay kickball league.

Because she is really indirectly kickball. Oh my God, of course. Is that in your notes? Kickball, indirect, yes. Exactly. Apparently, kickball is an influencer with an even bigger following than Marissa's. Oh. And Marissa just had the cutest date with kickball at a petting zoo.

Okay. Rose is like, wow, I'm so happy for you. And Marissa's just like, thanks, babe. happy for you too. As she's crying. Yeah. And Rose successfully extracts herself from the situation. She waits until later that night when they're in the privacy of their apartment to be like,

Charlie, dude, what the fuck. Rose is so mature, like way more mature than all these people. I think I would have, I would have had a real housewise moment. I would have pulled Charlie to the side, but still I couldn't wait until I got home. I would have been like so. What the fuck? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Wow. Okay. Well, Charlie just shrugs and they're like, people just tell me things. What am I supposed to do? But also, you're supposed to be loyal to your best friend and tell your best friend the tea. That you move to Richmond with. Like, come on. Yeah. Where's the loyalty? Loyal. Exactly. Exactly. Well, when Paige comes back from vacation, our girl Rose decides not to share the conversation she had with Marissa, but she does tell Paige that she thinks they might be better off his friends. Wow. Rose is so mature. See, this is really. where I'm messy. Like, even if I know it's going to be a messy situation ship,

but I'm like, but they're really hot. I'll be like, I'll get a couple, you know, bedroom sessions in. And then we can, you know, put this on ice. Yeah. Even though I know that'll make it messier because I'm just like, well, and Paige sounds hot. He said she could, what, thrust 185 pounds? Yeah. She could thrust me. Strong glutes. Yeah. Yeah. And to her credit, which is makes her hotter, Paige takes it pretty well. Like, she seems surprised and a little hurt, but she and Rose continue to be friends.

And Paige moves on quickly because she's a hot girl. Right, exactly. She's like, who's next in the Rolodex? Okay. Within a couple of weeks, Paige adds her new boo to the group chat, who would be calling Texas. Okay. Texas. Because they are from Texas.

Of course. Yeah. And Paige is immediately all over Texas. Like right away they're going on elaborate dates and indulging in lots of PDAs during group parties. Oh my God. So, Zika. Oh, my God. It's now time for a pop quiz.

Not my heart's giving a beat. Oh, my God. My perfectionism, my, like, gold star student pass. I'm like, oh, my God, I better pass. Well, luckily, there is no prize here. So there's also no consequence for not doing well. Oh, my God. I mean.

Okay. So the first question. is at this point, who is currently smooching who? Okay. Paige is with Texas. Marissa is with kickball. Rose is single. We don't know where Charlie's at.

We don't. I think that's the main players. Yeah. Ding, ding, ding, ding. Yay. Okay. And the second question is, who does Paige have history with? Everybody.

Page has been with Marissa. Page tried to get with Rose, but that didn't happen. Paige You can check your other board has PPS Exactly And Texas

Which you already got at the beginning Okay yes yes yes Ding ding ding Okay yes A plus Thank you Well for a brief time There is peace in the group chat

Okay As you correctly noted Paige is dating Texas Marissa's dating kickball And at least from what Rose can tell Paige and Marissa Have figured out how to be friends

Great And then two very important nights happen in rapid succession. So, night one, the plan is to go line dancing. I knew these are some line dancing ass queers.

I fucking knew it. These are the messiest lesbians out there. The line dancing lesbians are the messiest people you'll know. I fucking knew it. And this isn't a diss. This is a compliment. I love mess. I knew these are some line dancing queers. Again, so perceptive. Passing with flying

color. I'm not perceptive, but I'm just queer. Which queer equals receptive. I mean, low key, y'all be seeing shit. We'll be seeing shit because we've lived it. Yes. The third eye is open. Yeah. Okay. I fucking do it. You did. You did.

The plan is to go line dancing. Our girl Rose decides to stay home to catch up on chores and also to avoid the drama. And as the night goes on, Rose is like, thank God I stayed home. Because based on the text that Marissa is sending to the group chat, she is very, very drunk. Oh no. Oh, no. The next day, Paige calls Rose to vent because apparently Marissa was so drunk that Paige reached out to her privately to be like, homie, are you okay?

Oh, no. And you know it's bad if Paige is checking on Marissa for crashing out because her baseline is already crash out. So it must have been bad. Well, apparently, when Paige reached out to check on Marissa, Marissa responded back like, worry about your little girlfriends, not me. Of course, Marissa is the type that will do this, like, huge bid for attention. And when she gets this like, no, leave me alone. I don't even want the attention.

