Writing Challenge Day 1 - Social Media Problems

Okay, so I came across this image on Facebook last week and decided to do this challenge for the month of April, along with many other people. The twist is I'm going to do these as flash fiction pieces.

Flash Fiction Challenge Day 1 - Five problems with social media

Gracie checked her smartphone again. She was supposed to be studying for a psych exam, but it had been hours since she had received any notifications from her social media pages and she was anxious. She had posted a photo of her boyfriend Steve and had hoped her friends would comment. Maybe the notification thingies on her phone had stopped working? She closed her textbook, pulled out her laptop and surfed over to Facebook. She tried to log in but her password wouldn't work. Weird. Next she tried Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Tumblr. She couldn't log in there either. What the hell was going on? Finally she did an internet search for "Gracie Dennon Facebook" just to make sure her account was still active.

Her profile photo came up, but the banner image behind it was nearly pornographic. It was a photo of two naked people entwined in a sexual position--artfully hidden in shadow--with her and Steve's heads pasted on the bodies. She did more searches and was horrified to discover the same sexy image also on her other accounts.

Gracie couldn't stop shaking. She glanced around the school library, imagining everyone had seen this humiliating photo and was now laughing at her behind her back. She slammed her laptop shut, shoved it and her books back into her backpack and ran out into the hallway. She had to find Angela. Her best friend would know what to do.

By the time she got to Angela's locker the last period bell had rung. She watched Angela and Sharon approach. She couldn't understand what Angela saw in that social climbing whore. She frowned at Sharon. "Gracie," the whore said with fake sweetness.

"Hey, Sharon," she replied calmly before turning to Angela and gasping, "I've been hacked!"

"Really? How do you know?" Angela's eyes went wide.

"Have you seen my Facebook page?"

Sharon snickered. Gracie glared at her. "Did you to this? You demented bitch! What the hell is wrong with you!" She grabbed Sharon and slammed her into the lockers.

Angela tugged at her arm. "Gracie, stop! It was me!"

Gracie let go of Sharon and turned to her friend in stunned disbelief. "What? Why would you do that to me?"

"I'm sorry, Gracie. It was just a joke. A stupid April Fool's prank. I didn't think it would upset you so much."

Sharon stepped over. "In all honesty, I did help her hack into your accounts. Sorry, Gracie. We didn't mean to hurt you. I thought that photo was pretty sexy, myself."

Gracie shook her head, her vision blurring with tears as she glanced between the two girls. "Just fix it. And if that image isn't taken down by the time I get home, we are no longer friends." She turned to leave just as a bunch of cat calls started.

"Lookin' good, Gracie! Who knew you had such a hot bod under those sweatshirts."

"Shut up, Tommy!' Steve shoved the loudmouth into the wall. Then he put his arm around Gracie and led her outside. "Hey, you okay? I saw the photo on Snapchat."

Gracie buried her face against Steve's chest. "Everybody thinks I'm a slut now."

"No they don't. It was obviously an April Fool's joke. I'm sure there's a lot of that going around. Just ride it out. By tomorrow it will be old news. Besides, you did look pretty hot."

Gracie giggled. "So did you. Sixpack abs? You must work out a lot."

"There ya go. Just laugh it off. If people see that you're not upset by it they will have no reason to tease." He kissed her cheek. "But man oh man I will have that image burned into my brain for a long time. It really turned me on."

Gracie put her arm around Steve and gave him a squeeze. "After the initial shock, I was a little turned on myself."

"Wanna go make out at my house? My parents won't be home until late." He wiggled his eyebrows and gave her a hopeful smile.

Gracie bit her lip, feeling a shiver of excitement roll through her body. "Okay," she whispered. "But first you have to help me study for Friday's test."

"You got it, babe!" He walked her to his car, keeping her tucked close against his side.

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If you didn't catch the five problems I was mentioning, here they are in order of events: addiction, distraction, hacking, cyber-bullying and public shaming.