The City of Angels

That's the thing about this city, nobody knows why they're here and nobody wants to get out. Some of us were born here, undeniably chained to this lifestyle no matter what. Some of us were lured here by our very own ego. Either way, we choose to stay here, to rot here. On the outside, to the people who existed before the creation of this city, they think we are all doomed to shit. It's true. We're all slowly decaying away here, but at least we feel like a million bucks doing it. This is the city of angels under the demon's influence. You only thrive here if you have a blue check beside your name. That's what makes you a real person here. Not your dreams, hopes and fears, but if you are verified. The more brainless zombies that worship you, the better. The more losers tuning in to your account every week, the better. The more views, the better. You might be wondering, if its so fake here why do you stay? Why do you stay in this social world corrupted by something as superficial as fame? But you already know. You already live here.

the sentence that is underlined is from a song

--- Disclaimer ---

The short story/poem above was supposed to be my submission but reedsy doesn't let stories under 1000 words get submitted, so the story below is a short example of how social media can affect younger people realistically (I didn't want to make the situation too dramatic regarding social media, so I put in something maybe we could all relate to)

--- The City of Angels---

"hey bestieeeeeee are u cominnngg??" I picked up my phone. I almost forgot.

"yessir were going to michelle's, she lives in brooklyn right?"

" no queens. zont be latee and wear smth cute we're taking ig photos."

Of course, the photos. Sometimes I don't get it. You don't need photos in order to remember a moment with your friends. That's what your brain is for. It just gets exhausting after a while. It's like checking if your Fitbit is on after you ran a mile only for it to show that it wasn't counting your steps, so you run another mile. Just because it wasn't counting, didn't mean you weren't running.

"You look great Laya." Me and King laughed as I twirled around.

"It's a good thing I took your advice and wore something nice, I made it myself!"

"Bae, I love it you gotta teach me!" King whined. King was the type of girl everyone had their eyes on. Not only was she beautiful, but the way she carried herself genuinely sparked a lot of curiosity in people. We stepped into Michelle's room. All our other friends were there too. We got cozy and started hitting a blunt one of our friends rolled up. After that all of us formed our own separate little clumps and watched Tik Toks.

Weren't we supposed to be hanging out? Talking? At first I thought it was just to set the vibe, but after half an hour nobody said a word to each other, other than the occasional chuckles and the videos playing on the screens.

"So, how was school for yall this week?" I attempted to start a conversation.

"It was aight." a random girl said. Then again the awkward silence washed over us again. That was the first time I noticed I was living in the City of Angels. A city filled with so many girls throwing it back, gay guys making funny rant videos, and Timothee Chalamet compilations. Was it that nice there that my own friends forgot about each other's existence? If I'm being honest I'm just as addicted to social media as everyone else, but I just hoped that maybe we would talk to each other, see how our lives are going. Before we knew it, the day was over and we went back home; it was a school night. Were we always this attached to our devices, or was this the first time I noticed?

Unfortunately, there are very few moments where one can break free from this city. It doesn't last very long. I guess I'm stuck here. God knows I don't have the will power to get out of it. Honestly, I don't even really know what part of me is authentic anymore. Are any of my opinions really mine? Are my beliefs really mine? Or are they the beliefs and opinions of the internet? It's no use to rebel anyways; this is who I am now. I'm being dramatic, I know. But think about it; I've probably spent half of my teen years watching beauty gurus do and other random shit. It's sad, but who am I without this? What else is there to do? Read? Pfft. What saddens me more is that I'm not alone. There are millions of people just like me shredding their lives away on a screen. The problem is that the real world is not that enticing. There is so much yet so little happening around us at the same time.

"Yo, maybe you should put your phone down." I said to King

"Girl you need to stop actin like my momma and managing my screen time. I'm grown enough." Was she really though?

"I have an idea, what if we take a one week phone detox, you know, just the two of us?" She looked me up and down, trying to stifle her laughter.

"Laya what has gotten into you?"

"So, yes?" I asked

"No! Why would I? How else am I supposed to promote my nail business? How am I supposed to talk to Andre?"

"Screw Andre. Cmon, please bestie?" I gave her puppy dog eyes.

"Ho, I said no!" she playfully pushed me. See what I mean? I'm not the only one stuck in this city. King and I are barely a fraction of the population. We laughed it off and we went to class. After that moment, I never questioned my citizenship in the City of Angels again. They owned me, but I still got the illusion of freedom.

lol this is so bad im sorry :(

just judge what I wrote at the very top :)