Yeah. Oh, my God. Okay. Page then calls Marissa, like, what the fuck, dude? And then she's like, you didn't drive, right? Oh, no. Because Marissa sounds absolutely trash. And this sets Marissa off.

Marissa is like, wow, you get one little DUI when you're 21. And everyone wants to hold it over your head forever. No. And this is when shit goes sideways because then Marissa is like, you can get off your high horse. Like there's not a girl in the group chat you haven't felt up. Wait, why is that a diss? I'd be like, and I did. And I did.

Wow. Okay. But Marissa doesn't stop there. She's like, I know you fingered Rose and Charlie. They've said it themselves. Wait, and Charlie. Charlie said, no, why am I in this? Wait, what?

Rose was bragging about how you fingered her when you came over to her apartment, and Charlie told us that you guys finger-bangged each other on their birthday. Wait, wait. I actually need to pause to process this. Marissa, it's coming at Paige. She's like, Paige, I know you fingered Rose and Charlie. And Rose and Charlie are Bessies and Roommies. And I was thinking, Charlie is suspiciously quiet in this story.

What is this true? No way. side. I'm so disappointed in Charlie. Well, Amrissa then name drops two of the girls from the chat who can apparently corroborate this. What the fuck? Okay, not me writing down. Okay.

Pea fingered Rose and Charlie. What the fuck? And Charlie was the one who was like Rose. You should get with Paige. Well, our girl Rose's jaw drops as she

listens to Paige recap this whole incident. Because the thing is, she and Paige had never even kissed besides, like, the club bathroom makeouts. And famously, those don't count in this group. Right. And like, yeah, Charlie's kind of messy, but Rose is pretty sure they would have told her if they'd made out with Paige. I'm going to be honest, this is the moment where I would begin to slow fade from this group.

Actually, I probably would have already been gone. Oh, yeah. I'm exhausted telling this story. Yeah, no, this is wild. Would you try to salvage any of this? I love mess. but that's why I love reality TV. I don't like mess in my own life.

Like, I kind of get turned off by people romantically, sexually, platonically. If the type of people are like, I don't know, drama just follows me. That is right. Like, I don't have time for that. So I would have been gone. So if I'm Rose, she seems so responsible.

You know, she's taking her Lexa pro. She's staying home to do her chores. If she wanted to miss line dancing because she knew it would be mess, I feel like she would be like, Okay, this is my sign to exit the group chat literally and metaphorically figuratively. Yeah. Well, the first thing Rose does is check in with Charlie because that's her roommate.

Right. Rose is going down the hall. Knock, knock, knock. Guess what I heard. And Charlie confirms that they never made out with Paige. Okay. Well, Charlie then reaches out to the two girls from the chat that Marissa had named dropped, who are both like, Marissa is lying.

Why am I in it? I don't know anything about this. Marissa is unhinged. And this is enough for both Charlie and Rose to reach out to Marissa. And Marissa apologizes to Charlie. But when Rose reaches out like, hey, can we talk? Marissa responds with, hey, dude, respectfully, I'm so overwhelmed by everything that I don't really have the capacity for this. Oh my God.

This is all being blown way out of proportion. And honestly, talking about me without me there is not approved. I cannot. You know what? I feel like we all know a Marissa. I don't know a Marissa that well because I can clock a Marissa from a mile away and I keep that energy far, far away from me. But we all know a Marissa that a messy lesbian with some therapy speak would say. 100%.

Hasn't actually been to therapy, but has been on TikTok. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So this is the first important night. aftermath. I forgot there's night two. There's night two. Okay, night two. I'm writing that down, night two, colon. The second important night comes a couple days later. Everyone from the chat goes out

clubbing, just normal clubbing. So it's Marissa, Paige, Charlie, kickball, Texas. Everyone's there, except for Rose, who is not in a clubbing mood. Yeah. And once again, Rose is like, thank God I stayed home because at midnight sure sees a call from Charlie who is sitting on a curb outside the club taking care of Texas who's gotten too drunk wait I'm like look at my notes Texas is P is page's lover exactly that Charlie's now taking where's page comforting Texas oh well that's probably why why Texas is crying okay anyways I'm getting ahead of myself okay well apparently earlier in the night page and Marissa got into a huge fight and then they ran off to together. And now they aren't answering their phones. And this is why Charlie is sitting outside the

club holding back Texas's hair and poor Texas just keeps asking when Paige is coming back. Oh, no. Wow. So this is why when a question pops into Rose's mind, she decides to text it to Charlie instead of asking it out loud. While they're still on face time, Rose text Charlie to ask Does Texas know the history between Marissa and Paige? And Charlie texts back like, no, Paige doesn't want Texas to know that she and Marissa are still having sex. What? Okay. This is so fucked up.

