“So, that’s when I said to him, I said, so, listen, if you’re going to be like that then I don’t think we can hangout anymore and he was like, be like what? and I was like, you know what, and he was like, no, I ‘don’t know what’ and so I was like, but you totally do because when you were talking to Khloe about Kim you were like, ‘but she can totally be a bitch when she doesn’t get her way,’ and so Klo was like, ‘he totally said that, but Brandon thinks the same thing about you, and your totally sleeping with him again’ and now you’re all like, ‘no I don’t’ and—oh, watch out, it’s hot up here, like, is that lava—or magma? what is magma anyway? I didn’t even want to come up here and you’re like, ‘let’s look at the volcano, it’ll be all pretty and shit’ and now I’m tired and I totally shouldn’t be sweating this close to getting injections and now my leg hurts, but anyway, so Klo is like, you two should totally break up and I’m like we are, sometimes, but not right now, and then she’s like, ‘but Kim said she thinks this environment is toxic for you and toxic environments are totally bad for your skin’ and I’m like, wait, what are you, Brandon! why are you getting so close to—“

There was no dramatic splash, no puff of steam. Nothing.

Brandon took in a deep breath, though his nose… pause… out his mouth.

A small bird, hidden somewhere behind a tangle of branches, whistled his soft song as a cool, coastal breeze temporarily pushed away the radiant heat from the mouth of the volcano.