Even though he wasn't really feeling it, Preston met up with Marcus that Friday. Dressed fully as a guy, of course. Except for the nail polish, but that was just because he forgot to buy remover.

"Hey, dude!" he said. They fist bumped.

"So what's the plan for today? Obviously we can't just walk around Santa Monica filming random stuff."

Preston thought for a moment. For some reason, everything coming to mind was about gender. They could call out to men on the street, but call them ma'am? No, that was dumb. He could... act like a girl while not dressed like one? No, that was like the previous video but worse.

"Come on, dude. I told you we needed a big idea for this video. Did you seriously not plan anything?"

"I had other stuff on my mind, okay?"

"What, like that Nikki chick? You know she used to be a dude, right? Like, she's hot, I get it, but you're a star now, dude! You could do way better."

"What? Shut up, dude. She's just a friend and also she's out of my league anyway."

"Oh my god, you got friendzoned already? What a cuck."

"Fuck you, dude. I can get any girl I want, I'm just trying to focus on my career right now."

"Yeah right, dude, like anyone wants to date a girly man like you."

"I'll fucking show you, okay? Today's video, I'll try to pick up chicks on the pier. That's the premise. That different enough for you?"

"That's actually a rad idea, dude. If it goes well you can flex on the haters, and if it goes bad we can get a thumbnail of a girl slapping you or something. Drama gets views!"

He had said it on the spur of the moment, but honestly it wasn't a bad idea. Maybe a little generic, but he wasn't thinking of anything better.

Pretty soon, he spotted his first target. A pretty brunette, looked like an Instagram model, carrying her tiny dog. "Start filming, dude, I'm gonna approach her."

The girl glanced up at him as he approached. 

"Hey, your dog is super cute!" Whoops, that came out higher than he intended. He coughed and tried to lower his voice. "You're really cute too."

"Aww, thanks! I love your nails."

Preston glanced at his fingers and mentally cursed his glossy purple polish. Not that it looked bad, but he was trying to expand his image! This just seemed like... two girls talking to each other or something.

He swallowed, trying to push back the weird feelings again.  "You have any plans? Want to grab a coffee or anything?"

The girl laughed. "You're sweet, but I'm actually here with a friend. I better check with him before I commit to anything. Michael!"

A buff guy with neatly coiffed hair stopped inspecting a display of tacky visors and jogged over. "Ooh, Sabine, who's your friend? They're cute!"

Preston blushed. He could hear Marcus cracking up from where he stood several feet away. "H-hey, I'm Preston."

The guy--Michael--squinted at him. "Wait a minute, you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere? God, we didn't hook up before did we?" He snapped his fingers. "Oh wait, I know!  You're the guy, person, whatever, who was on Nikki's channel the other day! You looked great, girl! No offense, but you're not really pulling off this bro-dude look with those fabulous nails."

Preston wished he could sink down into the earth. At this point Marcus was howling with laughter. "Uh, thanks, dude! Always great to meet a fan."

"Any chance I could get your number? I'm not really into the whole femme thing, no offense, but I have a friend who would LOVE a little morsel like you."

"O-oh, no, I'm not into guys actually. Sorry."

"Oh no, I'm sorry, I just kinda--never mind!"

Sabine interrupted. "Wait, are you filming a video right now? Are we gonna be in it!?" She waved excitedly at Marcus.

"Uh, yeah, actually! Gotta get that content out, y'know?" He laughed nervously. "I, uh, maybe we can get coffee later, if you wanna trade numbers? But for now I think we're gonna need to go get some more footage somewhere else."

He and Sabine traded phones and entered each other's numbers. "It was really nice meeting you!" she said. "Wait, can I take a quick pic for the 'gram?"

"Sure, just make sure to tag me!" The two of them posed in front of the pier's railing. Preston threw up a peace sign.

"Awesome, thanks! Come on, Michael, there's this new store that sells organic hemp-based clothing I wanna check out."

"Let's go! I think there's a cryonic gym I wanted to check out near there."

The duo waved as Preston walked over to Marcus.

Marcus stopped the camera. "Dude, that was hilarious! Like, literally the worst attempt at picking up a chick I've ever seen. I'm glad you made a new gal pal, though. Maybe later you can get her friend's number."

Preston was starting to be glad that Marcus would be out of the state for a while. He was getting kind of sick of his shit. "Dude, let's just go film another attempt, okay? I don't think this one needs to go in the video."

"Are you kidding me? I tried to pick up a girl but instead her gay friend hit on me? That's like the perfect title! Don't you WANT to get views?"

"Yeah, obv. It's just... do we always need to be making fun of people? Do I always need to embarrass myself?"