Wait. I've actually speechless. Okay. So Paige and Marissa are fighting and fucking fighting and fucking. Paige does not want to tell Texas. Texas doesn't know. But I'm sure other people are going to soon find out. Oh my God, okay.

Rose almost choked. She's like, what? Charlie's face drops. They fucked up and they know it. They get up and they run down the block away from Texas still on FaceTime saying, please don't get me in trouble, Rose. Please don't get me in trouble. Don't tell anybody.

Because Charlie is the secret holder and no one else is supposed to know that. Paige and Marissa are fucking. but then Charlie accidentally spilled the beans to Rose. And so now, okay, okay. And Rose will not let Charlie get off the call until they explain. Charlie reveals that Paige and Marissa have been secretly hooking up ever since Paige got home from her vacation. What?

All while Paige is still seeing Texas and Marissa is still seeing kickball. No one is technically exclusive, so none of this is cheating. So then why not say it? That's what I never understand. Like, if you're not exclusive, then say it because it's not a problem. You're not exclusive. But Paige wore Charlie to secrecy anyway. Oh my God.

All these secrets and why? But they get off on the secret. They get off on the running around and not telling people and breaking hearts and like, we shouldn't. We shouldn't do this. They get off on it. So we are somewhat close to the ending of this saga. How are you feeling? I'm tired.

Oh, and I'm grateful that I am in my third. I'm grateful that I still have fun chaos in my life, but not this. Not when people are getting hurt and it's sloppy and it's messy. What's the point of going up to the club if it's going to end in tears all the time? No, exactly. I'm just trying to vibe, shake my ass. Yes, bathroom makeout. I do love a bathroom makeout.

Well, like, and maybe a little light drama, not with me, but like tangentially, this is exhausting. No, it's like if I'm crying in the club, it's because I love my friend so much. Yes, literally, says the Pisces to the cancer. Yes. Literally. Yeah. Okay. So three things happen in rapid succession after this.

Oh, my goodness gracious. The first is that a couple days after this, Marissa and Kickball make it Instagram official. Wait. Wait. Let me write that down. This sends Paige into a spiral even though she is still dating Texas. So Paige decides to go no contact with Marissa, which Marissa does not take well. The second thing is, Charlie.

has a death in the family. Oh, no. So Rose and Paige are keeping them company when Charlie gets a huge wall of text from Marissa. Oh, no. Still has Rose, Paige, and Charlie on her find my friends. Marissa accuses Charlie of betraying her by hanging out with Paige. Of course, Marissa does this.

Charlie's like, Paige met up with us because my uncle died recently. Yeah. Don't know if you forgot about that part. Yeah. Oh my God. Marissa says, it's wild for you to use your grief as an excuse to be a bad friend. No. Okay, now Marissa's in the pits of hell.

Before she was messy, she was self-absorbed, selfish. Now you're a fucked up person. Wow, she literally thought to say that, wrote it out, and then hit send. Wow. Charlie and Marissa argue back and forth for almost an hour, and then Marissa blocks Charlie. Not Marissa doing the blocking. What? And the last important thing that happens is that Rose goes on a week-long cruise that does not include free Wi-Fi, which means Rose is not able to be contacted when everything goes down.

Okay. I'm sure as soon as she got back on the Wi-Fi's, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, d-th-thous. Oh, my God. Quite literally as soon as Rose's phone reconnects to 5G, she is greeted by a text from page, which reads, Hi, welcome back. Call me as soon as possible. Oh, my God. See, this is why with friends like this, you don't need enemies.

Like, your friends are supposed to be like a space of like chill vibes and fun and support. Like, this is my definition of torture. I could not. Okay. Well, at this point, you know these girls. You know their drama. You know their tea. How long are you waiting before you call Paige back?

Like, I'm like, I got to take care of me, Lucius. Like, I would be like. You know what? I'm going to be very bounder. Honestly, I think I might just be like, I'm not going to be anyone. I think that's, if I hadn't unfriended all these people before, I would be like, I don't need to be caught up on all this. But for me, I would at least be like, let me go home, put my bags down, shower,

smoke a J, catch up on all my shows that I haven't been able to watch because I've been, I've had no Wi-Fi for a week. And then once I finish all my shows, which I could finish all that shit in like a couple days. And then, you know, I would Kiki with Charlie and be like, yo, what's the TLDR? And then maybe I would like get a nice chile-late, go on a stroll. Call page and be like, what's up? What's going on? What happened? Yeah. Yeah. You said, I'm giving it two to three business days. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Rose calls Paige from her lift back home. I want better for Rose. hopefully she's learning.

Well, Paige is frantic. She keeps just saying like, dude, oh my God, oh my fucking God, you're not going to believe what happened. Oh, my God. Do not greet me from a Wi-Fi list vacation. Oh, my God. Ah! Like, like, what the, like, also that's selfish.

What about me coming back from like my post vacation glow? Oh, my God. No, exactly. I just decompress and now I'm stressed again. Exactly. I can't with this kind of energy. So I cannot be friends with like dramatic people. I can't.

Rose is like, oh my God, can you just tell me what's going on? Yeah. And then Paige is like, have you ever seen Gossip Girl? While Rose was away on the high seas, someone had created a burner Instagram account. Oh, my fucking God. And sent a long message to kickball Marissa's new girlfriend with the rundown of everything that had happened with Marissa over the summer, with Marissa and Paige, Marissa and Rose, Marissa and Charlie. Oh, my God.

The message also says that. that Marissa was just using kickball for clout and followers. Oh, right, because kickball is an influencer. And that's why Marissa would go public with kickball and not anybody else because it's like, because she's a party promoter and she's all about herself at the end of the day. Wow. Okay. The message also says that Marissa has not only been sleeping with Paige the entire time she'd

been with kickball. Marissa had also been sleeping with her old poetry ex. I forgot about poetry acts. Which even Paige didn't know. Oh, my God. That's right. It's Chekhov's Poetry X coming back in the third act. That was on whiteboard number one.

Oh, my God. Marissa has been on a rampage ever since this happened. She is accused almost all 67 people in the lesbian group chat before finally settling on Charlie being the culprit because Marissa had done that thing you can do when you're trying to find who owns an Instagram account. where you can like pretend that you forgot the password and it'll show you like the first and last letter of their email address. I didn't know you could do. See, this just shows I'm not messy enough. I didn't know. Wait, you can do that even when the account isn't linked to your number, your email. Yeah. It'll blur out the entire email, but it'll give you the first letter so you can know which email to check if it's yours. And apparently the email associated with the account began with a C. Honestly, I was thinking Charlie because Charlie's the bone collector. You know what I mean? Like Charlie holds all the secret. Yeah. Charlie is hiding behind the facade of Chillstone or like, whoa, what's up guys? And it's creating burner accounts.

Well, this, along with what Marissa is calling Charlie's secret meeting with Rose and Page, is enough for Marissa to accuse Charlie. Wait, the secret meeting, i.e., when they were comforting Charlie when their uncle had passed. What? Yeah. Okay. So I'm going to ask you who our culprit is, but would you like me to go through the suspect list before deciding.

Yes. Give me the list. Okay. Suspect number one. Paige. Her motive. She's been hooking up with Marissa this whole time and everyone knows that she's jealous of Marissa and kickball.

But Paige and Texas are still together. And Paige has been freaking out to Rose since a literal moment Rose got back to dry land, which is a lot of acting to subject yourself to if you're the guilty one. Suspect number two, Charlie. Their motive, Marissa was a giant bitch to them right after their uncle die. Yeah. And the email for the burner account does begin with a C.

But Charlie has always said that they never start drama. The drama just always simply finds them. Mm-hmm. Famous last words. Suspect number three, Page's pottery situation ship, aka PPS. PPS. I forgot about PPS. Her motive, Marissa almost certainly played a part in how things ended with PPS and Page.

That whole thing, Marissa was all over it. Suspect number four. Texas. Her motive. Texas has been feeling defensive on Page's behalf with everything happening with Marissa and also apparently knows kickball through a mutual friend. So there's a chance that Texas might have been trying to protect kickball and get revenge on Marissa without publicly being tied to the fallout. I'm giving that that white lady doing the math. I'm like, I will say I got a little loss on that last one. But okay, there are motives. And finally, suspect number five, checkoffs slash Marissa's Poetry X. Yes, yes. Her motive, Poetry X was apparently not aware that Marissa was hooking up with her, page, and kickball all at the same time. While this was technically not cheating based on the terms of their agreement, Poetry X had blocked Marissa once Marissa and kickball when Instagram official.