"That's why it's funny, dude! Come on, you knew there were some sacrifices you'd have to make if you wanted to be Internet famous. And you've already done way more embarrassing things."

"Yeah, I guess... Let's just go film some more, okay?"

"Holy shit, it is him!" 

Preston turned around. A short guy with slicked back hair and carefully sculpted stubble was pointing at him aggressively. The guy turned to his companion, a girl who looked like she might be his sister.

"I told you, it’s the guy from the video," he said, "Stream this."

He tossed the girl his phone and stormed towards Preston. Preston blinked. Twice in one day? He really was taking off.

"Uh, hey," Preston said. "Always great to meet a fan."

"You think trans people are funny, huh?" the guy growled. Preston looked to Marcus for support, but Marcus just gave a thumbs up and backed away, making sure to keep them all in shot.

"Oh crap, no, those videos were just, uh, for the meme," Preston said. "I don't think trans people are funny at all."

"Oh yeah?" the guy got up in Preston's face, "Well I'm trans, and I make sketch comedy on TikTok. 200K followers. How's that for funny?"

"Uh..." Preston glanced at the girl, who had her phone up, clearly filming, "I'm...kinda confused right now, man."

"Oh, you're confused? You're confused?" said the guy, "You didn't seem confused when you were making fun of trans women with that asshole Colton Keese!"

"No wait!" Preston protested, "That's not what that was! I was just getting lunch with Nikki, and he showed up and wanted to collab!"

"Who's Nicky, dude?" the shorter man flung his arms out, come-at-me-bro style. "Is he another one of your asshole bro friends?"

"Hey!" Preston pointed at him triumphantly. "Nikki's not a guy! Who's transphobic now?"

The guy made a face, "What?"

"Uhh, Aaron..." said the girl filming. 

"Yeah!" Preston said, "Nikki's a girl, and she's really hot, and she's nice, and she's good at makeup, and she's helping me figure out... some things."

"Aaron," the girl said again warningly 

"Wait, are you talking about NikkiBeauty?" the guy, who Preston had now figured out was named Aaron, said. "Are you trying to use her as a scapegoat?"

"It’s not like that!" said Preston. "She's my friend!"

"No it's okay, I have a trans friend," Aaron said mockingly. "You know what, dude? I know Nikki too, and she's friends with everyone. She's too nice for her own good! If you shot her in the leg, she'd probably pay to replace the ammo!"

"Aaron!" the girl shouted. 

Aaron waved her off and gave Preston a steely-eyed glare.

"Listen up, dude. Nikki is too good to waste time on a guy like you. Leave her alone. If I find out you've been using her for clout again, I'm gonna kick your ass," he pointed at himself, then Preston, "Jake Paul. Nate Robinson."

"Wait--" Preston started.

"Aaron!" the girl yelled again.

Aaron turned around, "WHAT, Alex? Do you have some sudden piece of news that's gonna make me change my whole opinion about this guy?"

"No, moron," said the girl, "you got a notification from the Supreme app. They're doing a pop up on the boardwalk, selling snapbacks."

"What?" said Aaron. "Snapbacks aren't cool. And they're not old enough to be ironically cool either."

"Yeah," said Alex, "but they're so awkwardly in between that they're ironically ironically cool."

"Shit," Aaron hissed. He pointed at Preston, "Drip waits for no man. Stream's over, later fam."

Alex tossed him his phone, and the two of them hurried away, leaving Preston standing there in shock.

After a few yards Aaron screeched to a halt.

"Hey!" he yelled, "are you gonna put that in a video and make me look like a psycho?" 

Preston blinked, still processing what had just happened. He struggled to find words, "Uh..."

"Yes!" Marcus called out from behind the camera.

Aaron turned to him, "Do you want to get a shot of me slapping him for the thumbnail?"

"Hell yes, dude!" said Marcus.

Aaron ran back and slapped Preston dead across the face.

"That was perfect!" said Marcus. "Thanks, dude!"

"No problem!" Aaron ran off again. "Link to my socials in the description! AaronBComedy!"

Preston stood there in a daze. Not just because he had just been slapped.

If I find out you've been using her for clout...

Is that what he had been doing? Nikki was so nice, and understanding, and Preston had thought that maybe that meant they were friends... but what had he been doing in return?

Nikki is too good to waste time on a guy like you.

A guy like him...

A tear dripped down Preston's cheek.

"Hey," a voice said. Preston looked up to see a tanned girl in a sundress peering up at him over her sunglasses. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know..." Preston mumbled.

"I kind of have a thing for sensitive guys," the girl said. She reached out and stroked Preston's arm. "Maybe we should go get a drink?"

"Not interested," said Preston.

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