So those are all of our sussex. aspects. So now Zakiya, what is reverted? You know what? I'm going to stick to my gut feeling because Charlie has all the tea and has motive because like, yeah, Marissa's being horrible to Charlie. And so Charlie was like, oh, you want to play? You thought I was chill? Oh, I got you. No, it's like, you want to play games? Exactly. I'll play harder. Exactly. Yeah. Well, unfortunately, y'all are all going to. shoot me and I am so, so sorry to say that real life is not like gossip girls. So we do not know. Oh. Who created the burner Instagram account. Literally the last sentence in the email from our

friend of a friend is, as for the anonymous Instagram account that sent the message, its identity remains unknown. Reveal yourself. What? So that is the end of our story. I do have some updates for you that do not include the identity of the burner Instagram account. But first, who do you think the villain in this story is? Marissa? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think there's multiple villains.

I feel number one, Marissa. Number two, page. Yeah, them too. Yeah. They deserve each other. They do. Yeah. They do.

Well, the updates are, Kickball decides to stay with Marissa, despite the message from the burner account. And Marissa and Kickball end up basically creating a whole new social circle with their own group chat, which is probably, for the best because Marissa and Charlie's relationship literally never recovers, like, to this day, they are still not friends. Yeah, that makes sense. I would not be friends with anyone who was bullying me while I was grieving.

Yeah. Meanwhile, our friend with friend Rose continues to hang out with Paige and Charlie, and they will occasionally run into Marissa and kickball at queer events, but they never acknowledge each other or exchange words. They just pretend that the rival lesbian gang of the boy genius concert doesn't exist. Wow, that's good. Wow. Our second update is that one day Rose mentioned to Paige that it was weird that Marissa never accused her of being the burner Instagram account.

And Paige is like, oh, that's because she was keeping tabs on you. And she knows you were on a cruise when this all happened. What? This is when Rose finds out that although she and Marissa no longer follow each other, Marissa has been having mutual friends watch Rose's stories and send Marissa's screenshots. Like recently, Marissa was drunk at a party and she, She was showing people a screenshot of Rose's Instagram story from a day when Rose and Paige had gone, like, pumpkin picking or whatever. And Marissa was like, does it look like they're dating?

What the actual fuck? Like, all these enabling friends. Like, what the hell? And also to keep tabs on Rose, Barnes & Noble Rose, I'm going to stay home and do chores, Rose. Exactly. What? You're just screenshoting photos of her bookpile. Yeah, exactly. And the final update is that Paige and Marissa have recently reconnected and are now friends again.

No one knows the details of the reconciliation, but Rose and Charlie liked to joke that everyone suffered that summer for literally no reason. Yeah, literally no reason. Thank you for listening to Normal Gossip. If you have a gossip story to share with us, email us at NormalGossip at Defector.com. Or you can leave us a voicemail at 2.6.7. If you love this podcast and want to support us, become a friend or a friend of a friend at support normalgossip.com. You can follow the show on Instagram and TikTok at NormalGossip. You can follow me on all social media at Hey Dene.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel at Defector Media to watch today's episode. Normal Gossip is written by me, Rachel Hampton, and J. Tolviera. This podcast was produced by Sierra Spragley Ricks and J. Tolviera. Our audio engineer is Samantha Gatsy. Emily Cherish is our video editor. Theme music composed by Rishi Kesheirway. The co-creators endowered your queens of normal gossip are Kelsey McKinney and DeFectors' supervising producer Alex Sujong Laughlin. Justin Ellis is Defector's Projects editor.

Jasper Wang is Defector's Business Guy. Tom Lay is our editor-in-chief. This season was made in memory of Dan McLeod, who ran our merch store, which you can find at NormalGossip. Dot Store. Tara Jacoby designed our show art. Thank you to Brandy Jensen, David Roth, Catherine Shue, Sabrina Embler, Chris Tom David McKenna, Patrick Redford, and Ray Roddo for your help with this season. Thank you to the rest of the Defector staff.

Defector Media is a collectively owned subscriber-based media company. Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. I am your host, Rachel Hampton, and remember, you didn't hear this for me. Radioopia.